A tale of two wards
Kate Bowden ’11 said she wanted to run for the Ward 1 seat on the Board of Aldermen. She had a platform, a campaign manager and a heartfelt desire to help bring about change in the Elm City.
But there was just one problem: Bowden does not live in Ward 1. She lives in Timothy Dwight College, which is part of the neighboring Ward 22.
“The whole process was very disheartening,” Bowden said. “It’s disheartening because I thought that serving my community as an alderwoman was a good goal.”
Because of the mandates set by the city’s charter, each of New Haven’s 30 wards...
"Four colleges and Swing Space are all currently represented by Ward 22, a district which also includes parts of the infamously crime-ridden Dixwell neighborhood"
Statistically, "Dixwell" is safer than just about any other neighborhood in New Haven, and safer than many suburban towns. You're probably thinking of Newhallville, which is farther up Dixwell Avenue. Please check your facts.
I don't think it's fair to characterize Dixwell as an "infamously crime-ridden Dixwell neighborhood." Sure, it has its share of crime that poorer neighborhoods have, but not more so that other similar areas of New Haven. Furthermore, it adds to the stigma of non-Yale parts of New Haven to tell Yalies that Dixwell is a scary place where you should never. I volunteer at the Wexler-Grant school in Dixwell twice a week and walk around there with the students I mentor, and I'm not in a constant state of terror. That sentence exaggerates the current state of affairs and describes the neighborhood in an unnecessarily harsh light.
This is hilarious -- that a UOC member made this [major] oversight makes it even more amusing. Would it be possible to get a framed version of this article?
She would make a fine Alder. Run in 22
Bring with you your intuition and insight
..CommuniversityQuiltPatchWardsShellGameFud....bring your soup ladel, and potion for the potables, bring your new suburbanite friends and introduce them as the Mayors people - and they're here to help.
@Yale 08, just to clarify: I'm a UOC member; Kate Bowden, the subject of this article, is not. I know Kat(i)e was a popular name in the late 80's and it gets confusing, but we're actually different people!
Ah, my mistake ... speaking of oversights. :-P Even so, it's still ironic that the subject of the article was so enthused about representing a district that she forgot to make sure whether or not she lived in it!
Yale 08,
As a New Haven Citizen & a commissioner, I can assure you, the Ward boundaries are confusing to EVERYONE :). Not just enthusiastic Yale students who want to do some good.
Actually, Yale08, I know her story and the problem was not that she wasn't aware of the Ward boundaries (she very well knew that she was in Ward 22), but that she was not allowed to move colleges into Ward 1 (and also couldn't afford to move into Ward 1 off-campus housing). The crux of the story is that Yale administration stifled a student's opportunity to represent her community, something the writer did not do a very good job of highlighting.
THAT's the mysterious 4th candidate? what a wacky story! this dynamic sheds some interesting light on city government.
although is there no more productive way to talk about the disparities ward 22 than the blanket-statement ghettoizing on display here?