The problem of sprawl development is getting more attention in Connecticut.

   All Aboard!, the Hartford pro-transit group, and the Center-Edge Coalition have joined into one group, 1000 Friends of Connecticut, with the mission of promoting smart growth and transportation reform at the state level.

   In a recent Hartford Courant op-ed, Project for Public Spaces’ (and 1000 Friends board member) Toni Gold called on Connecticut to question the new car dependent “Utopia” development, a proposed theme park and hotel complex in casino-ridden eastern Connecticut, and start channeling growth into existing towns and cities. She cites numerous recent reports, including one coauthored by the Tri-State Campaign, highlighting Connecticut’s high rates of land use consumption, declining cities, disinvestment in mass transit and the overall lack planning.  She concludes: “This is an impressive list of recent publications from expert observers both in and out of the state, each saying the same things from a slightly different angle: Connecticut is going down the wrong path, and it’s starting to hurt. Is anyone listening?”  v

   Economist Fred V. Carstensen proclaimed in the Courant that economic incentives force people to live far away from the city, often against their individual choices.

   A forum on Connecticut Public Television in Hartford discussed the causes of sprawl, especially municipalities’ need to generate more and more tax revenue by building houses, retail, and commercial development farther and farther away from traditional urban centers.

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