Mayors of five six Connecticut cities planned to gather in Bridgeport this morning to announce the formation of a Connecticut Urban Mayors Caucus.

At an event set to begin today at 9:30, the mayors of Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Norwalk and Bridgeport (all pictured, left to right), plus New London, were planning to meet to address several key issues of concern to the state’s urban areas.

Such issues, according to a release from Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez’s office, include taxes, education, mortgages and housing. Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch’s office also put out a release calling the caucus an entity that will “advocate for policies and programs to meet the needs of Connecticut’s largest cities and their citizens.”

According to 2000 Census statistics, Bridgeport, with a population of around 140,000 people, is the largest city among the five represented in the new caucus. The next largest are likely New Haven and Hartford, each with populations just under 125,000 living within city limits. In 2000, Stamford’s population was a little less than 120,000, and Norwalk’s was a bit over 80,000. Because of heavily-populated regions surrounding the central cities, however, the role these urban centers play (in a state which, to some, might appear to be made up of primarily suburbs) is highly significant, especially when it comes to the economy, culture, housing, transportation infrastructure and the education of large numbers of people.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 at 12:33 pm and is filed under Community building, Demographics, Development, Events, Hartford, Housing, Planning and design, Quality of life, Think tanks, Urban Compass.