As Connecticut struggles to shore up its cities, it might look to Louisville — where leaders created a thriving regional city.
The Cities Project
The Cities Project was a 2019 partnership between CT Mirror, Connecticut Public Radio, Hartford Business Journal, Hartford Courant, the eight Hearst daily newspapers, Republican-American, and Purple States to explore the challenges and solutions related to revitalizing Connecticut’s cities.
Posted inCities & Towns, Economic Development
Lowell comeback: From textiles to tech, and maybe textiles again
Lowell hasn’t spun dross into gold or been blessed by some other miracle. The city of 111,000 has most of the same issues that challenge other urban areas. But it has steadily moved ahead since the 1980s.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Colleges help drive urban revival, but town-gown relationships can be fraught
Colleges may not have “saved” the cities where they are located, but they advanced urban revitalization.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Can New Haven neighborhoods share in downtown’s prosperity?
Acuity Brands is one of dozens of companies that represent millions in private investment in downtown New Haven. But not everyone is sharing in the growth.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
New Haven job training program possible model for other cities
Since 2012, ConnCAT has provided free vocational training in medical billing and coding, phlebotomy and culinary arts fields that have job openings, aided by the relationships the organization has built with employers.
Posted inCities & Towns
Reviving cities must include the excluded
Inclusive growth calls on cities to revive themselves so that all residents benefit, which has been challenging here in Connecticut and elsewhere.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Bridgeport can learn from Springfield’s revitalization
Springfield, like Bridgeport, is an industrial city that lost its manufacturing base and struggles with poverty and unemployment. But Springfield is on the rise.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Focus group: Bridgeport needs to play up its assets
The Bridgeport focus group discussed the state of development in Bridgeport, and areas where it can improve. It included city residents, as well as those from the neighboring towns of Easton and Stratford.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Some cities and towns see tax-break deals as key to economic growth
For cities like Hartford and New Haven, tax breaks can be the lifeblood of much of the economic development that occurs within their borders.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
A major tax deal for a prominent Hartford landlord
Shelbourne Global purchased more than $200 million in Hartford real estate, but the 2016 revaluation more than doubled the taxes on three of its Class A office towers.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Back to the future with transit-oriented development
Downtown New Britain is steadily coming back after years of decline. What’s driving this revival? The bus.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Lack of graduate urban planning programs hurting state
A dry talent pipeline is contributing to economic stagnation in Connecticut’s cities. The state is one of 15 in the country with no accredited, graduate level urban planning programs.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Solution: Sell off state properties in Hartford
In the years since the state purchased office buildings in Hartford, the MetroHartford Alliance, realty brokers, and others have called for “sale-leaseback” transactions to get them back on the property-tax rolls.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Solution: Fully fund the state’s PILOT program
Local officials have learned that the state’s PILOT program is also voluntary, in a sense, with lawmakers able to override it when finances are tight.
Posted inCities & Towns, News
Solution: Hartford’s largest nonprofits contribute more
Hartford’s largest tax-exempt institutions argue they simply can’t afford to pledge any significant revenue to the city’s operating budget.