Archive for the 'Fun' Category
Patchwork Roof
I’ve seen patchwork quilts, but had never seen a patchwork roof before. Until last week in West Hartford…
From what I can tell from the picture, it looks like a minimum of 8 different types of roofing shingles have been used at various times in this roof’s life. Quite a piece of art!
Creative Use of Small Space in Hong Kong
We see real estate stories about the smallest apartment, house, or whatever all the time. This one caught my eye because it shows an inspired use of a small space.
Gary Chang, a Hong Kong designer, transformed his 360 sqft apartment into an incredibly functional space using rolling walls that appear to be inspired by the moveable stacks often seen at town records departments, and sometimes in libraries. It looks like he put everything that needed plumbing into the outside walls, and must have figured out a way to manage the electric cables, so that he could roll his TV to wherever he wants it to be. Very creative – check it out.
Forbes: Hartford a Top City for Working Mothers
ForbesWoman recently released a study identifying the “Best Cities for Working Mothers” in 2010. Hartford finished 7th out of the top 50 metropolitan regions in the country.
The magazine ranked each city based on six factors: Women’s Income, Living Cost, Pediatricians, Unemployment, Violent Crimes, and Spending per Pupil. Their idea was to try to capture a variety of issues that all play into mysterious phrases like “quality of life” and “work-life balance.” Some may debate the specific factors selected, as many comments on the article’s page do, but from our point of view this is an opportunity to celebrate Greater Hartford as a nice to place to live regardless of whether the criteria are exactly right.
In the final shakeout, Hartford scored very well with the 3rd highest income, 3rd highest spending per pupil, and 4th lowest violent crime rate. Holding us back were our high cost of living (40th lowest in their terms) and low number of pediatricians (42nd lowest). Our unemployment rate was ranked right in the middle at 24th lowest. The final rankings come from weighting the different categories. This year Forbes placed a greater emphasis on strong salaries and low crime, both of which are strengths of Hartford.
Congratulations to the towns, businesses, and citizens that make up Greater Hartford!