Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1170674
2019 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 11 City Cachet Chambers of commerce are pitching in to help facilitate smart growth By Carol Latter Over the past 20 years, urban development has taken a more people-friendly turn. Developers, architects, and city and state officials have shifted away from traffic-oriented designs in favor of pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use communities, centered around easily accessible transit systems. Smart-growth development has replaced urban sprawl. People of all ages are gravitating towards safe, walkable, neighborhoods that offer appealing housing options, chic offices and retail storefronts, and welcoming green spaces – places to live, work and play. In Connecticut, several chambers of commerce are beginning to take a stronger interest and more active role in promoting and supporting these types of developments. A Bridge to the Future The downtown area of Bridgeport – Connecticut's largest city, with more than 146,000 residents – is a promising case in point. Dan Onofrio, president and CEO of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council (BRBC), said the organization is working hard not only to revitalize the downtown area but to get the word out that the "Park City" is making a comeback. "We're really trying to reposition the city as a destination," he said. Bridgeport is an historic seaport situated on Long Island Sound, just an hour from Manhattan. While it has gotten some bad press over the years, evidence of revitalization is everywhere, said Onofrio – from a glitzy new amphitheater set to open next year on the site of the old Bluefish Stadium, to Harlan Haus, a German-inspired bier and wurst hall that opened last year in the historic People's Bank Building, to the revived $1 billion, 2.8 million-square-foot Steelpointe Harbor development, with multiple dining, shopping and lodging options. There have also been talks of the city getting a casino that could add thousands of jobs. Onofrio said that would build on the theme of Bridgeport being a destination and tap into an underserved market. With convenient transportation links like the Metro-North trains, I-95, and a ferry running between Bridgeport and Long Island Sound, he said, "we'd like to see residents of New York and Westchester County and southern Fairfield County come here, not just to game, but to enjoy Bridgeport Harbor and the marina that's being built." The casino, which would inject an estimated billions of dollars into the economy, must be approved by the state before it can move forward. Housing is also getting a boost, with plans underway by a New York developer to transform a block of empty, burned-out factory buildings " " "We're really trying to position the city [of Bridgeport] as a destination." - Dan Onofrio, President and CEO of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council (BRBC) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: URBAN DEVELOPMENT