Northwest Connecticut Regional Housing Council
- See photos of affordable housing in our region, stories of the people who need it, and links to the local housing organizations
LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation)
- LISC provides resources to local groups in the following areas:
- Technical Assistance: the housing connections of Connecticut program provides technical assistance to location groups in Connecticut’s small towns who are seeking to build affordable housing in their communities. Housing Connections provides free assistance in the areas of defining local need, organizing a local nonprofit, assessing site feasibility for a proposed project, understanding affordable housing financing, and linking groups to resources for developing a project.
- Financing: LISC in Connecticut can provide early-stage project planning grants and a variety of low-cost financing for affordable housing developments in small towns and rural areas.
- Accessory Apartment Program– find guides which take you step by step through the process of creating and renting an accessory apartment.
- Links to Local & Regional Housing Organizations- find additional resources specific to your community.
- Stories about our emergency service volunteers, our children & grandparents who are struggling to find housing they can afford.
Partnership for Strong Communities–
- Housing data profile for each town in CT
- Presentations and reports on affordable housing
- CT Housing, Homelessness Facts in Easy-to-Use Spreadsheet
Connecticut Housing Coalition–
- How to advocate for your communities housing needs to your legislators
- Links to state, national, and federal housing organizations
- Listing of housing related events and workshops
- Resource database on a wide range of topics from Green Affordable Housing to Acquisition, Design & Development
- Tutorials with step by step instructions on fundraising and housing development
- Funding database which helps you find public and private funding resources to support your organization and its programs
Connecticut Chapter of American Planning Association–
- Listing of upcoming planning events in the state
- Legislative news and action
- Workshops & trainings on downtown revitalization
- Technical assistance on downtown revitalization
- The “downtown toolkit”
- Smart growth resource library
- “This is Smart Growth” available on-line which illustrates and explains smart growth concepts and outcomes by featuring 40 places around the country, from cities to suburbs to small towns to rural communities, where good development has improved residents’ quality of life
- Smart Growth in action- stories of how communities are making smart growth work
Pedestrian and Bicycling Information Center-
- A listing of websites, programs and tools to help communities create safe places for walking and bicycling
Ct. Association of Conservation and Inland Wetlands Commissions-
- Calendar of events and meetings of interest to conservation and IWCs
- A comprehensive listing of resources and tools for CCs and IWCs
NEMO (Non-point Education for Municipal Officials)-
- Information on workshops offered such as “Linking Land Use to Water Quality” and “Planning for Stormwater”.
- An interactive mapping tool that allows you to create thematic maps of your town
- An inventory of town regulations dealing with stormwater management and low impact development (LID)
- Fact sheets on open space protection, innovative zoning techniques, and smart planning
- Basic information for municipal leaders, conservation commissions, landowners, land trusts, and planning commissions
- Information and assistance on creating a Community Resource Inventory, a list or atlas of the natural and cultural resources in your community
Public Policy Research Institute (PPRI)-
- Handbooks available on-line on topics such as “Getting the Most Out of Public Hearings: Ideas to Improve Public Involvement” and “Planning Public Forums: Questions to Guide Local Officials”
- Tools for Public Dialogue, Deliberation, and Dispute Resolution
Northwest Conservation District-
- Provides technical assistance and solutions to municipal land use commissions, land trusts, and individuals including environmental reviews, lower impact development, wetland soil identification, and open space and farmland preservation.
- Provides GIS mapping and analysis services such as Natural Resource Planning and Inventories, Open Space Plans, Land Use Planning & Analysis, Suitability Analysis, Soils Mapping & Analysis, Land Development Potential, Parcel Data Management, Zoning Districts, Scenic/ Significant Vistas, Special Projects, etc.
- Find Census data for your community on housing, population projections, school enrollment, jobs, commute times, income, and much more.
- Watershed maps for each town
- Downloadable GIS data including land cover, aerial photos
- Interactive online mapping services
- Connecticut’s Changing Landscape Website & Mapping Tool The University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) has just released the next version of its Connecticut’s Changing Landscape project, which now charts changes to the face of Connecticut over a 21-year period, from 1985 to 2006. CLEAR’s updated and enhanced Connecticut’s Changing Landscape website offers information from the study in a range of ways, from data tables to charts to maps to interactive web mapping — all at the state, regional and town levels. http://clear.uconn.edu/projects/landscape/index.htm
- This website can be used to preserve working farmland by linking people who have land to farm with people who want to farm but don’t have land.
- Information, resources, and analyses about agriculture and farmland issues in Connecticut and nationally
- Resources for Land Trusts such as grant opportunities, publications, and listing of events and conferences
- Searchable library containing Land Trust Alliance publications, sample documents, and other technical materials, “which land trust professionals need to keep current in their profession.”
- Conservation Options: A Landowner’s Guide, Preserving Family Lands, Your Land is Your Legacy, and The Conservation Easement Handbook for purchase
IPANE (Invasive Plant Atlas of New England)
- a comprehensive web-accessible database and maps of invasive and potentially invasive plants in New England
- An interactive map of conservation priority areas across the region
- List of conservation programs in Connecticut
- TPL works with communities to assist with land identification and acquisition
The Housatonic Valley Association-
- Information on HVA’s land protection programs including RiverBelt Greenway and the Litchfield Hills Greenprint
Legislature’s Webpage– Find your local legislator.
OPM Webpage– This Office provides information and analysis on state policy and runs a number of programs that work with municipalities.
The Connecticut Office of Policy and Management also has a new web page dedicated to information and resources to assist towns, agencies, and private organizations and individuals with developing and implementing responsible growth techniques. The Green and Growing website includes funding sources and technical assistance resources from all available state programs.
Town Profiles– CERC Town Profiles are two-page reports of demographic and economic information for Connecticut’s municipalities, regions, and the state as a whole. They contain information about population, major employers, education, fiscal issues, labor force and housing.