Housing Working Group Meetings
Recordings of 2020 – 2025 Housing Working Group Meetings
The Affordable Housing Working Group consists of municipal planners, chief elected officials, and community leaders. The 2020-2024 Working Group meetings were designed to provide in-depth information on particular housing topics in an effort to enhance a municipality’s ability to plan for the type of housing its citizens need. You can view all recordings from April 2020 to the most recent 2024 meetings below. Stay tuned for more Housing Working Group meetings as we approach fall 2024.
Housing Working Group Meeting Recordings
2020-2021 Meetings
- April 2020: Proactive Housing Strategies – Methods Used by Successful Towns
- June 2020: The Elephant in the Room: Class, Race & Equity
- September 2020: Continuing the Equity Conversation: Zoning is Vital
- October 2020: Creating & Nurturing Housing Groups
- November 2020: Combatting Myths & Misconceptions: The Facts about Crime, School Costs, and Property Values
- December 2020: Cutting Costs: From Energy Efficiencies to Rehabbing and Retrofitting
- January 2021: Creating Your Town’s Affordable Housing Plan: Guidance from the Department of Housing for Municipalities
- February 2021: Working with Developers: Ensuring Successful Housing Development through Mutual Understanding
- March 2021: Vital Data: The Numbers Your Town Needs to Make Smart Housing Decisions
- April 2021: The Strategies & Tactics of Zoning: Tools and Methods that Successfully Produced Real Projects Across CT
- May 2021: The Strategies and Resources for Transit-Oriented Development: Reviewing New State Financing and Town Methods
- June 2021: SCRCOG Regional Housing Plan: Rollout, Timeline, Available Assistance & Town Duties
2021-2022 Meetings
- July 2021: Regional Affordable Housing Plans: Kick-off Meeting
- May 2022: Regional Housing Working Group Meeting
- June 2022: Discussion of FY22-23 Housing Initiative
2022-2023 Meetings
- September 2022: Kick-off Meeting: Affordable Housing in CT and How to Move Forward with Affordable Housing Plans
- October 2022: Affordable Housing Plans Around CT: Learning by Example and How to Make Progress
- November 2022: Getting Through to the Truth: How Affordable Housing Creation Impacts Towns
- December 2022: Build Smarter, Not Harder: Placing Affordable Housing at the Intersection of Opportunities to Ensure Connectivity of Developments
- January 2023: The Nitty Gritty Details of Wastewater Management in New Developments
- February 2023: The Missing Middle: What Options Exist Between Large Colonials and Dense Apartment Developments?
- March 2023: Housing Opportunities in Urbanized Areas: Zoning Changes, Needs of Low-income Units, Mitigating Environmental Hazards, & Rehabilitating Housing Stock
- April 2023: Converting Strip Malls Into Housing: How to Approach Property Owners, Attract Developers, & Incorporate TOD
- May 2023: Housing and Open Space: Can Towns Have Both?
- June 2023: Housing in the SCRCOG Region: Where We Are, Where We’re Headed
2023-2024 Meetings
September 2023: Kick-off! Where We Stand & Where We’re Going.
October 2023: Mixed-Income Housing Tour
November 2023: Reviewing Our Housing Tour with Mixed-Income Housing Experts.
February 2024: Working With Builders & Developers
April 2024: How Do We Prevent Homelessness?
June 2024: Who’s In Charge of Housing Creation?
2024-2025 Meetings
Additional Resources
In addition to recordings from past working group meetings, SCRCOG compiles articles relevant to each session to include in the meeting agendas. Links to these articles are provided below, and are categorized by topic.
Disclaimers:
- A majority of the articles below may require paid subscriptions to view.
- If upon opening a link you receive a message that says the connection is not private, there should be no real safety concerns. Hit “Advanced” (if applicable) and “proceed to ____” or, delete ‘https://’ from the beginning of the web-link.
- Some articles appear more than once across topics.
Housing Working Group Articles
Policy & Legal Issues
- Coastal Cities Priced Out Low-Wage Workers. Now College Graduates Are Leaving, Too.
- Capitalizing on the Millennial Migration: Op-Ed – CT Post
- In Many Cities, Climate Change Will Flood Affordable Housing – Bloomberg CityLab
- Connecticut’s Housing Crisis: Radical rent prices squeeze people’s wallets
- Will CT legislators pass zoning reforms before they run out of time?
- Will States Force Localities to Build Affordable Housing?
- CT needs more housing inventory, Ned Lamont says to realtors (ctmirror.org)
- CT Democrats pitch wide-ranging bills to address housing issues (ctmirror.org)
- Bill that would cap CT rent draws hundreds of people, hours of testimony
- GOP proposal could mean significant change to CT affordable housing law
- Landlords, Tenants Debate Crisis – Cap Rent Or Make It Easier to evict
- What Don’t You Know About Homelessness
- Connecticut Expects To See 25% Increase In Students Experiencing Homelessness
- Should state overrule towns on affordable housing? More than 60% of CT residents say yes
- Multifamily Housing Fight in Woodbridge Could Have Broad Implications for Zoning in Connecticut – Hartford Courant
- How one lawsuit could change housing opportunity in Connecticut towns
- CT housing legislation to get renewed focus in 2023 session
- The Housing Storylines We’re Following In 2023
- Report: Exclusionary Housing Practices Are Bad for Connecticut’s Economy – Hartford Courant
- How Local Governments Can Combat the Affordable Housing Crisis – American City & County
- The Conundrum That Affordable Housing Poses For The Nation – Seattle Times
- Developers Forecast Major Affordable Housing Drought in 2025
- FHA Changes Could Make ADU Construction More Affordable
- Plan to support housing in small CT cities gets legislative OK
- Do taxes make people leave CT? Policy group says not so much
- Victory in Austin: City Council Votes for Incremental Housing Development
- How cutting red tape can encourage housing conversions
Housing (Re)Development: Costs & Other Considerations
- Parking requirements and foundations are driving up the cost of multifamily housing – Brookings
- Never Mind the Internet. Here’s What’s Killing Malls. – New York Times
- Cleaning Up House: Developing Brownfields into Affordable Housing – ICMA
- Don’t Miss the Middle: The Critical Role of Moderate-Priced Housing to Affordability – Planetizen
- Connecticut’s Ignored Homes: The Case for Producing And Preserving Small Multifamily Housing – Partnership for Stronger Communities
- How Using Public Land Can Help Address Housing Shortages – Housing Matters
- Could Your Empty Office Turn Into Apartments? – Slate
- Yesterday’s Factories, Today’s Apartments: Conversions at All-Time High in the U.S. – Rent Café
- With new $10 million state grant, East Hartford looks to buy and demolish decaying commercial buildings on Silver Lane – Hartford Courant
- What’s next for old office buildings in southern CT? Converted into housing, experts say. – Stamford Advocate
- A half century ago, Stamford’s downtown shifted from housing to office space. Now it’s shifting back.
- Our Missing Middle Housing Didn’t Just Go Missing. It Was Torn Down.
- Converting Offices to Housing Is Hard. These Changes Could Make It Easier – Route Fifty (route-fifty.com)
- Analysis: Build It (Housing) and They Will Come
- Electric Boat interested in building housing to attract workers
- Editorial: Solving the state’s affordable housing voucher crisis
- Connecticut Rent Is ‘Affordable’ If You Make $60K — But Most Renters Don’t
- Connecticut population experiencing homelessness rises. It’s ‘really, really pretty devastating.’ – Hartford Courant
- What the Housing Market Slowdown Will Mean for Property Taxes – Route Fifty
- Gen Z young adults in CT are living with their parents longer — here’s why. – CT Insider
- Housing Affordability Falls to Lowest Level Since Great Recession – Route Fifty
- Inflation is making homelessness worse – The Washington Post
- The Housing Shortage Isn’t Just a Coastal Crisis Anymore – The New York Times
- Affordability Gaps Widened for Renters in the First Year of the Pandemic – Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
- Mad about inflation? Blame your local officials. – Vox
- Connecticut has lowest rental vacancy rate of any state, census data shows – CT Insider
- Homeownership Changing Face of Some CT Urban Areas, Residents Say – CT Mirror
- Across the Nation, Rising Prices and Increased Interest Rates Limit Access to Homeownership – Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University
- America Needs More Houses: WSJ Op-Ed – S. Chamber of Commerce
- How The Pandemic Has Magnified the Pre-Existing Housing Crisis – Planetizen
- Missing Middle Density Will Take More Than Zoning Changes – Planetizen
- Facing higher construction costs and interest rates, some developers turn to affordable housing projects
- Crystal Mall seen as suitable for mix of commercial, residential development
- Historic West Hartford synagogue eyed for apartment complex conversion
Land Use, Zoning, Equity
- Planning for Equity Policy Guide– APA
- Prioritizing Inclusion and Equity in the Next Generation of Mixed-Income Communities – Shelter Force
- How Communities Are Rethinking Zoning to Improve Housing Affordability and Access to Opportunity – Urban Institute
- Yes, in My Backyard: The Key to Affordable Housing Is More Housing – Foundation for Economic Education
- Housing Affordability and Zoning Reform – Cato Institute
- Housing for Equity and Inclusion – Urban Institute
- Housing Policy Must Change in Wake of COVID-19 – Shelter Force
- Long Before Redlining: Racial Disparities in Homeownership Need Intentional Policies – Shelterforce
- Community Land Trusts Are Making Housing Affordable Across the U.S. – EfficientGov
- Suburban Zoners Seek Third Way – New Haven Independent
- To Create More Affordable Housing, Make Zoning Hyperlocal – Bloomberg CityLab
- Old Zoning Laws Share Blame For Housing Shortage – Route Fifty (route-fifty.com)
- How Single-Family Zoning Became Unaffordable for Families | Planetizen News
- Land Use Reform Picks Up Momentum in Connecticut Again | Planetizen Blogs
- CT lawmakers eye major reforms to address housing crisis (nhregister.com)
- New White House Housing Initiative Includes Zoning Reform Incentives – Planetizen
- Blame local zoning, not Wall Street, for this housing crisis – Smart Cities Dive
- Cancel Zoning: If we want to fix the housing-affordability crisis, segregation, and sprawl, zoning must go. – The Atlantic
- How Community Land Trusts Can Help Heal Segregated Cities – Next City
- Be my Neighbor: Untapped Housing Solutions: ADUs and Conversions – RPA
- Opinion: In fight for justice, zoning laws that exclude low-income people must be changed – Courier Journal
- The Black Lives Next Door – New York Times
- Connecticut’s ‘suburban strategy’ caused segregation. It’s time to fix it. – Hartford Courant
- Minneapolis Has a Bold Plan to Tackle Racial Inequity. Now It Has to Follow Through – NPR
- Want More Housing? Ending Single-Family Zoning Won’t Do It. – CityLab
- Missing Middle Density Will Take More Than Zoning Changes – Planetizen
- Atlanta to Tackle Affordability by Zoning Reform – Planetizen
- Advocates Say Proposed Zoning Measures Offer Connecticut a Chance to ‘Right Historical Wrongs’; Opponents Say They Eliminate Local Control – Hartford Courant
- “Gentle” Density can Save our Neighborhoods – Brookings
- Connecticut Planners Take Zoning Reform Fight to State – American Planning Association
- Multifamily Housing Fight in Woodbridge Could Have Broad Implications for Zoning in Connecticut – Hartford Courant
- 5 things to know about how CT zoning promotes housing inequality
- CT expanding rental assistance, offering help with eviction costs
- CT’s lack of affordable housing ‘a significant driver’ of eviction rate
- A Land Trust And A Nonprofit Team Up To Bring More Black Teachers To Kansas City
- Alexandria Set to Reveal Zoning Reform Details
- New Research Builds Evidence for Zoning Reform
- Small Multifamily Homes Were Disappearing. Now States Are Scrambling to Revive Them
- Lack of affordable housing causing longer shelter stays for homeless, CT advocates say
Desegregate Connecticut Zoning Atlas Resources:
- Connecticut Zoning Atlas – Desegrate CT
- New Zoning Map Shows How Hard It Is to Build Multifamily Housing in Connecticut; Most of State Is Restricted to Single-Family Homes – Hartford Courant
- The Connecticut Zoning Atlas Illustrates a Proclivity for Single-Family Zoning – Planetizen
- How Communities Are Rethinking Zoning to Improve Housing Affordability and Access to Opportunity – Urban Institute
Innovative Ideas, Tools, Strategies & Methods
- The Case For Cohousing: Where Responsibilities Are Shared And Life Is A Little Less Lonely – WBUR.Org
- NJ Pays Hospitals to Build Affordable Housing – Shelterforce
- Cambridge’s ‘Passive House’ Is Built With Focus On Affordable Housing, Climate Change – Earthwhile
- 3D-printed Homes Build Hope for U.S. Affordable Housing – Reuters
- Are Strip Malls Key to Solving Greater Boston’s Housing Woes? – Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)
- With new $10 million state grant, East Hartford looks to buy and demolish decaying commercial buildings on Silver Lane – Hartford Courant
- How parking lots across the U.S. are being turned into housing
- A Greenwich trust fund aims to change how affordable housing is built.
- A Recipe for Achieving Real Housing Affordability – Governing (governing.com)
- What Barcelona Can Teach New York City About Truly Affordable Housing
- How to Make Office-to-Housing Conversions Work – Route Fifty (route-fifty.com)
- Report: How States Can Incentivize Housing Production | Planetizen News
- Taking the ADU Model to the Next Level, a Shelterforce and Next City Webinar
- Electric Boat interested in building housing to attract workers
- CT lawmakers suggest converting vacant strip malls, big-box stores for housing
- ‘Innovative’ Tiny Homes: Houses In Connecticut Development Designed For Empty-Nesters
- 8 Things Your Town Can Do to Add More Housing (Without Spending a Dime)
- CT tenant advocates seek rent caps and ban on no-cause evictions
- Schools Team Up to Work for Affordable, Vibrant Neighborhoods
- Designing New Programs to Narrow Racial Homeownership Gaps
- Do Owner Occupancy Requirements Constrain Housing Supply? – Planetizen
- Glastonbury residents, council support plan to buy 10.86 acre property for affordable housing project – Hartford Courant
- CDBG: A Housing Resource – US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- New Haven launches a program to promote affordable housing for both buyers and renters – CT Public
- Cities push to convert deserted office buildings into housing – Axios
- New York developer wants to put up 30 partly pre-built apartments in Rocky Hill – Hartford Courant
- Safe from the streets: Hartford is working to end homelessness; a transformed hotel is its newest step – Hartford Courant via PressReader
- Workers in the Catskills Can’t Find Housing. Bosses Are Trying to Help. – The New York Times
- California could allow churches and colleges to build affordable housing – The Center Square
- Lamont and Webster Bank announce program for first-time home buyers – CT Mirror
- What to know about CT’s new program offering up to $50K for first-time homebuyers – CT Insider
- La Placita Cinco: A Strip Mall Redevelopment for Housing Affordability and Neighborhood Revitalization – Planetizen
- Village Suites Owner Pitches Hotel-To-Apts Plan – New Haven Independent
- Feds Offer Greater Flexibility to Use ARPA Money for Housing – Route Fifty
- Fairfield, Habitat for Humanity team up to add affordable housing on town-owned property – CT Insider
- Thoughtful design can create high-quality affordable multifamily housing – Brookings
- How Engagement and Design Won Over Wary Neighbors – Shelterforce
- County Points-based Program Incentivizes Affordable Housing – National Association of Counties
- Parking Authority Endorses Less Parking – New Haven Independent
- How to Fund Land Banks – Shelterforce
- How Communities Are Rethinking Zoning to Improve Housing Affordability and Access to Opportunity – Urban Institute
- How Using Public Land Can Help Address Housing Shortages – Housing Matters, Urban Institute
- How One Organization Is Preserving Housing Co-Ops
- This Pennsylvania trio bought a $100K abandoned school and turned it into a 31-unit apartment building — here’s how to invest in residential real estate without all the heavy lifting
- CT’s economic development efforts targeting new housing
- Comparison of the Costs of Manufactured and Site-Built Housing
- The YIMBYs are coming: Inside the fight to build more housing and bring down home prices
Debunking Housing Myths, Misconceptions and Misunderstandings
- Affordable Housing Shows No Impact on Real Estate Values in Colorado Springs Neighborhoods, Study Shows – The Gazette (Colorado Springs)
- Building Subsidized Low-income Housing Actually Lifts Property Values in a Neighborhood, Contradicting NIMBY Concerns
- Busted: Seven Myths About Affordable Housing – Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity
- Low-income housing boosts CT’s local real estate values – CT Mirror
- Myths & Facts About Affordable & High Density Housing – California Planning Roundtable
- New data disproves the myth that affordable housing lowers the value of your home – Yahoo! News
- Overcoming Opposition to Multifamily Rental Housing – Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University
- The Property Value Myth: Mixed-Income & Affordable Housing Doesn’t Lower Property Values – Partnership for Strong Communities
- The School Cost Myth: All Housing Doesn’t Increase School Costs – Partnership for Strong Communities
- Hugh Bailey: Anti-housing activists are sinking our state
- Debunking Stereotypes About Mobile Homes Could Make Them a New Face of Affordable Housing – Route Fifty
- Will More Housing Overwhelm Your School District? Check the Math – The Examiner News
- Low-income housing boosts CT’s local real estate values – CT Mirror
- Who benefits from new housing? – CT Mirror
- How Engagement and Design Won Over Wary Neighbors – Shelterforce
- The Property Myth: Mixed-Income & Affordable Housing Doesn’t Lower Property Values – Partnership for Strong Communities — pschousing.org
- The School Cost Myth: All Housing Doesn’t Increase School Costs – Partnership for Strong Communities – pschousing.org
- Rising rents, not mental-health issues or addiction, are driving homelessness, advocates say
Around the Towns
- Fairfield residents oppose affordable housing planned for Berkeley Road
- 70-unit housing development pitched in West Hartford’s transit-oriented district
- Berlin’s Steele Center taking shape, with two more buildings under construction
- Groton looks to attract young, childless Electric Boat hires with modern apartments
- West Hartford’s first transit-oriented housing development is coming. Here’s what that means.
- Glastonbury considers letting developers buy their way out of affordable housing. Critics say it won’t work.
- West Haven public housing waitlist highlights ‘national crisis’ (nhregister.com)
- Winsted residents want more housing options, survey finds
- Developer: Four-Story Modular Apartment Building Would Help Ease Simsbury’s Affordable Housing Shortage
- Bethel Denied Their 30-Apartment Plan On Whitney Road. Now, They’ve Pitched 42 Apartments Under 8-30g
- Milford Accessory Dwelling Rules Won’t Change Market, Pros Say
- Milford P&Z to revisit rules for accessory dwellings
- Moratoria on single-family and multifamily housing proposed in Farmington | Hartford Business Journal
- Hundreds of West Hartford housing units are in the works. Here’s where they are planned.
- Hugh Bailey: How to solve a problem like New Canaan
- Town-sponsored affordable housing idea gets a boost in Glastonbury
- This little CT town is considering mandating 15 percent of its apartment complexes be affordable housing
Significant Housing Projects in Development across Connecticut
- Trumbull Center zone change clears way for new proposal
- Branford developer proposes 14 duplexes near Route 15 in Woodbridge
- Glastonbury residents, council support plan to buy 10.86 acre property for affordable housing project – Hartford Courant
- Fairfield, Habitat for Humanity team up to add affordable housing on town-owned property – CT Insider
- Hamden Sets Plan To Boost Affordable Housing – New Haven Independent
- New 62-unit mixed-income development proposed in Farmington – Hartford Business
- Developer plans for apartments, townhouses could become ‘new neighborhood’ in downtown Bethel
- Wealthy shoreline hamlet Guilford aims for more affordable housing – New Haven BIZ
- Facing pushback, developer seeks more time to answer complaints about Glastonbury apartment plan that includes affordable housing – Hartford Courant
- Affordable Housing In The Works On Dixwell – New Haven Independent
- Guilford residents approve donation of land for affordable housing – New Haven Register
- West Hartford’s 70-unit housing plan for New Park Avenue has been updated. Here’s what it includes.
- Controversial developer gets OK to build 96 apartments in Rocky Hill
The Housing-Transportation Link
- West Hartford May Look to Attract Higher-Density Housing to Elmwood, Flatbush Avenue Stations Along CTfastrak – Hartford Courant
- 70-unit housing development pitched in West Hartford’s transit-oriented district
- West Hartford’s first transit-oriented housing development is coming. Here’s what that means.
- HUD Offers Cities Help To Add Housing Near Transportation Options
- Unlocking the Potential of Transit Adjacent Land for Housing Affordability – Planetizen
- Transit-Oriented Data: The Importance of Data and Coordination to Transit-Oriented Urban Transformation
- The possibilities for Shore Line East – The CT Mirror
- Affordable Housing on Transit Land – Shelterforce
- New Bill Would Tie Federal Transit Funding to Housing Production – Next City
- Property Values ‘Thrive’ Near Transit, Study Finds – Smart Cities Dive
- Train travel in CT, northeast booming following pandemic (ctinsider.com)
- How Transit-Oriented Housing Can Advance Access to Opportunity While Curbing Climate Change
Data & Reports
- The Property Myth: Mixed-Income & Affordable Housing Doesn’t Lower Property Values – Partnership for Strong Communities
- The School Cost Myth: All Housing Doesn’t Increase School Costs – Partnership for Strong Communities
- 2018 Housing Data Profiles (Specific per Municipality) – Partnership for Strong Communities
- Affordable Housing Appeals Listing – CT Department of Housing
- Excerpts from “The 2017 Amendments to the Affordable Housing land use Appeals Act, General Statutes § 8-30g (Public Act 17-170)” – Shipman & Goodwin Counselors at Law
- Housing in Connecticut 2019 – Partnership for Strong Communities
- Income & Jobs in Connecticut – Partnership for Strong Communities
- Suburban Connecticut: Key Indicators for Housing, Land-Use, Transit, and Economic Growth – Partnership for Strong Communities
- Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University – State of the Nation’s Housing Report 2023
- Number of children in Connecticut continues to decline, Census data shows
- CT minimum wage workers must work 85 hours per week to afford rent, study finds
- Small Cities Community Development Block
Grant Program: Allocation Plan – Federal Fiscal Year 2023 - A family of four needs $126,000 a year to survive in CT, report shows