Regional Plan Association (RPA) has a long history of surveying residents in the tri-state region - from our Emmy-award winning CHOICES for ‘76 televised town halls to our recent Metro Area Issues Survey. In the 1980s, RPA conducted a survey as part of a county-based public engagement initiative called Fairfield 2000, which yielded several planning and policy recommendations.
These survey results are worth revisiting in light of RPA’s recent contributions to the statewide zoning reforms in Connecticut signed into law by Governor Ned Lamont this summer. Along with the University of Connecticut Institute for Social Inquiry and Fairleigh Dickinson University, RPA surveyed 500 adults from 21 of Fairfield County’s 23 towns in 1988 for their thoughts on housing.
In 1988, a majority of respondents in Fairfield County (71%) said the shortage of low- and middle-income housing was a major problem, and 85% said housing cost was a major problem. Though 71% felt that “decisions about what housing should be provided should be strictly a local matter,” 66% felt the state “should regulate local zoning to make sure that towns are not overly restricting the amount of affordable housing.” 67% agreed all towns should be required to provide at least a minimum amount of low-income housing. Significantly more women than men favored providing additional housing.
More than 30 years after our Fairfield 2000 project demonstrated that public opinion in Fairfield County was in favor of it, the State has stepped in to adjust local zoning laws that were overly restricting the types and amount of housing that could be built.
Today, RPA is the fiscal sponsor of the Desegregate CT coalition, which led the advocacy effort to pass HB 6107 and begin addressing these long-standing housing issues. We are also partnered with several Fairfield County-based organizations to advocate for change through Fairfield County’s Center for Housing Opportunity. Both partnerships are part of our campaign to reduce segregation and inequality across the region. Worthwhile change takes time - and you can help us keep at this work by supporting RPA.
