Bridgeport, Connecticut

Bridgeport is the largest city proper in the American state of Connecticut and the 5th-largest in New England. Located in Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnock River onto Long Island Sound, the city had a population of 144,229 during the 2010 Census. It is bordered by the towns of Trumbull to the north, Fairfield to the west, and Stratford to the east. The Greater Bridgeport area is the 48th-largest urban area in the United States, just behind Hartford (47th), and forms part of the Greater New York City Area.

Bridgeport was inhabited by the Paugussett Indian tribe at the time of its English colonization. The English farming community became a center of trade, shipbuilding, and whaling. The town incorporated itself to subsidize the Housatonic Railroad and rapidly industrialized following its connection to the New York and New Haven. Manufacturing was the mainstay of the local economy until the 1970s. Industrial restructuring and suburbanization caused the loss of many jobs and affluent residents, leaving Bridgeport struggling with problems of poverty and crime. In the 21st century, conversion of office and factory buildings to residential use and other redevelopment is attracting new residents.