Many of us like the great outdoors - fresh air, sunshine, a place to walk or a quiet place to relax. But people who live in cities may not always be able to get outdoors as often as they would like. However, there are outdoor spaces in cities that can give us the same feelings of being out in nature such as parks, playing fields, small public spaces, even green roofs. That’s a good thing for many reasons, as we take a look below.

Environmental Benefits

It’s been proven that trees improve air quality by adding oxygen and removing pollutants. In addition, green spaces with less pavement have a cooling effect, reducing city temperatures in the summer. Not only does this cool down humid summers, but saves energy costs to cool buildings. A 2013 study found that rooftops with grass and plants beats asphalt and gravel roofs as they help cool the building while providing a more aesthetically pleasing place for tenants to visit. Another environmental benefit to open space, particularly green space, is help with stormwater runoff. Unpaved ground absorbs water, aiding in water collection during storms and helping to prevent flooding.

Exercise

Open space such as parks, walking trails, playgrounds and fields are great areas for recreation. These spaces encourage people to walk and exercise by providing places for physical activities - whether organized or spontaneous. This is especially important for city residents who cannot afford gym memberships or exercise classes.

Mental Health

Exercise has great mental and physical health benefits. Open spaces also boost a sense of well being by providing calm places to stop and think without the city noise and hustle, bustle. This helps reduce stress by providing a respite from the city.

Community Benefits

Open spaces are areas for recreation, but they can also be social spaces for people to gather, meet, play, and talk. Open space can be used for cultural purposes, for social events or to engage in recreational activities with one another. These places cause people to interact with others in the community, whether via an organized event or activity or just because they are places where people gather. This benefits adults and children by providing a sense of community as people get to know others in their neighborhood. Urban green spaces are good for the environment, facilitate physical exercise and better mental health for city residents, and help create a sense of community in a city. The Norwalk Citywide Plan (Plan of Conservation and Development) notes that the City has a network of parks, natural open spaces, and waterfront offering residents many opportunities for recreational and nature experiences. The plan envisions the creation of an Open Space Committee to develop a Parks, Open Space, Trails, and Recreation System Plan, giving direction for and priority to the City’s open spaces, such as, completing the Norwalk River Valley Trail. This new plan would also identify opportunities in areas of Norwalk where this is little open space to ensure that all residents can walk or bike to a park or green space. Read More of the Citywide Plan

Reliable and robust civic infrastructure is important to the health and function of a city. Along with what we usually think of when we refer to public services and infrastructure, from services such as emergency responders, public schools, and health department, to structures such as roads and bridges; cities are now including factors that make a city “smart”. Connected, smart cities can improve the quality of life for its citizens in a number of ways, including environmental, financial, and social aspects. But what does being a smart city mean and why are cities making this one of their priorities?

What is a Smart City?

A smart city is one that uses electronic and digital technologies and infrastructure to gather information to manage assets and resources more effectively and efficiently. Examples of ways to achieve this include investing in a municipal network of optical fibre and technologies such as 5G, free Wi-Fi routed via street lighting, and data collection sensors. Cities can also work with developers to include functional design standards in the requirements for non-residential and mixed-use development, as well as encouraging commercially available 5G. These provide vital broadband infrastructure for a host of new smart city technologies and strategies that can be deployed. By connecting the city, a municipality can use the data to better the lives of citizens, as well as enhance communication between citizens and the government. Data collected can be used to improve a variety of things from power management, to reducing pollution, increasing public safety, or offering improved services to residents.

Smart Cities for Environmental Improvements

To improve the environment, networks of connected devices and sensors can monitor environmental characteristics such as air quality, electricity use, water main leakage detection, and waste tracking. With the help of these sensors, smart applications and data analysis capabilities, cities can identify problems early on before they become a problem. Another example is the use of traffic light coordination systems to help keep traffic moving, reducing emissions - or saving energy by turning street lights off when the street is not busy. Similarly, smart LED street lights (which last longer and require less energy to operate) can be dimmed or brightened depending on their location and the time of day, leading to even less energy use - and municipal cost savings!

Smart Cities as Time and Money Saver

Speaking of cost savings, the smart city can use digital technologies to improve the efficiency of city services by eliminating redundancies, finding ways to save money and streamlining workers' responsibilities. A smart city can better manage services and variable infrastructure based on input of data. By make adjustments a city can best use those resources or improve safety. For example, connected emergency response services can reach emergencies more quickly, saving lives. To help residents, cities can gather data for all transit options, including: the best place to board the bus or closest train, what stop to get off, and even which door to exit from the subway. Cities can integrate transportation data, offering the public information on a variety of different transportation options, including public transit and bike and car shares.

Public Access to City Information

One big way a smart city is beneficial to citizens, businesses, and others is by easy access to city information. For example, having a public-facing website with real time permit, inspection and complaint data can help residents and business alike. Another is to have a dashboard of municipal performance metrics that residents can access. Cities can also offer digital systems that reach and engage the public. Apps for services, like 311, can push out information via smart phones such as amber and emergency alerts and other civic messages that engage the public. By investing resources and brainpower into building robust data infrastructure, the smart city can initiate change that benefits its residents, attracts business and improves the environment. Norwalk, as part of its ten year citywide plan, envisions some of the smart city initiatives above. To read more about Norwalk’s plans for City Systems, read chapter 4, starting on page 168 of the plan. Citywide Draft Plan

Along with and helping to shape the Citywide Plan/POCD, the City is also conducting planning studies in the Wall Street/West Avenue area, in East Avenue centered around Transit Oriented Development, as well as a citywide Parking study. Read more about: What's happening with Parking? What's happening with Urban Neighborhoods? What's happening in Transit Oriented Development?

Of great important to residents of a city is how that city prepares for the future. As Norwalk develops its 10-year plan, discussion has included how to make Norwalk more sustainable; making it cleaner, quieter, safer, and healthier. Residents want a city that is livable for themselves and their children both now and in the future by lessening their environmental impacts. Below are key factors to focus on in order to help make a city sustainable.

Network of Parks & Open Spaces

A city with abundant parks, bike routes, walking paths, and athletic fields is not only good for the environment, but also promotes public health by encouraging people to get out and enjoy the outdoors, as well as exercise. Norwalk is blessed with a relatively large number of waterfront, open spaces and parks, such as Calf Pasture Beach, and Veteran’s, Oyster Shell, and Cranbury Parks. The City’s 10-year plan envisions supporting improvements and design standards that encourage walking and biking access to city and neighborhood destinations, such as village retail areas, parks, and schools via the Planning Department and the Bike/Walk Commission. In addition to open spaces, preserving the “urban forest” of trees is also a priority. Urban trees, shrubs and plants improve air and water quality, reduce stormwater runoff, conserve energy, and protect public health. Norwalk has a tree management plan, tree advisory committee, urban forest improvement program, and a nonprofit devoted to trees, the Norwalk Tree Alliance.

Green Practices

Along with passive sustainability from parks, open spaces and tree preservation, a city should have active green policies that reduce waste and lower greenhouse gas emissions and promote renewable energy. A city can take steps to expand recycling and lower emissions while encouraging the development of sustainable local businesses. Actions can be big and small; such as a plastic bag ban to reduce waste or congestion pricing to lower emissions and encourage public transportation. Other ideas could be implementing pedestrian-only zones, encouraging development and density around transit hubs, and working to provide affordable clean power to low-income families. The Norwalk Common Council voted in 2018 to join Sustainable CT, with the Council’s Planning Committee designated as the “Sustainability Team” for the program. Sustainable CT is a new, foundation-funded voluntary certification program founded by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and other partners. The program is similar to the national STAR (Sustainability Tools for Assessing & Rating) Communities rating system. Municipalities can seek certification by completing actions in such things as efficient physical infrastructure and operations, clean and diverse transportation systems and choices. In addition, planning is underway to promote economic development around transit zones, for example in the area around the East Avenue train station.

Climate Change Resilience

Many cities are vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters due to their high concentration of people and location, so building urban resilience is crucial to avoiding losses from extreme storms, wildfires, drought; sea level rise now and in the future. One way to build urban resilience is via green infrastructure which uses natural systems to manage stormwater and help mitigate flood risk from climate change and sea level rise. Steps toward implementing green infrastructure include the restoration and stabilization of streams and stormwater management practices such as vegetated bump-outs, rain gardens, infiltration basins, tree trenches, and swales to filter pollutants and reduce stormwater discharges. Other resilience efforts that cities can take include stronger regulations and design requirements, green space in flood prone areas, and protection of wastewater treatment plants. Norwalk has already begun to take steps toward these goals. For example, the city’s 2017 Drainage Manual requires that green infrastructure and Low Impact Design strategies be used first to manage stormwater before the use of engineered solutions. Many city governments and their citizens are not looking to the federal government to dictate policies to be more eco-friendly and sustainable but taking initiative now through local programs and policies. Cities are looking at ways to be more sustainable by diving into issues such as are their abundant shared and green public spaces, or how convenient and accessible is public transportation and what kind of steps can be taken in case of flooding from a storm surge.   To take a look at the input Norwalk residents had on the topic of making Norwalk a green and sustainable city, CLICK HERE.

In the past year, Norwalk has been undergoing its 10-year citywide planning process, as well as developing plans for other economic development projects, including for the Wall Street/WestAvenue district, among others. As Norwalk seeks to include best practices and innovations in city planning, we thought we’d take a look at recent trends in urban planning.

Sustainability

With the environment and climate change ever more on the minds of those in the U.S., expect urban planning to include sustainability and the minimization of environmental impacts earlier on and as an ever more important component of the planning process. These include such things as bold new ways to curb urban growth boundaries, design for carbon reduction using more sustainable materials, HVAC systems, water conservation, environmentally friendly landscaping, and construction methods. The idea of building with climate resilience in mind will also become more important. This is urban planning for the capacity to adapt to environmental change or spring back from a disaster. This trend in energy conservation and sustainability is synching with technology as we see an increased emphasis on intelligent buildings to monitor resource consumption, boost efficiency and reduce energy costs. You will notice that both the POCD and the Wall-West Plan have a multitude of sustainability components to guide Norwalk in growing sustainably.

Smart Cities

Speaking of intelligent buildings, that brings us to the second trend - investing in "smart city" technology. Technology is taking a larger role as planners think of how a city should work. Not only can technology bring efficiencies that lead to lower carbon footprint, lower costs and resilient infrastructure, but also automation is a growing trend that brings benefits. In addition to monitoring energy, other beneficial uses of automation include providing better security, assisting first responders to a crime or disaster, and better coordinating public transportation.

Multi-Modal Transportation

Urban planning with public transportation in mind is not new, but developing land uses around diverse transportation options is a growing trend. We see more planning for land use that affects accessibility to walking and cycling routes, along with public transportation as options for residents and commuters. This goes hand-in-hand with the increase in planning for transit-oriented development - creating compact, walkable, pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use communities centered around high quality public transportation. Mixed-use communities are where homes are within walking distance of stores, public spaces, and employment, basically “neighborhoods” within a city. Transit-oriented development makes it possible to live in an urban location without relying on a car. You will see TOD development in both South Norwalk and East Norwalk Train Station neighborhoods.

Public Open Spaces

Urban planning now includes a greater focus on the value of public and open spaces not only as a design/aesthetic element, but also from a dollar value. Proximity to parks and open spaces with walking, biking and jogging paths has proven to increase rents and property values. In addition, public open spaces boost overall quality of life and wellness of residents, by encouraging walking, cycling and relaxing. Common areas built around housing allow people places where they can safely relax and people watch. These public spaces can also include sitting areas with internet connectivity where people can work or relax. In addition these spaces include plants, water features, public art, exercise equipment, playgrounds, and pet parks. If you would like to read about how these trends fit into the Citywide Plan or the plan for the West Avenue/Wall Street area, click on the links below. Draft of the Citywide Plan Draft of the Plan for West Avenue/Wall Street District

Since last year, the City of Norwalk has been undergoing research and assessment of the City in order to develop a plan for its future over the next ten years. The Citywide Plan, also called the Plan of Conservation and Development or POCD, looks at the City’s economic, physical and social characteristics in order guide the future. A diverse range of Norwalkers helped shape the plan through interviews, a citywide visioning workshop, nine neighborhood- based district workshops, four topic-based workshops, a youth meeting, and opportunities for digital participation. Below is a summary of some of the highlights of the draft Plan based on the findings from research and public input.

The Vision for Norwalk

The vision for Norwalk is that by 2029, the City has become a national example of a small city that boasts a thriving and dynamic economy; varied housing choices for all income levels; many safe and convenient ways to get around the city, including walking and biking; connected, accessible and beautiful open spaces; and an active and resilient coastline. In ten years, Norwalk is the center of art, culture and entertainment for our region. It combines the character of a historic New England community on the coast of Long Island Sound with a thriving city in the county’s largest metropolitan area.

Challenges and Opportunities

In order to reach the vision above for Norwalk in ten years, the plan outlines a number of to-do’s that will need to be addressed.

1. Norwalk needs to be more proactive, systematic, and data-driven in shaping change: Implementing systems for understanding change, managing assets, and evaluating possible public investments in relation to overall goals will result in more cost-efficient and successful government.
2. Norwalk needs a culture of planning for the entire city: Planning initiatives in recent decades have focused, for good reasons, on the urban core. Now Norwalk needs to extend a planning culture to the entire city that integrates land use and transportation, a modernized zoning code, design standards for placemaking, and active pursuit of businesses and institutions that can contribute to achieving Norwalk’s goals.
3. Norwalk needs to take into account the generational transition from Baby Boomers to Millennials—and Generation Z: The growing Millennial generation and Generation Z—born from the early 1980s to 2010—tend to prefer walkable, urban and village-like environments, biking and walking connections, and connected open space.
4. Norwalk needs to focus on placemaking, livability, and the new urban economy: Transit-oriented development districts in South Norwalk and East Norwalk will provide walkable neighborhoods. Economic and redevelopment initiatives, including development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem and an Arts and Culture District, can transform the urban core and older industrial areas. MIxed-use clusters with strong design standards will refresh Route 1 and other major corridors in response to a changing retail economy.
5. Norwalk needs better connectivity: Bike and pedestrian trails can help connect neighborhoods with city destinations, and options for better transit must be explored.
6. Norwalk needs to be ready for the risks of the future: Norwalk must plan, with regional and state collaboration, for threats due to climate change more extreme storms, drought, more heat and heat waves, sea-level rise, flooding, and other impacts.
7. Norwalk needs to preserve and protect its historic and environmental assets: Norwalkers will benefit from more systematic protection of historic resources throughout the city and a deepened commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. They are are key competitive resources for livability, sustainability, and economic success.

Top Priorities for 10-Year Plan

Below are several key areas that the POCD determined need to be addressed first:

• Rewrite and modernize the zoning code to achieve the plan’s goals.
• Establish an economic development office and implement an effective economic development strategy
• Make the City website more “customer-friendly”—up to date, organized, efficient, and transparent
• Implement the School Facilities Master Plan
• Prepare and begin implementing the following studies and plans:
  • Industrial zones and activities
  • Housing Policy Plan and Strategy (both market-rate and affordable housing)
  • Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan to include critical infrastructure like the Wastewater Treatment Plant
  • Land Use/Transportation Corridor Plan, including a market analysis, for the Main Street/Main Avenue Corridor first, then Connecticut and Westport Avenues
  • Parks, Open Space, Trails, and Recreation System Plan
  • Historic Preservation Plan

Read the Final Citywide Plan Here »

As city streets become more congested, and people more environmentally conscious, city dwellers are resorting to alternative ways to get around. Public transportation such as subways and buses will always be a critical part of this, but other, newer, modes of transportation are beginning to take off. Below are a few of the methods people are using to move from place to place in cities.

Bike Share/Scooter Share

If you don’t want to purchase a bike or scooter, or don’t have room in your apartment, bike and scooter shares are fast becoming a great alternative to public transportation or driving your own car. Bike or scooter sharing is when a company rents bikes or electric scooters to city residents for a short time for just a few dollars per ride. Many companies require riders to return their shared bikes to centralized docking stations. Others allow riders to leave their bikes anywhere, locking and unlocking them via a smartphone app. Norwalk has been encouraging the use of bikes since 2014 when the mayor’s office organized a Bike Walk Task Force - now an official, permanent Bike Walk Advisory Commission. This task force, working with the city’s Department of Public Works, created a map outlining Norwalk’s existing bike routes, bike lanes and sharrows (shared-lane markings). They also put together a plan of bicycle lanes that could be created in the future that would be on approximately 5% of city streets. Read More About Bike Shares and Bikeable Neighborhoods Here

Ride Hailing Services

There’s been a huge rise in the popularity of ride hailing services such as Uber and Lyft in recent years. While not the least expensive transportation option, they’re convenient and simple to use. Basically, ride hailing is a car service with privately owned vehicles where you call a ride using a smartphone app. The benefits of ride hailing services are many. For one, they easily link people in need of rides with drivers offering them. Secondly, with the use of the apps, there is no need to pay in person with cash or credit card. There is choice involved as you can view a driver’s profile, rating, and reviews. Other great features are being able to track the driver’s location and get notifications. For cities, these services have presented issues as they can take people away from using public transportation and add more congestion to city streets. The state of Connecticut has recently put in place new rules regulating ride-hailing services, along with 43 other states. In Connecticut, these services now have to register with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and pay state fees each year. Drivers must be given background checks and have $1 million in liability insurance coverage once a passenger gets in the vehicle. Read More About The Challenges of Ride-Hailing For Cities

Microtransit/Ride Sharing

If you don’t want to take public transportation, brave the elements to ride a bike or scooter, and don’t enjoy paying a premium for a ride-hailing service, microtransit may be right for you. Microtransit is an on-demand ridesharing service that allows people to request rides and get picked up in minibus vehicles. It’s basically a hybrid between ride-hailing and public transportation. While you get door-to-door service on demand, the service may also pick up others on the way as it drives you to your destination, making it convenient, but more affordable than the traditional ride hailing services. Norwalk recently unveiled its own microtransit service called Wheels2U as a pilot program for six months. Funding for the pilot program comes from a partnership with TransLoc and their parent company Ford Smart Mobility, SoNo Collection mall developer GGP, and the State of Connecticut Department of Transportation as part of its pledge to improve transportation services in Norwalk’s urban core. Read More on Wheels2U Microtransit in Norwalk There are a number of benefits to both riders and cities to some of these new transportation options. Both bike/scooter shares and microtransit reduce city traffic congestion. All the transportation options above ease stress on parking availability. Certainly biking brings with it many health benefits. The biggest benefit for riders is choice; there are now a number of options to driving your own car from hopping on a bike or scooter to hailing or sharing a ride.

Who doesn’t like art? It makes us think, feel and can bring beauty into our life. Public art serves the same functions. Cities become more interesting and vibrant when its residents and visitors experience art in public places as they go about their day. The first public art programs started as part of the New Deal, with the formation of the Treasury Department's Section of Painting and Sculpture in 1934. Today, governments often sponsor or fund artwork in public places, recognizing its value to their city or town, and Norwalk is no exception. Here in Norwalk, CT public art abounds. The Norwalk Parking Authority has been a large proponent of public art with their “Art in Parking Places” initiative, in collaboration with the Norwalk Arts Commission. In one of their parking garages, the Maritime Garage, there is an urban art gallery. The Maritime Garage Gallery, situated across from the Maritime Aquarium, features regular juried art shows and community exhibits. The Yankee Doodle Garage in the Wall Street area is itself a work of art with a light installation on its facade. The installation gives a sense of movement through logistically and creatively placed LED lighting that illuminate the exterior wall while drawing light from the garage interior LED lights. Two other “Art in Parking Places” initiatives are in the South Norwalk Train Station. The first includes hand-sized, cast aluminum forms distributed throughout the station depicting items associated with South Norwalk, including an oyster schooner, a buoy and lighthouse, as well as a hat on a hat box. The second is located in the tunnel connecting eastbound and westbound sides of the station. A mural of silhouetted figures illustrating the transit history of the South Norwalk railroad station and the surrounding community reflected by the fashion of the generations of passengers that have passed through. Another unconventional public art project in the city is found on traffic boxes, bringing creativity and color to South Norwalk. Dull traffic boxes have been turned into vibrant works of public art with themes including literary works as well as “Connecticut at Work,” representing aspects of Norwalk’s many diverse current and historic industries such as manufacturing, farming, transportation and oystering. Norwalk also is home to its own New Deal murals - the largest collection in the U.S. These WPA murals are located in City Hall, the Norwalk Transit District, Norwalk Community College, the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk, and the Norwalk Public Library. Other public murals are located around town at Calf Pasture Beach and in SoNo. Sculpture is also represented in a number of public places around Norwalk such as Oyster Shell, Cranbury and Veteran’s Parks, and Washington Street Plaza. Seeing art around us in our homes and in our public spaces is good for the soul (some studies say it’s even good for our health!). We can stop, ponder, take a breath, feel different emotions and think beyond the day-to-day. Public art can even be an icebreaker, allowing us to start up conversations with strangers on the street. Norwalk has many spaces for us to do this. So get out, explore and enjoy!

Norwalk, Connecticut is home to a diverse population, major Fortune 500 and 1,000 corporations, and bustling retail, tourism and nightlife - all within close proximity to Long Island Sound. As a city with about 88,000 residents, the government officials of Norwalk work diligently to improve the quality of life of its residents. How does it do that? Who controls the budget, passes ordinances? Here is a brief overview of how Norwalk government works.

Structure of Norwalk Government

Mayor’s Office

The best place to start learning about Norwalk’s government structure is the Mayor’s office. The Mayor is the leader for the executive branch of the city government and oversees many of the services that are provided to residents. The Mayor is also responsible for tasks such as maintaining city applications and permits, providing various programs to the city and making sure residents are kept up to date on what’s happening. Most importantly, the Mayor’s office chooses all Boards, Commissions, and Department Heads, with the many of these requiring the approval of the Common Council.

Common Council

The Common Council is Norwalk’s law-writing body. The city’s charter gives many administrative powers exclusively to the Council. The Common Council is comprised of a number of Committees that oversee important tasks including:

• Finance/Claims
• Health, Welfare, and Public Safety
• Land Use and Building Management
• Ordinance Committee
• Personnel
• Planning Committee
• Public Works
• Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Affairs

The Role of “Other” Actors

Norwalk is currently working on various initiatives to improve the city and its neighborhoods, including the Citywide Plan, Parking Plan, and Urban Neighborhood Plans. Here is a brief description of the government departments and other quasi-government organizations that are working on these plans.

Planning and Zoning

The Planning and Zoning Department works to grow and develop the City by providing information, guidance, and administrative support to various zoning and other city commissions. It is the primary manager of the Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD) or citywide 10-year plan that will outline improvements for the future of the city. Development of the citywide plan is guided by an Oversight Committee made up of Planning Commission members and other members appointed by the Mayor. The plan must be adopted by the Planning Commission and endorsed by the Common Council.

Parking/Norwalk Parking Authority

The Norwalk Parking Authority is a financially self-sustaining organization responsible for operating and maintaining the municipal parking system in the City. The Parking Authority is made up of five local citizens appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Common Council. Its annual budget is not financed by taxpayer dollars. In addition, the Parking Authority helps promote and support economic development in Norwalk with new programs such as smart parking via cell phones and collaborating with community organizations and businesses.

Norwalk Redevelopment Agency

Urban core neighborhood planning in Norwalk is primarily undertaken by the the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency. Working with City departments, the Agency plans, coordinates and procures grant funding to preserve and improve urban core neighborhoods and to attract new development. The Redevelopment Agency is governed by a Board of Commissioners who are appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Common Council. In addition, all redevelopment plans and efforts are reviewed and approved by the Common Council. Your government plays a huge role in your daily life, from the amount of taxes you pay, to the condition of the streets you drive. Norwalk residents also play an important role in their government by voting. Voters elect officials for positions such as Treasurer, the Board of Education, Registrar of Voters, Common Council, Mayor, Town Clerk, Board of Selectmen, Sheriff, and Constables. They can also be involved in government by coming to public workshops, community forums, and having a say through surveys and online discussions.