Studies & Reports
Introductory Material (Start Here!)
Segregated By Design: A short video based on Richard Rothstein’s The Color of the Law.
“How Zoning Can Restrict, or Even Prevent, Affordable Housing": A medium-length PBS NewsHour video on Connecticut’s housing laws.
Connecticut’s Housing Divide: A long CT Public video about the context for zoning reform in the 2021 legislative session.
How States Can Improve Housing Well-Being: A Brookings Institution report about how states can and should lead on developing healthy housing markets.
The Role of States in Liberalizing Land Use Regulations: A historical account of how states have helped local governments modernize land use regulations.
Key Zoning Definitions: Our dictionary of zoning terms for convenient reference.
Connecticut: Current Research
PA 21-29 Initial Findings: A DesegregateCT report concerning the implementation of the ADU provision in PA 21-29. Discusses impacts and lessons from the law and its opt-out provisions.
Bringing Zoning Into Focus: A study by the Urban institute showing the vicious relationship between severe zoning regulations and housing inequity in CT.
Issue Brief: The Environmental Case for Zoning Reform: A DesegregateCT issue brief explaining how a fresh look at our land use policies can reverse costly environmental degradation and help us fight climate change.
Issue Brief: The Economic Case for Zoning Reform: A DesegregateCT issue brief analyzing the costs of restrictive zoning on our state - and the economics benefits of zoning reform.
Issue Brief: Get on Board for Equitable Transit-Oriented Communities: A DesegregateCT issue brief about zoning around Connecticut’s transit stations.
Issue Brief: Small Lots in Smart Places - A Right-Sized Solution for CT: A DesegregateCT issue brief about minimum lot sizes and the need for reform.
The Connecticut Zoning Atlas: A first-in-the-nation mapping project showing how every town in the state regulates housing.
Research Paper on Zoning Atlas Findings: A paper, written by DesegregateCT founder Sara Bronin, about the contents, methods, and preliminary findings of our research, including the Zoning Atlas.
Housing Connecticut’s Future: Meeting the State’s Affordable & Accessible Housing Needs: A report from the Urban Institute, our coalition partner FCCHO, and the CT Department of Housing - along with this dashboard with town profiles.
“Be My Neighbor” Reports about Accessory Apartments (ADUs): The Regional Plan Association’s analysis of accessory apartment capacity in the tri-state region and Fairfield County-specific reports showing tens of thousands of accessory apartments can be created.
Housing Data Profiles: A town-by-town treasure trove of information on housing affordable from the Partnership for Strong Communities, updated for 2020.
Health & Community Well-Being Reports: A slew of reports from Data Haven about trends in financial security, food security, transportation access, and health equity - and much more - across all Connecticut towns.
The Effects of Residential Zoning in U.S. Housing Markets: Jae-Hee Song’s research showing minimum lot size reform in CT can lead to more minority homeownership, more than double home construction, and drop new home prices by $26,900.
Separate and Unequal: A report from CT Voices for Children about the interactive effects of housing and school policies.
Economic Impact of Land Use Regulations: A School and State Finance Project report that summarizes the impact of land use regulation on housing supply and housing diversity.
Preventing Displacement of New Haven Residents: A Yale Law Clinic’s report on how creating housing supply and changing zoning to eliminate minimum parking requirements, create transit-oriented communities, and enable accessory apartments can keep people in their homes and stop gentrification.
A Guide to Zoning Fair and Open Communities: A concise summary from the Connecticut Fair Housing Center of zoning laws and their impact on Connecticut.
Out of Balance: Open Communities Alliance’s report on the opportunity gap in Connecticut and the role subsidized housing policy plays in generating and reinforcing it.
Connecticut Opportunity Map: An interactive tool showing the geographic relationship between economic opportunity, racial demography, and the presence of affordable housing.
Moving to Opportunity: A landmark longitudinal study demonstrating the long-term beneficial impacts of integration on children’s life outcomes.
Impediments to Fair Housing Choice: A stark picture of Connecticut’s segregated housing patterns.
The Economic Case for Increasing Housing Supply: A 2019 National Association of Home Builders analysis of Connecticut’s missed opportunities to create jobs and generate tax revenue through housing production.
Costs & Benefits to Local Governments: A complimentary report on how local governments can benefit from reform.
How Towns Can Plan for Affordable Housing: The 2020 Regional Plan Association - Connecticut Department of Housing guidebook for towns’ inclusionary planning efforts.
”A Steady Habit of Segregation”: A 2020 deep history of zoning, schools, and segregation by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Poverty & Race Research Action, & OCA.
A New Narrative for Fairfield County: A 2020 guide produced by Fairfield County Center for Housing Opportunity and the Regional Plan Association, drawing from research from Dr. Tiffany Manuel; note it guided some of our own Be The Change playbooks!
Connecticut: Historical Research
1978 CHRO Report - Developing Inclusionary Zoning Ordinances: HUD-funded report finding “[m]any towns were found employing” practices excluding low-income and minority people.
1978 CHRO Report - The Status of Equal Housing Opportunities : HUD-funded report finding “a housing crisis… [caused by] lack of aggressive leadership by the three branches of our government.”
1978 CHRO Report - A Study of Zoning in Connecticut: HUD-funded report noting increasing minority concentration within cities and studying zoning codes’ constraints on housing types, housing processes (“as-of-right” versus not), minimum unit sizes, and other regulations.
1986 CHRO Report - Housing Discrimination and Opportunities in the State of Connecticut: A report resulting from five CHRO-initiated fact-finding hearings and other research, which found “The exclusionary planning and zoning activities of suburban towns severely limit the housing choices for members of protected classes.”
1987 CHRO Report - Task Force on Housing in Connecticut First Summary Report: A summary of federal and state agency responses to the recommendations in the 1986 Housing Discrimination and Opportunities report.
1989 Blue Ribbon Commission Housing Report: The report of a statewide commission with 25 recommendations to create more equitable housing, including what would become the housing trust fund.
1990 CHRO Report - Residential Real Estate Practices in Connecticut: A report with a small data set of testers, showing the differences in neighborhoods to which Black and White people posing as real estate clients were steered.
1991 CHRO Report - Update to A Study of Zoning in Connecticut: A write-up updating the 1978 CHRO report for towns with populations of 10,000 or more, finding that towns were equally or more restrictive and that “the discretionary powers of the zoning board… play the crucial role in the exclusion of Blacks and Hispanics.”
2003 CT MetroPatterns: A Regional Agenda for Community and Prosperity: A report about the need for statewide or regional land use coordination as part of a broader suite of policy options making Connecticut more attractive & competitive.
2021 CHRO Report - Zoning and Discrimination Report: A summary of the impact of zoning policies on housing discrimination in Connecticut, and a confirmation that little has changed since CHRO’s last full report in 1978.
Research from Other States
Achieving Housing Abundance Near Transit: This research from Yonah Freemark of the Urban Institute shows how the sprawling car-oriented development of the 1970s exacerbated and reinforced patterns of segregational living in the US.
Influencers, Bias, and Equity in Rezoning Cases: A research report by the Urban Institute showing how equitable rezoning efforts are hindered with an increase in racial and class inequities in Louisville, KY.
Harvard’s 2020 State of the Nation’s Housing: A study showing how a national housing shortage - the lowest supply since 1982 - has driven up pricing.
Why More Housing Supply Reduces Housing Prices: A definitive NYU report linking the production of housing (housing supply) and affordability.
How New Apartment Buildings Reduce Rents in Urban Neighborhoods: Xiaodi Li studies the impact of new housing in urban neighborhoods.
National Redlining Map: A interactive map from the University of Richmond, on “Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America.”
Zoning and Access to High-Quality Schools: A report by Jonathan Rothwell about the connection between zoning and education.
Zoning and the Cost of Housing: An analysis by law professor Bob Ellickson on the costs of zoning on New Haven, Silicon Valley, and Greater Austin.
The New State Zoning: A detailed review by law professor John Infranca on states’ efforts to better guide land use decision-making.
Overcoming Restrictive Zoning: An analysis of five states’ innovative approaches to zoning and affordable housing development.
“Be My Neighbor” Report: An analysis of the promise and potential of accessory apartments from Regional Plan Association.
COVID-19 Housing Response: A brief report supporting accessory apartments as we confront a housing crisis in the midst of the pandemic.
Legalizing Housing Near Transit in MA: A 2020 Brookings report on why a housing affordability crisis requires statewide reform focused on creating homes around train stations and other types of public transportation.
Overcoming Opposition to Multi-Family Housing: A Harvard Joint Center on Housing Studies study debunking false claims about traffic, property values, schools, and more.
Evaluating Housing Affordability Policies in Your Area: A Mercatus Center report complementing our Be the Change playbooks and identifying areas for reform at the local level.
Dismantling Segregationist Land Use Controls: A short law review article by law professor Sarah Adams-Schoen, with some treatment of other states’ reforms.
CT Not Producing Enough Housing: No Connecticut city makes a 2020 list of vibrant, economically strong towns producing lots of new housing.
MA Land Use Regulation Causes Segregation: A 2013 thesis finding that restrictive zoning leads to fewer black and Latino households.
