FAQs

What is your specific proposal? We’re working on the specifics, but the basic concept is that small-scale housing should be approved “as of right” (without a public hearing) with no minimum parking requirements, within a 5-minute walk of certain existing commercial areas. We also think a percentage of units should be set aside for affordable housing in larger developments. We estimate just half a percent of land in the State would be affected by our proposals, but because of the land’s location, it would have a positive ripple effect and create new housing opportunities.

What needs fixing? Our Zoning Atlas shows that small-scale housing is not allowed “as of right” in the right places. Very often, outdated zoning codes place restrict housing in walkable, historic areas, which makes those areas less vibrant.

What is the environmental impact of more walking? Building walkable neighborhoods can reduce our dependency on single occupancy vehicles, which contribute significantly to air pollution and make our state hotter. Connecticut has some of the highest levels of air pollution in the Northeast - and it is mostly due to the amount of driving we do. The transportation sector is responsible for the largest portion of greenhouse gas emissions at 38%, as well as 66% of the emissions of nitrogen oxides, a key pollutant that creates ground-level smog. But driving isn’t the only problem. Our car culture has also meant that we have a ton of paved surfaces, including parking lots. Study after study has shown that building walkable neighborhoods around public transportation and helping people reduce their use of single-occupancy cars can mitigate the heat island effect and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This would be especially helpful in the I-95 corridor of Connecticut, which is considered a temperature hot spot. More walkable neighborhoods can help us create a Connecticut less dependent on cars for everything we do.

What do walkable places look like? Here are two examples from West Hartford and Middletown!

RESOURCES

• The case for “middle housing,” mostly housing between two and four units, shows how restrictive zoning has prevented supply from meeting the demand for walkable communities.

  • Highlight: “76% of Americans are interested in a walkable lifestyle and 50% consider it a high priority.”

• A CBIA report analyzing how housing supply falls short of the necessary levels to sustain job creation.

  • Highlight: "Housing recovery is important, because it creates so much activity in other areas: hardware and nursery purchases, and work for electricians, painters, and landscapers. In addition, it contributes significant tax dollars, especially sales tax revenues. But housing is also tied to job growth (which is subpar here) and household formation (which is also lagging).”

• The National Home Builders Association outlines multi-unit housing in convenient locations is an unmet market demand.

  • Highlight: "59% of millennials are looking for missing middle housing in the for-sale and rental markets, versus 39% who are looking for single-family homes."

• New Urbanism Case Study finding that the most tax-beneficial development is housing in dense, walkable areas.

  • Highlight: “[O]n a per-acre basis, sprawling single-use developments such as big-box stores do a poor job of providing governments with needed tax revenue. Dense, mixed-use development, usually downtown or adjacent to transit, is financially much more beneficial.”

• A TED Talk by urbanist Jeff Speck tracing how even our cities became car-dependent and what we can do to make them work for people again.

  • Highlight: “So the best economic strategy you can have as a city is not the old way of trying to attract corporations and trying to have a biotech cluster, or a medical cluster, or an aerospace cluster, but to become a place where people want to be.”