I do have a vision for Bridgeport that may not solve all the woes of the "Park turned Parking Lot City", but I do have an idea. I can tell you bulldozing a bunch of brown fields and waiting for the Good Fairy Bass Pro Shop to fly in, to bestow 12-gauge shot guns and ugly sticks on all the good people of Bridgeport is no way to ensure the success of a City that lives smack dab between the City that never Sleeps and the Birth Place of the American Revolution.
The fact is Bridgeport is the calorically-challenged freckled girl at the dance compared to those two long-legged beauties and it is going to take a special suitor to break this girl, now well past her prime, out of her proverbial soot-stained shell. These ham-handed politicians don't see her for what she is, or more to the point what she could be. To stay with the metaphor a bit longer, they keep trying to fit this awkward lady into last years prom gown, using development ideas that worked in Providence, Baltimore and Philly in 1996, but don't hold a breath of promise for 2013 Post-Recession America.
Bridgeport is dirty, corrupt, broken and out of date, but I love her for it. And although, I hate the people who run her, I love her with all my fiber and much like a bad habit, can't shake my love of her greatest asset, her Harbor.
Bridgeport was built because of her Harbor. Unlike Hartford or New Haven or Waterbury, who all had claims to fame outside of water-born industry: (Hartford was and is the State Capital, New Haven has Yale and Waterbury had that Brass attack) Bridgeport was built as a money maker for the captains of Industry because it had a place to dock ships, a place to load trains and a place to put the crap no one else wanted.
Our illustrious State leaders who came before us in the early 1800's decided, with great purpose to put the sewage, trash, and pollution in Bridgeport, because after all, that's where the trucks, trains and ships were and they were dirty anyway. It also helped that it was also a natural place for free blacks to live as it was marsh and full of bugs mud and no one of means wanted to live there in the first place. Bridgeport was really a perfect storm for environmental abuse, urbanization and industrial rape.
And that's what we have now. A city full of brownfields left over from when Industry realized they could make no more money raping the land, a work force of second and third generation immigrants who were systematically denied the benefits of their suburban counterparts and brought up to expect a paycheck from the companies that paid to bring their parents here, and a crumbling City-scape that has given more than it was ever expected to provide. And to fix it, everyone keeps saying, we need more property tax!Well that might have worked in 1988 if that was the solution to the problem, but the problem is it didnt work. While Cities like Baltimore, Boston and Hoboken blossomed from gentrification in the 1980's and 1990's, Bridgeport didn't even show up. Ganim did all he could, perhaps a bit too much, to wrestle this girl onto the dance floor, but again, she was a bit too shall we say "experienced" to dance like the other ladies.
A new Ball Park, an arena and replanting the esplanades did wonders for the drive by onlookers, but really didn't do anything to grow the population base- and that is where gentrification won hands down. Gentrification worked because Cities became Sexy again- and lets face it, Bridgeport lacks sex appeal.
Oh sure she's fine for a romp when you need to off-load some contaminated soil or somewhat-borrowed car parts, but really do you bring the wife and kids there for a ball game? The Bluefish can answer that question better than anyone having gone through a half dozen owners and never seeming to see the black-side of a balance sheet.
So you can put all the upscale dining you want downtown, host top notch shows at the Arena and have a Winning-ish ball team, but if people don't live there, it aint a city. Just ask Hartford.
If the streets roll up at dusk, and the car doors lock as people run red lights on their way out of town, you will not have economic growth in a City.
You need people to live in a City to make a City live.
Yes I know there is that thriving Art-community and the Urban Pioneers downtown who were supposed to seed the forest of culture that would grow from the bohemian condos carved out of the wrecks of the old bank buildings. But there is one thing even an artist will tell you, they are perpetually broke. My Dad taught me that at an early age when he nearly cut my hand off when I picked up the paint brush.
So though they live and breath downtown, they have no money, they have no consumerism and they have no leadership- we need Andy Warhols or latent Hemmingways to fall in love with Bridgeport and then it will be hip to be bohemian and the broke artists will turn into wealthy artist wanna-bees.
But again, we've waited for that to work for 20 years and the glimmer of hope that that would work died with the second Finch election and the shuttering of Goldman Sachs.
Bridgeport needs a shot of penicillin, a few stomach staples, a few years pumping iron at the Gym and a full day at the spa with mani-pedi, hair and exfoliating mud bath. Your not gonna put any lipstick on this pig and get her past the boys at the punch bowl.
She needs a new life, a new way of doing things, she needs to shake off the vestiges of what she was, and embrace what she could be. She wont go back to manufacturing, she wont be a shipping port, she wont be the future home of Connecticut pro-ball teams. These are things that will not work, despite how loud politician say they will.
Bridgeport needs a revolution, losing the political machines and Union contracts that hold her back. It needs to settle all the old scores with all the people it pissed off like Pequonnock, The Families of Father Panic and now CCB, of course! It needs to reinvent itself using the assets it has, and accentuate what it does better than either of its attractive sisters to the North and South.
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| The Gateway to New England |
Bridgeport needs to become the "Gateway to New England". Every New Yorker who comes up I-95, thinks "boy isn't this cute they are trying to be us". And every Bostonian, says when they get off the Merit Parkway "look at this shit hole, it thinks its New York." Its a bad spot to be in.
But, if you make yourself different from NYC and sell the white church steeples and maple syrup, New Yorkers will eat it all up having a closer spot to leaf peep and buy antiques and Boston (as well as the rest of Connecticut) won't have such a poor opinion of the fact that Bridgeport is technically in the Evil Empire (West of the Connecticut River)
But a fancy title wont suffice, you got to have the chops to back it up. Rather than make carbon copies of all the restaurants in NYC and Greenwich, how about create a little Italy in Bridgeport, but instead make it Little Portugal/Brazil. There are enough latin cultures represented in Bridgeport that speak Portuguese and a massive uptick in all things Brazilian with the Olympics coming up that you could use some of the existing businesses along the Barnum Ave corridor, get them all to relocate to one neighborhood and put a big old gate over it declaring it to be Little Brazil. Then you'll bring in the Fall Riv peeps, the New Bedford sect, and the Bostonians, all to prove to themselves that they are authentic enough to make it in Bridgeport's Little Brazil, screaming "Mais Fica" as they flock to cultural events based on the vino verde and the fried eggs and steak. Some will even stay there just to get good Linguica and there you have the start of a population boom, but to do that you need a cultural connection.
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| How about the Barnum Economic Development Zone and at its heart, Little Brazil |
But a Little anything wont work if you don't have a big change in the residencies surrounding it, namely security and economics- you can't have one without the other. Washington Square up to Bishops Corner needs to be turned into an economic development zone with real security. Get your foot off the neck of business and say if you open a shop in this area, we'll give you 35% off your property tax bill for ten years. Hire more than 5 residents from the Greater Bridgeport Area and we'll give you another 10% off. Put your own sidewalks in, win the best beautification of the neighborhood award and will give you 15% off your tax bill. And you support it with the same kind of pony show you have with the DSSD but this one actually does something in the Barnum Economic Development Zone. The presence of jobs within walking distance will brighten up the surrounding neighborhoods and the smiles from new residents will keep the votes coming in to offset the anger from the unions you pissed off on election day.
You could also do something crazy like carry the zone up into Stratford all the way to Curran Volkswagen and create some sort of regional effort to grow business along Barnum Ave. But you have to work nicely with Stratford first and that means solving the crap at the Airport. I wont pretend I understand whats wrong with that airport, but I will tell you I know it has something to do with the flat tires on the 1972 Cessna's out front and the peeling paint on the hangers. A few more planes and a longer runway will certainly piss off Lordship, but the uptick in business should perk up the lower mill rate when all is said and done- yes Stratford you have to cut taxes to keep people happy too.
But that brings me to my next point, regionalism. Do you realize how many efforts are duplicated between Bridgeport, Strartford, Trumbull, Monroe and Shelton? How many Board of Eds do five towns need? How many garbage trucks fleets do they need? How many Harbor Commissions, Conservation Committees, and Public Works Departments do Five towns need? Why not create the Five-Town Regional Authority and cut whatever costs you can? Work together to eliminate duplication and increase efficiency and model it after the Hub in Boston- That could also include a Five-Town Commuter Line- maybe even bring back the old trolley system so people can move by foot from Town to Town with Bridgeport being the urban hub and creating more foot traffic for the stores who center around the stops on the Trolley. Sorry I dream big.
But that brings me back to the heart of my love for Bridgeport- it's Harbor. If you think about it, Bridgeport Harbor is the watery center of the Upper Fairfield County Universe. All roads lead to Bridgeport Harbor and all Rivers flow down to it. It is the natural Center, so why not make it so. Bring the Universities like Sacred Heart, Southern, Fairfield downtown to join UB and create a college-centered downtown. That will fill some of the empty buildings and all of those students need food, books, gas and night lives. Business will bloom around the education center with hungry young minds to fill and mouths to feed.
But that's on shore, what about in the Harbor? Bridgeport Harbor is shallow- 20 feet in spots and at its deepest spots could only be dredged down to 35 feet. It will never be a deep water port even if you do dream of bringing Ocean Liners off shore and loading them in via harbor ferry. You could I suppose move the Ferry to the Old Turbana plant and install a Bass Pro Shop, but you still have a whole other side where there is a GIANT coal burning power plant- that is an eye sore. Luxury yachts will not be pulling in to park next to a power plant on their way from Fort Lauderdale. And now that Direktor is gone, the largest ship maintenance facility on the East Coast will be tied up in court for the next 20 years- I don't see Steel Point doing much in my lifetime on the current trajectory. Besides, Bass Pro is about as likely to succeed as any of the other ideas with the Gun debate raging, the rules about paving parking lots in proximity to the Sound and the economic duldrums that are sure to last til at least 2020. I don't see it happening, but would love to be wrong. But that's the land- Not my concern.
I care about the water. Specifically Bridgeport Harbor where all eyes should be pointing. Make that aspect of Bridgeport sing, and the radiating effects will travel all roads and float up all streams.
What I do see it happening if you make it all come together. Bridgeport Harbor is deep compared to any other Harbor in Connecticut- which puts it on the A-list for Private vessels, even if it sucks for commercial traffic. But no one wants to dock in Bridgeport Harbor so there are no docks. You have to create a harbor that would make boaters want to come there? Then the docks will pop up like weeds, despite the brown fields and lack of a grocery store. What would make a boater want to come to Bridgeport over every other Harbor in New England? Think about it- remember who is writing this...Got it?? Yup Liveaboards.
The very shape of the Harbor is a giant funnel that ends at the downtown area in the Inner Harbor where it separates into two channels, the Pequonnock and the Yellow Mill. It also in the Outer Harbor, is perched on one of the largest Saltwater Marshes left in the Northeast- Can you say Eco-Tourism?
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| This is the Pequonnock River |
Divide the harbor in two- Outer and Inner Harbor. The dividing line is at Tongue Point Light and goes strait across due east. Inside Inner Harbor, establish a community of HouseBoats. Lined up next to each other up in the Boat Basin and up the Pequonnock and Yellow Mill. The City has pretty much grabbed all the shore anyway and there are damn few water-dependent businesses along the way, but those that are there, let them decide if they want to welcome liveaboards. I guarantee, people will come from around the world to live in Bridgeport if they can live freely as LiveAboards. It would be like Province town is to the BIGAYLA community only for gypsy wayward boaters looking for a home port that is safe, urban and part of mainland America. There is no other one on the East Coast
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| This is the Pequonnock River with Houseboats- any questions? |
The House Boats would all have to meet strict compliance standards including marine sanitation, fire code and energy standards. Everything has to be off-grid, so each House Boat needs to have a standardized electrical with solar,wind or tidal generator-based system to be cost effective. As the houses dock up they could feed off each other for power and the collection will create a ZERO carbon footprint community. But the good part is, it will be a self-policing community, so as a newbee floats in, he will have to jive with the established community standards or be forced to leave Shangri La for House Boats.
There is also the economic benefits- 100 house boats bring 100 families who need 100 cars, 100 kitchens, 100 TV's, 100 Contractors, 100 electricians- yadda yadda yadda. And when the conventional batteries aren't cutting the mustard, you will have 100 inventive, creative affluent minds thinking about how to create the perfect battery, and it will be invented in Bridgeport, CT, The Gateway to New England.
There is a ton to work out with this idea, but the first part is, WE have to get the State to allow it to happen. The regulatory scheme, the monolithic DEEP and the archaic rules pertaining to Harbor maintenance and development are strangling any life left in Bridgeport Harbor. We need a State-run harbor commission, the Port Authority needs to be disbanded and the management of the Harbor needs to be placed in the hands of people that have some knowledge of how to manage a harbor. Ok that might be asking a lot, but can we at least expect them to have a safe boating certificate?
But this is where my heads at- make Bridgeport into a place people want to come to using the unique aspects of the City. Don't borrow ideas that have played well in a City that is 50 miles away- Use ideas from Europe, India and Japan who have been living with the water for Centuries. LIVE WITH THE WATER IN BRIDGEPORT.
The technology is here now and the House Boat Community could liven up a whole aspect of the Bridgeport economy with innovation in a real world testing site for urban renewal combining with global sea level rise. The flurry of growth surrounding this initiative will bring worldwide attention to Bridgeport, and the new brand will welcome that interest. Little Brazil and the Barnum Economic Zone will show the kind of innovation in public policy that investors want to see and if you give them a population base in walking distance to their business, they will be more than happy to invest and open up en masse. Bridgeport is a City by the sea, so use the Sea to make Bridgeport into the sexiest City for the next century. But do it with some grand vision, some charismatic leadership and some well reasoned financing that doesn't break the bank of the tax payer. It could work, it will work, but we gotta get that Boat House built first.
Well that's just my opinion.
Thanks
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