“Be Here” is a tag line for a recent initiative by the City of Waterbury and the Waterbury Chamber of Commerce to entice new businesses and people to move to Waterbury. The City has just completed a $2.2 million renovation of the Green in downtown Waterbury, part of an effort to revitalize the downtown and entice new groups of people to the city center.

But who exactly does the city envision being here? National chain stores? College students? What about current downtown residents, bus riders, and business owners? The question is a complex one causing the community to ask itself, “Who should be here?”

Silas Bronson Library, the Urban and Community Studies Program at the University of Connecticut/Waterbury, and Connecticut Humanities will explore the topic through a two-part discussion that looks at issues related to urban development, immigration, and ethnicity and whose voices have, or have not, been heard in planning Downtown Waterbury’s future.

On October 26, 2017, at 5:30 PM, longtime CPTV and WATR host Larry Rifkin will moderate a panel of local scholars and historians who will look at the history of life in downtown Waterbury and address the question of “Who Was Here?” The session will examine immigration patterns, the various ethnic groups who have called downtown Waterbury home, and the changes to the area as the city’s industrial base moved away. Refreshments will be served. Click the button below to register for Part I.

On November 2, 2017, also at 5:30 PM, Larry Rifkin returns as a follow up to the October 26th “Who Should Be Here?” event to moderate a public discussion about “Here and Now” that will talk about where the city is today—and where it might go tomorrow. City stakeholders from residents, to public officials, to local merchants, to developers are invited to come and participate in an open dialogue together that allows everyone’s voices to be heard, questions to be asked, and visions discussed. Light refreshments will be provided. Click the button below to register for Part II.

Both events will take place at Silas Bronson Library, 267 Grand Street in Waterbury.