From Public News Service:
A new alliance has formed to address Connecticut's affordable housing crisis, with a focus on its urban centers.
"Growing Together Connecticut" is a multi-year effort to pass housing laws and reforms that confront discriminatory policies, like redlining, that have led to disinvestment in cities.
One way to do that is through "fair-share" policies, that require cities to plan and zone for an adequate amount of affordable housing, based on need.
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Karen DuBois-Walton is the president of Elm City Communities - New Haven's housing authority, which serves six-thousand families a year.
She said their waitlist, which includes families with current addresses in surrounding towns, is a snapshot of the lack of affordable housing. She added certain housing policies have played a role in allowing only some Connecticut communities to build wealth.
"And knowing that wealth is so much tied to ownership of homes, Growing Together Connecticut really brings those two pieces together," said DuBois-Walton. "How are we going to get access to affordable housing in suburban communities? And how are we going to make our cities the most vibrant places they can be also, in our state?"
Connecticut is short an estimated 140,000 affordable housing units.
Estimates based on New Jersey's fair-share law show these policies could generate 300,000 new housing units and over $60 billion in income for Connecticut residents, according to the coalition.
Read Public News Service's article "'Growing Together CT' Aims at State's Affordable Housing Crisis," featuring Elm City Communities.