Windham (Willimantic), Bridgeport, and Hartford have been dogged by negative perceptions for decades. This was best exemplified by a 2016 viral video which counted down the alleged “ten worst” places in Connecticut. Which the video was heavily criticized, it is still online and racking up more and more views. Mieum Media reached out to the ten cities targeted by this video, and today we bring you responses from City Manager Jim Rivers, Council President Gwendolyn Thames, and Mayor Joe Ganim about their respective cities.
Introduction:
Derby, New London, Waterbury:
Meriden, New Britain, New Haven:
Extended Interview with Mayor Joe Ganim:
Extended Interview with Council President Gwendolyn Thames: Coming soon!
Extended Interview with City Manager Jim Rivers:
Citations:
#1: McNulty, Frederick. “Hartford is the Third Best City in the U.S. for Women in Business. What Does That Mean?” Mieum Media, 26 Dec. 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9CYD72-_Wk. Accessed 23 May 2019.
#2: McNulty, Frederick. “Rap Gives Back: How One Hartford Teacher is Using Music to Help the Homeless.” Mieum Media, 5 Dec. 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWZLvQgsfd8. Accessed 23 May 2019.
#3: McNulty, Frederick. “CT Might Legalize Pot. But Some Activists Say That’s Not Enough.” Mieum Media, 16 Jan. 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK4DV6hivFo. Accessed 23 May 2019.
#4: McNulty, Frederick. “Should Connecticut Raise the Tobacco Age from 18 to 21?” Mieum Media, 24 Apr. 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNntJqOlSAA. Accessed 23 May 2019.
#5: McNulty, Frederick. “What is the Future of the No Tolls CT Movement?” Mieum Media, 22 May 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwzUiZahvIo. Accessed 23 May 2019.
#6: McNulty, Frederick. “Flu is Widespread in CT. People Are Dying. Should We Be Worried?” Mieum Media, 6 Feb. 2019, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgP-x0SVPXw. Accessed 27 May 2019.
#7: Mieum Media called all of the Subway restaurants in Bridgeport as of March 2019. None said that they have bulletproof glass such as depicted in the video at 3:36.
#8: Cooljoy7. “비만가 클라스 흔한 천조국의 패기 모음.” Happy Virus!!!, 15 Nov. 2013, jooan.tistory.com/3752.
The image at 3:39 seems to come from a Korean website without any evidence that it was originally captured in Bridgeport. In fact, there are no Walmart branches in the city.
#9: The truck in the image at 3:41 not only bears an address in the Bronx, but is clearly parked outside of a New York City subway station.
#10: Yellin, Tal. “Do You Live Near a Meth Lab?” CNN, money.cnn.com/interactive/news/meth-lab-map/.
The map at 1:03 actually shows that Windham County has 0 meth labs.
#11: “A Drugged Man Smoking Weed.” VectorToons, vectortoons.com/products/a-drugged-man-smoking-weed.
Not to be too nitpicky, but the cartoon character at 1:09 is actually a user of marijuana, not of methamphetamines.
#12: “Live Fire Training in McK.” McKinleyville Press Blog, 13 July 2010, mckinleyvillepress.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/live-fire-training-in-mck/.
The image at 3:51 was originally captured in McKinleyville, California – not in Hartford, Connecticut.
#13: It is difficult to tell if the narrator was making a joke or being serious about a “tumbleweave” being spotted in Hartford, Connecticut. It is indeed a meme online, but I found no evidence of its ties to Hartford.
#14: ”FY2018 Recommended Budget.” City of Hartford, http://www.hartford.gov/images/budget/rec-18/Recommended%20Budget%20for%20FY2018%20-%20FINAL.pdf.
#15: Johnson, Nick. “The 10 WORST PLACES in CONNECTICUT Explained.” YouTube, 11 Oct. 2016, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSdLEQv3zrQ. Accessed 17 May 2019.
#16: “Court of Common Council.” City of Hartford, http://www.hartford.gov/council. Accessed 24 May 2019.
#17: “Piano Hollow Night.” TeknoAXE, 16 Mar. 2013, teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_4.php?q=339. Accessed 21 May 2019. File originally posted online under an applicable Creative Commons license.
#18: “I’ll Have a Reuben Please.” TeknoAXE, 24 Feb. 2017, teknoaxe.com/Link_Code_4.php?q=1189. Accessed 21 May 2019. File originally posted online under an applicable Creative Commons license.
#19: Outro Song: “Fill Me In” by Atwaters featuring Yeon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW0iKqFMoxo Used with artist’s consent. The contents and views of this video may not necessarily be shared with the artist.
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