It’s no secret the pandemic has hit Connecticut’s economy hard. It’s also no secret that the Covid shutdown has hit the state’s black and latino communities the hardest.

Pre-Covid, there were some more signs of life in Connecticut’s cities, especially in downtown areas. But those gains weren’t always felt in the neighborhoods. City residents have been saying this to political leaders for decades, and still, little was being done.

The CT Mirror’s Tom Condon, a veteran reporter, has been exploring the different ways the state could make recovery more “inclusive.” This means everything from transportation and infrastructure improvements, to finding ways to get private investment into neighborhoods.

The idea is called “inclusive growth,” and Tom has charted how it’s helped cities like Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Oakland. In a new series, launching today in The CT Mirror, he considers how these ideas could be put to work in Connecticut.