In late April a member of Trumbull’s Planning and Zoning Commission stated that “It’s unbelievable that you’re going to straight up threaten us with 100 units” in response to a housing proposal on Reservoir Avenue .
As a Trumbull resident who owns a single family home, I want to be clear: I do >not feel threatened by the idea of welcoming more neighbors to our wonderful town. For me, it’s just the opposite: adapting underutilized areas and adding more homes, including more affordable homes, is a win-win for the town and its residents.
For those unfamiliar with Reservoir Avenue, the area is already the site of numerous homes and businesses, including multiple apartment complexes. In one direction it leads to Bridgeport, the largest city in the state, and in the other direction you reach Trumbull Center in mere minutes. If anywhere makes sense for new apartment homes, it’s Reservoir Avenue.
Rather than fear-mongering, what Reservoir Avenue needs from the Planning and Zoning Commission is less zoning and more planning.
This area contains numerous Trumbull residents: where are the plans to build continuous sidewalks (or bike lanes!) safely connecting the area to our center? Where are the bus shelters so people waiting for Greater Bridgeport Transit Bus 6 aren’t standing unprotected on the open grass? We should see these new housing proposals as an opportunity to make sound, strategic decisions about growing Trumbull while actually planning for its future.
I know some of my fellow Trumbull residents think the apartments will take services away from current folks, but the town has studied this and found that it’s not the case. We can also look at calls to the police department and other emergency services and see that the apartments are not straining those, either. Instead, the new apartments are providing new places for recent grads, downsizers, divorcees, and anyone who wants to come to Trumbull and grow our tax base. And in a town with a slowly-dying mall, the apartments are stepping in to staunch the loss of tax revenue as our economy changes and the mall loses value.
From an altruistic perspective, the more people that get to live in a town like Trumbull, the more people that have access to all the opportunities we have to offer. And from a selfish perspective, new residents are new taxpayers, new employees, new customers, and new friends and neighbors. Fortunately, we don’t have to choose between altruism and selfishness, we can do both. Some things in life are truly positive sum, win-win, and permitting new homes is one of those.
Building more homes isn’t a punishment for our town —it’s an incredible opportunity. We can continue to see nearby apartment homes as a threat, or we can envision the new family we’ll invite to our backyard barbecue. We can think of new kids as a risk for Trumbull’s current students, or we can think of the lifelong friendships they’ll make. And we can think of new neighbors as potential drains on services, or we can see them for what they actually are: future taxpayers who will contribute to our town.
I have a positive vision of Trumbull where everyone who contributes to our community can make a home here, but you don’t have to share my worldview to think more homes will be good for our town. The data supports doing what’s right and welcoming more neighbors to Trumbull.
More housing—including more affordable housing—is good for our current residents, good for our tax base, and good and the future families that will call our wonderful town home.
Thomas Broderick lives in Trumbull.