Driving around New England Pix's

[Lrfox]

Portland has some wonderful architecture (including the home to the left of this one), but I'm not a fan of this particular home. Something looks... off about it. The Columns on the side are obvious, but I particularly dislike the lack of windows on the nearly blank walls on the side of this house. It's an interesting home, but I think this is a good example of how columns (and I'm a BIG fan of columns) and age don't essentially mean beauty.

 

[Boston02124]

Hartford drive thru (convention area)! -

convention center

bye bye Hartford!

I only got a little bit of Hartford next time I'll try to cover more!

 

[czsz]

Hartford has practically gutted itself.

 

[Boston02124]

how do you mean?I find Hartford 2nd only to Boston in terms of haveing a nice skyline!

 

[czsz]

Downtown has been trashed. Streetwalls ignored, parking lots and garages everywhere. Its nice skyline is the result of urban renewal policies resembling Houston's or Atlanta's. It lags way behind Providence and even New Haven in downtown revitalization efforts, too. It's always looking for a mythical magic bullet. Poor Hartford.

 

[Chessplayer]

More than gutted. Barely any bones left.

Two downtown streets are coherently urban.

 

[Chessplayer]

This used to be the broadcast house for our local news station - now moved to the suburbs.

The planned replacement.

Crossing my fingers - Hartford doesn't have a good record of replacing torn down structures.

Thanks for posting those photos Boston02124.

 

[ledjes]

^^^

Is that Hartford or Rosslyn, Virginia???
?those accursed skywalks that take pedestrians off the street!!!

 

[Boston02124]

Springfeild city hall area and armory area

inside city hall

something going up

 

[Ron Newman]

what do the 'Enshrinement Weekend' banners mean? What building are they hanging from?

 

[Lrfox]

what do the 'Enshrinement Weekend' banners mean? What building are they hanging from?

The "Enshrinement Weekend" was last month when this year's NBA Hall of Fame class was inducted. Of course, this year, Michael Jordan was among the inductees, so it was bigger than usual. I BELIEVE that those banners are hanging off of Symphony Hall.

 

[Boston02124]

Sturbridge town hall

 

[Boston02124]

Holyoke! Massachusetts's Detriot? This is a lot of pixs! I was there for less than a half an hour and was able to capture a good portion of the downtown

HHS

so far not bad!

city hall my destination!

inside city hall

looking out of city hall

Beautiful city hall

the area around City hall

across the street from the front door of City hall

and we bitch about Filenes,this looks like it's been here for decades!

this reminds me of my hometown(Fitchburg).

makes you wonder what was torn down?

I don't recall any other city in Mass. besides Boston/Brookline that has this many large older apt.buildings and more than half appear to be long gone by looking at the empty blocks of vacant lots!

beautiful part of Mass. anyone from the area who wants to give us some of its history that would be cool!

Easthampton? from the highway

Holyoke from the Highway

phew thats the longest one I did! like to hear some comments

 

[commuter guy]

terrific pics, some great old bldgs but so grim and moribund.

I've visited Detroit a few times. As hard as it is to believe, IMO Holyoke still has a long ways to go until it looks as bad as most of Detroit.

 

[Boston02124]

yeah really not as bad as Detriot ! I guess living in regenterfied Boston you don't think this exist in Mass. not even Roxbury looks this bad! A lot of these building look like they been boarded up for years!

 

[Shepard]

Holyoke is one of the few New England cities planned on a dense grid.

The architecture testifies to the density of this city at one point... a real shame that so much of it is in shambles now. It's remaining features remind me of Lowell - dense brick buildings, canals, warehouses, a real main street.

Unlike Lowell though, which exists as part of a larger metro area, I'm not sure what's going to draw people to (or "back to") Holyoke.

What's the future of the Springfield-Holyoke area?

 

[Boston02124]

anyone know some of the history of Holyoke? I know at one time it was much larger(population wise) any old pixs? luv to see them!

 

[Ron Newman]

I'm not sure what's going to draw people to (or "back to") Holyoke.

It's at the edge of a culturally lively area full of bright people (Five Colleges/'Happy Valley'). Surely that should help it some?

 

[Boston02124]

Holyoke part 2

on my way back to Boston

next up Framingham Mass.!

 

[cden4]

Wow Holyoke has so much potential. It looks like some of the downtown streets have revived a bit, but there are definitely lots of buildings that have just been totally neglected. The city appears to have great "bones". It just needs more jobs so that more people want to live there and will invest in the city!