The COVID-19 pandemic brought upon many changes to everyday life with shifts to remote learning, telehealth, and work from home with many offices choosing to remain remote until further notice. Now, with more people than ever working from home and the need to stay socially distant from others to stay healthy, many families are choosing to leave the hustle and bustle of New York City and make the move to Connecticut, Fairfield County specifically. In Connecticut, space is plentiful yet New York CIty remains easily accessible.
During the Great Recession, Connecticut lost thousands of jobs and people fled to surrounding states for employment and opportunity. Our state has truly never fully recovered from the hit it took over the last 10 years. Investment and interest in walkable hip neighborhoods in cosmopolitan cities was the way of the future, and Connecticut’s communities couldn’t compete. Now, we have an opportunity to bring professionals back, add new residents to our state, and rebuild our economy.
Thousands are planning, or have already, moved to Connecticut from New York.
Over the last few months, we have heard from several real estate experts who have shared that they have seen a huge uptick in requests for either long-term rentals and property purchase. For so long, we have heard that Connecticut is an aging state, that young people are fleeing at alarming rates. However, due to the pandemic we are now hearing what has pushed a younger generation out of the state is drawing them back in; quiet neighborhoods, smaller city populations, and a less frantic lifestyle. All of these assets are becoming increasingly attractive to younger families and are keeping baby boomers who — pre-pandemic — would have left for smaller condos and warmer weather. Perhaps the most enticing reason city dwellers are flocking to our state is to save money. Families are choosing to no longer spend upwards of $4,000 on rent for a 1,200 square foot apartment, but to invest in permanent residence with more than two bedrooms. The money these new and future residents are saving by no longer paying expensive rents, will likely be reinvested into our local communities and bolster our state’s economy.
Connecticut should not squander this tremendous opportunity by maintaining status quo tax policies that helped to send residents packing to begin with. Connecticut’s property tax system remains inherently broken. It’s main grant program, The Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT), should be reimbursing municipalities for lost revenue due to tax-exempted establishments, only reimburses 14% of lost tax receipts. The consequence of this policy failure is that communities must raise property taxes, and thus, increase the financial burden on residents. By neglecting our state’s broken tax system, elected officials only hurt the chances we have of retaining the new residents who recently chose to move to Connecticut.
As more companies are making changes to their office dynamics, it could very well be that more employees are given the choice of where they want to set up shop. As many are remaining home to continue their work, they are also transforming spaces in their homes to create a comfortable workspace. Let’s ensure that we are doing everything possible to keep these home offices and our new neighbors in Connecticut.