Bridgeport, CT

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KCasiglio

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Lol that there's no thread for CT's largest city.

Came across this paper this morning that focuses on Bridgeport: “There’s nothing left to tax”: the effects of automobility on the downtowns of America’s mid-size cities 1913–2013

Inside the paper is a graphic showing the land use in the city before and after being torn apart by I-95 and CT-8

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Bridgeport has a lot of natural advantages going for it (coastal, rail infrastructure, proximity to NYC), but it will take a long time and a lot of political will to restore the urban fabric that was lost. Small lots, small blocks on a grid, density.
 
Thanks for sharing this. I knew Bridgeport's downtown area was walled off from the rest of the city on all sides which is problematic in and of itself. But those land use maps are absolutely killer. What a mess.
 
Drove through Bridgeport on a Saturday morning and the only person to speak of was a gentleman at the crosswalk wearing a vest that said “Downtown Ambassador.” He seemed genuinely intrigued as to why I was there.
 
Its because those of us that grew up there would like to forget its there
 
My parents (born in the mid-1920s) and their families were Bridgeport-based from the time of Barnum's industrial development of it in the 1870s (my paternal great-grandfather worked decades at Wheeler & Wilson, the great sewing machine manufacturer that initially anchored the development), and I have personal memories of the city and area before The Fall, as it were. I learned some interesting things about how Barnum and his syndicate conceived and implemented industrial-residential development of what was the town of East Bridgeport in this fascinating 2019 book - the Steinway development of the northern shoreline of Astoria (what is now the Ditmars/Steinway area of northern Queens west of La Guardia) is treated in parallel to the Bridgeport story.

Amazon.com: New York Recentered: Building the Metropolis from the Shore (Historical Studies of Urban America): 9780226613024: Schlichting, Kara Murphy: Books

Amazon.com: New York Recentered: Building the Metropolis from the Shore (Historical Studies of Urban America): 9780226613024: Schlichting, Kara Murphy: Books
www.amazon.com
 

An underground I-95 tunnel? CT studies concepts for Bridgeport, Fairfield corridor​

As the state Department of Transportation conducts a study of how to potentially make it easier and safer to travel along the Interstate 95 corridor in Bridgeport and Fairfield, the consultant team is open to all ideas — big and small.
During a public meeting Wednesday at Black Rock School in Bridgeport, a team of consultants presented a host of concepts from “transformational” ideas like moving portions of I-95 underground to much smaller projects like installing bike lanes and pedestrian refuge islands on roads off the highway.
[...]
The large-scale ideas include a tunnel for I-95, which would theoretically be built south of where the highway is currently located in Bridgeport. The land where the highway is located now would be turned into a “local boulevard and complete streets corridor,” according to a conceptual drawing.
Another idea is to lower and cover sections of I-95 and Route 8/25 where the highways intersect in Bridgeport. That concept also includes relocating the New Haven Line where it crosses under I-95 and creating green space.
Then there are concepts that aren’t quite as grand, like building “collector-distributor roadways” along I-95 or Route 8 that separate through-traffic from cars entering and exiting the highway.
Another concept on the table is turning the left shoulders on I-95 into part-time travel lanes, also known as flex lanes. During heavy traffic, an electronic sign above the highway would notify drivers that they can use the shoulder as a travel lane. DOT plans to install such a system on I-84 in Danbury.
Other concepts include adding a through-lane in each direction on I-95, eliminating certain ramps along the highway and relocating interchanges.
Click to expand...
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Still Tom Nevers said:
No? I thought it was a common sentiment that Bridgeport and New Haven are both seriously disadvantaged by I-95 cutting the cities off from the water.
Click to expand...
It's a bit rich they're asking for this given that Hartford has had outright broad consensus on how to replace its city-destroying highway...to the point where they were ready to start fundraising for it...and still let analysis paralysis absolutely turf any progress on the I-84 re-route for over a decade. To the point where CTDOT doesn't even maintain a website anymore for the I-84 Hartford project.

Like...baby steps. Connecticut has so thoroughly proven they can't mount a project of this size that there has to be an attitude adjustment to make it more realistic. Yelling "MOAR TUNNEL!" at I-95 is going the opposite direction of discrete actionable steps.
 
They looked at the Big Dig and said “that’s what we want, but we won’t end up hamstringing the state this time…”
 
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