Click here to view the Bridgeport Master Plan of Conservation & Development.
Click here to view the Urban Land Institute Citywide Economic Development Strategy.
In January 2005, the City of Bridgeport, in partnership with the Bridgeport Regional Business Council, invited the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to assess its strengths and weaknesses and plot a course for revitalization. ULI recommended that Bridgeport should 1) Come together as a community to set goals for the city, and 2) Update its Master Plan and land use regulations. To achieve these important goals, the City initiated a coordinated update of its land use policy and planning documents in order to develop a
new Master Plan of Conservation and Development for the City of Bridgeport (referred to herein as the “Master Plan”). For the first time in the city’s history, this Master Plan will incorporate the full requirements of a Plan of Conservation and Development, as outlined by Connecticut state statutes.
The time is right for a renaissance in Bridgeport. The city is now at a crossroads and is poised to once again become a regional destination. Many signifi cant successes have been achieved that have created greater predictability and confi dence in the city, encouraging new investment. The arena and ballpark at Harbor Yard, Captain’s Cove Seaport, the Ferry Terminal, the new Derecktor shipyard, expansion projects at Housatonic Community College and Bridgeport and St. Vincent’s Hospitals and the revitalization
of State Street are just a few of the many successful redevelopment projects that have occurred in Bridgeport in recent years. Together, these projects have created a momentum for investment that is now evident in the numerous private development projects currently in the pipeline, including new residential development downtown and redevelopment of vacant industrial sites such as Steel Point and the former Remington Shaver plant.
As a result of demographic changes and escalating housing prices in the greater Bridgeport region, the City is uniquely positioned to attract new residents and reverse the trend of out-migration. Bridgeport serves as a regional inter-modal transit hub with highway, rail, bus, air and water access. This multi-modal transportation access, coupled with affordable land values relative to the region, makes Bridgeport an attractive location for both jobs and housing. The City is working to capitalize on these assets
and recapture its position as a central player in the southern Fairfi eld County economy. Investment is clearly coming to Bridgeport. The key now is to ensure that uses are compatibly located and that new development projects meet high-quality design standards and complement the city’s existing urban fabric.
The planning and development policies outlined in this Master Plan provide the framework to achieve these goals and guide investment in Bridgeport over the course of the next ten years. Recommendations and strategies discussed throughout the chapters of the plan are integrated at the end of the document in Chapter 14, Future Land Use Plan, and Chapter 15, Implementation. Once the Master Plan is approved by the Planning and Zoning Commission, the strategies and recommendations outlined in Chapter 15 will serve
as action items for implementing the plan.