To attribute everything to one or two freeways, the idea it is the root of the death of a city, that is part of the problem I think. Cities need to get away from freeways, but to act like transit and bikes and walking is so distant, that is part of the problem. Everything black vs. white is part of what resulted in such freeways in the first place. There is so much grey area, and recognizing transit as merely the first step away from the car is important. A critical first step, but only a first step nonetheless. Even with cars vs. transit, there is park-and-ride. One step at a time, many more steps to take, that is important to see, not only to achieve more, but to even have the hope and motivation to get started.
Near me, I see 50+ storey high-rise mixed-use retail/condominium towers built around a mall beside a freeway, an LRT under construction across that freeway to the mall and those condos because the ridership of the buses got out of control. The freeway did not prevent all this from happening. So the idea one or two freeways prevents Hartford from revitalization and pedestrianization, removing those freeways will set Hartford free, so simple and easy solution, I don't buy that. Maybe freeway removal itself needs to be a product other efforts, like improving transit ridership, get the cars off the road first. Death of cities, death of transit, death of walkability because of freeways just too black and white. Hartford transit ridership not even that bad by US standards, certainly something to build upon.
Casual glance at the map, main thing I see isolating Hartford's downtown is not I-84, it's the river. Many crossings for buses, bikes, pedestrians across I-84. Not many crossings across that river for non-drivers. High permeability - parallel corridors for transit, cycling, pedestrians closer together - that is critical for urbanity, and #1 obstacle is that river. And upon crossing that river, you can see the real problem in terms of freeways being an obstacle is actually that humongous freeway interchange, plus numerous smaller interchanges, contributing further to the isolation of Hartford's downtown. You want it to become a truly connected place again, because that's what defines a downtown, then you need to build that place right across the river too. That place cannot remain so desolate if the downtown across the river is to become so vibrant.
This reminds me talking in another thread about an escarpment isolating the downtown and inner city of Hamilton, dividing the entire city in half, being a major physical barrier to transit, cycling and walking, increasing the walking distances to transit, while others attribute one-way roads to being the root of the problem, and so conversion into two-way roads will supposedly solve it. Permeability is the key to walkability, and it is hard to achieve when people can only think about removing freeways and one-way roads. The problem with these replacement or conversion of major local corridors into freeways and one-way roads is how these impacted the permeability of the urban environment, how they became barriers and increased the distances for non-drivers. But freeways and one-way roads don't always do that, so simple blanket anti-freeway and anti-one-way stance will not get cities far. I am happy if cities can remove freeways from their cores, but if they can't recognize exactly why it is a good thing, where it is best, then they will also not be able to take the next step, and the one after that. And yes, many more steps to take.
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