Greater Bridgeport

Greater Bridgeport is the metropolitan area centered on the city of Bridgeport in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The area is located in Southwestern Connecticut and consists of the city of Bridgeport and five other adjacent towns – Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford, and Trumbull. The area is often considered to be part of the labor market region of the New York metropolitan area. The region has a population of more than 305,000.

Definitions

Greater Bridgeport Region

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. [ [http://www.gbrpa.org/ Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Agency] ]

Bridgeport Labor Market Area

The Bridgeport Labor Market Area includes the core region above and also extends northeast into Milford and the Lower Naugatuck Valley (including Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Derby, Oxford, Seymour, and Shelton) for a total of 13 towns. [ [http://www.ct.gov/ecd/cwp/view.asp?a=1106&q=250998 Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development] - Labor Market Areas]

Bridgeport-Stamford NECTA

The urbanized areas of Stamford and Bridgeport are contiguous and considered by the U.S. Census Bureau as a single urban core. [ [http://ftp2.census.gov/geo/maps/urbanarea/uaoutline/UA2000/ua10162/ Urbanized area maps] ] The towns containing this merged urbanized area, plus surrounding towns with significant commuter interchange to the central towns, are grouped together as the "Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk New England City and Town Area". The area contains 25 towns and includes the Greater Bridgeport Region, the Gold Coast, the Lower Naugatuck Valley, and the additional outlying towns of Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Southbury, and Woodbridge. [ [http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro_general/List7.txt U.S. Census Bureau] - Definitions of NECTAs] As of the 2000 census, the population of the NECTA was 892,283 [ [http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/phc-t29/tab10.csv U.S. Census Bureau] - Population of NECTAs]

A slightly smaller definition known as the "Southwest 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). [ [http://www.ct.gov/ecd/cwp/view.asp?a=1106&q=251000 Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development] - Service Delivery Areas]

Metropolitan Statistical Area

The nationally used statistical definition of metropolitan areas by the U.S. Census Bureau is the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) and uses counties as building blocks. The MSA associated with Bridgeport is the "Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk MSA" and consists of the entirety of Fairfield County with 23 towns. [ [http://www.census.gov/population/estimates/metro_general/List4.txt U.S. Census Bureau] - Definitions of MSAs] While statistically similar in terms of population and extent to the NECTA definition, the MSA includes the city of Danbury and its suburbs, and excludes the Valley region. As of 2005, the estimated population of the MSA was 902,775. [ [http://www.census.gov/population/www/estimates/metropop/2005/cbsa-01-fmt.csv U.S. Census Bureau] - Poopulation of MSAs (2005 estimates)]

References

ee also

*Gold Coast (Connecticut) for the contiguous urbanized area centered on the city of Stamford
*Lower Naugatuck River Valley which is part of the Bridgeport Labor Market Area