How can New Haven bring more affordable housing to the city, and what about getting kids to pay attention in the classroom?

Those were some of the big topics from Monday’s State of the City address.

In a packed Board of Alders chamber, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker laid out his goals for the Elm City in his State of the City address. A large portion of it was dedicated to the issue of housing.

The mayor praised last year’s effort where more than 1,000 new housing units were built, with more than 40% considered affordable. He’s hoping to expand on that in the next 10 years.

“Let’s set a goal here today to build 10,000 new units of housing with at least 30% of those units affordable,” he said.

It’s a move some community members say is needed.

“A lot of people want to move here and it’s a gift and a curse, but I think we’re in the right path as far as getting affordable housing,” Ernest Pagan, of New Haven, said.

On education, the mayor emphasized expanding career pathways for students and eventually getting all public schools in the city to be cell-phone free.

“We want our kids focused and learning. We don’t want them distracted by their cell phones,” Elicker said.

That plan will begin in the spring at all elementary and middle schools and expand to include the high school in the fall. Parents seeming to be receptive to it, but also raising concerns about the impacts of technology as a whole.

“The thing that we need to definitely pay attention to is just how they access information and how they use that technology,” Jamilah Prince-Stewart, of New Haven, said.

Elicker also acknowledged that difficult decisions may be coming depending on what the Trump administration decides to do on an array of topics, but he wanted the audience to know that the city will remain welcoming for all.

The mayor also talked about a number of other topics including public safety, focusing on hiring more police officers and keeping the amount of violent crime down in the city.