A visiting Korean says goodbye to New Haven

Editor’s note: The writer asked the Register to correct and clarify his “broken-English” so the intent of his oped is not misconstrued. We decided not to edit it. We believe it is his “broken-English” that perfectly illustrates his point as to why New Haven is a great place to be.

“Every city has a past and every past has a future (Amistad — a past for the future; Sunday Register July 1),” reconfirm many wonderful articles on The New Haven Register’s Top 50 Series. These waning days of my sabbatical year at Yale, I often get struck by how fortunate I am to have lived in New Haven, a diverse and inclusive community.

My initial expectation was not that high.

A small city, perhaps largely dependent on Yale? The unsuccessful attempt for the Amazon HQ2 Sweepstakes, a long shot anyway. General Electric’s departure from Connecticut. Efforts to attract firms don’t work well; how to keep entrepreneurial talents matters more. The Constitution State’s long budget stalemate in 2018 damaged area schools. Everybody knows that the city is not America’s safest town. So sad to hear how Harvard students mock when they get back to Cambridge after defeat in The Game. So relieved, the city showed a significant decrease in 2017 in homicide, robbery, assault and rape.

This city boasts of justified, timehonored pride — even apart from Yale. To my international guests, I proudly give a short lecture on the city’s rich history. As a planner myself, my favorite is that the Elm City is arguably America’s first planned city, with the “Nine Square Plan,” as recognized by the American Planning Association. Also famous for America’s first public tree planting, with a visible outcome of large, mature trees along streets. Too many meal choices for my guests. Frank Pepe and Louise Lunch, probably not America’s oldest pizza/hamburger house? Who cares?

More importantly, New Haven treats guests honorably. Churches have often been the destination for the undocumented immigrants who take sanctuaries upon facing deportation. Since 2007, the Elm City has officially provided the unfortunate people with municipal IDs for everyday life, while forbidding police to ask their immigration status when reporting crimes. What a sanctuary!

The city’s open-mind nature dates back to 1839 with the Amistad affair. Those 53 people from Africa were interned here after mutiny aboard, freed upon winning in court, and taken good care of by local residents. Yes, Black Lives Mattered here 179 years ago. Additionally, before Roe v. Wade, there was Griswold v. Connecticut in 1961. What a new, open haven!

So many good memories to take back home with me. Not just Old Campus, Sterling Memorial Library but East Rock Park, Schubert Theater, bioswales… I can’t thank enough to my Yale FES colleagues, without whose support I would have not had a full range of academic interactions. Instead of saying thanks loudly, I will keep it deep in my heart, and my heart will remain in New Haven.