Toters Rolling Wild

Can Downtown Stamford lose the “high school cafeteria” look we are rocking with the giant toter bins everywhere? They seemed to have replaced the old decorative garbage cans. For the last year or so they’ve been popping up all over the parks as well to similar effect.

There is no sense of permanence to the toters, creating a rather cheap and undignified look. On a more practical level, the toters can pose hazards to pedestrians and drivers. The cans are light enough to be easily tipped, dumping trash and blocking the sidewalk and streets.

I’m sure the reasoning is they are cheaper & easier for the city. And that’s precisely how they look. Class it up a little CTW.

What 1989 thought 1995 Would Look Like

Talking about the hole has become incredibly boring. That said, “Woonsocket54” on the Connecticut Development News forum page over at Skyscraper City found an amusing picture.

This is the cover of what looks to be a text book from the late eighties/ early nineties (?) called “Contemporary Urban Planning: Second Edition” by John M Levy.

Stamford graces the cover and if you look carefully and you’ll notice infill pictured in the hole – Actual proposal? Academic exercise? Not sure.

Mill River Project Time Lapse

Anybody else want to see this with some Benny Hill music in the background?

Some of the early time lapse videos are here.

According to the latest newsletter from the Mill River Collaborative, the work on the channel will be completed and have the river re-diverted into it by end of year. Then in the spring the banks will be planted with native species.

Starwood Comes to South End

POSSIBLE CORRECTION: An existing BLT owned building in the South End, 333 Ludlow St, looks to be the likely destination for Starwood, not the planned Gateway building.


So the mystery company Malloy was teasing for a move to Stamford recently is Starwood Hotels.

Starwood would move to half of Gateway, a Harbor Point property adjacent to the train station and the Mill River.

The move is slated for 2012 – which would mean the building would probably have to break ground in the immediate future to meet that deadline.

This is the last iteration of the project we’ve seen, although it seems there are some changes that might not be reflected in the renderings. Parking has apparently moved below grade and will incorporate about 500 commuter spaces to absorb whatever changes ultimately come to the station garage. That will most likely be an improvement over the clunky garage hanging off the back in the last set of renderings.





The project would also include up to 200 housing units on site and an extension of the Mill River greenway – although both of those elements have some points of contention and are still in flux. The city wants more greenway than is currently offered in the Gateway plan and a commitment to a increased percentage of affordable housing. It looks like two of the properties in the footprint still need to be acquired which might be why this portion isn’t fully flushed out.

As one of the commenters on the previous post pointed out, it will be interesting to see if this has any implication on the Harbor Point Hotel, planned for the Phase 1 of construction, albeit yet to go vertical.

The Tortoise & the Hare

Election day – get out and vote!

I haven’t blogged much on the election, mostly because neither candidate excited me very much to be honest. I filled my bubble this morning though for Martin.

To me, this campaign has felt like the Tortoise & the Hare.

Pavia is our hare, he’s flashier, his message is easier to digest. Pavia was here in Stamford first, he’s in government… then out, here.. then off to South Carolina… now back! Pavia’s signs are everywhere, they are twice the size… they have his picture one them! (Random aside - Pavia signs also seem to have a lock on abandoned store fronts, empty buildings & lots. Not sure what to read into that)

Martin is our tortoise. He’s not flashy and has a lame tagline. Martin choose to come live here and stay, and serve in city government for over 25 years. The Advocate endorsed him as more deliberate, in touch and detailed with the particulars. He’s passing out literature while Pavia is beeping horns.

Martin is addressing Scofield with the more permanent, albeit somewhat slower process of laying underground pipes to bring in the clean water. Pavia wants to immediately lay above ground pipes – without first considering that they would probably freeze in the winter.

In a debate each candidate was asked what one project would they tackle if they had unlimited resources to do so. Martin picked his one project as establishing the UConn satellite as a full residential college in Stamford – as both a way to enliven the downtown and providing an intellectual base for future leadership. Pavia picked developing a great master plan… and addressing the Scofield issue… and reopening Wright Tech… and puppies and kittens for everyone.

Pavia wants to bring his business sensibility to government. That’s certainly not a theme unique to Pavia - but it feels especially tired in the age of sector after sector of business lining up to the government for a bailout. As the sins of our collective past are forming up like Voltron to attack – it’s probably best not continue our government in the “business model”, which can be chronically short sided immediate gain at the expense of long term stability.

In more ways than one way it felt like Pavia had the lead the race, but then again we all know the end to the fable. We’ll see tonight who reaches the finish line first.