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Dear Editor,
I am a new resident of West Hartford, and I realize I may be wading into a contentious issue but I have been seeing a lot of negative sentiment regarding the development of 1700 and 1800 Asylum Ave. My understanding is that the developer wishes to turn a now defunct college campus into multifamily apartments with mixed use amenities such as a grocery store, restaurant, cafe and massage parlour among others. I wish to advocate in favor of developing the property, and my reasons are thus:
- I live within walking distance of the proposed development and would welcome the new amenities. It would be great to be able to walk to new cafes, restaurants, grocery stores, etc, especially if they are of high quality.
- The current property is an eyesore. The building on 1800 Asylum is especially blighted, and it seems wasteful to me that these valuable stretches of land are sitting idle when they could be redeveloped into high quality mixed use space.
- It will expand the tax base and provide more customers for local businesses.
- I believe that a strong community need not be afraid of change and growth, and that resisting development will lead to stagnation and ossification.
- Multifamily apartments are actually more environmentally friendly than single family houses, since they require less energy to heat and cool and provide opportunities for walking.
Sincerely,
Max Rissman
West Hartford
