The problem with Fair Haven is really more the housing stock. This was not a neighborhood of brick rowhouses, and what's there hasn't aged well. It looks much worse than it actually is.

I wouldn't be surprised if the city rezones it gradually. The location is really great.

Apartments and medical office space. None of it the density that is appropriate, especially to build out New Haven as a biotech hub. And nowhere near enough apartments to meet demand.

New Haven County has one of the lowest apartment vacancy rates in the country.

If you're anything but a small-time developer, you care about diversifying risk as much as you do about "making more money". No matter where you build affordable housing, once it is built, it is essentially no risk for a large developer/owner.

As for "ease", it depends on the market. In many places, it isn't legal to build new multi-family housing without an affordable component. In others, the entitlement process is actually easier. The underwriting can take more time, but that's what you have a bunch of $75K/yr analysts for.

As for the entitlement process, this varies a lot in Connecticut. Every municipality is different.

No, they aren't. The Congress of the most powerful nation in history is not a household. All United States Dollars in existence were created by Congress or by lending institutions granted the power to create United States Dollars as bank credit.

Why would Congress need to "bring in" numbers in a computer that it created?

Congress creates and allocates capital, which is the result of being granted the power "to coin Money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign Coins".

This means only Congress has the power to create money, define the value however it sees fit, and establish exchange rates the same.

Congress has no need to tax in order to spend - see the Revolutionary War, Greenbacks of the Civil war, and so on and so on.

The United States of America is the most powerful nation in the history of mankind. Only Congress has the sovereign right to make money. The very money you pay to the IRS in taxes.

The purpose of Federal taxes is not to raise revenue, but to control inflation and misallocation of capital due to bank-credit - the power delegated to banks by the Federal Reserve Act to create money as credit.

$150K per unit assuming 5 million new housing units required per year, is $750 billion or 2.9% of the current GDP of $25.3 trillion.

I think that's a pretty insignificant allocation of the nation's capital to ensure our people have quality and adequate housing.

And that cost is accurate, but doesn't include land. Though, the government can simply reallocate that via eminent domain.

Developers couldn't care less who lives in their developments as long as they make money. A combination of subsidized financing, LIHTC, tax abatements - they all make affordable housing financially feasible.

You have to understand these same developers are using debt syndicated by Freddie Mac, the FHA, etc...

New housing development has never really been financially feasible without government intervention.

New multi-family housing development increases property tax revenue - which is desperately needed by many if not most municipalities in the state - and never decreases it.

Regardless, no municipality should have the right to prohibit multi-family housing within a reasonable walking distance of a train station.

Connecticut is small enough school funding, and all aspects of public school management, should be state run. Larger municipalities (New York City) and states (Maryland to a degree) are able to do it.

It's such a simple solution. The state spends billions of dollars maintaining train stations where multi-family housing is illegal across the street. WTF?

1. Prohibit single-family home zoning state-wide. In an aging state like Connecticut, many children would live with their family if a reasonable additional dwelling unit could be constructed on the site. There are issues with areas not served by public water and sewer. Reasonable requirements for municipalities to provide this service should be made. Many "inexpensive" towns lack these basic public works in most land area, i.e. Shelton.

2. Mandate multi-family home zoning at a minimum of a 6.0 FAR within 1/2 mile of any heavy rail transit station in the state with a typical density of 750 SF per dwelling unit. No height limit below 10 stories.

3. Mandate similar within 1/2 to 1-mile at a 3 FAR. No height limit below 5 stories.

4. Allow, but not require, affordable housing bonuses up to 1/3 of the allowable as-of-right FAR, perhaps scaled.

New Have County has one of the lowest apartment vacancy rates in the country...

Because it really only applies to a few select schools. For high school, there are only a few in CT - but probably more than any other state. At the college level, also perhaps a few nationally. Maybe 20 at best.

If you go to Choate and Yale, great. But that's rare.

This. I needed a math tutor in high school. Only truly elite boarding schools provide that kind of individualized attention. Regular private schools do not, at all.

I went to Fairfield Prep. I would not waste the money on private school tuition for my children, if I had them.

Wooster Square is as safe as Park Slope circa 2000. It's really a beautiful neighborhood near everything you need - something that can be said for few urban areas in the US.