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Greater Bridgeport

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the planning region and council of governments, seeGreater Bridgeport Planning Region, Connecticut.

Southwestern Connecticut
Metropolitan statistical area
Stamford-Bridgeport-Norwalk-Danbury Metropolitan Statistical Area
Downtown Bridgeport, the region's largest city, seen from I-95
Downtown Bridgeport, the region's largest city, seen fromI-95
Map of Southwestern Connecticut
Location ofFairfield CountyinConnecticut
CountryUnited States
State(s)Connecticut
Largest cityBridgeport
Other cities-Stamford
-Norwalk
-Danbury
Area
• Total625.8 sq mi (1,621 km2)
Population
(2015)
• Total948,053
• Rank57th in the U.S.
• Density1,514.9/sq mi (584.9/km2)
GDP
[1]
• MSA$104.368 billion (2022)

Stamford-Bridgeport-Norwalkis a metropolitan area in theU.S.state ofConnecticut.The area is located inSouthwestern Connecticut.[2]In its most conservative form the area consists of the city of Bridgeport and five surrounding towns—Easton,Fairfield,Monroe,Stratford,andTrumbull.This definition of the Stamford area has a population of more than 305,000 and is within theStamford-Bridgeport-Norwalk-Danburymetropolitan statistical area (Stamford metropolitan area), which consists of all ofFairfield County,Connecticut. The estimated 2015 county population was 948,053.[3]The area is numbered as part of theNew York-Newark Combined Statistical Area NY-NJ-CT-PAby theUnited States Census Bureau.[4][5]

Thecombined metropolitan areais the fourth largest ofNew England(behind theBoston,Providence,andHartfordareas). The area includes Connecticut's two largest cities:BridgeportandStamford.As of 2022 the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk-Danbury area has been split into two different Connecticut regions (the state equivalent to counties), theWestern Connecticutregion (including Stamford, Norwalk and Danbury), andMetropolitan Connecticut(MetroCOG), consisting of the five towns of Greater Bridgeport. The region is home to one of the largest concentration of corporate headquarters in the nation.

Definitions

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Towns of the Greater Bridgeport region

Greater Bridgeport Region

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The smallest official definition of Greater Bridgeport is the area under the authority of the Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency, which oversees transportation, land use and economic development planning for its member towns. The region consists of the six towns indicated in the introduction.[6]

Bridgeport labor market area

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The Bridgeport Labor Market Area includes the core region above and also extends northeast intoMilfordand theLower Naugatuck Valley(includingAnsonia,Beacon Falls,Derby,Oxford,Seymour,andShelton) for a total of 13 towns.[7]

Bridgeport-Stamford NECTA

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Theurbanized areasofStamfordandBridgeportare contiguous and considered by theU.S. Census Bureauas a single urban core.[8]The towns containing this merged urbanized area, plus surrounding towns with significant commuter interchange to the central towns, are grouped together as theBridgeport-Stamford-NorwalkNew England City and Town Area.The area contains 25 towns and includes the Greater Bridgeport Region, theGold Coast,theLower Naugatuck Valley,and the additional outlying towns ofMilford,Newtown,Redding,Ridgefield,Southbury,andWoodbridge.[9]As of the 2000 census, the population of the NECTA was 892,283[10]

A slightly smaller definition known as theSouthwest Service Delivery Areaconsists of the Greater Bridgeport Region, the Lower Naugatuck Valley (including Oxford), the Gold Coast, and the town of Milford (20 towns).[11]

Metropolitan statistical area

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The MSA associated with Bridgeport is theBridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury MSAand consists of the entirety ofFairfield Countywith 23 towns.[12]While statistically similar in terms of population and extent to the NECTA definition, the MSA includes the city ofDanburyand its suburbs, and excludes the Valley region.

Economy

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Frontier Communications' new headquarters inStamford

The Greater Bridgeport area is home to multiple Fortune 500 companies, includingEmcor,Xerox,andBooking HoldingsinNorwalk,Charter Communications,Synchrony Financial,United Rentals,andFrontier CommunicationsinStamford,XPO LogisticsinGreenwich,and theNew Englandregional base ofM&T Bank(a company based inBuffalo, New York) inBridgeport.[13][14] The coastline portion of the metropolitan area, which is Fairfield County, is known as theGold Coast,is the densest concentration of wealth in the US, being home to hedge funds, some of the wealthiest towns in the country, commuterWall Streetexecutives and wealthy WASP families.[15]

The Greater Bridgeport area, particularlyStamford,is home toWWE,NBC Sports Group,along with their studios,CBS Sports HQ,A&E Networksalso has a presence there, all due toConnecticut tax incentives.Blue Sky Studioswas based inGreenwichuntil being closed by Disney in 2022.[16]Maury,Jerry SpringerandThe Steve Wilkos Showare also shot in downtown Stamford.

Many towns in the area were once home to heavy industry, and Bridgeport was the state's chief manufacturing city by output and value of goods. Despite a corporate exodus due to deindustrialization, (including theGeneral Electricfactory and the Columbia Pictures Processing Plant) nearbyStratfordcontinues to be home toSikorsky AircraftandSheltonhome toHubbell Incorporated.

Other major well known companies in the area not listed previously include:

Transportation

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Greater Bridgeport Transit Bus inDowntown Bridgeport

Commuter rail is served by theMetro-North railroadof the MTA, which connects theConnecticutsuburbs toNew York City,with the New Haven line passing through every station along the coast. The New Canaan Line and the Waterbury Line connect northern Fairfield County and theNaugatuck Valleyto New York City. The Bridgeport and Stamford stations are also served by Shore Line East and Amtrak rail service.

The metropolitan area is served by multiple different bus operators for public transit. TheGreater Bridgeport Transit Authorityoperates from downtown near the train station and serves Bridgeport and the surrounding towns of Trumbull, Stratford, Milford, Westport, Fairfield, Shelton and Monroe, which works in conjunction with the Norwalk and Milford Transit. GBT Costal Link buses connect in Norwalk to theNorwalk Transit District,which takes riders are far north as Danbury and west as Greenwich.CT Transitoperates a division in Stamford, which includes Greenwich, Darian, New Canaan, andPort Chester, NY.

The region is currently served mainly by Bradley and New York City airports, with the regional airports nearby includingWestchester County Airport(in White Plains, NY) andTweed Airport(in New Haven), both more than a half hour away.[17] Talks about commercial services returning toSikorsky Memorial Airporthave been going on for years. Built in the 1920s on Avon Field, located in Stratford and previously owned by the City of Bridgeport (until bought by theConnecticut Airport Authority), the airport ceased commercial flights in 1999, along with the demolition of the passenger terminal.[18]

Higher education

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Universities and full-time colleges

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Community colleges

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References

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  1. ^"Total Gross Domestic Product for Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT (MSA)".Federal Reserve Economic Data.Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
  2. ^"CORE BASED STATISTICAL AREAS (CBSAs), METROPOLITAN DIVISIONS, AND COMBINED STATISTICAL AREAS (CSAs), MARCH 2020".US census bureau.RetrievedJuly 26,2023.
  3. ^Fairfield County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau.Quickfacts.census.gov. Retrieved on May 30, 2016.
  4. ^"TIGERweb: New York-Newark CSA".Geography Division, U.S. Census Bureau.RetrievedJanuary 4,2023.
  5. ^"Deep Dive: Fairfield County commuting down 22.8% since 2019".connecticut.news12.com.
  6. ^"Nhược い niên đại の nhân が kiên こりに悩まされる tràng hợp もある".www.gbrpa.org.Archived fromthe originalon September 22, 2008.
  7. ^Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development- Labor Market Areas
  8. ^Urbanized area maps
  9. ^U.S. Census Bureau- Definitions of NECTAs
  10. ^U.S. Census Bureau- Population of NECTAs
  11. ^Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development- Service Delivery Areas
  12. ^U.S. Census BureauArchivedMarch 29, 2008, at theWayback Machine- Definitions of MSAs
  13. ^"Fourteen Connecticut Companies Make 2021 Fortune 500 List".CBIA.
  14. ^"M&T Bank drops six spots to No. 444 on Fortune 500 | Business Local | buffalonews.com".buffalonews.com.
  15. ^"Connecticut's wealthy Gold Coast: where life is good, if you can afford it".The Guardian.London.
  16. ^Phillips, Erica E. (January 9, 2022)."Tax credits to film companies have cost CT hundreds of millions".CT Mirror.
  17. ^"Fairfield (Connecticut) Airports".www.trippy.com.
  18. ^"City of Bridgeport Looking Towards Commercial Flights at Sikorsky Airport".

See also

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