On Tuesday, August 30, 2022, a group of plaintiffs filed a major civil rights lawsuit in Connecticut state court, challenging the zoning policies of the Town of Woodbridge, CT, a suburb adjacent to New Haven. Among the plaintiffs is Open Communities Trust, LLC (OCT), an affordable housing development trust launched by the Open Communities Alliance. The plaintiffs allege that Woodbridge's zoning violates the state’s Zoning Enabling Act and Fair Housing Act, as well as the due process, equal protection, and anti-segregation clauses of the state Constitution. Read more here!
Open Communities Alliance is a Connecticut-based civil rights organization that promotes access to opportunity for all people through education, organizing, advocacy, research, and partnerships. The Alliance works to build an urban-suburban interracial coalition to support policies that lead to housing choice. Join us!
In The News
Apr 27, 2023
A new report from a New Jersey agency outlines how a state policy that requires towns to provide their “fair share” of the regional need for affordable housing has worked to double the rate of affordable housing production, ramp up the number of multi-family dwellings and integrate communities in recent...
Apr 18, 2023
Should Connecticut prioritize constructing affordable housing in economic hubs like New Haven, or exclusive towns like New Haven’s surrounding suburbs? Two housing construction advocates offered different answers to that question at a panel organized by the Housing Authority of New Haven/Elm City Communities on Thursday night. The panel, focused on...
Worth Reading
Jan 24, 2023
For 55 years, the Fair Housing Act, the landmark civil rights law meant to address housing discrimination, has required communities to certify that they are working to reduce government-sponsored segregation. But for decades, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) did little to ensure cities were actually following through....
Dec 01, 2022
Across Connecticut, thousands of government-subsidized affordable housing vouchers have gone unused in recent years, a Hearst Connecticut Media Group investigation found. Residents who’ve won lotteries for the vouchers, in some cases after waiting years, often find themselves mired in government red-tape and restrictions. The problem has worsened since the pandemic,...
