Growth In Groton

How does one town handle the influx of new residents?

For many years to come, housing will be the topic of the day: Connecticut residents, new and old, need some place to live of course. And there is no greater example than Southeastern Connecticut where Electric Boat is planning on hiring 1500 individuals in the immediate future.

So where are these folks going to live?

Down in Groton, where Electric Boat is located, the need for housing is well known. In two separate articles, one published by the Day and the other by CT Insider, the town has been in contact with the business about ways to incentivize developers or even having the company itself build housing.

The challenge will be to build housing across the pricing ranges. While some folks will be looking for a place to settle down, many employees said they want affordable rentals. A study was noted in the Insider article saying, “newly constructed housing would be preferred, with four of every 10 new employees preferring to rent rather than own,” with $1500 being the cap on monthly costs.

Furthermore, they cited an oft-repeated mantra about younger generations, stating that many would like to see options to walk or bike to work. Though contentious in some circles, the idea of a 15-minute city has been growing in popularity, where people can get to work, the grocery store, schools and downtown amenities in just a quarter of an hour by foot or wheels.

This is a point that the Day article looks at in great length. With so many new people, what are the impacts going to be on parking and traffic?

Electric Boat is helping by continuing their hybrid work arrangement, with one manager quoted saying that only employees that need to be there in person should be there in person. The town recognizes that there will likely be a crunch, and part of the issue is protecting parking for residents that don’t work at the boatyard.

And of course, many of these individuals will be moving in with or starting families throughout their career at Electric Boat. So Groton, and many of the immediate surrounding areas must think about classroom size growing as many schools around the state are actually shrinking.

This is a good problem in many ways. Electric Boat might be leading the way, but offshore wind is expected to need additional employees, and a nearby museum being built. Housing, parking, schools, its all infrastructure and it’s all connected. If we want to keep growing our state, we have to make sure that we are investing in that growth, and not letting the plans sink.