Hamden Hunts For Its Brand

Liberté, égalité, fraternité? More like, community, diversity, & … femininity?

Those are some of the values Hamden residents say define their town — and suggest buzzwords the town may use to market itself to future residents and business owners.

Economic Development Director and Acting Town Planner Erik Johnson unveiled the first draft of his three year economic development plan last week, which introduces the goal of creating $500,000,000 of new development over a 10 year period.

The way Johnson intends to achieve that aim: Creating a Hamden brand strategy that will govern what steps the town should take — whether that’s establishing new tax incentive programs, investing in specific infrastructure upgrades, or expanding available open space — to become a place with a clear identity and story that will attract new development.

In his outline, Johnson states that the idea is about ​“defying the trend instead of being at the mercy of one.

“If the town’s planning process and investment decisions are solely based on prevailing data and demographic information, town goals will be reactive and not aspiration. Reliance on current data trends will result in a smaller vision for the town, which will not address the town’s revenue, growth and service needs,” Johnson wrote.

Last Tuesday, Johnson further spoke to what it will mean to brand Hamden while meeting with the town’s Economic Development Commission.

“The concept of manifest destiny is what I’m trying to embed in this plan,” he asserted. ​“The town can become what we envision as long as it’s built around some reasonably sound assumptions.”

Johnson, who grew up in New Haven, said ​“I remember Hamden always being a place that was relatively safe, with a strong sense of community and good schools with strong after school programs that promoted family living.”

“Ultimately you’re telling a story so that people believe it, and then you become the story and you’re like, well, why wouldn’t you want to live here? This is where it is,” said Johnson.

“Depending on what the target is, we need Hamden to become the default setting,” Johnson concluded, adding that the mission is to encourage residents to ​“live, work, shop and raise your children in Hamden.”

Broker Says Get Woker

“I love the idea,” real estate broker Carol Horsford told the Independent. ​“Everything is marketing these days.”

Horsford, who owns New Haven’s Farnam Realty Group, said she moved to Hamden in 2008 because ​“it was like an East Rock alternative.”

“It was close to the Yale campus but I could afford it — I couldn’t get anything decent in East Rock. I think for some people, Hamden is about affordability.”

Of course, she pointed out, Hamden’s hardest selling point is the town’s extraordinarily high taxes. 

“Don’t apologize,” she instructed. Say, ​“the town is great. This is why we’re expensive.”

“Not only are the schools amazing, but your facilities are good,” she said. ​“There are hockey teams, there’s the football team, there are gymnastic centers, great things for kids.” Though Horsford now lives in North Haven, she said she still drives her children to Hamden’s parks.

In many ways, Hamden’s brand may have stayed the same as Johnson’s early perception of the town. But as a realtor in Hamden ten years back, Horsford said, ​“There was a certain vibe… people were like… absolutely, I don’t want my kids going to Ridge Hill school,” she said.

“Now it’s a different generation,” she said. ​“The new homebuyer — the 20 to mid 30s homebuyer — they’re way more woke, they want more diversity.”

Hamden, she argued, poses in many ways the affordable alternative to New Haven. It can also be sold as the spot for young couples looking for a safe, creative town to raise their children.

“We’ve got a really great housing stock,” she said. ​“The construction and the design of the homes is sweet and I think the housing preservation over time has been better than some of the New Haven neighborhoods,” she said.

Though there are significant income disparities across town, Horsford pointed out, the more rural portion of Northern Hamden also features ranches and small homes that are more affordable than the ​“Spring Glen colonial.” Diversification of Hamden’s population is growing across north and south lines, she argued, because of that consistent range in affordability.

“There are expensive, beautiful houses too,” she said. Overall, Horsford argued, Hamden is ​“right close to the city, multifamily, it’s got the woods, it’s got the country.”

There is plenty of space for new housing and other developments, she added, to contribute to the image she had painted of Hamden — and to increase the town’s grand list.

The abandoned middle school, she said, ​“is a super fun site — I have developers who would love to get that land and build some beautiful apartments,” she said. ​“But it’s been derelict for 25 years.”

Horsford said that she herself considered purchasing a warehouse in Hamden for her personal business, but found out it had “$30,000 in taxes and I got a little scared.”

“Are there any incentives for women owned businesses in Hamden?” she asked. There should be, she said. 

Ultimately, the trick to selling Hamden, Horsford stated, is for the town to ​“be woke, own yourself, own the high taxes, and get a great spokesperson.”

Hamden: Kinda Fun For Kids?

If Hamden is considered the place to go to raise your kids, what do the kids think of their town and its future?

Ashlyn Shubert, 17, joked about the quality of Hamden’s school system, pointing to the recent controversies over metal detectors, student well-being, and in-school fighting. ​“Maybe we should wait until that dies down,” she suggested, before the town tries to market itself as a perfect place to bring up children.

Shubert said that the school is ​“taking steps to become safer” and more caring of kids — and she had plenty of thoughts on how the town could similarly become more ​“youth-oriented.”

“Let’s improve the layout,” she said. ​“Things are really inaccessible.”

Shubert said what she loves about Hamden involves thrifting at Goodwill, hanging out at Pine Rock Park, and the fact that her school and community ​“value individuality.”

What she doesn’t love is that the closest mall is 40 minutes away, and she usually has to drive everywhere she wants to go, rather than having the freedom to walk, bike, or catch a bus.

“I’d really like more smaller businesses and shops,” she said. ​“A really good bakery. I’m fond of museums, more concerts.”

She said that after she graduates, she hopes to live in a college town roughly half an hour away from a city. For example, she likes Haverford, which is 30 minutes away from Philadelphia.

Shubert knows that the dream she described is technically where she currently lives: Hamden is home to Quinnipiac University and borders the city of New Haven.

However, in order for Hamden to compete with the other spots she’s looking to move to, she said, it would have to further embrace its current relationship to individuality and diversity in order to grow its businesses, entertainment sphere, and connectivity.

Shubert’s peer, Nyla Brock, agreed.

The 17-year-old’s family moved 30 years ago from Virginia to Hamden for the school system, Brock said.

“It’s very diverse, has a good curriculum and programming. Our teachers are somewhat good,” she said.

For example, she said, one of her extracurricular activities is serving as a member of the Black and Hispanic Student Union. Right now she’s organizing an assembly for Black History Month.

The principal, she reported, is skilled at getting the high school to ​“come together as a community.”

And while Brock said she plans to stay in Connecticut in order to attend community college, a move she said will be most financially savvy for her family, community doesn’t always cut it.

“Connecticut as a whole, I just don’t like it,” she said. ​“I wish there were more things to do.”

“I want to go to an arcade instead of just being at the mall,” she said. ​“What about a waffle house?”

Some recent graduates walking throughout the Hamden Plaza echoed Shubert and Brock’s points of view.

Andrea Grant, a 21-year-old Hamden High grad who now lives next to Town Hall, said that she plans to move out of town soon because of ​“how horribly we get taxed” — and would only consider returning if she had kids she wanted to send through the school system, which she said boasted incredible diversity and arts programming.

There are definitely things she will miss about Hamden. ​“The scenery is really pretty,” she said. ​“Like the Merritt during the fall season,” she said with a dreamy sigh.

“And New Haven is right next to Hamden. You can go party there and chill out here.”

Her friends, who live in New Haven, Bridgeport, and Hartford added their views.

“I don’t go to Hamden at all — it’s a lot of shopping,” said Robert Diaz. ​“It’s just boring.”

“It’s more suburban and calm,” added Edwin Lugo. 

“It’s safer than downtown New Haven,” jumped in Passion Padilla. ​“The people are nicer… though the Karens are worse here,” she said with a laugh.

Hamden: Women's Biz Haven?

Away from the magic mile, over at Whitneyville’s Books & Co., prominent small business owners and staff Fran Paulman, Teresa Fields, and Sophia Rokas agreed that in their worlds, community comes first — but that that philosophy still has to develop throughout the broader town, especially as Hamden recovers from the effects of the pandemic.

“Whitneyville is an interesting corner,” said Paulman, who serves as Books & Co.’s director. ​“It’s all women-owned businesses,” she pointed out: From the Soup Girl, to the framing shop, to the community yoga center.

“It’s probably because there’s water behind us,” she reflected, referring to Lake Whitney. ​“And not turbulent water — it’s calm. The feng shui here is really good for women businesses.”

Paulman first got her job at Books & Co. six years ago after coming to Connecticut following an RV venture through Oregon and Canada.

“I like this job and I like this place,” said Paulman. 

Paulman met Teresa Fields, who founded the coffee shop ​“Legal Grounds,” which now operates in the back of Books and Co. after years of serving drinks and bagels out of Best Video, at the Whitneyville Fall Festival. That was an annual event that took place in the neighborhood for eight years, thanks to Fields’ organizing, before it halted in 2020.

The pair said that the bookstore has informed and represents their commitment to community. ​“All ages come through here,” Fields said. ​“Moms and kids, the elderly, Justin is always campaigning here,” she laughed, referring to Fifth District Council Rep. Justin Farmer.

“We banter on politics,” she said. ​“It is a bubble — I do have a bubble,” she admitted. ​“But it really is a community.”

Individuals from Davenport-Dunbar, a senior low-income housing apartment building, often drift over to the store. The strict mask mandate, Fields argued, makes clients ​“feel safe.”

The sense of belonging and family at Books & Co. is strong enough that past employee Sophia Rokas returns to the shop each week to visit.

Rokas said that her mother met Fields ​“on the streets of Spring Glen” and immediately became close friends.

“They were eccentric, cut from the same cloth,” she said.

When Rokas struggled to feel connected to her peers throughout her school years, she always had Fields, and later Paulman, to chat with while she helped put fresh bagels out on display and prepare the coffee shop for customers each morning.

Fields noted, however, that there are barriers to getting more youth to participate in the bookstore community. They are the same ones expressed by the 17-year-old Shubert.

First of all, it’s near impossible to get anywhere without a car. There used to be an SCSU student who would volunteer at the shop, Fields said, but she had to give up the job because it was too difficult to get from campus to the store.

“There’s so much opportunity and so many people willing to put in the time,” said Fields. ​“There are so many creative people in this town. My philosophy has always been community first!”

“What’s missing is something for teenagers,” she added. While the town has an excellent school system with student diversity that trained her children to become ​“very adept at negotiating their place in their communities,” Fields said, the town either needs to invest in more bus routes or bigger bike lanes to allow youth to independently navigate the place in which they live.

The bookstore is looking forward to creative summer programming, including activities aimed at youth, Paulman said — but that she hopes the town can expand parking area around the neighborhood and initiate more partnerships and town sponsored events in order to stop relying on individuals like Fields to keep communities connected.

No matter how others see Hamden, the trio shared their own vision of a creative and diverse community led by progressive thinkers, made that way by access to affordable housing, city life, and fresh open air.

Like Horsford, they said, ​“we believe in being woke.” 

“As in, we believe in coffee and literacy,” Paulman laughed.