Deadline Wednesday: RiverCOG Invites You to Help Shape the Future of Town Centers

ESSEX, CT – The region’s planning organization is seeking local ideas about how to make downtown areas in the Lower Connecticut River Valley more vibrant.

The survey from the Lower Connecticut River Council of Governments (RiverCOG) is due Wednesday, Jan. 14. It’s an effort to understand where people shop, dine, run errands, and spend time so that cities and towns in the region can use the information to strengthen their town centers and main streets.

Anyone who lives in, works in or visits the region is asked to respond to the survey and provide their opinions. 

The survey builds on a launch event held last month in collaboration with the Connecticut Main Street Center (CMSC) to collect perspectives from local leaders, staff members and members of local economic development commissions. Old Lyme Economic Development Commission Co-Chairman Joe Camean said he attended the virtual event with Old Lyme land use coordinator Eric Knapp and Old Lyme Planning Commission member Howard Margules.

Camean said his main takeaway was that downtown investment pays off, yet most towns rely solely on volunteers to manage it.

He cited information from the presentation that said every dollar spent on downtown management generates $21-plus in new investment.

The survey will help determine strategies to enhance the economic and community vitality of Lyme and Old Lyme, as well as Chester, Clinton, Cromwell, Deep River, Durham, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Killingworth, Middlefield, Middletown, Old Saybrook, Portland and Westbrook.

The council will ask each town to draft a vision statement for its Main Street or downtown area at a workshop in early 2026. By midyear, CMSC will recommend strategies that will be refined by the towns.

A final report outlining the regional vision and strategies is expected in late 2026.

Click here for the Nov. workshop recap.

For more information, visit RiverCOG’s CMSC webpage.