Archinect - Features 2024-05-11T00:09:24-04:00 https://archinect.com/features/article/150261356/connecticut-is-in-the-spotlight-as-a-housing-reform-hotspot Connecticut Is In the Spotlight as a Housing Reform Hotspot Josh Niland 2021-04-30T14:55:00-04:00 >2021-05-06T18:31:05-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/79/79903a62cc45bd41b452861992bd4276.jpeg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>When Dr. King <a href="https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/mlk-remembered-his-time-in-simsbury-fondly/2212132/" target="_blank">came to Connecticut</a> in 1944, he was astonished by the openness and inclusivity the sleepy town of Simsbury provided in contrast to the roiling hatred he knew from his youth growing up under the shadow of Jim Crow in Georgia.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/journeytojustice/2018/01/15/civil-rights-history-martin-luther-king-jr-born-enters-college-15/1033934001/" target="_blank">The 16-year-old college freshman</a> was changed forever by his experience working on a tobacco farm that summer, and wrote in his diary about misgivings he had on the train ride back to Atlanta, his memory fresh with integrated dances and dinners that left him with feelings of fondness and admiration for the welcome he received in the Nutmeg State.</p> <p>But what King likely could never have imagined when he was touring the verdant and friendly Hartford-area communities he found inspiring was that the same problem he found sanctuary from in the towns and suburbs north of the capital was taking hold in silence all around him. A problem with roots in the Depression that still takes hold today.&nbsp;</p>