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Ethan Lovallo
HIST 2541W – Professor Murphy
Project Proposal
The Effect of Education on Crime in Bridgeport, CT
Introduction
In many cities, crime is a prevalent issue. There is not nearly as much violence as in
suburbs and country land. I use Bridgeport, CT as a case study to evaluate the impact of urban
crime and some potential solutions for the problem. Bridgeport is very different compared to
other Fairfield County towns such as Fairfield, Westport, Greenwich, and Trumbull.
Comparatively crime is a much larger problem for Bridgeport than the rest of Fairfield County,
specifically the town of Fairfield. My idea for closing the gap between Bridgeport and Fairfield
roots from education and equal opportunities for all. I propose a two way busing program. A
program where students who attend Bridgeport Public Schools would now be going to Fairfield
Public Schools and vice versa. By targeting younger generations in Bridgeport and Fairfield,
they will be more likely to be put on paths towards success and less likely to become involved in
gangs and other crime related activities. This sort of solution to this problem will be more
progressive than instantaneous. As someone that grew up in Fairfield, I want all students and
kids to be given the same chances to succeed in life that I received and not be corrupted by gangs
and violence. Additionally this would not only benefit the students in Bridgeport, but it would
also benefit students taken from Fairfield and integrated into Bridgeport. There is a lot of
research that supports the idea that there are benefits when a classroom has more diversity. This
would greatly help both students at both public schools.
History of Bridgeport, CT
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The City of Bridgeport was established in 1836. Because of its coastline to Long Island
Sound and closeness to New York City, Bridgeport became a very industrial city. Around this
time, immigrants, primarily from Southern and Eastern Europe, traveled to Bridgeport in search
of jobs and opportunity. During World War II, Bridgeport’s demographics changed. In 1930, the
native whites comprised approximately 70% of Bridgeport’s population. However by 1990, the
percentage of whites declined to 59%. This was mostly a product of “white flight”. As
Bridgeport became more diverse, white people progressively moved out. Employment
opportunities led to many blacks and Latinos moving into the city. The recent (im)migrants
mainly moved into the South and East End neighborhoods because of racially discriminatory
real-estate practices, housing availability, and social networks. This is known today as redlining
(practices that kept services out of reach for people of color).
There are more negative side effects to redlining. The city’s tax base was dramatically
diminished by white people fleeing the Bridgeport neighborhoods to the suburbs. Things like
public services and infrastructure quality also declined. In 1950, the East End was only 70%
nonwhite and, but by 1990, it comprised approximately 83% racial and ethnic minorities. 74% of
the minority population was black and 24% Latino. Low-income minority neighborhoods
including the East End were disproportionately impacted by Bridgeport’s financial struggles
because of discriminatory federal lending policies and socioeconomic inequality. To this day, it is
clear that the effects of redlining have not gone away. Based purely on statistics, it is clear that
Bridgeport has a larger minority percentage than its neighboring towns.
In 1988, Mayor Thomas Bucci revealed the extent of the city’s financial struggles. He
reported to the Connecticut General Assembly a $51 million budget deficit. In 1991, the state
expected Bridgeport to raise taxes by $11 million in order to reduce its debts. Instead the city
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filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy. Municipal spending and workforce cuts diminished the city’s
operating capacities. Raising taxes would have put most of the city in poverty, especially by the
expected amount. People were already struggling to be financially okay as is. This would have
increased the poverty level. City officials did not have the finances, infrastructure, nor the
motivation to deal with the growing pile of trash in the East End neighborhood.
Background
Bridgeport is a historic seaport city located on the coast of Long Island Sound, not too far
from New York City. “The 2019 crime rate in Bridgeport, CT is 291 (City-Data.com crime
index), which is about the average for the U.S. cities. It was higher than in 83.2% U.S.
cities.”(Crime Rate in Bridgeport, CT) The website’s crime index is based on murders, rapes,
robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, and arson. Cities have always been subjected to
more crime because the people that tend to live in cities are lower class people.
Bridgeport is the most populous state in Connecticut. The population size is 145,639
people as of 2019. It is also one of the poorest in Fairfield County. The poverty rate is 20.8% in
Bridgeport, while the national poverty rate is 13.4% and the Fairfield County poverty rate is
8.9%. Historically and generally speaking, Fairfield County has been known to include a lot of
wealthy towns. This is mostly a product of wealthier people moving from New York City into
Suburbs in these towns, especially towns that have beaches along Long Island Sound. Bridgeport
is a city, so minorities moved in and white people moved out into neighboring towns.
When looking purely at statistics, poverty disproportionately impacts people of color . In
Bridgeport, the demographics are 40.43% White, 35.09% Black or African American,
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15.75% other races, and 4.87% two or more races. White is the majority of people, however,
around 60 % of the Bridgeport population is not White. Additionally, the average housing cost
for Bridgeport is very high when also looking at the average household income in Bridgeport.
The average household income in Bridgeport is $64,103. The median rental costs in recent years
comes to $1,163 per month, and the median house value is $174,700. Spanning over 19 miles,
Bridgeport has a population density of 8,942 people per square mile.
Reflecting the high poverty rates, is the prevalence of crime. As of 2018, there are 4
gangs in Bridgeport. “According to federal court documents, the Greene Homes Boyz and
O.N.E. have been aligned against rival groups in Bridgeport, including the East End, East Side
and PT Barnum gangs, as well as 150, which is a geographic gang based on the West Side of
Bridgeport.” (Crime Rate in Bridgeport, CT) In Fairfield, there are no gangs. Some people have
