New Haven Independent

The breakfast celebration, held Thursday at the Criterion Theater, drew a throng of 200 downtown business people, non-profit leaders, architects, boosters, and politicians, from the mayor to the entire staff of the city’s Office of Economic Development. And with good reason: As the mayor, the keynote speaker, cited in his remarks, downtown is not only the emotional but also the economic heart of the city: “There are 75,000 jobs in New Haven, and 40 percent are downtown.”

To keep it thriving, 390 businesses and taxable properties, within a 27-block downtown area (the Town Green Special Services District), submit to self-taxing (an additional 1.85 mils). That money is reinvested in the area. That’s what pays for the Clean Team, the squads of downtown ambassadors who meet and greet, the large flower planters, holiday decorations, and much more behind-the-scenes work to promote and improve all aspects of downtown life.

Is it working? Yes, according to architect Richard Munday (pictured above with the mayor) who was chatting with the mayor about the changing face of downtown. “We agreed that what has happened in the last ten years is remarkable,” he said. “Having people on the streets here again, and at night, walking together, because of the change in the business landscape and people moving back to live downtown, it’s phenomenal. Propinquity is the word. That makes for a community.”

But there’s always another problem to work on, such as New Haven’s never-ending struggle with urban transportation. Using the gathering to explore ideas on this front were (from left to right) Brooke M. Hoberman, a coordinator with Rideworks, an officer of the state Department of Transportation that promotes non—solo-driven car based transportation like carpooling, rail and bike (she said even Pogo sticks are encouraged if you live close enough); Judith Falango, vice president for communications at NewAlliance Bank; and Jock Reynolds, director of the Yale University Art Gallery. Here’s a sampling:

Reynolds: Our museum and the downtown are flourishing, and since the Kahn Building has reopened, attendance has tripled, including lots of people from out of town. They get here easily by taxi from the train station, but getting back to the train is a real hassle. There should be a taxi stand at the corner of High and Chapel. Why couldn’t you talk to DOT, rip out of few of those parking meters? It would make a difference.

Hoberman: I know someone at DOT you could talk to, but have you spoken with the city?

Reynolds: Yes, I’ve talked with the city, but so far no response. There actually should be more than a taxi stand.

Hoberman: Yes, the electric trolleys might be able to make that run. Or some sort of van service.

Reynolds: Maybe that’s why I haven’t heard. Maybe that’s competition for the taxis. But it would really make a difference in terms of the quality of the whole experience being here.

Jean T. Stimolo, Rideworks director, was eager to tell a reporter about a Rideworks program called Telecommute CT. Established eight years ago, it has worked with 180 companies, sending experts into companies to speak with managers on how easy and important it could be to set up such a work-at-home program.

“Imagine your business is expanding,” she said, “and you can’t find new space for it, but if a good part of it is, for example, data entry, people can do that at home. Some of the staff comes in Monday and Wednesday. Then others Tuesday and Thursday. There are lots of ways to set this up. We can help a manager get this started. At Saint Raphael’s, and other institutions that have to function in emergencies, what difference does it make where the switchboard operator picks up the call from? This can make a huge difference in traffic and efficiency.”

In other Rideworks initiatives, Stimolo pointed to Yale-New Haven Hospital, which recently started a program that pays employees half the cost of their monthly commute, up to $45 per month, if they come in via bus or train.

Amidst the awards-giving, the Town Green District’s executive director, Scott Healy (shown here with the Clean Team and the ambassadors), and the mayor pronounced downtown thriving and healthy. Residential occupancies holding and commercial vacancies are at an all time low. The mayor praised an entrepreneurial sense of self-interest that finds fulfillment in one another and in accomplishing more by working together than separately: “I didn’t create this downtown. The city didn’t. You did, working in this fashion.”

In answers to several questions from the audience the mayor said the future expansion of downtown may depend on getting DOT to close down some of the off ramps of Route 34. “If they do that, say exit one, that will give us 11 acres to develop. We can link the train station and the medical area directly to Temple and George where we are now. Imagine that.”

He also cited the importance of healing other of what he termed the “wounds” or the breaches of dead use along Rte 34. He cited the importance of the upcoming I-95 re-do, developing Brewery Street, the landfill area behind Long Wharf, and connecting all that to downtown through Church Street South. (It needs a lot of work to make it friendlier, less institutional, he said.)

On a smaller but no less important scale, this young woman, Rachel Grazianow, wanted to know what the mayor or the members of the district might suggest for her to do to rent space to open a dance studio. “I went to all the fine New Haven arts public schools, Betsy Ross, ECA, and I graduated from Coop. Now I want to give back. Where can I find space to open a business?”

The mayor candidly suggested she avoid Chapel — too expensive — and sent her to Erector Square, where he thought the arts community would embrace her.

Healy announced, by way of concluding, two new initiatives for the district: a reinvigorated attempt to recruit new businesses to downtown and help for current ones to thrive so as to keep that vacancy rate low. In addition, he announced Clean Start, a program to offer employment to people who, because of criminal incarceration in their background, often drug-related, have found it nearly impossible to obtain employment elsewhere. “We’re going to hire some of these people to do cleaning and landscaping along the corridors that lead to downtown: Dixwell, Grand, and other major avenues. Just as the mayor urged you to hire kids this summer, to give them a quality experience at work, teaching them the virtues of showing up on time and so forth, the Town Green District is committed to giving these people a second chance.”

After receiving their acknowledgement, Wynkoop and Haynes (pictured at the top) were back on the job. What did they think of their work for the Clean Team? “I remember the way downtown used to be,” Wyncoop said. “It used to be a ghost town. Now you feel a kind of dignity when you walk around.”

It’s clear that the Town Green District is committed not only to greening the landscape of things without, but of people within. For listings of programs, events, ways to participate in the varied activities, click here.