The What

The What: This Week in Southwest Connecticut

The What is your look around southwest Connecticut for the week of January 23.

Hope you all have a great week! Photo by Kelly Prinz.

Monday, January 23

Happy Monday! Last week, we debuted our deep dive into trees and their benefits to the southwest Connecticut region. Some of the major highlights from those articles included:

Trees benefit the region environmentally by mitigating stormwater before it flows into bodies of water, like the Long Island Sound; improving air quality; and providing cooler air and shade from the heat.
Trees also provide social benefits through helping improve people’s health and making them feel more comfortable and safe walking and moving around.
And trees provide economic benefits, because tree-lined streets add property values to homes and commercial properties.
But despite enhanced efforts over the past few years to add to the region’s tree canopy, more needs to be done, particularly in urban areas.

Learn more about the impact of trees in the region or explore how three of our communities—Norwalk, Stamford, and Fairfield—are working to enhance their tree-related efforts.

Communities across the region are investing in tree-related efforts. Photo by Kelly Prinz.

You can also check out our full video exploring the benefits of trees throughout the region or hear from two local community members—Jeff Scherr, president of the Norwalk Tree Alliance, and Jim Travers, director of Norwalk’s Transportation, Mobility, and Parking Department, about why they believe planting trees is important.

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Residents across the region could benefit from efforts from the Stamford Board of Representatives. The board is working on a resolution that calls on the state to make free fares on buses permanent.

The city’s State and Commerce Committee of the Board of Representatives unanimously approved a draft resolution that encourages the state to eliminate local bus fares. The full board will vote to adopt the resolution at its February meeting.

“I think that the value that will benefit our community is multi-faceted,” said Representative Jonathan Jacobson, who was a sponsor of the resolution. “We want to see public transportation be successful in Stamford.”

Jacobson said that some of the top concerns he hears from his constituents include how many cars are on the road, the deterioration of the city’s road infrastructure, and the lack of safe biking/walking.

“Increasing the use and investment in our public transportation is an excellent way to curtail those issues, to say nothing of the environmental impact,” he said.

Learn more.

Let’s see what else is happening around the region this week.

Stamford

The Zoning Board will meet on Monday, January 23 at 6:30 p.m. and will receive a report from the city’s Traffic, Transportation, and Parking Bureau on the traffic conditions at the medical and retail marijuana facility, which is at 12 Research Drive, following the first week of legal adult-use cannabis sales in the state. The board will also review plans for a proposed development at Clinton Avenue and Division Street, which include two residential buildings that would have 471 units and more than 450 parking spaces.

On Tuesday, January 24, Planning Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. for its final deliberations and on the recommended Capital Budget for 2023-2024 and Capital Plan for 2024-2030, before sending it on to the Board of Finance.