Volume II: Community Assessment Report Update City of Waterbury Plan of Conservation and Development Prepared by Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc. Wilbur Smith Associates, Inc. as an Update to the 1999 Community Assessment Report Prepared by Buckhurst, Fish & Jacquemart, Inc. for the City of Waterbury January 2005 Revised through January 2006 Adopted by the Waterbury City Plan Commission on November 9, 2005 City of Waterbury Plan of Conservation and Development Volume II: Community Assessment Report Update Prepared by: Phillips Preiss Shapiro Associates, Inc. Wilbur Smith Associates, Inc. As an update to the 1999 Community Assessment Report Prepared by Buckhurst, Fish & Jacquemart, Inc. for The City of Waterbury January 2005 Revised through July 29, 2005 Adopted by the Waterbury City Plan Commission on November 9, 2005 City of Waterbury Community Assessment Report Update I II City of Waterbury Community Assessment Report Update Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Land Use & Zoning 3 2.1 Land Use 3 2.2 Zoning 8 3 Demographics 17 3.1 Population 17 3.2 Households 18 3.3 Age 18 3.4 Racial Composition 19 3.5 Income and Occupation 20 4 Housing 25 4.1 Existing Conditions 25 4.2 Affordable Housing 27 5 Key Indicators by Census Tract 31 6 Economic Development 45 6.1 The Waterbury Economy 45 6.2 The Industrial and Office Market 48 6.3 Special Economic Development Areas and Programs 52 7 Traffic, Transportation and Utilities 57 7.1 Roadway Network 57 7.2 Pedestrian and Bicycle Amenities 61 7.3 Bus Service 61 7.4 Rail Service 63 7.5 Rideshare 64 7.6 Water Supply System 67 7.7 Wastewater Collection and Treatment 67 7.8 Stormwater Management 68 8 Community Facilities 69 8.1 Parks and Recreation 69 City of Waterbury Community Assessment Report Update III 8.2 Schools 71 8.3 Libraries 77 8.4 Police Services 78 8.5 Fire Services 79 8.6 Municipal Buildings 84 9 Environment 85 9.1 Open Space 85 9.2 Soils and Slopes 86 9.3 Water, Floodplains and Wetlands 93 9.4 Environmental Contamination and Brownfields 94 10 Historic and Cultural Resources 95 10.1 Community and Cultural Facilities 95 10.2 Historic Preservation 96 11 Summary of Neighborhood Revitalization Zone (NRZ) Plans 99 11.1 Hillside NRZ Strategic Plan 99 11.2 St. Margaret—Willow Plaza Neighborhood Revitalization Plan 100 11.3 Neighborhood Improvement Plan for the Walnut Orange Walsh (WOW) Neighborhood 101 11.4 Walnut Street Commercial Re-use Strategy 102 11.5 West Main / Willow Street Initiative—Redevelopment & Neighborhood Plan 103 11.6 Willow Street Master Plan 104 11.7 Brooklyn NRZ Plan 105 12 Community Input Summary 107 12.1 Discussion by Topic Area 108 12.2 Visions for the Future—Major Themes 114 Table of Tables Table 1: Summary of Land Uses 3 Table 2: Detailed Land Use Description 4 Table 3: Population Change in the Central Naugatuck Valley Region and New Haven County, 1980 – 2000 17 Table 4: Number of Households, 1990-2000 18 Table 5: Average Household size, 1990-2000 18 Table 6: Percent Distribution of Household Types, 2000 19 Table 7: Population by Race, Waterbury, 1990-2000 21 Table 8: Age by Race, Waterbury, 2000 22 Table 9: Change in Hispanic Population and Population of Hispanic Origin by Race, 1990 – 2000 22 Table 10: Median Household and Per Capita Income in Waterbury and Connecticut, 1989 – 1999 22 Table 11: Household Income in Waterbury and Connecticut, 1999 23 Table 12: Employment by Industry, Waterbury and Connecticut, 2000 23 IV City of Waterbury Community Assessment Report Update Table 13: City of Waterbury Housing Stock, 1990-2000 25 Table 14: Home Ownership, Waterbury, New Haven County and Connecticut State, 1990-2000 26 Table 15: Regional Housing Stock, 2000 27 Table 16: Waterbury Housing Authority Inventory 29 Table 17: The Relationship between Labor Demand and Supply in Waterbury, 1994-2003 50 Table 18: Work Trip Destinations of Waterbury Residents, 1990 – 2000 50 Table 19: Residential Origins of Workers in Waterbury, 1990-2000 51 Table 20: Greater Waterbury Industrial Market Statistics 52 Table 21: Greater Waterbury’s Office Market Vacancy Rates 52 Table 22: Office Sub-market Rental Rates 52 Table 23: 2003 Average Daily Traffic (ADT) Volumes 58 Table 24: Local Fixed Route Bus Service, Frequencies and Ridership 62 Table 25: Park and Ride Lot Locations, Capacity and Features 64 Table 26: Waterbury Parks 70 Table 27: Existing School Inventory 72 Table 28: Proposed Schedule of Construction and Renovation 75 Table 29: Waterbury Fire Stations 79 Table of Figures Figure 1: Existing Land Use 5 Figure 2: Zoning Districts 9 Figure 3: Recent Population Trends 18 Figure 4: Age Distribution, City of Waterbury, 1990 and 2000 20 Figure 5: Net Migration in Waterbury, 1990 – 2000 20 Figure 6: Age Distribution, Waterbury and Connecticut, 2000 21 Figure 7: Annual Net Residential Building Permits, 1997-2003 26 Figure 8: Population Change by Census Tract 33 Figure 9: Population Density by Census Tract 34 Figure 10: Household Types 35 Figure 11: Change in Number of Households 36 Figure 12: Housing Units in Structure 37 Figure 13: Tenure of Housing Units 38 Figure 14: Median Value of Owner-occupied Housing Units 39 Figure 15: Median Household Income 40 Figure 16: Percentage of Households below Poverty Level 41 Figure 17: Change in Population Aged 5 to 19 42 Figure 18: Percent Change in Population Aged 5 to 19 47 Figure 19: Payroll Employment in the City of Waterbury by Sector, 1993-2001 48 Figure 20: Total Employment, Waterbury and CNVR, 1993-2002 48 Figure 21: Manufacturing Employment in the City of Waterbury, 1993-2001 49 Figure 22: The Trend in Waterbury’s Annual Average Unemployment Rates 49 City of Waterbury Community Assessment Report Update V Figure 23: Special Economic Development Areas 55 Figure 24: Functional Classification of Roads 59 Figure 25: Bus Routes 65 Figure 26: School Districts and School Locations 73 Figure 27: Fire Station Locations 80 Figure 28: Soils 87 Figure 29: Flood Prone Areas 89 Figure 30: Wetland Soils 91 VI City of Waterbury Community Assessment Report Update Introduction This Community Assessment Report contains the background studies, data and analysis that form the foundation of the City of Waterbury’s Plan of Conservation and Development. It updates and expands a document of the same name prepared for the City six years ago. In 1999 the City of Waterbury retained Buckhurst Fish & Jacquemart, Inc. to prepare an update to the 1971 Plan of Conservation and Development. The update of the Plan was to consist of two phases. The first was the investigation of background material to provide an understand- ing of the current land use, demographic composition and infrastructure analysis. A Community Assessment Report was prepared as an outcome of this phase. The second phase was the actual update of the Plan, containing chapters addressing future land use, and recommenda- tions concerning housing, economic development, traffic and transportation, community facili- ties and utilities, environment, and historic and cultural resources. However, due to financial constraints, the second phase was never undertaken. Now that the City’s finances are stabilized, the City has re-embarked on the task of updating the Plan for the first time in over thirty years. Picking up where the prior effort left off, a com- prehensive update of the Community Assessment Report has been undertaken. This Report is the result of that update. It provides the statistical background and inventory for the Plan of Conservation and Development. In addition to the data compiled in the 1999 Report, this update is based upon a multitude of data sources, including the 2000 Decennial Census; eco- nomic, demographic and housing data compiled by State agencies; interviews with municipal department heads and materials provided by various departments; data and reports provided by the Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley; and environmental mapping provided by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. While the 1999 Report contains much valuable data and analysis still useful today, several important developments since 1999 have prompted this update to the Report. Highlights of these changes are described below. 1 City of Waterbury Community Assessment Report Update 1 First, more current data have become available. Most importantly, 2000 U.S. Census data have been released. These data were not available at the time the 1999 Report was prepared. In addition, new economic data have become available. All of the economic data provided in the 1999 Report have been updated with the most recent available data. Second, the City’s fiscal crisis resulted in a takeover of the City’s finances by a State Oversight Board in 2001. While many fiscal constraints will remain into the future due to liabilities and deferred investment accrued through decades of poor management, the City’s finances are now back on a sound footing. Changes that will improve the effectiveness of municipal govern- ment, including reorganizations and capital investments in the municipal physical plant, have been undertaken. The State will remain in charge of the City’s finances until December 2006, at which time oversight will revert to the City. Third, a series of new public and private development projects have opened since 1999: • The Waterbury Branch of the University of Connecticut has moved to a new, state of the art downtown campus on East Main Street, one block from the Waterbury Green. • The old campus, located in the Hillside Neighborhood, has become a Yeshiva. • The renovation of the Palace Theater has been completed, and the facility is now open and presenting a variety of cultural and entertainment programming. • Adjacent and connected to the revitalized Palace Theater is a new Arts Magnet School, which opened in August 2004.