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Plaudits For Greater Hartford

'Fit' And 'Best' Hartford, West Hartford cited by national magazines

Hartford Courant

June 01, 2010

Greater Hartford's self-image always needs a boost, and last week got two gold stars.

Forbes magazine named Hartford as one of America's fittest cities. The city, as Mayor Eddie Perez noted, has an array of programs — health fairs, mobile mammography clinics, farmers' markets — that promote a healthy lifetyle.

One of its best assets is simply that it is a fairly dense city. As a study several years ago in New York found, people who live in dense cities tend to walk more, and hence weigh less. It's an asset Hartford might trumpet — especially in this dark time, when the city's mayor is on trial on corruption charges.

Also, Kiplinger, the personal finance magazine, named West Hartford one of its "10 Best Cities for the Next Decade," joining such hot towns as Austin, Tex., Washington, D.C., and Burlington, Vt. West Hartford made the list because "it is transforming itself from a suburb into a destination — in this case, a regional destination for shopping and dining." The magazine cited the town's schools, parks and other amenities including Blue Back Square.

West Hartfordites have long boasted of their city's superb schools and magical little center — long before Blue Back extended the center and made it even more magical. A Top 10 city? Residents already knew that.