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Southwestern Connecticut | |
|---|---|
| Bridgeport–Stamford–Danbury Metropolitan Statistical Area | |
 Downtown Bridgeport, the region's largest city, seen fromI-95 | |
 | |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Connecticut |
| Largest city | Bridgeport |
| Other cities | -Stamford -Norwalk -Danbury |
| Area | |
• Total | 625.8 sq mi (1,621 km2) |
| Population (2015) | |
• Total | 948,053 |
| • Rank | 57th in the U.S. |
| • Density | 1,515/sq mi (584.9/km2) |
| GDP | |
| • MSA | $104.368 billion (2022) |
Bridgeport–Stamford–Danbury is a metropolitan area in theU.S. state ofConnecticut. The area is located inSouthwestern Connecticut.[2] In its most conservative form, the area consists of theMetropolitan Connecticut region, including theCity of Bridgeport and five surrounding towns—Easton,Fairfield,Monroe,Stratford, andTrumbull. This area has a population of more than 305,000.
TheUnited States Census Bureau defines Greater Bridgeport as theBridgeport-Stamford-Danbury metropolitan statistical area. This metropolitan statistical area includes all ofFairfield County, Connecticut. In 2015, the area had an estimated population of 948,053,[3] and the area is included in theNew York-Newark Combined Statistical Area.[4][5]
Thecombined metropolitan area is the fourth largest inNew England, behindBoston,Providence, andHartford's. This area includes Connecticut's two largest cities,Bridgeport andStamford. As of 2022 the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk-Danbury area has been split into two different Connecticut regions (the state equivalent to counties), theWestern Connecticut region (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.
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]
The Bridgeport Labor Market Area includes the core region above and also extends northeast intoMilford and theLower Naugatuck Valley (includingAnsonia,Beacon Falls,Derby,Oxford,Seymour, andShelton) for a total of 13 towns.[7]
Theurbanized areas ofStamford andBridgeport are contiguous and considered by theU.S. Census Bureau as 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 Area consists of the Greater Bridgeport Region, the Lower Naugatuck Valley (including Oxford), the Gold Coast, and the town of Milford (20 towns).[11]
The MSA associated with Bridgeport is theBridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk–Danbury MSA and consists of the entirety ofFairfield County with 23 towns.[12] While statistically similar in terms of population and extent to the NECTA definition, the MSA includes the city ofDanbury and its suburbs, and excludes the Valley region.
The Greater Bridgeport area is home to multiple Fortune 500 companies, includingEmcor,Xerox, andBooking Holdings inNorwalk,Charter Communications,Synchrony Financial,United Rentals, andFrontier Communications inStamford,XPO, Inc. inGreenwich, and theNew England regional 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 Street executives 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 Networks also has a presence there, all due toConnecticut tax incentives.Blue Sky Studios was based inGreenwich until being closed by Disney in 2022.[16]Maury,Jerry Springer andThe Steve Wilkos Show are 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 todeindustrialization, (including theGeneral Electric factory and the Columbia Pictures Processing Plant) nearbyStratford continues to be home toSikorsky Aircraft andShelton home toHubbell Incorporated.
Other major well known companies in the area not listed previously include:
Commuter rail is served by theMetro-North railroad of the MTA, which connects theConnecticut suburbs 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 Valley to 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 Authority operates 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 Transit operates 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 Airport have 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]
