PlanBridgeport.pdf

4/22/19

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Introduction

1. Bridgeport is a Livable City

2. Bridgeport has a Robust Economy

3. Bridgeport is an Equitable City

4. Bridgeport is a Healthy Community

5. Bridgeport Values Nature

6. Bridgeport is a Regional Center

7. Implementation Plan

Appendix 1: Plan Resources

Appendix 2: Trends and Existing Conditions...113

Appendix 3: State and Regional Plans

Appendix 4: Maps

Contents

Acknowledgments

Plan Produced By:

Adopted April 22, 2019

Joseph P. Ganim, Mayor People of Bridgeport Steering Committee City Council Office of Planning & Economic Development

Tom Gill, Director William Coleman, Deputy Director Lynn Haig, AICP, Director of Planning Dean Mack, AICP, Planner Curtis Denton, GIS Administrator Jacob Robison, Planner

Jump to any section by clicking its title

INTRODUCTION

Image Source: Wikipedia.org

1Introduction |

3Introduction |

Welcome to Plan Bridgeport!

Plan Bridgeport is Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD). The Plan documents the state of the City and provides a guide for its future. It provides a future vision that is based in the realities of the resources and constraints that are present in Bridgeport today.

The Plan establishes a vision for Bridgeport’s physical form, economic and social health, and quality of life.

That vision provides a foundation for policy and funding decisions and informs the City’s zoning regulations, which protect the health, safety and welfare of the people of Bridgeport. The Plan recommends strategies and actions necessary to realize the vision.

Plan Bridgeport was developed with extensive input from city residents, businesses and stakeholders, elected officials, and City staff. That outreach included hundreds of conversations at events throughout the city, multiple workshops, focus group meetings, interviews, and an online survey. In total, the planning process received input from over one thousand stakeholders.

This plan meets Connecticut General Statutes which require that a municipal plan of conservation and development be updated every ten years. It is also consistent with both the State Plan of Conservation and Development and MetroCOG’s 2015 Regional Plan.

How Plan Bridgeport is Organized The Plan is organized around guiding principles which are identified in the Plan’s vision statement. The Plan also identifies goals that support the guiding principles and strategies that provide guidance on how to achieve the goals. Specific actions are identified in the implementation section of the Plan. Actions are the step by step methods of implementing strategies and achieving goals.

The plan also identifies four areas, or themes, that should be prioritized for implementation. These themes follow on the priorities identified in the 2008 POCD, and describe development strategies to pursue over the coming decade. They include:

• Waterfront Clean, protect and redevelop the Waterfront as an economic engine and recreational resource.

• Transit Oriented Development Concentrate dense, mixed use and walkable development around upgraded multimodal transportation infrastructure.

• Neighborhoods Strengthen neighborhood centers and corridors by reviving commercial activity and ensuring connectivity to other neighborhoods and the Downtown.

• Housing Create the necessary conditions for increased residential development, at all price points and of all types, that can be financed without City assistance.

Vision The vision describes what the people of Bridgeport value and what the City will strive toward over the next 10 years. The vision is not a description of the city as it is today. Instead, it is an expression of the desires and aspirations of the community in a statement that is meant to guide municipal leaders and organize the goals and strategies of the Plan.

The vision anchors Plan Bridgeport in an ethos that can be continually returned to for comparison as policies and strategies are formed into the future.

Guiding Principles The guiding principles are components of the vision. Each guiding principle comprises a section of this Plan. The Plan’s goals, strategies and recommended actions are organized around these principles.

Goals Goals are commitments towards achieving the vision. They are consistent with the guiding principles and establish a desired impact.

Strategies Strategies are the methods by which the goals will be achieved. They describe the interim outcomes that can lead to achieving the impact described in a particular goal.

Actions Actions are specific steps that can be taken to accomplish strategies. They are the first steps to be taken toward achieving the Plan’s vision.

https://portal.ct.gov/OPM/IGPP/Responsible-Growth/Conservation-and-Development-Policies-Plan/2018-2023-POCD-Update https://portal.ct.gov/OPM/IGPP/Responsible-Growth/Conservation-and-Development-Policies-Plan/2018-2023-POCD-Update http://www.ctmetro.org/data-services/reports/land-use-regional-growth-2/

Image Credit: Karyn Leito

5Introduction |

Bridgeport’s Vision

Bridgeport is a regional center in eastern Fairfield County. As a regional center and transportation hub, Bridgeport provides the region with goods, services, jobs, higher education and healthcare.

Bridgeport is a sustainable city with an environment, governance, and practices that support a livable city for generations into the future. As a livable city, Bridgeport has a diversity of housing options and educational opportunities in an environment that is safe, clean, and easy to travel within. The City’s residents are healthy and have access to healthy food, recreation opportunities, and health care.

Bridgeport is an equitable community that is inclusive and celebrates its diversity. The City’s costs and resources are fairly distributed among residents, property owners, and other stakeholders and city policies are fair and uniformly enforced. Nature is present and accessible throughout the City – in parks, on streets, in neighborhoods, and along the City’s waterfront. It provides habitat, contributes to health and supports outdoor recreation. Bridgeport has a robust economy which provides jobs and opportunities for a broad spectrum of its residents.

Bridgeport will:

1. Reduce the tax burden on residents by growing the grand list, attracting new businesses, growing existing businesses, and encouraging corporate citizenship.

2. Continue the redevelopment of Bridgeport’s

Bridgeport will:

1. Institute policies that encourage a diversity of housing types across neighborhoods to maximize choice for people of all economic and social circumstances.

2. Ensure that all residents have an opportunity to thrive economically.

3. Encourage growth and development that is sensitive to the potential for gentrification.

4. Ensure that everyone has access to infrastructure necessary to support a high quality of life including public transportation and parks and recreation centers.

5. Ensure that Bridgeport’s economically disadvantaged neighborhoods are not disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards and climate change.

6. Provide quality education opportunities for all schoolchildren and adults interested in completing or furthering their education.

7. Ensure that the City’s governance is equitable.

8. Ensure that the City’s employees, teachers, and public safety personnel are socially engaged with the community.

9. Protect vulnerable populations such as the economically disadvantaged, racial and ethnic minorities, those with alternative lifestyles, low-income children, the elderly, the homeless, and those with chronic health conditions, including severe mental illness.

10. Ensure that City services are accessible to residents and visitors with limited English proficiency.

11. Provide residents with access to services throughout their life.

12. Incorporate equity considerations into decision-making across sectors and policy areas in the City.

Bridgeport will:

1. Increase usage of transit and alternative modes of transportation.

2. Encourage density of development in areas that are well served by transit and are within walking distance of places of residence, employment, goods, and services.

3. Adopt a Complete Streets approach to transportation planning and improvements.

4. Update zoning regulations to allow for a greater mix of uses and increased bikeability/walkability.

resources in neighborhoods.

7. Continue improvements aimed at revitalizing the

Downtown.

8. Enhance connectivity and accessibility between neighborhoods.

existing buildings and new construction.

transportation network.

13. Build a new train station in East Bridgeport (also called “Barnum Station”) with accommodations for high speed trains to stop.

Bridgeport’s Guiding Principles

Downtown as a transit-oriented hub for commercial, retail, and entertainment activity to supplement a growing high-density residential neighborhood.

3. Leverage the inherent economic value of the waterfront.

4. Increase the growth of neighborhood commercial centers and corridors.

5. Encourage development of brownfields and other underutilized or vacant properties.

6. Continue to promote the growth of the arts and entertainment industry that includes an economically viable local arts and culture industry.

7. Better leverage the economic benefits of anchor institutions in Bridgeport.

8. Support the growth of innovative and start-up businesses.

9. Promote the growth of the advanced manufacturing industry.

10. Maintain a labor force that can support the growth of new businesses and industries in the city.

11. Support housing development and housing reinvestment as a strong contributor to Bridgeport’s economy.

12. Promote the growth of the energy industry in Bridgeport, with a focus on green energy generation.

13. Increase the marketing of business and real estate development opportunities in Bridgeport.

14. Regain commercial airline service at Sikorsky Airport and continue to support corporate, private, and general aviation.

15. Lead the effort to build a new train station in East Bridgeport (“Barnum Station”) with accommodations for high speed trains and position the area for redevelopment.

16. Review how State PILOT programs impact Bridgeport’s tax base and address the challenges of tax-exempt properties.

6 | Introduction

Bridgeport is an Equitable City

Bridgeport has a Robust Economy

Bridgeport has a Robust Economy (cont.)Bridgeport is a Livable City

G o al s

G o als

Bridgeport will:

1. Connect residents to health care resources in the city and region.

2. Promote a well-connected and coordinated public and private healthcare system that includes ancillary health organizations.

3. Ensure residents are connected with adequate social services to serve their needs.

4. Reduce sexually transmitted disease and teen pregnancy in Bridgeport.

5. Ensure that residents have access to healthy locally grown foods.

6. Support the needs of all residents to live in a clean environment.

7. Actively manage noise pollution within the city’s neighborhoods and residential areas.

8. Protect and improve air quality.

9. Protect and improve water quality.

10. Ensure that residents feel safe in the community.

11. Ensure that the City’s employees, teachers, and public safety personnel model healthy behavior for the rest of the community.

12. Improve access to physical and recreational activities for residents of all ages and capabilities.

13. Prepare for potential public health emergencies.

14. Encourage the remediation and redevelopment of brownfields.

15. Encourage risk-reduction strategies related to substance use among residents of all ages.

16. Incorporate health considerations into decision-making across sectors and policy areas in the City.

Bridgeport will:

1. Protect and restore natural habitats.

2. Restore and protect the city’s waterfront and waterbodies.

3. Protect and expand the city’s urban forest.

4. Improve existing parks and open space network to ensure that functional open space is accessible to residents of all neighborhoods.

5. Ensure that the parks and open space system is well funded and supported.

6. Continue to reduce carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.

7. Continue to shift towards clean and renewable energy sources.

8. Enhance resilience against impacts of coastal storms and climate change.

9. Increase sustainable practices in business and development.

10. Connect education to nature.

11. Minimize the generation and environmental impacts of solid waste.

12. Incorporate sustainability considerations into decision-making across sectors and policy areas in the City.

Bridgeport will:

1. Commit to playing a leadership role in convening and facilitating the regional policy discussion and commit resources to supporting and advocating for a regional policy agenda.

2. Expand Bridgeport’s role as the lead economic development engine in the region.

3. Enhance connections with regional institutions of higher learning.

4. Embrace Bridgeport’s role as a regional center for arts and culture.

5. Embrace the Bridgeport’s role as the regional transportation hub.

6. Increase regional connectivity through expanded transit service.

7. Consider regional housing needs in the creation of housing policies.

8. Develop a waterfront and open space system that is better connected to, and enjoyed by, the region.

9. Strengthen regional coastal resilience and natural hazard mitigation.

10. Assist in reducing the regional carbon footprint by continuing to lead in renewable energy generation and utilization of energy efficient infrastructure.

11. Play a part in promoting regional food security.

12. Actively promote regional cost-sharing.

13. Lead the region and other Connecticut cities in addressing structural fiscal issues related to its function as a provider of regional services.

Bridgeport’s Guiding Principles

7Introduction |

Bridgeport is a Healthy Community Bridgeport Values Nature Bridgeport is a Regional Center

G o alsG o al s

Plan Themes

8 | Introduction

In addition to the Plan’s guiding principles, a number of themes emerged during the planning process.

Many of the Plan’s goals and strategies are aligned with one or more of these themes. These four main themes include Bridgeport’s waterfront, transit oriented development (TOD), housing, and the city’s neighborhoods.

The themes represent specific areas of focus within the Plan and within the six guiding principles that comprise the community’s vision. Strategies that are aligned with these themes are noted by a colored bullet point adjacent to the strategy as follows within the document:

Waterfront Strategies

TOD Strategies

Housing Strategies

Neighborhood Strategies

Neighborhoods

TOD

Housing

Waterfront

Image Credit: Dean Mack, City of Bridgeport

9Introduction |

Waterfront: Clean, protect and redevelop the Waterfront as an economic engine and recreational asset.

Waterfront property is synonymous with high value land. Most coastal cities have a combination of key parks and higher end residential or office properties along the water, while a handful of cities also maintain valuable shipping ports as part of their waterfront.

Bridgeport once prioritized the waterfront for world renowned industries. Today, aside from the residences in Black Rock, a handful of marinas and a small number of factories, waterfront property in Bridgeport is some of the most underutilized and economically unproductive property in the city.

Due to the inherent value of waterfront property, the current state of underuse also means that the waterfront presents the most exciting opportunity for repositioning and redevelopment in the city. Over the next ten years, the City of Bridgeport should commit to realizing the potential of its waterfront by reclaiming underutilized properties, cleaning any remaining pollution, preparing for the risks caused by coastal flooding and redeveloping these sites to be the high value, publicly beneficial properties that they must be.

Through the Waterfront Master Plan of 2017, the City has already identified what properties are underutilized and has laid out a vision for how they should be redeveloped. It should work with property owners to acquire or assist in the redevelopment of these sites.

The Waterfront Plan also identified Opportunity Sites

- prime locations for large scale transformation into mixed use developments that preserve public access along the water – which should be prioritized for redevelopment.

The City should continue pursuing the goal of creating a publicly accessible pathway along as much of the waterfront as is possible. This would connect waterfront properties across the city and create new parkland along the shore.

As Bridgeport works to create more safe routes for bicycles and pedestrians throughout the city, it should focus on achieving a large part of the increase along this new waterfront pathway. At the same time, new parks and facilities for play and relaxation should also be developed along the water, as way points on the pathway and centers of activity that will enhance the value of nearby properties.

Through zoning regulations and permitting requirements, the City should promote the development of clean, neighborhood friendly uses on waterfront land, while requiring industrial users to include open space buffers along the water to reduce water pollution.

These requirements should also ensure that this open space serves the purpose of protecting neighborhoods and property from the risk of coastal storms and flooding.

Coastal resilience can be accomplished either by creating barriers, lifting structures above potential flood heights or reintroducing marshes, coastal vegetation and floodable landscapes that can weaken the powerful waves and surge caused by storms. The City should not just mandate, but also support these efforts by seeking grant funding, partnering with developers and dedicating city capital to help finance and guide the waterfront transformation.

The City is committed to the following objectives in support of the city’s waterfront:

• Develop a resiliency component for the NRZ plans of all coastal neighborhoods by 2029.

• Construct 3.5 linear miles of waterfront pathway by 2029.

• Reposition and redevelop vacant and underutilized commercial waterfront properties by 2029:

• Environmentally assess, clean and zone 400 acres of land.

http://www.bridgeportct.gov/planning/waterfront

Image Credit: Ned Gerard, CT Post

10 | Introduction

TOD: Concentrate dense, mixed use and walkable development around upgraded multimodal transportation infrastructure.

One of Bridgeport’s greatest assets is its accessibility through many forms of transit, including interstate and state highways, heavily utilized railways, regional bus facilities, a regional airport and a ferry service connecting to Long Island. The City has invested significant funds over the last two decades, including federal and state funds, to upgrade some of this infrastructure to improve the flow of people and commerce to, from and within the city.

Yet with highway congestion worsening each year and car ownership a difficult expense for many to manage, the increased demand for alternative modes of transportation requires further improvements to transportation infrastructure, with a focus on transit.

Upgraded infrastructure is necessary to ensure a safe increase in the number of people using transit to get around, and the City plans to take advantage of increased capacity by improving access to transit, making it an affordable and convenient alternative to driving for Bridgeporters. This will require both making sure that transit services are being provided where they are most needed and promoting a density of development near transit, so that more people can quickly walk, bike or ride to transit stops and stations.

Large investments are required when upgrading fixed transit like railways, train stations and bridges.

The most important of which is the development of a new train station in East Bridgeport that can support express rail service along the Northeast Rail Corridor. The City should commit to exploring creative ways to finance investment in new stations as well as upgraded infrastructure, that can complement or replace state and federal funding. Establishing TIF districts is a strategy that the City should investigate for promoting general development as well as for financing infrastructure investments. Other public private partnership formats that should be pursued could include development rights adjacent to, or as a part of, infrastructure projects.

Bridgeport will also work with Greater Bridgeport Transit (GBT) to enhance bus service through investments in new shelters as well as service that meets evolving local and regional demands. Enhanced technology can also improve the convenience of bus transit, making neighborhoods along bus lines more attractive.

These longer-trip and larger-scale transit options must be integrated into the city and a Complete Streets approach to transportation planning will greatly increase the bicycle and pedestrian amenities that will connect to the stations and ports. By increasing the amount and connectivity of safe walking and biking routes, and ensuring that they lead to bus stops, train stations and other transportation infrastructure, transit options can become a convenient and often cost saving alternative to personal vehicles

The City should work to rezone the areas around transit to increase the allowable density, making it easier to build housing and jobs that can be easily accessed without the need for a car. It is important that housing near transit be affordable at all income levels, so that the cost savings of transit ridership can be enjoyed by those who need it the most.

The City is committed to the following objectives in support of transit oriented development:

• Develop 4,300 housing units within ½ mile of Bridgeport Station (expanded Downtown) by 2029.

• Complete design and secure financing to construct Barnum Station with 4 track access by 2026.

Score® to 65 by 2029.

Image Source: crescentcrossing.com

11Introduction |

Housing: Create the necessary conditions for increased residential development, at all price points and of all types, that can be financed without City assistance.

The housing situation is complex in Bridgeport, as there are contradicting policy problems: housing is too expensive for many families to afford, while at the same time, not expensive enough to generate profit for real estate developers. The lack of a profit incentive to build new housing has led to an aging housing stock and overall shortage in housing as demand for housing continues to increase at all price points.

As of 2017, 39% of Bridgeport’s housing stock is at least 70 years old, and only 12% is less than 40 years old. Older housing stock is more likely to have lead and asbestos hazards, more expensive to heat and cool and more prone to require costly repairs. It is also generally less expensive than newer housing to buy, meaning that those with lower incomes tend to live in housing that has an increased risk of causing health problems and is more costly than newer housing to properly maintain.

New housing development is required to update the housing stock, and to relieve the pressure on housing costs, by increasing supply to meet or exceed demand.

Yet between 2008 and 2017 only 554 housing units were added to Bridgeport’s housing stock. During the same period, the population grew by nearly 11,000, generating demand for over 4,250 additional housing units. In other words, at least 85% of new housing demand was unmet in Bridgeport. The longer this trend continues, the more housing prices will rise at all price points for all Bridgeport residents.

One way the City should try to incentivize new housing development is by updating the zoning code to allow for more housing to be built. In many neighborhoods, due to changes in the zoning code over time, regulations do not allow for a residential building that is demolished to be replaced by a residential building of the same size and instead, can only be replaced by a smaller building without seeking a special exemption from a land use commission. Another way to increase housing supply is to allow for accessory dwelling units to be built through additional zoning updates.

To reduce administrative costs and time added to development, the City should streamline its permitting and licensing processes, eliminating any redundancies.

Another administrative goal should be to make these processes more transparent, so that both the total cost and length of time can be accurately estimated when an application is submitted.

The City should communicate with professionals in the local housing industry, including developers and realtors, to understand current trends and respond in a way that will have an impact on development.

The City should also work with housing advocates and community non-profits to explore the possibility of creating a community land trust, focused on preserving housing units that are reserved for lower income families in perpetuity. At the same time, the city must strive to ensure the safety and quality of all subsidized housing units, so that those with fewer housing options aren’t forced to live in conditions that can put households at risk of exposure to health hazards.

The City is committed to the following objectives in support of neighborhood development in Bridgeport:

• Update zoning regulations by 2022 to encourage housing development in appropriate areas of Bridgeport.

• Integrate at least 150 units of public housing into mixed-income developments by 2029.

• Develop 1,800 market rate residential units in areas of Bridgeport outside of the expanded Downtown, by 2029.

• Develop 440 affordable units (less than 80% of AMI) in areas of Bridgeport outside of the expanded Downtown by 2029.

Image Credit: Donaven Doughty

12 | Introduction

Neighborhoods: Strengthen neighborhood centers and corridors by improving quality of life and working to revive local commercial activity.

While the City should continue committing resources to the redevelopment of Downtown, it is anticipated that over the next decade, development in that part of Bridgeport will become more self-sustaining. This will allow for the City to shift focus, increasing efforts to revitalize neighborhood centers and corridors.

Initial revitalization actions should concentrate on improving conditions such as blight, vacant properties, and the lack of, or poor quality of, community resources and amenities like libraries, parks and community centers. It is also important to improve the safety of some neighborhoods, before investment and development can be pursued.

Collaboration with the community is important to engender a shared sense of ownership in the project of revitalization. The City should identify partners to assist in anti-litter, anti-dumping and anti-blight campaigns in targeted neighborhoods. The City should also work with community groups like NRZs and regional non-profits to identify community resources that are most in need of upgrading. Improvement strategies should be developed that involve cost sharing between the City and other entities.

A low-cost way to enhance community access to resources is to activate school facilities outside of the normal hours of use by schoolchildren. The large buildings, libraries, playgrounds and fields that are utilized by schools during the weekdays can be made more accessible for community education programs and recreation, in the mode of community centers and public libraries.

It is essential for neighborhoods to be safe, and to be perceived as safe, before redevelopment can occur.

While the above-mentioned efforts should improve some of the environmental factors that can lead to a perception of disorder and insecurity, other efforts should be taken to enhance safety directly. The City should work towards building up community block watch programs by adding additional block watches where they are needed and attempting to reactivate dormant block watch groups. The City should also attempt to create opportunities for public safety personnel to engage with community members so cooperative relationships can be developed and mutual trust enhanced.

Once effective strategies are being implemented to improve quality of life, the City can again shift its focus to attracting investment and development into the neighborhood centers and corridors. Infill development should be a key part of this strategy, as there are many vacant and underutilized lots in some of the City’s neighborhoods. Rezoning to allow dense, mixed use development on these generally small infill lots is important for unlocking investment in new development or renovations, so that improvements can be made without special land use approvals.

The City should also consider assisting communities in the establishment of local Business Improvement Districts – like the DSSD in Downtown - that generate revenue exclusively dedicated to maintenance and aesthetic improvements in their commercial area.

The City is committed to the following objectives in support of expanding neighborhood development in Bridgeport:

• Develop and adopt a Complete Streets Policy and Guidelines by 2022.

by 2029.

• Reenergize existing block watch groups to 90% activation by 2024.

BRIDGEPORT IS A LIVABLE CITY

Image Source: Form Based Codes Institute

13Bridgeport is a Livable City |

Guiding Principle:

Bridgeport is a Livable City

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Bridgeport is a Livable City | 15

With a population of 147,000 people, 30,000 jobs and the highest population density of all

Connecticut cities, Bridgeport is a bustling urban community and one of the major centers of activity in the Northeast. The city accommodates many land uses within a relatively compact 16 square mile area. Approximately one-third (32%) of Bridgeport is comprised of residential areas and 25% is covered by parks or water bodies (including the Long Island Sound). The city’s transportation network (streets, highways, and railroads) occupies 18% of the city while commercial, industrial, and institutional uses occupy 15% of the city’s land.

These land uses, and the interface between them, must be carefully managed and balanced for Bridgeport to become a more livable city. This means ensuring that residential neighborhoods have adequate access to goods, services, and municipal facilities while protecting those neighborhoods from traffic and industry. At the same time, the city’s Downtown, commercial corridors and neighborhood centers must be accessible by car and transit while remaining safe and attractive places for walking and bicycling.

In addition to the Downtown, the city has miles of commercial corridors where commercial development such as offices, stores, and restaurants are mixed with residences. It is important to promote the continued development of the Downtown and neighborhood centers, while also ensuring convenient connectivity between these areas. Ensuring that zoning regulations allow for a healthy mix of uses and increased walkability is one way that cities across the country are enhancing livability and connectivity.

In seeking to be a more livable city, Bridgeport should also follow the best practices of other cities working towards the improvement of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure and access to transit. Within Connecticut, cities such as Hartford and New Haven have instituted “Complete Streets” policies that seek to balance the use of streets by improving access for pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders. This can greatly improve access to goods, services, jobs and recreation for those who don’t have a personal vehicle, as it makes biking or walking safer and more pleasant.

Increasing transportation options beyond automobiles also enhances sustainability, a concept that is tied closely to livability. As buildings are the largest urban contributor to energy consumption, the City should also support initiatives that enhance residential energy efficiency as well as incentivize green building techniques. Bridgeport should also expand the city’s urban forest as a way to clean the air, provide natural cooling in the warm months and make the city a more beautiful place to live.

Another important livability challenge is caused by the combination of a steady increase in population that has elevated the demand for housing of all kinds and a relative lack of new housing construction.

Bridgeport needs to respond to this need for more housing by supporting new construction, while protecting the existing affordable housing stock from deterioration. Strategies such as infill development and the adaptive reuse of historic properties are means by which the city can respond to residential demand.

The following chapter identifies goals and strategies for the city that provide guidance on where to focus limited resources to continue to improve Bridgeport’s livability.

N

Goal 1

Improve usage of transit and alternative modes of transportation.

Goal 2

Encourage density of development in areas that are well served by transit and are within walking distance of places of residence, employment, goods, and services.

Goal 3

Adopt a Complete Streets approach to transportation planning and improvements.

| Bridgeport is a Livable City16

Strategy

1. Adopt a policy to promote a shift in transportation modes from single-occupancy vehicles to transit, bicycling, and walking by investing in bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

2. Work with the Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority (GBT) to identify and implement improvements and funding that are needed to better connect Bridgeport to the region via bus service.

3. Include GBT in site plan review to make sure that project proposals enhance, and do not hinder, bus access.

4. Work with GBT and regional municipalities to establish and support a regional bikeshare, last mile mobility program.

5. Promote access to bus, ferry, and commuter rail and preserve easy, convenient, and seamless transitions between transit modes.

6. Promote coordination among different transportation providers/regulating entities to encourage multi-modal utilization of the transportation network.

7. Work with GBT and MetroNorth to improve transportation access and service.

8. Support improvements to fixed-route bus service through technology enhancements.

9. Consider working with Bridgeport employers to offer incentives that encourage the use of transit or carpooling instead of single-occupancy vehicles for commuting.

10. Leverage on-demand technologies to improve and expand paratransit.

Strategy

1. Focus on redevelopment in close proximity to Bridgeport Station to maximize transit-oriented development opportunities in the area.

2. Encourage the development of housing in the Downtown.

3. Concentrate dense housing along commercial corridors with bus service.

4. Work with the State, and other stakeholders, to develop strategies for improvements to the Downtown Bridgeport Train Station.

5. Construct the East Bridgeport (Barnum) Train Station.

6. Revise zoning in proximity of the planned Barnum Station to be more supportive of the development of a mixed-use job center.

Strategy

1. Adopt a Complete Streets policy.

2. Improve the walkability of neighborhoods and connections between neighborhoods.

3. Ensure adequate maintenance of sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, and pedestrian signals.

4. Create a coordinated system of bicycle infrastructure.

5. Improve pedestrian and bicycle wayfinding.

6. Prioritize Safe Routes to School for lighting improvements, sidewalk repair, streetscapes, and other infrastructure improvements.

11. Consider an increase in freight moving to and through Bridgeport by rail, barge or other means, and the infrastructure improvements that would be necessary to accommodate such an increase.

12. Work with GBT and Board of Education to best support student transportation.

Dots correspond with a plan theme. Click to jump to theme.

https://www.bridgeportct.gov/content/341307/341419/342425/342443.aspx https://www.bridgeportct.gov/content/341307/341419/342425/342443.aspx https://www.bridgeportct.gov/filestorage/341650/341652/346105/342427/353914/170109_BarnumStationTODPlan.pdf https://www.bridgeportct.gov/filestorage/341650/341652/346105/342427/353914/170109_BarnumStationTODPlan.pdf

Goal 4

Update zoning regulations to allow for a greater mix of uses and increased bikeability/walkability.

Goal 5

Encourage infill development.

Bridgeport is a Livable City | 17

The city of Reading, Pennsylvania was identified as the most impoverished city in the United States during the height of the recession in 2010. While no longer the most impoverished city in the US, the city still has a poverty rate of 39%. Yet, its city managers are leading the way in Complete Streets policy development, having been recognized as having the best Complete Streets policy in the nation in 2015 by Smart Growth America and the National Complete Streets Coalition.

Reading’s policy grew out of a community workshop that brought together a cross section of the community to talk about safe routes for bikes, children, people with disabilities, public transport, and motor vehicles.

Reading’s policy incorporates non-transportation goals such as green infrastructure for stormwater management, and makes aesthetics and placemaking a central focus to encourage walking and biking. The policy is part of an overall strategy to improve the city’s downtown business district. While in the past, policies focused mainly on the automobile, now city staff evaluate street maintenance plans annually and look for opportunities to calm traffic and close gaps in the pedestrian and bicycle network.

Reading, PA Source: WPSU Radio

Case Study:

Complete Streets, Reading, PA

Strategy

1. Expand amount of land that is zoned for a mix of uses.

2. Allow for small-batch and low impact manufacturing in more areas throughout the city.

3. Support the development of live-work spaces.

4. Improve the walkability of neighborhoods and connections between neighborhoods.

5. Increase use of design guidelines and the integration of form-based zoning throughout the city.

6. Include bike storage facilities in rights of way as part of private development requirements.

Strategy

1. Ensure that zoning regulations do not restrict infill development.

2. Maintain clear and consistent permitting procedures, and ensure that these procedures are accessible and transparent to the public.

3. Prioritize the remediation of brownfields by developing a goals-achievement matrix (GAM) for remediation projects.

4. Provide access to high-speed internet connections to underdeveloped and vacant sites.

5. Consider changing zoning to allow for accessory dwelling units.

6. Update the City’s zoning to be more user friendly and to provide more flexibility for the development of a wide variety of housing options throughout Bridgeport.

7. Consider zoning that allows for more small-batch manufacturing and other commercial uses in traditionally residential neighborhoods.

8. Explore the feasibility and impacts of switching to a land-value based taxation system to incentivize the development of vacant or underdeveloped parcels to their highest and best use.

Click any case study title for more information.

https://www.vibrantcitieslab.com/case-studies/best-in-nation-complete-streets-policy-by-midsize-city-with-high-poverty-rate/

Goal 7

Continue improvements aimed at revitalizing the Downtown.

Goal 6

Improve and expand public facilities and resources in neighborhoods.

Students at The Ellen Lurie School Source: Children’s Aid

| Bridgeport is a Livable City18

The Ellen Lurie School, known as PS 5, is a large prekindergarten through grade 5 urban elementary school that opened in 1993. Located in the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights, the school serves a community comprised primarily of newly arrived immigrants from the Dominican Republic. PS 5 operates in partnership with the Children’s Aid Society of New York, which offers health and family social services that are intended to remove barriers to learning.

The school has special classrooms with separate entrances and playgrounds for the school’s early childhood programs. A centrally located family room provides parents and other family members with a place to meet, socialize, and participate in workshops. Although the school principal is employed by the New York City Department of Education, and the community school director is employed by the Children’s Aid Society, the two have adjoining offices. This arrangement reinforces the formal and informal connections between the two organizations.

The Children’s Aid Society, in partnership with Mt.

Sinai Hospital, operates a full-service medical, dental, and mental health clinic. Emphasizing preventive healthcare, the clinic provides annual checkups and screenings and acute care for sick children.

Case Study:

The Ellen Lurie School Washington Heights, New York

Strategy

1. Redefine the boundaries of Downtown to include an “Expanded Downtown”.

2. Encourage mixed use development.

3. Create an Arts District to establish a true geographic center for arts and culture in Bridgeport.

4. Continue to focus on redevelopment efforts to activate vacant buildings and parcels throughout Downtown.

5. Work with property owners to improve sidewalks, plazas, and facades.

6. Encourage and support small food stores, a green market, and retail and restaurant uses.

Strategy

1. Provide City resources such as parks and recreation facilities, libraries, and community centers in areas of need.

2. Work with Board of Education to open schools and grounds for community use.

3. Utilize vacant lots and school playgrounds to expand the public open space network.

4. Ensure that public facilities and new development are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

5. Use schools and libraries, in addition to community centers, as community education and gathering centers to stimulate lifelong learning and intergenerational learning.

6. Consider programs which reimagine underutilized spaces and turn them into areas to play, for both temporary and permanent installations.

7. Rethink roofs as public spaces which include playgrounds, parks, farming and horticulture, wireless networking and digital infrastructure, art installations, and even goods delivery via drones.

8. Utilize public art to activate public spaces and encourage community participation from all age groups.

https://www.childrensaidnyc.org/programs/location/ps-5-ellen-lurie https://www.childrensaidnyc.org/programs/location/ps-5-ellen-lurie https://www.childrensaidnyc.org/programs/location/ps-5-ellen-lurie

Goal 8

Enhance connectivity and accessibility between neighborhoods.

Goal 9

Preserve and rehabilitate historic properties.

Strategy

1. Improve pedestrian lighting and streetscape amenities such as wide sidewalks, trash receptacles, art installations, and new coats of paint at all underpasses.

2. Rebuild the Congress Street bridge with pedestrian and bicycle amenities.

3. Create a citywide “Waterfront Pathway” as described in the Waterfront Master Plan.

4. Create the Yellow Mill Greenway, extending at least from Harding High School to the Yellow Mill Creek.

5. Create a Green Network that enhances connectivity between parks, open spaces, and other community gathering spaces.

6. Create a Multi-Use Trail Plan, designating priority routes for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure improvements.

7. Deck over a portion of Route 8 to connect bisected neighborhoods, creating development and open space opportunities.

Strategy

1. Update the survey of structures eligible for listing on the National Register.

2. Amend zoning to further protect structures deemed eligible for National Register listing.

3. Invest in renovations and rehabilitations to preserve the character of historic buildings and districts in Bridgeport.

4. Prioritize adaptive reuse of historical buildings that are vacant or falling into disrepair.

5. Ensure active participation in historic district commissions.

Richmond, VA Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Bridgeport is a Livable City | 19

Richmond’s Neighborhoods in Bloom program directs local, federal, and nonprofit funds to distressed neighborhoods that are most likely to leverage private investment. Richmond applied this targeted investment approach starting in the late 1990s. The city invested about 80% of its federal housing funds in 6 to 12 block sections of six neighborhoods. Richmond also directed many of its own capital improvement resources to these areas, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation aligned many of its investments with the city’s strategy.

Richmond obtained political support for the strategy by working closely with community groups, elected officials, and community development corporations to select the targeted areas. Richmond also used data on neighborhood condition criteria and revitalization potential to inform its selections.

After selecting the neighborhoods, the City worked with nonprofit partners to buy vacant houses and lots, rehabilitate old houses, build new houses, provide down payment assistance and counseling to homebuyers, and help owners with maintenance.

The city also stepped up code enforcement and increased police patrols in the areas. Five years after the program started, a Federal Reserve Bank Study found evidence that it had a positive effect on home prices in the targeted neighborhoods.

Case Study:

Neighborhoods in Bloom Program Richmond, Virginia https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/community_development/neighborhoods_in_bloom https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/community_development/neighborhoods_in_bloom https://www.richmondfed.org/publications/community_development/neighborhoods_in_bloom

Goal 10

Improve sustainability and energy efficiency of existing buildings and new construction.

Goal 12

Proactively manage the city’s automobile transportation network.

Goal 13

Lead the effort to build a new train station in East Bridgeport (“Barnum Station”) with accommodations for high speed trains and position the area for redevelopment.

Goal 11

Enhance the resiliency of Bridgeport’s neighborhoods.

| Bridgeport is a Livable City20

Strategy

1. Increase energy efficiency of existing commercial spaces and residential units.

2. Work to reduce carbon impacts and incorporate advanced sustainable building design in new developments.

Strategy

1. Assess infrastructure needed to accommodate electric vehicles, shared car services, and autonomous vehicles.

2. Evaluate on-street parking throughout the city to determine usage and needs.

3. Implement a resident parking permit program.

4. Implement an effective Parking Authority to address parking needs on-street and off-street.

5. Consider offering incentives to shift riders to on-demand service to get to the train station instead of building more parking facilities.

6. Create a network of charging stations throughout the city for electric vehicles.

Strategy

1. Secure funding for the construction of the East Bridgeport Train Station (also called “Barnum Station”)

2. Revise zoning in proximity of the planned East Bridgeport train station (also called “Barnum Station”) to encourage the development of a mixed-use, transit oriented district.

3. Encourage the marketing of 889 Barnum Ave as a development site for institutional or corporate campus development with an emphasis on creating a regional job center.

Strategy

1. Encourage the creation of neighborhood-specific coastal resiliency plans that embrace broad City policy goals while recognizing the unique assets and importance of each waterfront neighborhood.

2. Restrict development in high risk flood plains.

3. Consider the removal of existing development and infrastructure within those areas.

4. Plan for long-term adaptation through changes in zoning regulations and building codes.

5. Implement phased-in, long-term adaptation plans for existing development within flood zones.

6. Support the Rebuild by Design: Resilient Bridgeport/Natural Disaster Resilience Competition project efforts to create a comprehensive flood protection system throughout the South End neighborhood.

7. Support the Lower West End Coastal Resiliency Planning Study…