Eva Landau.
Driving down College Street, my car packed with groceries, I noticed for the third day this week there were no legitimate parking spaces available. Not wanting to add to my costly history of finding bright orange tickets on my windshield, I pulled the car into the parking garage and balanced six bags of food up and down my arms and set off for the Taft Apartments.
By the time I reached my door my arms were red and sore. I threw the food into the refrigerator and sat down at my laptop. The sounds of ambulances and motorcycles screamed out my window making it hard to concentrate on anything. I showered and got into bed, assuming I would make it an early night. As I lay staring out my window at the sun setting behind the beautiful buildings of downtown New Haven, I heard a jazz band starting their set at the restaurant across the street. Just then I got a call from a friend. She was pulling into the parking garage and was on her way to hear the jazz music. Within five minutes I was dressed to go out and sitting in the restaurant, instantly a part of the vibrant city nightlife.
Some people don’t like living amid all that noise and commotion. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
As a lifelong New Havener, I always looked up at the Taft Apartment building with admiration and wonder. Is it really like a hotel in there? What is it like to live downtown? Is it just like living in New York? When I graduated college and got a job a few years ago, the Taft was the first place I went. I looked at a few of the apartments and chose my new home. That’s where my downtown adventure began.
I have a spacious one-bedroom apartment to spread out and relax in, while I am simultaneously a guest at every party on College Street. Live bands and DJs, groups of friends laughing on the sidewalk or in conversation outside of the Owl Shop and Claire’s, parades, plays; I’m a part of it all. The frequent noises of downtown living are just what I always imagined city living to include. Constant buses and cars, the music so loud it feels like the event is right in my bedroom, and after it’s all over around 5 a.m., the comforting sound of the homeless people picking through the trash for discarded cans and bottles.
All of these noises are exactly what I signed on for because they provide the reassuring feeling that I’m not secluded. I’m independent without being stranded. Even though, as a member of the workforce, I have missed most of the Taft’s mixers and don’t know many of my neighbors, I know that if I absolutely needed anything, all I would have to do is crash the party downstairs and I would be rescued.
Entertainment is a constant downtown. Although I work frequently when I am home, I take my breaks (and get my exercise) by walking a loop around a few of my favorite clothing stores to see what they have in the window. I have adapted the persona of a great hostess because whenever I have guests I just take credit for everything that downtown has already provided. When friends and family visit, I walk across the street and give them a great meal. Then I go next door and show them a play or musical at the Shubert. I always have great works of art to show off at the Yale art galleries and if the weather is nice, a picnic or stroll through the historic New Haven Green. Needless to say, living in the middle of so much activity has made me a popular person to visit.
Not only do I feel a connection to the activity downtown but I also feel connected to the history, mainly because my family has been a part of small businesses on these blocks for years. My great Uncle Casey owned Casey’s Restaurant on College Street, known for hosting noted actors in the days when the Shubert held try-outs for Broadway. This is where my grandfather worked as a child; as a teenager he worked as an usher at the Shubert.
Years later, my parents owned Book World on Chapel Street, a 24-hour, 365-day a year book store where they met all kinds of people and where I would swing in the window as a baby. Throughout my childhood I was told stories and memories about the great things that happen in downtown New Haven. Now, living in the Taft, I have the chance to make my own memories.