Re-imagining Downtown Bridgeport

RPA worked with partners to re-imagine the future of Downtown Bridgeport, energized as the prime place for the young working population of Fairfield County, Connecticut.

The County’s (indeed the State’s) youth are leaving, due to the lack of affordable and cosmopolitan alternatives. Now, Downtown Bridgeport will give them an alternative place to:

• PLAY: A stadium, arena, beach, university, community college, public art, and restaurants galore: plenty of activity and entertainment LIVE: Lofts, homesteading, and apartment towers: cost-effective options in Fairfield County’s prohibitively expensive housing market.
• ENJOY: Walkable and park-able, historic and hip, energy energy efficient and transit-friendly: the urban alternative to suburban sprawl.
• WORK: Train, ferry and bus access to the region’s corporate centers: Bridgeport provides the remedy to long commutes on gridlocked Interstate 95.
• INVEST: A business improvement district, Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, new zoning, streamlined approvals, and sale of public land: the City and business community are ready.

This Plan provides a market-based strategy for Downtown Bridgeport. It offers a consensus-based framework for public and private sector decisions. It addresses all of the elements that will energize Downtown as a place to live, work and play: activities, amenities, loft living, movies, outdoor cafes, parking, placemaking, shopping. It is actionable. It builds on a transformation that is already underway. It leads with youth but will -- perhaps thusly -- have a broad appeal to other demographics as well.