ESI – in partnership with VHB – was commissioned by the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency to undertake a community development plan for the South Norwalk neighborhood in Norwalk, Connecticut. ESI was responsible for the real estate and housing existing conditions analysis, along with any resulting policy recommendations and implementation strategies to encourage could housing solutions that met community priorities.
ESI’s housing and real estate existing conditions analysis provided a comprehensive review of recent population, demographic and economic trends impacting the South Norwalk housing market. In particular, the analysis focused on key affordability metrics to better understand the housing gaps and subsequent needs of the community. From this resulting analysis, ESI produced an inventory of available housing policies, programs and interventions that could be leveraged by the City of Norwalk and the Redevelopment Agency in their goal to improve housing opportunities for the South Norwalk community.
Over the course of the engagement, ESI worked closely with the community and routinely presented findings to the local Community Advisory and Technical Advisory Committees, as well as members of the general public. This allowed ESI to incorporate relevant feedback and qualitative findings into the final deliverable.
ESI’s housing and existing conditions analysis, and subsequent policy recommendations and implementation strategies were incorporated into the broader community development plan – which also included findings led by the analysis of VHB covering transportation, business district improvement, and sustainability planning efforts.
