What do you mean “ New Havener focused?”

It’s quite evidently not. Again, the median income is $29k for individuals, $48k for households. Most of the apartments in this building are affordable to high tech Yale bio/hospital employees and their spouses and others from NY metro, maybe Stamford, Boston metro, who want a break from high rents in those cities.

To say this with a straight face is rather remarkable.

Is there a better way? Maybe yes, maybe no, but if no, let’s not then pretend it’s a yes to make ourselves feel better.

Luxury apartment developments are functioning as a magnet for out of towners, rather than what was first hoped — a damper on rising prices — so, though there is a crazy building boom going on, the occupancy rate remains high, prices are going up, not down, and the NYT is saying New Haven is awesome, hottest thing this year and you should move there or visit.

This is kicking people in the face who are at the median income or below. It’s doing nothing for them, yet, nor, I suspect, is it meant to. No matter how hard city hall tried, the market forces prevailed, and in the lower Dixwell/hospital areas/ edge of Newhallville where Yale wants to expand its bubble, they are prevailing too.

Yale has also found ways to remove some multifamily housing off the tax rolls in past years too. They do pay taxes on a lot of their non academic property but when they can, they have found ways to pull buildings off the rolls that had been on the rolls. (Including by evicting long time tenants who are not Yale affiliated)

Not to be too town/gown, but something has to give. We need real rent control in New Haven. The market and inclusive zoning isn’t going to do it