Tom Condon - Courant.com

A Eulogy For New London's St. Mary's School

Tom Condon — Wed, 30 May 2012 21:05:47 GMT

Society loses when Catholic schools shut down

Much is made, rightly, of the gains made by many charter schools. But as the writer Sol Stern observed about New York City, every time a charter school opens, two Catholic schools close because of financial difficulties.

Move Workers To Pearl Street, Turn Park Buildings Into High-End Housing

Tom Condon — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:25:13 GMT

Raze Pearl Street Building, Build New Offices

Pearl Street between Main and Trumbull streets is a forlorn and uninviting pocket of downtown Hartford, in large part because of two adjacent, long-vacant, 1960s-era office buildings at 95-101 and 111 Pearl St.

This Just In: Hartford Coming Back To Life

Tom Condon — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:46:24 GMT

Great Reversion: Boomers and millennials are coming back to urban America

Not too long ago, the streets of downtown Hartford were largely empty after business hours. As my pal Jack Dollard put it, you could roll a bowling ball down Main Street after business hours and not hit anything. It wasn't necessarily scary, just dull and depressing. How in the name of heaven could a downtown McDonald's close? McEnnui?

Turning North End Factory Into An Engine Of Change

Tom Condon — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:07:49 GMT

Can Rosanne Haggerty do it again?

State Leaves Super-Green Building Hanging

Tom Condon — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:44:00 GMT

The state made a commitment to clean energy several years ago. There would be grants and tax credits for energy-saving construction, and support for alternative sources of energy such as fuel cells. Relying on these promises, Fairfield developer Bruce Becker decided to build the largest and greenest residential project in the state.

Deeply Flawed Sex Offender Registry Needs Rethinking

Tom Condon — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:01:00 GMT

Study shows vast majority of sex offenders don't re-offend

If you go to the state's sex offender registry, you will come away with two impressions. One is that most sex offenders are child molesters. The "Welcome" section begins; "The Department of Emergency Services & Public Protection strives to keep the children of Connecticut safe each and every day. The protection of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens is a top priority ..."

Smart Thinking Underpins New Haven Revival

Tom Condon — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

I had lunch with former New Haven Mayor Richard C. Lee about a decade ago, not long before he went to that last fundraiser in the sky. Talk turned to the city's much-publicized urban renewal efforts of the 1950s and '60s. I asked why the program failed.

We Can't Afford To Lock So Many People Away

Tom Condon — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Connecticut's prisons costing much more than we thought

Two reports in the past week offer a bad-news, good-news incentive for prison reform. The first says prisons cost way more than we think they do (and we thought they were back-breakingly expensive). The second says we shouldn't put as many people in them as we do.

Smart Growth Means Economic Development

Tom Condon — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:49:00 GMT

Thursday night, I am the warm-up act for Catherine Smith, the commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Community Development, at a 1000 Friends of Connecticut gathering at 6:30 p.m. at Hartford's Union Station. For the few of you who can't make it, here's what I'm going to say:

Stuck On The Slow Bus To Ireland

Tom Condon — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:00:00 GMT

How I got on the bus to New York:

Future Arrives At Stamford's Harbor Point

Tom Condon — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

My wife and I were in Stamford a few Sundays ago to watch our niece from Virginia compete in a synchronized skating competition (a perfectly nice sport I had heretofore been unaware of).

Atlantic City's New Deal Brings Money, Marketing

Tom Condon — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 05:00:00 GMT

You gotta love Atlantic City. The small resort city in South Jersey has been up and down more than a journeyman welterweight. This is the town whose streets and landmarks are immortalized on the "Monopoly" board, the town that had, and lost, the Miss America Pageant.

Justice System Fails Richard Lapointe

Tom Condon — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:03:03 GMT

Manchester police lured Richard Lapointe down to headquarters on July 4, 1989, and kept him there; alone, hungry and confused, for nine-and-a-half hours. They were trying to pin the gruesome 1987 rape and murder of his wife's grandmother, Bernice Martin, on him.

Nothing Nostalgic About This Big Chill

Tom Condon — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 04:00:00 GMT

This is kind of like vacation without the fun. It's something like winter camping, an activity whose point or pleasure has long eluded me. And, it's really getting old.

Departing Florist Wilted Under Hartford's Taxes

Tom Condon — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:00:00 GMT

When I moved to Hartford in the 1970s there were more than two dozen flower shops in the city. Now there are just a handful, and the number is about to drop by one.

David Walker Potentially Strong Senate Candidate

Tom Condon — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:37:36 GMT

David Walker was traveling in Argentina a few years ago when he heard someone describe the country's failing fiscal philosophy: "A dollar borrowed is a dollar earned." I can imagine Walker wincing as he smiled, knowing the same could be said about this country's fiscal behavior.

Opinion: On The Dark Side Of 'The Pike': Sex Trafficking Of Minors

Tom Condon — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 14:13:00 GMT

Every couple of years someone submits an essay to this page about the Berlin Turnpike, about its kitsch, history, diners and bowling alleys, its "messy vitality." All of that is true, it just isn't the whole truth. The Pike, beloved of classic car cruisers, bowlers and shoppers, is also home to one of the vilest of crimes - sex trafficking of minors.

Bring I-84 To Ground In Hartford

Tom Condon — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 04:00:00 GMT

Remove Viaduct, Restore Downtown Hartford Connections

The subject of the meeting last April was what to do about the aging I-84 Viaduct in the center of Hartford. The group had been studying the issue for four years, mostly focusing on the elevated highway. Then someone looked at the map, which was confusing because the highway crossed the railroad line twice, and said, "What if we move the rail line?"

How To Revive Hartford, One Building At A Time

Tom Condon — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 04:00:00 GMT

A year ago, the first tenants moved into the graceful seven-story building at 410 Asylum Street in downtown Hartford, a major step in what historical preservationists (and hockey announcers) call "a great save." What was going to be a parking garage is instead a home to hundreds of people. A year later, it is well on its way to being a major success story — if they can just get a coffee shop.