Aida Velez, Program Coordinator
Mayor Eddie Perez

The Hartford area provides an opportunity to conveniently live in an urban, suburban, or country setting. Many housestaff live in the city and enjoy the proximity to hospitals as well as the many opportunities often found in urban settings. Theater, film, music, sports, and restaurants are all within easy reach. Around the city are towns that retain their New England heritage with town centers and many recreational areas. Many small and charming rural communities are only a little farther away.

Most settings have easy access to the full range of opportunities in the region. The Hartford Stage is a Tony Award-winning regional theater. Hartford hosts Broadway road shows at the Bushnell Memorial Auditorium, which is also a venue for the symphony, ballet, and other cultural activities. The Wadsworth Atheneum is the city's art museum, with a large permanent collection and varied temporary exhibits. For concerts, Hartford has the Civic Center and a new outdoor amphitheater, The Meadows. Music in more intimate settings can be found ranging from classical and experimental at the Hartt School of Music as well as jazz at several regional coffee houses.

Hartford provides many choices for sports fans. The Hartford Wolf Pack bring professional hockey to the city, while the UConn Huskies provide excitement for basketball enthusiasts. The men's and women's team won the NCAA championship in 2004. The New Britain Rock Cats, our own AA team, bring baseball fun to the region. For outdoor enthusiasts, there are opportunities for canoeing or tubing on the local rivers, hiking, ballooning, cross country skiing, and fishing. For gourmets there are a wide range of restaurant cuisine and markets available. From standard American, French, Italian, or Chinese fare to Laotian, Thai, Vietnamese, Jamaican, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and New York Deli — Hartford allows you to help yourself.

Getting here is easy. With major highway, rail and airline access, Hartford isn't hard to reach.

Please contact the Connecticut Chamber of Commerce for more information about the Hartford area: www.metrohartford.com