Biggs, Julian Glascock, Baylis

Description

Realtor and Blue Hills neighborhood community member Colin Bennett speaks about the state of housing in the City of Hartford and his sense of what it means for residents to have access to decent housing. He discusses how his firm is in the process of advocating for the Greater Hartford Development Fund to loan the city $100,000 for cases in which landlords refuse to make improvements to substandard properties. Bennett argues that home ownership is key to transforming the relationship residents have to their city and themselves. He also explains that this is the tradition in his country of origin (Jamaica) as well as for the black community dating back to the earlier part of the twentieth century when many were migrating from the South. He believes it is important that houses are built and made available for purchase through federal, state, and city programs. He also offers a vision of hope that this time of unrest is part of the community’s growing pains and that the current anger can be transformed into constructive development if everyone works together.

Record Contributed By

Hartford History Center, Hartford Public Library

Record Harvested From

Connecticut Digital Archive