CNI Development

CNI South Norwalk Development Plans

Overview
The South Norwalk neighborhood stands on the edge of significant change. The Washington Village/South Norwalk Transformation Plan is a roadmap for managing this change in a way that serves the residents of this important neighborhood, building a better future for those who live here now and welcoming new residents who will help bring new vitality to the area. The Transformation Plan details a range of coordinated strategies aimed at minimizing these disparities and making real improvements in the quality of life for Washington Village and South Norwalk residents.

This plan has emerged through a broad-based, transparent community planning process that involved South Norwalk residents, key stakeholders, elected officials, local businesses, and city-wide organizations, and what it describes is a broadly shared vision for the future of the South Norwalk community. This community engagement and planning process started before the planning grant was awarded and will continue through the implementation phases to come.

Housing
The vision for the housing component of the CNI Plan is based on a detailed assessment of current conditions, the need to de-concentrate poverty on a very dense site, and the community's desire to provide much needed affordable housing in a city with extraordinarily high housing costs.

The housing plan seeks to achieve these goals through a variety of strategies, starting with the procurement of Trinity Financial, an experienced mixed-income developer, and basing the housing program on a project-specific market study.

Specifically, the vision of the Housing plan includes these goals:

Replace 136 units of obsolete public housing in a sustainable mixed-income community in South Norwalk.
Design new housing that is high quality, energy efficient, and safe.
Minimize the displacement and disruption of Washington Village residents resulting from relocation.

Read more about the Housing Plan

Neighborhood
The neighborhood strategy for the Washington Village/South Norwalk CNI Plan addresses the priority challenges identified through the community needs assessment and uses as a starting point the existing strong foundation of planning, investment, and commitment by the City. This includes the recently completed South Norwalk Railroad Station Area Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Strategy, which focuses on key blocks and streets near the station, and uses TOD as a catalyst for positive change.

The guiding vision for the neighborhood plan is the transformation of this important South Norwalk area from an "underperforming asset" into a socially and economically diverse neighborhood of choice, improving the quality of life for existing residents and businesses, while maintaining housing affordability, and attracting new residents and businesses to the area.