17 comments

  1. Yippee!!! We will be in the first row center court for the entire tournament! Sure glad we bought our tickets many months ago. Downtown banners look great. The pre-party tomorrow will be great! Make dinner reservations early and often. GO UCONN Ladies! Does anyone know where the teams are staying?

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    1. People will not come to downtown Bridgeport in big numbers until you deal with the City’s poor image and reputation–some of which is dated but perceptions matter. Making real progress will require breaking the City’s political machine and new leadership for the City. The press, the public and others need to see real changes and not superficial ads and empty rhetoric. My Executive Assistant lives in downtown Bridgeport and she will be moving soon due to the failure of the current Administration to provide a sense of safety at night during the winter months.

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      1. Yes indeed, I would go as far as to say until we break this grip of the status quo leadership, all the government dollars are futile. Look around and see if any of these people in charge even come back to Bridgeport after 5 o’clock. Pathetic.

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  6. David,
    I disagree on your assessment of Downtown’s neighborhood. Painting one stroke based on the opinion of your executive assistant’s personal experience is not justified. The problems downtown need and have the concerted effort of all of the private security companies plus the metro north security and city police. In fact there is more security downtown than perhaps any other neighborhood. The issue you are referring to is the fallout from the bars that haven’t provided adequate security late at night. I don’t put that blame solely on the city administration. Downtown is becoming more and more active later and later in the night. That good news has its challenges. Don’t paint the downtown with one stroke of your keyboard.

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    1. countdown–rumor has it Walker’s executive assistant is moving down south, out of state. If it were a neighborhood reason something tells me she would not move so far away. I’m calling bs on this one.

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    2. countdown,
      I am not talking about late at night. She is concerned about walking home several blocks in the early evening. She has written the Mayor with no response. It is true she will eventually move south. She is only here to work with me at CAI. That does not change the fact she does not feel safe.

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      1. David,
        Your offices are in the same complex as the Downtown Special Services District. Contact Mike Moore if there isn’t a response from the Mayor. All of the Downtown property owners pay an additional 3 mils for extra services. Have your executive assistant talk to them. You talk to them. Everyone needs to work together. This isn’t just a mayor and Gaudett responsibility.

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  7. Disagree all you want. A couple of weeks ago we had dinner at R&R’s. The Green next to McLevy Hall looked like a hooker convention. B’port has a long long way to go before it becomes safe and comfortable to walk around at night. You know that, Walker knows it and everybody else who goes downtown at night knows it. All of these people may be making a concerted effort but it’s not working. Too many bums on the street and too many bums sitting in city hall. No? Time will tell. ***

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  8. yahooy,
    My point exactly. The evening and late-night fallout from the bars is a real issue both on State street and Fairfield avenue. Yes there is more to do but lots of folks live downtown and like their emerging neighborhood. Will there always be homeless? Unfortunately yes but that isn’t unique to downtown Bridgeport. Is it perfect? No, but then what in Bridgeport is perfect? I just don’t put all of the blame on this issue solely at the door of Finch and Gaudett.

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  9. To get from where we are to the Mayor’s description of “thriving downtown” is some way to go yet. But it is built on lived experience by people who take a chance to meet with friends, take in a show, go out to eat, or attend an event at the Harbor yard complex. And people who live downtown have plenty of banking, bar and restaurant opportunities along with pharmacy service but are only slowly getting the cleaners, retail food and other product establishments that make for quality of life. What’s the magic number of working population with disposable dollars? Will enough endure the challenges with patience before they decide the grass is greener elsewhere? And can entrepreneurs hold out indefinitely for the volume of shoppers they require to make their investment pay off? It’s not philosophical, but rather very practical. Time will tell.

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  10. A common measure of how far a downtown has come is the observance of a lot of bicycle and pedestrian traffic. We have next to none. The incompetence of our City planners and so-called professionals who claim Downtown is thriving is seen in a nutshell by walking from the train station to R & R’s. Very unsafe, very pedestrian unfriendly. No connection between the station and any businesses and for that matter, no connection between Webster Arena, Harbor Yard and Downtown, no connection for pedestrians or bicyclists between Downtown and our biggest asset: Seaside Park. The view of Remington Arms and the Downtown North from Metro North, the view of our vacant coastline and deserted harbor cannot be dressed up in any way. No capitalization on another great asset: historic architecture. If those in power cannot see these things, they have to be elected out. PERIOD! There will be no change until they are all powerwashed into the Pequonnock River! WAKE UP, BRIDGEPORT!

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    1. RIGHT NOW every bar/restaurant downtown is jam packed.

      Saturday afternoon, I saw loads of fans from mostly Delaware and UConn were out and about downtown.

      I live downtown and wouldn’t live anywhere else.

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