Simmons reports "city is strong" but "work is not finished" in 2026 State of the City address
The Stamford mayor said the city continues to navigate "economic uncertainty and evolving challenges"; first-term housing executive order fell short of 1,000 units by 2025.
STAMFORD — Mayor Caroline Simmons delivered her 2026 State of the City address to the Board of Representatives at the Government Center on Monday night (video here, address begins at 6:35), reporting progress on affordable housing, an expected decision on the rebuild of the Stamford Transportation Center, and a city budget squeezed by rising fixed costs.
“The state of our city is strong, but our work is not finished,” said Simmons. “As we continue to navigate rising costs, economic uncertainty, and evolving challenges, my administration remains focused on investing in the priorities that matter most to residents, making our city more affordable, investing in our schools, infrastructure, housing, and public safety.”
All figures in this article come from the mayor’s presentation unless otherwise noted. This article provides comparable statistics from other cities in Connecticut and around the country for context.
Housing: 700 units toward a goal originally set for 2025
Simmons signed an executive order in 2023 setting a goal to create or renovate 1,000 affordable housing units by 2025. On Monday, Simmons reported more than 700 units have been completed or are underway — a milestone reached after the goal’s original deadline has passed.
The 700-unit figure counts renovations of existing affordable housing — in addition to newly built units. Simmons’ presentation refers to housing units that “have been completed or are in the pipeline for completion,” which does not identify whether these units were built or renovated. The examples Simmons cited include the renovation of Stamford Manor — an existing 215-unit complex for seniors and individuals with disabilities — alongside new construction such as 61 affordable units replacing World War II-era housing at Charter Oak Communities’ Oak Park property and 55 affordable units planned at 41 Main Street, a city-owned former Midas property the Board of Representatives approved for sale last month.
Simmons also cited an increase of the below market rate program requirement from 10 percent to 14 percent in certain districts and a 22-unit affordable condo project at 287 Washington Boulevard completed with the Housing Development Fund.
“We know that homeownership is so out of reach for so many residents, and property values have skyrocketed in recent years, and especially post-pandemic,” said Simmons. “And so we have to do a better job of creating more pathways to affordable homeownership for residents.”
For comparison, New Haven — a city of roughly 135,000 residents compared to Simmons’ reported population of 140,000 in Stamford — reported 1,500 new housing units came online in 2025. New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker announced a goal of 10,000 new homes over a decade. Bridgeport — the state’s largest city — has a plan targeting 4,300 housing units near its train station by 2029.
Simmons’ 2023 executive order states a goal of “2,433 new affordable units by 2033.” This goal is smaller than other cities, follows a longer timeline than other cities, and exclusively focuses on affordable units with no reference to market rate units — the latter have prevented higher rent increases in Stamford.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year New Rochelle, NY achieved rent decreases after building more than 4,500 units over 5 years — a 12.8 percent increase in the city’s housing supply. This data is consistent with other cities around the country that decreased housing costs after increasing market rate housing. Based on these numbers, Stamford would need to increase its housing supply of roughly 57,000 units1 by 2.5 percent per year — or roughly 1,425 new housing units — to reduce housing costs. This would total 9,975 new housing units by 2033.
Train station rebuild decision expected by fall 2026
Simmons said the state Department of Transportation — which owns the Stamford Transportation Center — completed a request-for-proposals (or “RFP”) process in early 2026 and a finalist is expected to be selected and announced by fall 2026. The selection will cover a rebuild of the station itself and a major transit-oriented development (or “TOD”) on the vacant parcel across the street. Simmons said the TOD will include affordable housing.
The Stamford Transportation Center has attracted previous redevelopment proposals from private parties and former governors over the past decade, but none of these projects went through.
Despite the lack of redevelopment, Stamford’s train station remains one of the busiest Metro-North stations after Grand Central Terminal. The state opened a new parking garage at the station in 2024 with more than 900 parking spaces and 120 spaces for bicycles. Two weeks after the garage opened, a resident posted online the garage reached its capacity before 9AM. At the time the cost of monthly passes at the state garage was lower than the city garage several blocks away. The state garage raised monthly rates from $70 to $87.50 on August 1, 2025.
Simmons also highlighted the June 2 groundbreaking of the new Westhill High School. She described the project as the largest and most sustainable school project in Connecticut’s history. The school is designed for up to 2,458 students and is scheduled to be completed in 2029. The project costs more than $425 million, and Simmons said the state will reimburse 80 percent of that cost — up from the 20 percent reimbursement rate Stamford previously received for school construction. This suggests the cost of the project for the city will be $85 million and the cost for the state will be $340 million.
Budget pressure from pensions, health care, and insurance
The adopted budget for the fiscal year beginning this month is $726 million, split roughly in half between the Board of Education and city government. Simmons said the budget stays within the city’s safe debt limit and funds long-term pension obligations at a combined 87 percent.
What is Stamford’s budget and why does it cost so much? Read Feather Ruffler’s explainer on the city budget.
Simmons said this budget cycle was more difficult than prior years.
“This year’s budget was a more challenging year due to rising fixed costs, including contractual obligations, higher pension and OPEB obligations, increasing health care premiums,” said Simmons, noting premiums rose about 12 percent this year. “My goal over the next several years is to continue to do everything we can to mitigate and alleviate these rising fixed costs, as well as continue to deliver excellent services for our residents.”
Simmons originally proposed a budget that would have resulted in a 6.32 percent increase — the highest since the Great Recession. The adopted budget resulted in a 3.34 percent increase.
On the economy, Simmons said Stamford’s commercial vacancy rate fell from 28.4 percent to 23 percent and apartment occupancy stands at 94 percent. The city’s grand list — the total value of taxable property — grew to $27 billion, the second highest in the state.2
Growth of the grand list is a general indicator of economic vibrancy. Since 2016, the grand list has grown at an average of 3.3 percent per year.3 This past year’s growth from $27.32 billion to $27.42 billion represents a 0.36 percent increase.
Simmons said Stamford is the only city of its size in Connecticut with a AAA bond rating, which Fitch and S&P recently reaffirmed.
Permits, microtransit, and a drone program
Simmons said the walk-in permitting center on the seventh floor of the Government Center has cut the average permit wait time from two years to 90 days — a statistic she has now repeated in all three of the 2024, 2025, and 2026 State of the City addresses.
Simmons reported StamFORWARD — the city’s on-demand microtransit service launched in November 2024 — completed 83,521 rides in fiscal year 2026 and more than 128,000 rides since launch. A ride costs $1.75, or 85 cents for seniors 62 and older and ADA-eligible riders. StamFORWARD is managed by Via, a publicly traded company that specializes in transportation solutions for municipalities.
Simmons also promoted the city’s drone first responder program, launched in October 2025, which deploys drones from sites in North and South Stamford with a response time under 90 seconds. She provided one example where drones located two capsized kayakers within 90 seconds and guided police and fire boats to them. Simmons said drone operations follow strict privacy policies and do not film private areas without legal justification.
The city has integrated AI translation into its 911 call center — replacing in-person interpreters for a population that speaks more than 70 languages.
Federal funding “dramatically changed” under Trump administration
Simmons said the city secured state and federal funding over the past year including $2 million for phase two of the Oak Park development, $2 million for the basketball court and playground at Hatch Field Park, $1.2 million for safety measures along Washington Boulevard, and $1 million toward a new public safety complex. She said the environment for future federal money has worsened.
“Since the Trump administration took office, unfortunately, the federal funding landscape has been dramatically changed, and it’s been much more challenging to secure as much funding,” said Simmons. “However, we are still very actively working with our federal lobbyists and our federal delegation to pursue funding where we can.”
Simmons said approximately 4,000 Stamford residents are at risk of losing HUSKY D — Medicaid health insurance — due to federal legislation passed last summer. In March, the city launched a HUSKY Stay Covered Task Force co-chaired by the mayor’s office and Stamford Health, with about two dozen nonprofits and members of the Board of Representatives, to keep residents enrolled.
The State of the City address was the first item of the board’s July 6 regular meeting.
The US Census reports “households” (occupied units) rather than “housing units” (occupied + unoccupied units), but independent estimates put the overall housing units around 57,000.
Greenwich, CT is first with $36 billion.
The grand list growth can be variable due to Connecticut’s “revaluations” which often result in 8 percent increases (8.54 percent in FY23-24, 8.72 percent in FY18-19) among otherwise smaller increases (1.09 percent in FY19-20, 2.31 percent in FY22-23).