Middletown and CPBN's 'Where We Live'

John Dankosky's 'Where We Live' show on CPBN is a daily radio program that can be heard locally on WNPR at 9 a.m. Monday to Friday (and it's rebroadcast at 7 p.m.). His topics range from smart growth to local educational and arts/culture initiatives to corruption in Connecticut. The last two programs (Wednesday and Thursday) have been particularly interesting. On Wednesday John interviewed Bill Finch, mayor of Bridgeport. Bridgeport's challenges are not unlike those that face Middletown, and it sounds like Finch is doing a good job in building confidence after the disastrous Ganim administration. He also said some very nice things about Middletown - about midway through the program (I would estimate it to be around minute 30).

Yesterday's program (Thursday) was even more interesting. The topic was the proposed commuter line along the 'Knowledge Corridor' from New Haven to Springfield. John's guests were Joseph Marie, ConnDOT's new commissioner, along with West Hartford State Representitive David McCluskey and Urban Compass blogger Heather Brandon. Herb Singleton of the Pioneer Valley Advocates for Commuter Rail (north of the border) briefly joined the show around minute 30 or so. And Shelby Mertes of the Partnership for Strong Communities was on the show toward the end, around minute 43, to discuss the great need for the development of affordable housing located close to the rail stations. All the participants were wonderfully engaging and forward-thinking, though they disagreed on several points. One mini-debate concerned the scale of parking facilities that would serve the stations along the line, such as in Meriden, Hartford, Wallingford, etc., and how to make the facilities pedestrian and cyclist-friendly. Another disagreement concerned whether the project is 'shovel ready'. The show was introduced with a tape of Governor Rell saying that the project is not shovel ready, but McCluskey disagreed vehemently. And, of course, the cooperation of AMTRAK was another important variable.

And happily, even though Middletown is not on the proposed line (for obvious geographic reasons, though I feel there are ways to overcome this), we did get an extended mention on this program as well - beginning at 21:25. A caller named Arlene from Middletown phoned in to the show to say that she'd moved here a year ago from Greenwich and was surprised to discover that a place as large as Middletown had no rail service. This was amplified by an emailer from Middletown (I admit it, it was me), part of which John read on the air, concerning the irony that the 'knowledge corridor' commuter rail was going to miss Middletown, home of Wesleyan University, one of the state's premier liberal arts institutions, and a thriving commercial and cultural center in its own right. The comments by Heather Brandon that followed made reference to Wesleyan and to Middletown's local nightlife, restaurants, etc., and how young and old alike really could use more options when it came to moving around the state. McCluskey echoed these comments, though he noted that we are on a different line.

Two excellent shows, especially yesterday's. Listening to Dankosky, McCluskey, Brandon, Marie, Singleton, and Mertes was electrifying. Very talented, smart people, with the social and economic future of Connecticut foremost in mind. let's hope that Rell and the legislature gets their collective acts together, AMTRAK gets on board, and the municipalities do the right thing. You can download the broadcast here. There are also links on the right side of that page that elaborate points made and the various emails received.