Sean Ghio

Downtown Fairfield CT is 39% parking by land area today

I have a hunch they can successfully welcome 754 new homes in a 12 year period (and a lot more if we are being honest). This is where 60 years of functionally zero growth gets us

Wow! A knockout blow of a thread. The sad thing is Newtown is unexceptionable in its opposition to housing.

Opinion: How out-of-sight zoning rules have outsized impact We often go about our lives without acknowledging the systems that shape them. Zoning is one of those systems.

How out-of-sight zoning rules have outsized impact ctmirror.org/2025/05/29/h...

Take a look at Stamford's new supportive housing for those struggling with homelessness A new “supportive housing” facility opened on Ann Street in Stamford's West End, and 11 men facing homelessness are set to move in next month.

A new supportive housing facility opened on Ann Street in Stamford's West End, and 11 men facing homelessness are set to move in next month.
www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article...

I implore people to think about what Memorial Day means, and then think about…this

CT no-fault evictions ban expansion dies in legislature Although lawmakers said many of their colleagues privately supported the idea, not enough of them were willing to vote in favor of the bill.

We’re deeply disappointed the #JustCauseCT bill wasn’t called for a vote.

“It’s such a massive constituency... I struggle to understand why legislators... recognize landlords but don’t seem to recognize tenants.” — Luke LMelonakos-Harrison

@CTMirror: ctmirror.org/2025/05/20/c...

New blog: The Reality: Housing Challenges I faced as a Low-Income Earner by intern Mabel Thompson.

“I realized, I belong in these spaces too. My lived experience is part of the policy puzzle they’re trying to solve.”

Read her powerful story: heyor.ca/4kj7ob

Homelessness surges in wealthy CT: 'I'm surrounded by millionaires, and next door this is happening' Homelessness is an issue throughout Connecticut but is particularly striking in Fairfield County, where great wealth and great struggle exist only miles apart.

Homelessness surges in wealthy CT: 'I'm surrounded by millionaires, and next door this is happening'

www.ctinsider.com/news/article...

Two Connecticuts: How gaps between rich and poor define life in CT Few places in the United States have inequality quite like Connecticut’s, where extreme wealth and extreme struggle coexist in startling proximity.

Two Connecticuts: How gaps between rich and poor define life in CT www.ctinsider.com/news/article...

Wallingford opens downtown to affordable housing development with new regulation Wallingford Planning and Zoning Commission passed a new regulation that offers incentives based on how many affordable units there are and reduces restrictions.

It's great to see that Wallingford has taken steps to make it easier to build affordable housing in it's downtown. More towns should follow their lead.

www.ctinsider.com/recordjourna...

Seymour Housing Survey On Tap To Gauge Residents’ Input SEYMOUR – A town committee gained approval April 1 to conduct a community survey about affordable housing. The Seymour Affordable Housing Committee, a…

Seymour to survey residents on housing

valley.newhavenindependent.org/article/seym...

My son is about to leave on his bike to meet a friend, and I have a very realistic fear for his safety around cars. I do every time. I try to ride around town, and it's frightening.

Could a photo and a headline better encapsulate the root cause of our housing crisis?

These subjective veto points are the problem, full stop

Good point

'We got a lot of communists in the state': Trumbull officials blast CT affordable housing laws Town officials in Trumbull recently took out their frustrations with the state’s affordable housing laws during a meeting with a developer proposing 100 apartments.

Clearly Trumbull isn't sending ITS best to the planning and zoning commission. www.ctpublic.org/news/2025-05...

Opinion: Just Cause Eviction is an essential policy for the health and safety of CT residents In CT, the combination of high housing costs and low vacancy rates has created what some have deemed as the worst place in the country for renters.

Just Cause eviction protections are about protecting Connecticut families from being unfairly displaced and ensuring stable, healthy communities.

This powerful piece explains why:
heyor.ca/zr4QOY

Take Action to support Just Cause: heyor.ca/rT0NHo

#JustCauseCT

🏡 Meet the Faces of Rental Assistance 🏡

We're sharing the people who could benefit from CT’s Rental Assistance Program (RAP).

👩‍💼 Meet the Working Mom juggles a full-time job & raising two kids—but rent keeps her on the edge.

CT’s RAP could change that. It’s time to #FundRAP.

Both Governor Lamont and the General Assembly have proposed budgets that invest in key housing programs—expanding rental assistance, boosting affordable housing development, and protecting our most vulnerable residents.

Learn more: heyor.ca/YddUXO

Nearly 1 in 5 CT lawmakers are landlords. Could that affect policy? Several lawmakers said they can’t help but be shaped by their experiences, and that those experiences help color policy debate.

Nearly 1 in 5 CT lawmakers are landlords. Could that affect policy? ctmirror.org/2025/04/27/c...

Nearly 1 in 5 CT lawmakers are landlords. Could that affect policy? Several lawmakers said they can’t help but be shaped by their experiences, and that those experiences help color policy debate.

Great reporting from Ginny Monk. Nearly 1 in 5 CT lawmakers are landlords. I'd like to know how many Housing Committee members are landlords. The conflicts are obvious. Committee members should disclose whether they are landlords. ctmirror.org/2025/04/27/c...

Fairfield zoning officials OK 96-unit affordable housing complex on Black Rock Turnpike A Fairfield developer has zoning permission to place a 96-unit apartment complex at 4480 Black Rock Turnpike, now an empty, wooded lot.

www.ctinsider.com/fairfield/ar...

New apartments approved in Fairfield - 96 total with 29 set-aside for lower and moderate income tenants. Without question these homes would have been denied but for CT's Affordable Housing Appeals Procedure (8-30g). Our housing shortage continues. Imagine how worse it would be without 8-30g.

Court sides with New Canaan developer in first part of battle over proposed 8-30g project's denial The Superior Court of Hartford sided with Arnold Karp's 8-30g development at 17 and 23 Hill Street over New Canaan's Water Pollution Control Authority.

An affordable housing proposal won one of its 3 battles in court after a judge found that New Canaan’s water pollution authority wrongfully rejected its application. The WPCA’s rejection was “devoid of evidentiary support and constituted an abuse of discretion.”

www.ctinsider.com/news/new-can...

60,000 Americans to lose their rental assistance and risk eviction unless Congress acts The program was allocated $5 billion to help pull people out of homelessness, domestic...

60,000 Americans to lose their rental assistance and risk eviction unless Congress acts. www.ctpost.com/news/politic...

"If you can afford to send Katy Perry to space, you can afford to pay more taxes."

"If you can afford to send Katy Perry to space, you can afford to pay more taxes." #3E

Connecticut Towns Are Losing Millions to Parking Minimums. Will Lawmakers Act? A new push for parking reform in Connecticut reveals just how much public space and revenue towns are losing to outdated requirements.

Casey and Tom are rock star advocates. This common sense reform will go a long way to allowing, once again, the kind of development that made us love CT in the first place. No one loves wasteful sprawl. www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025...

Connecticut Towns Are Losing Millions to Parking Minimums. Will Lawmakers Act? A new push for parking reform in Connecticut reveals just how much public space and revenue towns are losing to outdated requirements.

"Say you want to build a bowling alley....In West #Hartford, you’d be required to build 8 parking spaces for every lane. In #Wethersfield, that number drops to 5. And in #Ridgefield? Just 4. The differences aren’t based on data or demand — they’re arbitrary."

www.strongtowns.org/journal/2025...

These people are clueless to the suffering and stress that housing costs bring to so many residents. We shouldn't be setting public policy based on their privileged desires.

Fairfield affordable housing freeze welcomed by town leaders who call state mandate "unfair" The town of Fairfield had to prove at least 2% of its housing stock was affordable to secure the moratorium on affordable housing construction. The state mandate is for 10% affordable housing stock.

“I don't know what the average sales price is now, but it's got to be upwards of almost a million dollars at this point. They're really leveraging up to buy a home and then to have a big complex go in, like right next door, can be pretty upsetting." Sounds rough. www.ctpublic.org/news/2025-04...