[mdovell]

My family has decades of experience in environmental waste management. There are many companies that do a great job in the industry. It isn't the end of the world of there is asbestos or lead paint. If it's not friable or can be OK. Now if you have a love canal situation or Centralia that's different.

The issue with superfund is if it gets to that point then local control ends.

Some places can take a very long time for a plan like the GE pcbs in the Berkshires, Military bases can also have issues and of course nuclear plants. Let's not forget underground storage tanks and septic tanks that might leak as well

Everything requires maintenance and oversight.

[ProudFairfielder]

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

I know we're getting a little fairfield centric here, but it goes for a lot of towns in CT. But making frontage shopping a priority on the main arteries and in certain cases on roads adjacent and parallel to those arteries would increase the available land for housing and other uses.

The set back, single story, parking in front design of the cheaply made strip buildings is not only outdated but an insanely poor use of taxable land. It's not like black rock turnpike's newer(20 years) developments are historical monuments. Or the bob's plaza. Or much of the rt1 portion of Southport. Honestly it wouldn't even phase the convenience factor for driver shoppers. Hell with frontage to street retail it'll open up a bit for even a few single family detached houses.

Yeah it'll change the character a bit but honestly I think for the better and cheaper.

There's also opportunity to spread the zoning around the tunixis, grassmere, riverside, and the new Englands areas by a few blocks to allow splitting property for more shf detached or du/tri-plexes, albeit with smaller lots but how I grew up.

I agree with most of what you say. I also think it's the best way to add affordable housing to Fairfield. I'd be OK with development if it happens along those strip malls (which, again, are like 36% of the route 1 area and obviously are also on BRT).

As Jay said the one part of town that seriously could become citylike without ruining local character is the Fairfield Metro area.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Beeker2211

I know we're getting a little fairfield centric here, but it goes for a lot of towns in CT. But making frontage shopping a priority on the main arteries and in certain cases on roads adjacent and parallel to those arteries would increase the available land for housing and other uses.

The set back, single story, parking in front design of the cheaply made strip buildings is not only outdated but an insanely poor use of taxable land. It's not like black rock turnpike's newer(20 years) developments are historical monuments. Or the bob's plaza. Or much of the rt1 portion of Southport. Honestly it wouldn't even phase the convenience factor for driver shoppers. Hell with frontage to street retail it'll open up a bit for even a few single family detached houses.

Yeah it'll change the character a bit but honestly I think for the better and cheaper.

There's also opportunity to spread the zoning around the tunixis, grassmere, riverside, and the new Englands areas by a few blocks to allow splitting property for more shf detached or du/tri-plexes, albeit with smaller lots but how I grew up.

Originally Posted by ProudFairfielder

I agree with most of what you say. I also think it's the best way to add affordable housing to Fairfield. I'd be OK with development if it happens along those strip malls (which, again, are like 36% of the route 1 area and obviously are also on BRT).

As Jay said the one part of town that seriously could become citylike without ruining local character is the Fairfield Metro area.

It is interesting that you mention replacing strip retail shopping centers on the Post Road and Black Rock Turnpike with multistory mixed use buildings. 30 years ago they built a mixed use building like that on Black Rock Turnpike and Burroughs Road. It has retail on the first floor and two levels of apartments above. I’m not sure it was all that popular because I don’t think anything similar has been built since. Jay

[ProudFairfielder]

Originally Posted by JayCT

It is interesting that you mention replacing strip retail shopping centers on the Post Road and Black Rock Turnpike with multistory mixed use buildings. 30 years ago they built a mixed use building like that on Black Rock Turnpike and Burroughs Road. It has retail on the first floor and two levels of apartments above. I’m not sure it was all that popular because I don’t think anything similar has been built since. Jay

The issue there is that it's still pretty car centric... with a sweeping parking lot in the front and a lot of vegetation to hide it from the sidewalk.

I obviously understand this isn't feasible since entire buildings would have to be demoed/ effectively moved but the ideal would be for the storefront to be right up on the sidewalk and then parking in the back, like spots on the pretty part of the Post Road.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

It is interesting that you mention replacing strip retail shopping centers on the Post Road and Black Rock Turnpike with multistory mixed use buildings. 30 years ago they built a mixed use building like that on Black Rock Turnpike and Burroughs Road. It has retail on the first floor and two levels of apartments above. I’m not sure it was all that popular because I don’t think anything similar has been built since. Jay

And in areas where mixed use is popular has been proven nightmarish, since people move above them and complain constantly about noise below.

[BPt111]

Westport led Connecticut with 2,731 new arrivals offsetting 2,059 people leaving town,

Also placing in the top 10 of the CBRE study were pockets of Stamford, Darien, Fairfield, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Shelton and Trumbull.

A section of West Hartford had the highest Connecticut gains outside of Fairfield County last year (one rung ahead of Oxford). A portion of “midcountry” and “backcountry” Greenwich also placed in the top 25 regionally along with Madison, while ringing up huge sales and listings.

But plenty of other communities saw gains, stretching as far as the eastern end of Connecticut, where coastal Mystic and its winding Mason’s Island byways ranked in the top 65 of more than 1,800 neighborhoods regionally included in the CBRE analysis.

Among Connecticut cities, downtown New Haven had the biggest exodus, with a net outflow of more than 1,300 movers. Pockets of Bridgeport, Hartford and Stamford also saw more departures than new arrivals.

paywall https://www.ctinsider.com/business/s...photo-20943255

[ProudFairfielder]

Originally Posted by BPt111

Westport led Connecticut with 2,731 new arrivals offsetting 2,059 people leaving town,

Also placing in the top 10 of the CBRE study were pockets of Stamford, Darien, Fairfield, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Shelton and Trumbull.

A section of West Hartford had the highest Connecticut gains outside of Fairfield County last year (one rung ahead of Oxford). A portion of “midcountry” and “backcountry” Greenwich also placed in the top 25 regionally along with Madison, while ringing up huge sales and listings.

But plenty of other communities saw gains, stretching as far as the eastern end of Connecticut, where coastal Mystic and its winding Mason’s Island byways ranked in the top 65 of more than 1,800 neighborhoods regionally included in the CBRE analysis.

Among Connecticut cities, downtown New Haven had the biggest exodus, with a net outflow of more than 1,300 movers. Pockets of Bridgeport, Hartford and Stamford also saw more departures than new arrivals.

paywall https://www.ctinsider.com/business/s...photo-20943255

Note: This seems to just be 2020 vs 2019, so take that with a grain of salt (I imagine BPT, NH, and Stamford must have gained population over the decade but I could easily see them losing in 2020).

Anyway, I managed to screenshot a map of the state they have on there. Also keep in mind this is per 1,000 and not absolute numbers:

[BPt111]

New Haven could match Bridgeport population in 5 years currently the city have almost 140,000 residents which is not far off from Bridgeport. The 2022 population estimate show the city have 138,915 residents by July 1st, 2022. New Haven have thousands of units under construction and more on the way. Stamford is uncertain as right now with construction of apartments in the city.



https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fa...icut/PST045222

[BobNJ1960]

What is worrisome is Ct lost prime earning age 45-59 population, the last few years.

https://www.milfordmirror.com/news/a...2-18174989.php

[CTartist]

Originally Posted by BobNJ1960

What is worrisome is Ct lost prime earning age 45-59 population, the last few years.

https://www.milfordmirror.com/news/a...2-18174989.php

Despite an influx of residents moving here from New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic, Connecticut's population figures remain flat, as residents in their prime income-earning age moved out of the state.

Offsetting the gains from the Big Apple were Connecticut residents who moved to Florida and other southern regions.

Now, newly-released U.S. Census Bureau data provides more insight on those who left the Nutmeg State in recent years.

The most significant population declines in the state were among residents in their mid-40s and 50s.


The data indicates the population of Connecticut residents aged 45-49 decreased from 223,600 in April 2020 to 210,000 in July 2022, reflecting a 6.1% decline. That amounted to a total loss of about 13,600 residents, which was the largest loss of any age range.

The second largest reduction was observed among individuals aged 10-14, with numbers dropping from 224,100 in 2020 to 213,500 in 2022, representing a 4.8% decrease.

The third notable decline occurred among the age group of 55-59 year olds.


The fastest growing five-year age group in Connecticut was 75-79 year olds at 12.8%. And overall the number of Connecticut residents aged 70 and older increased from 2020 to 2022.


In the U.S., the number of people aged 70 and above experienced grew by 3%, reflecting a broader nationwide trend of aging. However, the state of Connecticut stands out with unusually high growth in this age group.


Connecticut is tied with Pennsylvania as the seventh oldest state in the country. The median age in both states was 40.9 as of 2022, according to the Census.

The oldest state is Maine with an overall median age of 44.8, while Utah is the youngest at 31.9.


The U.S. median age was 38.9 years in 2022, an increase of about 0.2 years from 2021. Connecticut’s median age rose by 0.1 years during that span.


When looking at Connecticut’s planning regions (county equivalents by the U.S. Census Bureau) the youngest is the Capitol Planning Region (39.7 years) and the oldest is the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region (45.6 years).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I copied some of the article so others can see it. It is a paywall article.

The range of dates that the study covers is April 2020 to 210,000 in July 2022. That is the heart of the pandemic when EVERYTHING was in such terrible flux. I was ignoring income stats for CT during that time because everything was so crazy. And frankly with the Biden Economy Now (that stinks IMO) things are still in flux.

Did you see in the other thread southwest FL real estate is crashing (Naples houses down 50%). I would suspect people are coming home now that they are being called back in the office. I would say maybe we can see what is going on after the 2023 stats come out.

If I was young and I could work totally remote on the computer I would probably take off for FL and good times too lol.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The U.S. median age was 38.9 years in 2022, an increase of about 0.2 years from 2021. Connecticut’s median age rose by 0.1 years during that span."

The above is from the article. It is actually GOOD news. CT aged LESS than the average state.