1000 Friends of Connecticut
Preserving,
Conserving and Growing Smart
1000 Friends of Connecticut
is dedicated to growing a healthy economy with choice in transportation,
housing and education; and respect for farmlands, open space, natural
and historic resources.
 Sprawling
development doesn’t have to continue, instead 1000 Friends
is creating a Connecticut where
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Growth patterns maximize pre-existing public investments in
roads, rails, water, sanitation, and information infrastructure;
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Ridge lines, white cedar swamps,
kettle pools, estuaries and the Sound are preserved;
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Farmers propagate cows, chickens,
produce, nursery crops and an agricultural future;
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Historic town centers are protected;
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Mixed-income and multi-racial
neighborhoods thrive;
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Kids in cities, suburbs and small
towns alike are equally and well-educated;
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Moms and Dad have jobs that are
within an easy foot, bike, bus, rail or
automobile commute, and
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People live in communities that
are beautiful and unique and reinforce the
sense that this is Connecticut!
Read the Hartford
Courant Editorial, August 9, 2005
Mission
 1000
Friends of Connecticut is a statewide organization whose mission
is to promote and shape growth to ensure a prosperous economy, a
healthy natural environment, and distinctive, integrated and attractive
communities while promoting opportunities in education, housing,
transportation, and employment for ourselves and future generations.
To accomplish this mission, 1000 Friends of Connecticut will
work to:
- Strengthen and direct new development towards communities
where infrastructure is already in place in order to reduce
sprawl and related environmental damage, revitalize community
centers, and more effectively use taxpayers money by maximizing
the value of their investments already made;
- Encourage compact, diverse, and livable communities by offering
a wide range of housing choices and encouraging a mixture of
land uses, preserving and restoring historic and cultural assets,
designing to human scale, and providing comfortable walking,
biking, and transit opportunities;
- Support high quality public transportation and transit-oriented
development as preferred alternatives to the single-passenger
automobile in order to reduce traffic congestion and air pollution,
positively affect business location decisions, and provide greater
access to job opportunities.
- Promote quality educational and housing opportunities for
all our state’s residents.
1000 Friends of Connecticut will pursue its goals by:
- Educating and mobilizing the public, and convening and mediating
among diverse stakeholders to build statewide support for Smart
Growth principles;
- Researching fiscal, regulatory, land-use, transportation
and other smart growth initiatives;
- Promoting the adoption of policies, initiatives, and practices
by government, business, and other institutions that encourage
economic growth while preserving the state’s quality of life;
- Building and sustaining a constituency for smart growth
and social equity by providing tools and models to measure progress
and to advocate for change.
(Adopted 7/18/05)
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21st
Join 1000 FRIENDS of
Connecticut in honoring its First
Smart Growth Champ, Tom Condon.
Tom
is the heart, the brain and the pen
behind the Hartford Courant's
nationally-renown Place Section.
Every Sunday, The Place Section
celebrates Connecticut's natural
spaces and built environment.
The
section features colorful and expert
contributors from near and far and
Tom's column.
Tom
is an indefatigable smart growth
champion! 1000 FRIENDS recognizes
Tom for consistently showcasing best
practices, calling-out foolish
choices, asking tough questions, and
reminding us that we can grow
better, more responsibly, more
sustainably, and smarter!
Please see the attached invitation
for details.
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Dear Friends:
Congratulations and thank you! The final
gavel of the 2009 legislative session fell
at midnight June 3rd. It punctuated
successful bipartisan efforts for smart,
sustainable, responsible growth.
Bills passed that will:
define smart growth and make it integral to
the state's planning,
encourage regionalism,
finance green developments near transit,
expedite the cleanup and reuse of polluted
sites,
prop-up struggling dairy farmers,
protect a dedicated revenue source, the
Community Investment Account, for affordable
housing, open space, farmland and historic
preservation, and
make streets friendlier to cyclists, walkers
and transit users.
These
successes shine a light on the power of
strong coalitions and passionate & dedicated
champions.
Thank you to Representative Sharkey;
Representative Berger; Representative Kehoe;
all the members of the Smart Growth Working
Group; all the members of the Brownfield
Task Force; the coalition of bicycle and
pedestrian advocates; the smart growth
developers working for the tax credit; the
Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and
especially the cities of New Haven,
Waterbury and Stamford; the dairy, farmland,
open space, historic preservation and
affordable housing advocates; and a special
thank to the Members of the Campaign to Grow
Connecticut Smart!
Connecticut is rich with leaders,
visionaries, reasonable compromisers and
hard-fighters. Because of you, its future is
bright!
Please take time to thank the leadership and
members of the House and Senate. Then pat
yourself on the back and thank your
colleagues and fellow advocates. You did a
great job!
Finally, please urge the Governor to sign
the bills and celebrate our smart,
sustainable, responsible growth.
Yours, H
Legislative Wrap Up
November
2008 President's Letter
Smart ENews - June 2009
Smart ENews-May 2009
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The
Planning and Development Committee
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2009 State of Connecticut
Master Transportation Plan
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November 13, 2008
Second Annual Statewide
Smart Growth
Conference
Omni Hotel, New Haven,
Connecticut
Keynote speaker:
Carol Coletta, CEOs for Cities
An enthusiastic
thank you to our sponsors:
Becker + Becker
The United Illuminating Company, Inc.
RG Builders LLC, RG Development
BL Companies, Jonathan Rose Companies
Center for Urban and Global Studies
at Trinity College.
Stay tuned for next
steps!
Tie it
all Together
Conference
Attendees
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Quiz given at the
Quiz given at the
Charter for The New
Urbanism
Two sticking points
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the question on taking
public transit that
doesn't consider walking
(if you walk you can
answer yes),
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the question about subsidized
housing (if you can
say mixed-income and/or
affordable, you can
answer yes):
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Responsible Growth Tools
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Connecticut
Smart Growth Yellow Pages
-- Your source for the products an services of businesses
dedicated to Growing Connecticut Smart
◄ ◄ CLICK
HERE TO SEE
Supporters of
1000 Friends of Connecticut
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Past Newsletters
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