Report: Conn.’s segregation among worst in the U.S.
Hartford, above, and Bridgeport remain among the most segregated in the nation in terms of race and ethnicity and among the highest in income inequality.
Connecticut is one of the most racially and economically segregated places in the country and both forms of division are increasing in at least some areas of the state, according to a new state-funded study. “Segregation in the state of Connecticut is high,” concluded the 106-page report, the result of months of study by a New York City-based economic consulting firm Urbanomics, which was hired by Governor Ned Lamont’s Office of Policy and Management to conduct the analysis.
When looking at the state as a whole, racial segregation has decreased somewhat since 1990, but zoom in and data shows that in many suburbs it “is holding steady or increasing,” the report said. Meanwhile, economic inequality is increasing across Connecticut.
The report blames a slew of historical practices — including
exclusionary zoning, allowing local officials to control what gets built, opposition from residents to new development, bias in real estate and an overall lack of sufficient motivation to change — for creating segregation and allowing it to persist and in some cases grow in recent decades.
“There are serious ramifications for people, for communities, and for our state to continue to not address this issue,” said Connecticut’s House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, adding that an affordable housing panel he co-chairs plans to review the report’s recommendations to consider potential legislative proposals.
Research has long shown that where someone grows up matters. Those growing up just a few blocks apart in different municipalities have drastically different outcomes in