A new governor and revamped state legislature will kick off a nascent administration as well as convene the General Assembly in a few weeks with a lot on their plate: commercial marijuana, tolls, sports betting, budget deliberations, education spending and investment in cities.
The Connecticut Mirror recently conducted a community conversation centered on revitalizing cities. An excerpt:
The participants in the community conversations held earlier this month shared a common circumstance or stage of life: University of Connecticut students in Hartford, Bridgeport-area parents, people who qualify as ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) in Waterbury, and New Haven-area adults who are living with mental illness or have family members with mental illness.
… At the community conversation in Bridgeport, Rodriguez and several other parents discussed the impact that revitalizing Connecticut’s cities–including making their parks safe for children–would have on residents young and old.
Dan Pflug, of Easton, agreed that Connecticut’s cities should follow the example of Stamford, where new apartment buildings, affordable housing and bike lanes were built up around the train station.
“Just starting to do some of those things–rebuilding around the train station and improving the look of the overall neighborhood–will attract new business and development,” said Jamie Banks of Bridgeport.
In addition to transportation, providing activities and gathering places for college students who attend schools in Connecticut could help change the feel of urban downtown areas–and provide incentives for them to stay in the state after graduation.
Full story here.
New Haveners Of The Year | New Haven Independent
In 2018, Kim Harris and Amy Marx imagined a better New Haven. They teamed up with determined people. Then they made it happen. And they’re just getting started.
https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/kim_harris_amy_marx/
Ron..the great challenge with looking at New Haven is the ubiquitous and all-encompassing effect of Yale University. We hear of the challenges of Hartford but yet Hartford is the State Capitol and benefits from that largesse. Bridgeport had neither Yale nor the importance of being the State Capitol. It makes our efforts to turn Bridgeport around that much more difficult. As of today. 12/26/2018. No one has a vision of what Bridgeport is to be.
This is an existential question for all Connecticut residents. As I have contemplated further, I believe that the campaign of Bob Stefanowski/2018 CT. Republicans was a death sentence for the urban centers of Connecticut. Somehow, the people who live in these urban centers sensed that and came out to vote in above average numbers. IMHO, Urban Democratic Political machines played a minimal role and Testa,Ganim and Co. was a joke. Urban voters sensed the danger of Stefanowski,Markley and the CT Republicans and came out to vote.