The Hill-to-Downtown Community Plan is the result of a 12-month collaborative effort between the City of New Haven and community stakeholders to understand the challenges and opportunities facing this key city district. Critical sponsorship and leadership for the project was provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the CT Department of Economic Development, and the CT Department of Transportation. The plan that emerged reflects the contributions of hundreds of city residents and other stakeholders who participated in seven public workshops, shared their goals and visions, reviewed market studies and technical analyses, considered alternatives, and reached broad consensus on the outline of a plan.

Altogether, the Hill-to-Downtown Project envisions remaking the district into a vibrant, walkable, and mixed-use neighborhood that centers around a newly-created public green space by expanding the existing medical district, promoting infrastructure investments, and improving the street network. The first phase of the project will result in a four-story, 110-apartment, mixed-use development at Gold Street. Thirty percent of the units in the Gold Street development will be affordable housing, and the first floor of the complex will include an estimated 2,350 square feet of retail space. Construction on Phase 1 began in spring of 2018. The next phase of the project will include residential developments on Lafayette Street and Congress Avenue, both of which received City Plan Commission approval in March 2018.

With the pandemic emphasizing the global need for new discoveries, bio­ and life science companies across South Central Connecticut have flourished, a bright outlier to job losses throughout the hospitality and service industries -losses that fell most heavily on our Black and Latino communities. As a rapidly emerging bioscience cluster reshapes our economic landscape and skyline, we have an opportunity to accelerate this organically emerging regional technology cluster through talent, infrastructure, and transportation to Build Back Better through inclusion. Implementing the CEDS as Economic Development District administrator for the 15 towns of Greater New Haven, the South Central Connecticut Regional Economic Development Corporation (REX) presents Together, We Grow, a life science innovation corridor strategy designed to build economic resiliency by adding a third major sector in the region, with a focus on addressing long standing disparities.