Hamden: A Town In Which For People To Live

Incorporated in 1786, I am just one of the 58,180 people that live in the town of Hamden, CT. I have grown up here, and today we are going on a "virtual tour" of the town. According to Wikipedia (where all factual information for this piece was taken, so make of that what you will), "In 2008, Fortune Magazine and CNN Money picked Hamden as #33 on their 'Best Place to Live and Launch' list, citing Hamden's great blend of urban and suburban lifestyles. The article also pointed out Hamden's exceptional education system as well as its 'New England Charm'". All pictures included herein were taken by yours truly, except one.



View of the Hamden sign and fountain in the center of town.

Also according to Wikipedia, the first truss bridge in the U.S. was erected in Hamden in 1823. It has since been replaced. But far more important and interesting is that this is the birthplace of the great Ernest Borgnine! He is a graduate of Hamden High like myself.


Here is the sign for the "park" named in his honor. Observe the second view:


It is simply a patch of grass in front of a depressing brown wall in a busy section of town. I believe Mr. Borgnine deserves better. Actually, this picture makes it look a lot nicer than it actually is. Elsewhere in town, there was a driveway to a golf course named "Ernest Borgnine Way", but that has since been taken down to make way for a sign that says "please clean up after your dog". Shame shame shame, Hamden! Borgnine deserves better. That's my motto. However, I suppose we should be grateful for what we have.


Center of town with the town hall in the background. The town hall is now vacant and all municipal offices have been moved to a more modern complex. Other notable Hamdeners (Hamdenites?) include Paul Fusco, the creator of ALF (see the February blog post), Thornton Wilder, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (for a short time anyway), and, of course, the great Eli Whitney.


This is the toughest, most badass piece of graffiti in town.


"But Officer, I was just following the sign! The sign, I tell you! The sign!!!!!"


Hard to argue.


Guys, I know you want to be first in the phone book, but this is going a bit overboard with the "A's", isn't it? It's not even realistic anymore. I think they need to have a little more faith in the phone-book-using public, that they won't just pick the first one they see, if such people exist anymore.


Arguably one of the better shoppees in town. Of all the shoppees, and there are many shoppees, this is said to be the best shoppee. I've never actually been inside this shoppee, but a lot of shoppeers that have shoppeed here have told me that as far as shoppees go, this is a great shoppee.


They put two "N's" in the word "Kryptonnite" to avoid that lawsuit with Superman.

HONORABLE MENTION: GHOST PARKING LOT R.I.P.



Despite being in over 100 art books, and featured on that show hosted by Leonard Nimoy, this art installation in the Hamden plaza was torn down in 2003. Rather than just be a place where people shopped, the Hamden plaza had other weird art things as well, such as a "crying rock" - a stone that appeared to weep (???)and a bunch of cones attached to some metal rods on a very high pole. Sure, everyone that ever looked at the cars described it as an "eyesore", but is that any reason to get rid of a classic, distinguishing feature of a town? Just to take away its uniqueness and make it more bland and mediocre, indistinguishable from other towns in the USA and elsewhere? I grew up with those tar-covered hulks, and every time I would go to Child World or anyplace else, they would be there, presumably hoping someone would appreciate them. That day never came. Sorry tarry (if that is a word) cars, you will live on in all of our hearts.



Well, I hope you enjoyed this little trip through Hamden. I guess we can thank its "Exceptional education system" for giving me the ability to write and photograph this article. Hamden really is one of the better towns in Connecticut. Granted, I haven't been to them all, but Hamden is definitely in the top ten. Maybe the top fifteen. I am thankful not to live in Moodus, Moosup or Mianus, CT. Or even "Voluntown" (what a cop-out name for a town...As if a bunch of volunteers got together and founded a town: "I know! Voluntown!" I guess "Volunteertown" was too long. That's just lame, Voluntown. Just lame).
On that note, it's time to wrap it up. I need to go watch Scott Burrell demonstrate the Cotton Gin on the History Channel. This presentation brought to you by the Ill Bros. and Pablo.