Hi. I’m Melissa Kaplan-Macey, Vice President for State Programs and Connecticut Director for Regional Plan Association. RPA is a well respected, 100-year-old research, planning and advocacy organization dedicated to developing and promoting ideas to improve the economic health, environmental resiliency and quality of life of the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region. We strongly support SB 1024 for land use reform in Connecticut.
“We’re all in this together,” has been a repeated refrain throughout the pandemic. When our grocery store workers, teachers, home health aides, delivery people and other essential workers do not have access to affordable homes in the communities they serve, it is an empty phrase. When we don’t invest in homes for all we perpetuate the steady habit of excluding the local workforce, losing our young people, and forcing our seniors to move away from the communities where they’ve spent their lives.
Regional Plan Association research shows everyone benefits from the types of inclusive land-use regulations proposed in SB 1024, which support a more equitable, economically strong and cleaner Connecticut.
Our research also shows even if towns aren’t actively trying to be exclusionary, discriminatory policies and practices are embedded in the fabric of land use regulations across the state.
I very often hear, “I don’t care who lives in my community, as long as they can afford it.” That sentiment ignores two important points:
- Our current reality; and
- Our history
Today, young people and older residents cannot live in the communities they grew up in the places they’ve raised their families because so many communities lack housing options that meet the needs of younger and older residents.
People of color in our state do not have access to homes in largely white suburban communities because of our history of exclusionary land use policies and practices. It may be uncomfortable to hear. Unfortunately it’s true.
After World War II when white families were leaving the cities to buy homes in the suburbs, Black families were left behind. Because of redlining, racial steering, and racially restrictive covenants, Black people were not allowed to buy the suburban homes that have allowed white families to accumulate wealth over generations.
At the same time, Black families were also unable to obtain affordable mortgage loans to purchase homes in city neighborhoods because these areas were rated“hazardous” on the redlining maps. While white families accumulated wealth as their suburban homes appreciated in value over time, Black families did not.
Therefore, who is able to afford to live in the many largely white suburban communities across our state today is not a matter of personal determination; it is a matter of history.
We can’t ignore this history any longer. Addressing this history means proactively creating opportunities for more housing choice in all communities with diverse housing options that meet the needs of all residents.
As we continue to weather the pandemic, I applaud the Planning and Development Committee for holding a hearing on this legislation to advance land-use reform. It is critical that Connecticut set standards municipalities can use to generate more housing choice in all communities.
