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TEASE
The
Connecticut Town Green …
For
nearly 400 years, the town common has been a treasured part of civic life -
-providing state residents with an historic sense of place.
Next,
THE GREEN
OPEN
The
green is a central part of most Connecticut towns … a hardy survivor of 400
years and a powerful symbol of classic New England civic, social and religious
virtues
JEFFERSON
DAVIS: There are particular parts of Connecticut that are essential to our
sense of being and greens are absolutely a part of that.
ANN SMITH:
I think the town green is the place that sums up the community’s sense of
itself.
JOHN
DEMOS: This is where we come together to kind of reaffirm our most basic
values and commitments to one another.
DALE
PLUMMER: Greens are somehow symbolic of our democracy, of our kind
of‑New England's way of life, our tradition of town meetings.
NARRATOR:
More than an icon, the green remains for many towns the heart of their
community.
Some
of Connecticut’s 172 greens are in the middle of cities, some in the
countryside. Some anchor residential neighborhoods, others busy town centers.
Some towns have several greens, others have none.
Yet,
despite their remarkable survival, the history of these public spaces is often
misunderstood, reflecting four centuries of changing usage and attitudes.
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