Robert Orr

The lesson for those seeking “pro-choice:” until Congress passes a law on abortion rights, civil rights is the right track.

Unbeknown to many, most Connecticut zoning (and that of many other states) designates people of color to segregated areas. For that reason, zoning won the moniker, Exclusionary Zoning. Although there’s no mention of race or color in zoning regulations, clever dimensional requirements, put together in the 1950s, achieve exclusion.

Our new president speaks passionately about how carbon-free electricity will fix climate change. But will it? For sure, this past year dropped a sledgehammer of awareness for an environmental fragility that heretofore escaped our attention. Repeated hurricanes, tornados, droughts, fires, and the alarming outcomes of virus(es) rivet our attention. Something’s not right. Of course, they’re […]

Not obvious, except to the most observant, is the fact that we’re in the midst of the first furtive steps of what I sense to be no less than a quiet revolution — a shift to a New World Order of objectives and of the way we do things. The Game Stop phenomenon is the latest example.

New Haven, and most Connecticut cities, have a self-inflicted problem: concentrated poverty. Concentrated poverty comes with lack of quality schools, job opportunities, safe streets, and access to quality healthcare. Many studies now indicate that the largest cause for concentrated poverty derives from zoning codes.

Small development offers the best promise to repair New Haven’s budget woes — and quickly. It has the potential to raise revenues beyond just erasing budget problems and could lead to dropping tax rates.