Canton, Connecticut is a small suburb of Hartford. There are approximately 10, 012 residents. It’s known for a high standard of excellence in the public schools with an emphasis on the music and arts departments. The features of this community make it enticing to raise a family. However, in recent years Canton has seen a severe decline in its population. A study done by Neilsberg Research, found that the population of Canton has been on a decline since 2015.
According to the Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program, “from 2010 to 2020, Canton town’s population decreased by 199 (1.93%).” The biggest year of decline was from 2019 to 2020 when COVID-19 struck.
This decline has led to many implications for Canton’s small businesses. Without the Canton communities ‘regulars’ small businesses are barely surviving. Dirk Peirsman is the owner of The Green Papaya in Canton. They have had this restaurant in the family for 20 years. He says that the local support has not been the same as it was in the past and “rising costs and fewer customers, in the past six months especially, have forced him to raise prices at his restaurant.” He is currently not making a profit and struggling to keep the doors open.
Peirsman says part of the reason why business has decreased is because “as more apartment developments pop up in town, more younger people who don’t even know about the restaurant come in, and his older, regular customers are moving away.”
Due to the fluctuation in population, developers see Canton as an opportunity to take over. More and more apartment developments are going up. On January 10th, Canton Planning and Zoning Commission held a meeting to decide whether or not they would give permission to a large development. Phil Doyle, of LADA P.C, a local construction company, has submitted an application for the land on 38-42 Dowd Ave. Doyle is no stranger to Canton development properties. He is also currently working on the Collinsville Axe Factory adaptive reuse project.
For Dowd Ave he plans for “three buildings to feature 54 total multi-family dwelling units.” Along with the concerns of local small business owners, like Peirsman, according to Canton Patch, “others are expressing concern for the project’s impact on public coverage, schools, and traffic.”
In addition to this new development, apartments called the Canton Ridge were finished just towards the end of last year. There are 102 units with one to two bedroom floorplans. Apartments like these have brought a new demographic to Canton. As Perisman commented on, more younger people are moving into town.
The increase in housing developments and with the new demographic, more corporate businesses have increased in Canton. In January alone, five new businesses opened in the town. The Canton Patch provided a list some included; KTSTech LLC, Spritz LLC., and Tri-Force Productions LLC.
There are many different perspectives on what the future of Canton could look like. For small business owners, the new developments could potentially continue to hurt their income. While corporate businesses are newly calling Canton home. Big changes are occurring in the small suburb of Hartford for better or for worse.
