Numbers show many are in need

8/30/07
With all the talk of luxury condos and mixed-use extravaganzas, it’s easy to overlook the fact that Bridgeport is a poor city, with real problems. But a report from the U.S. Census Bureau released this week showed the numbers, and they aren’t good. Bridgeport was one of two measured cities in the state to show a drop in median income, and the percentage of families living below the poverty line jumped three percentage points to 20.5 percent.
The gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow — and with critics pointing out that the survey doesn’t include capital gains as part of income calculations, the chasm is probably even wider than it looks. As the released numbers state, Bridgeport’s median income was below $36,000 in 2006, compared to a national median of about $48,000. Other Fairfield County cities show how far Bridgeport has to go, with Norwalk reporting a median income of almost $65,000 and Stamford checking in at over $71,000.
It falls to the city and state governments to realize that people remain in serious need. Access to health care continues to burden poor and working-class families, with the number of uninsured again rising nationally. Too often, also, people who think they have stable insurance are left behind when they lose jobs or face cutbacks at work, and families deal with staggering expenses for routine hospital visits.
The numbers also show that even with all the enthusiasm for market-rate housing in redeveloping areas of Bridgeport, especially downtown, the South End and eventually Steel Point, there remains a stark need for affordable units. Bridgeport is one of the few places in Connecticut where people of modest means can afford to live, and already some neighborhoods are pricing people out. As new housing goes in, the city must remember the people who live here are the first priority, and measures must be taken to see that affordable housing is a major component of the city’s rebirth.
Bridgeport has plenty of optimism percolating around its development community, but the problems of the past have not disappeared. If anything, people are struggling harder than ever to keep up with the relentless earnings pace demanded by today’s economy, and as the Census Bureau numbers show, not everyone is keeping up. City leaders, through all their efforts to rebuild Bridgeport’s former glory, must not leave behind the people most in need.