Interesting article about the development progress Hartford is meeting. From the Courant:

Part of the bet on downtown Hartford’s revival was that young professionals and suburban empty-nesters would migrate into the city’s newly built apartments. Half of that formula has panned out — young people like Healey looking for smaller, less-expensive units and the action of a downtown have come, making it hard to find studio and one-bedroom apartments.

Healey’s building has two-bedroom units to rent right now and nothing else; the waiting list for a studio is 10-deep. At the Lofts at Main and Temple, on the site of the old Sage-Allen building, all of the studios and one-bedrooms are spoken for while four of 19 two-bedrooms are unoccupied.

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Real ID is one of those federal mandates that is unfunded and headed our way. In 2005 Congress passed the Iraq War/Tsunami supplemental funding bill (no hearings) that contained a provision to require existing driver’s license holders will have to apply in person for new licenses in addition to document verification stuff. For example, Connecticut will have to according to the act – verify the “issuance, validity and completeness” of every identity document presented at DMV offices, including birth certificates, social security cards, utility bills, immigration documents, and any other document that is part of the application. Of course we all know that birth certificates are so easily verifiable.

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The Hartford legislature is really interested in assuming all responsibilities for society at large. Too bad they won’t take a closer look at their responsibility to provide open and transparent accounting, under GAAP, so we can all see that Connecticut does not have a surplus. Instead the transportation committee unanimously voted on a bill to send to the full legislature that includes the requirement that parents attend 2 hours, outof the 8 required for driver training for teen drivers. All because these legislators, like Sen. Donald DeFronzo, D-New Britain, think that parents aren’t reading the pamphlet the DMV supplies about teenage driving restrictions.

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So, someone plunks down $400k on a condo and doesn’t check to see whether the condo association communicates what it does in writing? State Senator Bob Duff D-Norwalk and State Rep Mike Lawlor D-East Haven would like you to believe there’s a huge problem out there because condo owners might have to hire a lawyer to settle disputes. From the Advocate:

About five years ago, McGinness formed a coalition of fellow condominium owners from Norwalk and Stamford to push lawmakers to provide them more rights.

Typically, a condo owner with a grievance has no recourse but to hire a lawyer, she said.

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The Waterbury Republican-American is reporting that a $200 million brownfield study is in limbo these days.

The Brownfields Task Force is urging Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the legislature to approve the initial $200 million investment that the study group proposed last year.

“If we don’t, what we will have is slow growth or no growth. These areas and these properties will continue to deteriorate, no added taxes, jobs, community benefits, and other states will definitely leap ahead of us, and, in fact, they already are,” said Ann M. Catino, the task force’s co-chair.

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Governor Rell took a step in Friday towards fixing what is becoming a looming problem in Connecticut. With adjustable-rate mortgages resetting at higher interest rates, tens of thousands in Connecticut face the threat of foreclosure. Naturally government has stepped in to being part of the solution after years of being part of the problem.

Rell ordered changes to the plan and a series of informational hearings throughout the state for the tens of thousands of people caught up in the subprime crisis.
The governor said the changes to the program will allow more homeowners to get help from CHFA in avoiding foreclosure.

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Last week it was bottled water. Today its clotheslines. I guess because property tax reform isn’t an issue residents really care about. The gist of this hot issue apparently is that there’s some energy costs savings to be had if people dry their laundry on clotheslines instead of in dryers. Yeah, ok, call captain obvious on that one.

But some people apparently live in condo associations or communities that have by-laws that prohibit the venerable clothesline. Not just the clothesline, but some associations take great pleasure on prohibiting and regulating all sorts of things under “aesthetic” reasons like flags, window treatments, garden sheds.

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Reality based politics is apparently something that Connecticut will sadly, not ever experience. Last week, Hartford was atwitter over water. Lights, camera, action type atwitter because it was the legislature that was galvanized to do something, anything, about water. Because we all stay awake at night thinking about how Hartford drinks. Other than kool-aide of course.

From the Courant:

State Rep. Beth Bye, a Democrat from West Hartford has a simple idea that promises to promote health, cut costs of state government, help the environment and reduce our thirst for petroleum: Encourage state workers to drink tap water instead of the bottled variety.

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Brian Lockhart writes about the relative obscurity of the Lt. Governor in Connecticut government. Bottom line? Fairfield county needs every voice in Hartford it can get.

Freshman state Rep. William Tong, a member of the city’s majority-Democratic state delegation, said having Fedele in Hartford is helpful for addressing local issues. Fedele is also a constituent of Tong’s.

Tong credited Fedele with helping to delay the reconfiguration of J.M. Wright Technical School for a year. Concerned about declining enrollment, the state had proposed changing the school into a career academy serving high school juniors, seniors and graduates.

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