Connecticut’s Moon Shot: 45 minutes from Grand Central to New Haven by 2028

One of the few things that Washington agrees on is the need for infrastructure investment. While proposals coming out of D.C. are short on details, one certainty is that solutions must be developed locally. Transportation is Connecticut’s economic lifeblood. Sandwiched between New York and Boston, the State enjoys a central location in one of the world’s most economically vibrant regions. Connecticut’s Gold Coast has the second highest per capita income in the US, with one of the best educated workforces, blessed with cultural and recreational amenities found few other places. Connecticut's lagging population growth (ranked 47th), weak economic growth (1.4%), combined with an aging population, just slightly younger than Florida’s, are signs for a different future. 

One way to assure a better future for the State, and attract new talent is by improving transportation linkages and better integration with the greater NYC region, which has been experiencing sustained growth. If the Connecticut economy is cut off from the region by poor transportation, the State will lose its tax base, be subject to ever higher state and local taxes and be relegated to observer rather than a contributor to the Northeast region’s prosperity.

Clear answers to Connecticut’s anemic growth have been proposed by a thoughtful and forward thinking  not-for-profit organization unassumingly named, the  Regional Plan Association (RPA). Their recently released Fourth Regional Plan, has recommendations that  jump out as obvious solutions to the State’s looming problems. The answers to the state's problems will require investment.

Knit the region together running current trains at their designed speed

The 80 mile Metro-North ride from New York to New Haven traverses the economic heart of the state, terminating at the home to one of the world’s leading universities. The Wright Brothers' plane traveled at 40 mph, about the same speed as today’s rider to New Haven. A 45 minute ride would not require a Bullet Train. Existing Metro-North trains can reach speeds of 100 mph, and the Acela can go 135 mph, but both are are slowed by aging tracks and obsolete bridges. We need to set a goal now. Ten years is reasonable and achievable to update a rail system designed in the 19th century.

Transform Parking Lots into Affordable Neighborhoods

Reduced travel times to job centers in NYC, Stamford, and towns and cities along an updated train route, will increase demand for for housing, especially within walking distance of stations. Rezoning will permit the development of neighborhoods with affordable housing and retail, walking distance from transit. Walkable residential areas will attract new residents, appealing to singles, young couples, and empty nesters, encouraging much needed diversity in the state. To make this happen, town and cities on the transit path will need to be incentivized/ convinced to transform wasted parking lots and low density areas into pedestrian oriented mixed use communities. Connecticut towns will be reluctant to change, but the state needs to encourage modern land use practices, less reliant on cars and more energy efficient. Change will be difficult for many, but critical to meet the state’s future housing and demographic needs.

How will we pay for this?

Clearly Washington does not have the money and does not have the answers. Taxes will need to raised locally and this is where it gets difficult. The RPA suggests highway tolls and “value capture” of some of the property taxes of buildings developed near the improved train lines. An increased gas tax is likely. On the bright side, the increased property Grand List, from housing for singles, young marrieds and empty nesters, and the additional retail space in town centers will reduce property tax burden for existing homeowners and increase state income tax receipts. Without a new tax base, costs for existing Connecticut residents will continue to increase. While the funding sources for overdue transportation improvements are to be determined, what is certain is that if the state’s aging infrastructure continues to be ignored, Connecticut will become an economic has been.  

Investment in transportation infrastructure is critical to ensuring Connecticut's economic future and a means to update our communities to attract and retain millennials and new arrivals. It is up to state and local officials to modernize Connecticut’s foundational transit assets to build a better for future and capture a share of the growth that is traveling right past us between Boston and New York.

Jeff Randolph, AIA, is a Real Estate Entrepreneur, Founder of the RE Start-Up www.Mdory.com, has lead the Corporate Real Groups for Amazon, PepsiCo & Diageo, a Fairfield, CT resident for over 20 years, and currently based in Seattle.