The Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments (NVCOG) is strengthening its regional outreach efforts after merging its Community Planning and Transportation divisions into the newly established Integrated Mobility and Community Planning (IMCP) team. The change took effect on July 1 and came after staff and organizational leaders realized that transportation and community planners shared a vision of community revitalization and strengthening reliable transportation to benefit every resident across the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region.
As the first merger of its kind among all the Councils of Governments in the state of Connecticut, the IMCP reflects NVCOG’s intention to closely monitor the interactions between transportation and land use in its plans, projects, and programs implemented across the 19 municipalities it serves.
Equipped with a new understanding of the need for Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in communities, NVCOG enhanced its IMCP team by appointing a IMCP Administrator to focus on articulating the connections between TOD, brownfields, the agency’s transportation work, and state efforts such as the Connecticut Municipal Development Authority (CMDA). Minimizing environmental impact is also an important part of the work NVCOG does, and the development of TOD’s will also help reduce vehicle miles traveled and harmful emissions.
“The intent is to make sure that we’re avoiding the mistakes of the past, where the concerns of community planning have been excluded from transportation planning conversations and vice versa,” said Rich Donovan, Deputy and IMCP Director.
Before merging, the Community Planning division primarily focused on comprehensive housing planning and providing technical and capacity support to facilitate informed decision-making. Meanwhile, as a federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Transportation division spearheaded road safety audits, Vision Zero preparation to end fatal and serious traffic crashes, supported communities with mobility through funding applications, crafted Metropolitan Transportation Plans, and addressed a handful of other transportation-related needs. The IMCP merger decreases the technical separation between transportation and community planning issues and prioritizes the connection between living, working, shopping, accessing services, and getting to those destinations with the help of reliable transportation.
Community revitalization is at the forefront of quality-of-life issues for residents. Factors such as living conditions, social unity, economic growth, and more all play a significant role in how the residents of our region thrive, the visitors we attract, and the potential permanent residents we gain. Thoroughly aware of that, NVCOG revitalizes communities holistically and carefully considers opportunities for social interaction and reducing the impacts of the loneliness epidemic. Now, communities across our region can partner with NVCOG to strengthen historic Main Streets, attract businesses, expand mixed-use housing, improve transit, reduce congestion, and create safer, more vibrant places to live.
Minimizing environmental impact is also an important part of the work NVCOG does. The development of transit-oriented communities will also help reduce vehicle miles traveled and harmful emissions.
Moving forward, each of our 19 municipalities can expect the projects and plans that NVCOG undertakes will increasingly incorporate expertise from both transportation and land use planners working on the IMCP team. In every regional plan NVCOG produces, holistic and efficient planning that considers the integrated impacts of transportation and land use will serve as the foundation for creating stronger, more resilient, and more connected communities throughout the Naugatuck Valley.
