Documentary Shows The Evolution Of Connecticut’s Cities

By Jan Howard

In the 1780s, Connecticut created its first cities, a new layer of government. Today, there are 21 cities that vary in size.

They did not, however, become large cities, such as New York City or Boston, precisely because of their location between those two cities. New York and Boston had deep harbors, something Connecticut did not have. Connecticut also lacked internal waterways, such as the Hudson River in New York, to connect it with other states.

On March 11, a program that examined how and why Connecticut towns developed into cities, their present state, and efforts to revitalize the urban centers was presented by Karyl Kreizinger Evans at the C.H. Booth Library on Main Street, sponsored by the Newtown Historical Society.

“Cities reflect what is best and worst in ourselves,” Ms Evans said.

Ms Evans, who grew up in Newtown, showed segments of her documentary Connecticut and Its Cities, including “Three Centuries of Change,” which examines the rise of the Connecticut city, and “The Challenge of Renewal,” which explores current efforts at revitalization.

She has donated a copy of her documentary to the library.

Ms Evans interviewed more than 100 people for the documentary. “CPTV let me do this for a year and a half,” she said.

Ms Evans has been involved in the film and television industry for 23 years, and has produced numerous documentaries for CPTV. Her work has won several awards, including three Emmys for her “Civil War to Civil Rights” segment of The History of African Americans in Connecticut and a Silver Gavel from the American Bar Association for her Amistad Revolt: All We Want Is Make Us Free.

In the first century, Connecticut was a rural, agricultural society, and the Connecticut River became one of the prominent sites for development by Puritans from Boston. The Native Americans were displaced, and towns created by the colony.

Little settlements began to grow, particularly near seaports and rivers. Those villages were turning into cities. The cities changed and became industrialized.

In 1754 New Haven was described as a town of trading. There were many ships in its harbor. Its residents were sophisticated and thought of themselves as different from others.

But cities became centers of poverty as well as wealth. There was less concern for those less fortunate.

In the 19th Century, cities were centers of industry. In 1830 steam power made industry less dependent on waterpower. Mill villages, such as Waterbury, developed into industrial cities.

Bridgeport had incredible growth in the 19th Century, but could not catch up to other cities.

Industry in Danbury grew when the railroad came, bringing with it coal as a power source. Though the town of Middletown was one of the first cities, it did not grow like others because it was delayed 20 years in getting the railroad.

In the late 18th Century, African Americans moved into the cities. There was conflict between people in the cities and villages. Rural areas split off from the cities, and there were petitions to the state government from parts of towns seeking separation from another part.

In the early 19th Century, Irish workers began to come to the United States, answering a demand for unskilled workers. Connecticut Yankees had mixed feelings about the new immigrants, but industry welcomed them.

Eventually, the Irish population produced a stalwart supply of democratic politicians and lawmakers. Political power, however, was limited by the state Constitution, with all cities and towns having the same representation. The rural villages dominated politics in Connecticut, and cities were viewed as places of poverty and disease.

Attempts were made to redesign cities to eliminate slum areas. Bushnell Park in Hartford was created as an oasis in the city. People were compensated for their property, but it was the first community broken up for urban renewal.

“Cities go through cycles,” Ms Evans said, noting that Mark Twain lived in Hartford because he believed it was a beautiful city.

African Americans came from the south to work in manufacturing, but when they got here jobs were leaving the state. “There were no jobs, and they were stuck in the cities.”

Most became tenants, she said, and though there were some wealthy black families, most had no collateral to buy homes.

As industry began to leave the cities and head south in the 1990s, urban decay set in. Jobs vanished, and schools, housing, and other services deteriorated.

It became a time of recovery and challenge very different from a decade before. In 1990 the population was changing. Immigrants changed the face of cities.

The cities were no longer black, white, and Puerto Rican. Cities became more diverse, much like the multi-ethnic communities of a century ago.

In Hartford, there was a large population of Peruvians. In Danbury, Brazilians owned 25 businesses. According to a survey of Danbury High School students, 45 different languages were spoken by families.

Loss of industry made jobs a critical issue. The economic boom of the 1990s cut unemployment. There were more jobs, but the type of jobs was changing. The state lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs that were replaced with service jobs, jobs described as working poor jobs. Because of this, more people fell below the federal poverty level.

Revitalization is going on to reinvent the cities. Economists and environmentalists have an interest in keeping cities compact, Ms Evans said.

Connecticut’s cities remained middle size cities because of New York City and Boston. Cities, such as New Haven, were under the influence of New York, and Hartford under Boston. There are three areas of economic activity, New Haven to New York, New Haven to New London, and Hartford to Massachusetts.

Stamford, once a manufacturing town, has captured corporate centers. Companies, such as GTE from New York, are relocating to the area. Because of its proximity to New York, Stamford is the most prosperous city in Connecticut.

Some towns, such as New London, have undertaken urban redevelopment through the use of eminent domain to attract companies, such as in the pharmaceutical industry.

It is not yet known how the casinos in eastern Connecticut will affect the cities.

There is a bidding war between areas, leading some cities to offer subsidies to businesses, which in turn hurt other areas of the economy. There are strategies for job creation, to place companies where the workforce is.

In most cases, when industry moved out, the tax base of cities was eroded along with its ability to respond to its problems. The documentary notes it is unlikely that a center of economic activities would be restored in the cities.

“There is not a big resurgence of middle class living in the cities,” Ms Evans said. “People are not rushing in to live there. The answer to that is education.”

Ms Evans said, “People still do care about the cities. You can’t have suburbs without cities.” Cities provide places to work, hospitals, and services that are best provided on a regional basis.

Ms Evans said the purpose of a documentary “is to let people know what the truth is out there.” Her role, she added, “is to be objective and tell nothing but the facts, from both sides.”