Implementation Plan for Sustainable Development in the New York - Connecticut Metropolitan Region MAY 30, 2014 DRAFT: June 2, 2014 - 13:33 SCI Implementation Plan Draft 20140602_final.indd 1 About the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium NY-CT Sustainable Communities Consortium The New York – Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium is supported by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities Regional Planning Grant. The Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant program is a key initiative of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, a federal partnership joining the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Transportation, and HUD with a shared mission to coordinate federal housing, transportation, water, and other infrastructure investments to make neighborhoods more prosperous, allow people to live closer to jobs, save households time and money, and reduce pollution . Partners in the NY-CT Sustainable Communities Consortium An Advisory Board was formed to monitor the progress of include cities, counties, metropolitan planning organizations, Consortium activities, provide recommendations, and review and non-profit organizations across Long Island, New York City, and comment on Consortium work programs. Advisory lower Hudson Valley, and coastal Connecticut: Board members include both governmental agencies and non- governmental organizations in the tri-state New York/New Regional Plan Association, partner and fiduciary agent Jersey/Connecticut region. Connecticut partners: Connecticut Department of Economic and Community City of Bridgeport Development City of Norwalk Connecticut Department of Transportation City of Stamford Connecticut Housing Finance Agency City of New Haven Connecticut Environmental Justice Network South Central Regional Council of Governments Connecticut Office of Policy and Management Greater Bridgeport Regional Council Empire State Development Corporation South Western Regional Metropolitan Planning ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Organization Local Initiatives Support Corporation City of Newark New York partners: New York State Department of State City of Mount Vernon New York State Homes and Community Renewal City of New Rochelle City of Jersey City City of New York North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority City of White Plains Urban Land Institute City of Yonkers WE ACT for Environmental Justice Nassau County Suffolk County Long Island Regional Planning Council New York Metropolitan Transportation Council The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under an award with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government, including the individual member agencies of the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium. 2 Implementation Plan for Sustainable Development | May 2014 Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 6 a. Outcomes of Place-Based Projects 10 b. Findings and Actions to Improve the Regional Planning Process for Sustainable Development 11 c. Findings and Actions to Address Regional Equity and Opportunity 12 d. Findings and Actions to Improve Implementing Sustainable Transit-Oriented Development 13 2. A Vision for Sustainable Development in the New York-Connecticut Region 14 a. Goals of the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities Consortium 14 b. Place-Based Projects 17 i. Bridgeport Barnum Station Feasibility Study 17 ii. I-287 Cross County: Repurposing office parks 18 iii. Nassau County Infill Redevelopment Study 19 iv. New Haven Union Station Transit-Oriented Development Plan 20 v. New Rochelle Smart Growth Study 20 vi. Stamford East Main Street 21 vii. Southern Westchester East West Corridor Issues Scan 22 viii. New York City Climate Resilience 23 ix. Norwalk Transit-Oriented Development Study 24 x. Suffolk Transfer of Development Rights 25 xi. Long Island Regional Housing Study 25 xii. Sustainable Communities in the Bronx 26 xiii. Sustainable East New York 26 3. Impediments to Realizing the Sustainable Development Vision 28 a. Gaps in the Regional Planning Process 28 i. Integrating Regional and Local Transportation Planning 29 ii. Prioritizing Areas of Growth and Conservation 31 iii. Integrating Transportation, Housing, and Economic Development with Transit-Oriented Development 33 iv. Job Access and Economic Opportunity 38 v. Regional Strategies for Energy Efficiency 40 vi. Resiliency and Hazard Mitigation 44 3 Implementation Plan for Sustainable Development | May 2014 b. Fair Housing and Equity Assessment 47 i. The Fair Housing and Equity Assessment (FHEA): What It Is and Why It Matters 47 ii. Purpose and Approach 49 iii. Summary of Findings 51 iv. Major Conclusions and Recommendations from the Stakeholder Engagement Process 54 c. Barriers to Implementing Sustainable Transit-Oriented Development 58 i. Common Challenges 58 4. Implementing the Regional Sustainable Development Vision 63 a. Proposed Approach and Desired Outcomes 63 b. Actions to Improve the Regional Planning Process for Sustainable Development 64 i. Establish a Regional Network 64 ii. Establish a Regional Clearinghouse 64 iii. Recommend Federal Regulatory Changes 65 iv. Develop Multi-State Planning Mechanisms 67 v. Undertake Spatially-Specific Approaches 67 c. Actions to Address Regional Equity and Opportunity 69 i. Disseminating and Developing Strategies 69 ii. Actions By Individual Consortium Members 70 d. Actions to Improve Implementing Equitable and Resilient Transit-Oriented Development 74 i. Information/Best Practices 74 ii. Community Consensus and Ongoing Local Support 74 iii. Transportation Accessibility 74 iv. Programmatic and Permitting Processes 74 v. Funding 75 Appendix A: Findings from the Fair Housing and Equity Assessment 76 a. Economic, Demographic and Housing Trends 76 i. Pre- and post-war development patterns in the New York region 76 ii. Economic and Demographic Trends Since 1990 77 iii. Regional Housing Needs 79 iv. Housing Cost Burden 80 v. Housing Construction 81 vi. Future Housing Needs 82 b. Patterns of Segregation and Integration 84 i. Concentrations of Major Racial and Ethnic Groups 84 4 Implementation Plan for Sustainable Development | May 2014 ii. A “majority-minority” region with non-whites concentrated in the region’s cities 85 iii. Measures of Segregation and Integration 90 c. Analysis of Areas of Need and Opportunity 93 i. Racially/Ethnically Concentrated Areas of Poverty 93 ii. Neighborhood Typologies to Address Areas of Need and Opportunity 98 iii. Access to Existing Areas of High Opportunity 103 iv. Conclusion 109 d. Identification and Assessment of Major Public Investments: Non-Housing Investments and Their Relationship to Fair Housing and Access to Opportunity 110 i. New York City 110 ii. Long Island 113 iii. Lower Hudson Valley 115 iv. South-Central & Southwestern Connecticut: Norwalk, Bridgeport, Meriden & New Haven 117 e. Identification and Assessment of Fair Housing Issues, Services, and Activities 119 i. Patterns of Discrimination 119 ii. Fair Housing Complaints 119 iii. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data 123 Appendix B: New York-Connecticut Fair Housing and Equity Assessment (FHEA) Advisory Committee Report & Strategy Recommendations 134 i. Executive Summary 134 Appendix C: Responses to Public Comments Received on the April 11, 2014 Draft Implementation Plan for Sustainable Development 167 5 Implementation Plan for Sustainable Development | May 2014 1. Executive Summary he New York-Connecticut region, an area that Consortium’s planning area: Tincludes New York City, Long Island, the lower Hudson Valley, and coastal Connecticut, is one of the • A globally competitive regional economy that will largest and most complex urban areas in the United require strategic investment in infrastructure, States. A part of the larger tri-state metropolitan area business centers and neighborhoods to maintain surrounding New York City, it is home to 14 million and expand prosperity and improve quality of people and a productive, energy-efficient economy life. built around the nation’s most robust transit network. The region also includes some of the wealthiest and • A low per capita energy consumption and poorest communities in the country, and is one of its greenhouse gas emissions, largely a result of safe most racially and ethnically segregated regions. As a and reliable public transit service providing for coastal region, it is also increasingly vulnerable to sea more compact and efficient land-use patterns. level rise and frequent and intense storms brought on These services not only dramatically reduce a by climate change. traveler’s carbon footprint, but also facilitate a larger shift away from automobile use. Three years of collaborative planning by the New York-Connecticut Sustainable Communities • Transit systems with rich legacies and great Consortium, a partnership of nine cities, two scalability that have received and will require counties and six regional planning organizations, has sustained investment. resulted in an agenda to create more sustainable and equitable economic growth. The components of this • A network of downtowns and neighborhoods agenda include plans to create more jobs and mixed- supported by the transit network