BlogStamford humbles submits a proposal to the people of Stamford, can we please retire the phrase "Mini-New York"? The spectre of New York is raised like a boogieman in an opposition to any development in Stamford as if our neighbor to the south is a festering hell hole who hath sent her minions forth (Trump, the first horse of the Apocalypse) to steal our charm, erect steal and concrete monoliths and cut green, central swaths or park land thru our quaint village in an effort to transform us into her devil spawn.
Have any of these people been to New York? Spend 5 minutes there and I think any comparison or any fear of the danger of Stamford becoming NYC will dissipate quick. If New York is U2, Stamford is a cover band doing a crappy version of Vertigo at open mic night.
I'm saying all this as someone who likes Stamford now, but can see even more on the horizon. First off, borrowing a few steps from NYC, one of the economic & cultural centers of the world can't be a bad idea. Stamford is doing more than emulating New York though, its growing into a city in it's own right. It should look to riff on the best of any city in the world while also learning from and avoiding their mistakes.
Not all fear is unfounded. Many of the original downtown redevelopment was built like a series of impenetrable castles, incompatible with any kind of pedestrian experience. Some was built on the back of eminent domain. Overcrowding of ugly multifamily homes invaded outer neighborhoods. Any and all development though can't be lumped into those mistakes of the past. Why does a high rise downtown irk some Stamfordites whereas High Ridge Rd doesn't. There's very little charm to be found in what amounts to a suburban ghetto strip mall set set back from what I once heard described as a "car sewer" and is probably much closer to where many of the complainers live.
So what should Stamford be? I would sum it up as an developed, urban downtown where people can work, live and play interconnected with a series of surrounding neighborhoods, each with their own distinct character. That vision seems to be supported in the city's master plan and slowly being realized in projects like the transformation of brown fields in the South End, the construction of the Urban Transitway, redevelopment on the East Side & West side, rezoning in Glenbrook & Springdale, the creation of Mill River Park, and the addition of downtown high rises.
Stamford may not be New York, but we are a city. People would be well served to pull their head of the sand about that fact and fight for the right change, not fight change in general. Do all this and one day somewhere people may be calling their town "Mini Stamford".
