Stamford CT Downtown
STAMFORD, CT
Stamford, Connecticut, with a population in excess of 120,000, is the fourth largest city in Connecticut and the eighth largest in New England. Located in Fairfield County, one of the most expensive counties in The United States, Stamford is part of the greater New York Metropolitan area. Stamford is really two cities; downtown with its industry , corporate headquarters, shopping and brand new high rise apartment buildings and Stamford north of downtown which is heavily residential and covered with beautiful single homes and condominiums.
The Stamford Railroad station is on the main line to New York a ride which takes 45 minutes as well as access to the rest of Connecticut’s Gold Coast. While Stamford was originally a city where people lived and commuted to New York City, now people who live in New York commute to Stamford to work. Starting in the 1950s major corporations moved to Stamford to take advantage of the lower cost labor pool and tax breaks, a move that still happens today. Recent corporate additions to Stamford are UBS (United Bank of Switzerland) and NBS (National Bank of Scotland).
City of Stamford from the water
Settled in 1640, the area which is now downtown Stamford was bought from Chief Ponus for 12 coats, 12 hoes, 12 hatchets, 12 glasses, 12 knives, 4 kettles and four fathoms of white wampum. In its early history growth was inhibited by the fact that its harbor was too shallow for large boats, so the area relied on subsistence farming and small manufacturing. The population of the city was 1,900 people in 1800. A real jump in population did not occur until the railroad came to town in 1848 and with it an ability to ship manufactured goods out of town quickly and cheaply.
In 1848, The Yale and Towne Lock Company started up and would be the major employer of people until the 1950s. Other manufacturing companies followed, but the downtown area fell into disrepair and Stamford lost population until a major federally supported renewal took place in the 1960s which led to 60% of the downtown area being razed and office buildings rose along Route 95 the major Freeway to New York City. For this reason there are few historical buildings in Stamford compared to other Connecticut cities.
Today, Stamford has 8 million square feet of office space and 1.5 million square feet of retail space. There is a major shopping mall downtown as well as hotels, restaurants, movie theatres, the Stamford Center for the Arts (Rich Forum and the Palace Theatre), movie Theatres, the Stamford Symphony , beaches, two golf courses, lots of playgrounds and open space. There is little that Stamford does not offer and if you can’t find it in Stamford, New York City is only 45 minutes away.
Stamford has three High Schools: Westhill High School, Stamford High School, and the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering; four Middle Schools, three elementary schools and a number of other educational opportunities. In addition there are three commuter campuses of Universities located in town: The University of Connecticut, Sacred Heart University and the University of Bridgeport.
Stamford is an aggressive, goal oriented city which provides local jobs and an idyllic place to live to commute to New York City. It is home to many finance executives and entrepreneurs. Bobby Valentine, former manager of the New York Mets, runs a great restaurant in downtown Stamford.