In early December, the Resilient Bridgeport team convened in Hartford, Connecticut, for the project kickoff. Team members, HUD, Connecticut Department of Housing (CT DOH), and the City of Bridgeport are eager to embark on a two-pronged process that pairs the development of an integrated resilience strategy for Bridgeport’s low-lying coastal neighborhoods with the design and implementation of a transformative pilot project. Each effort will inform the other. First steps include integrating a community engagement consultant into the team, introducing the project to Bridgeport’s new mayoral administration, and hiring a coastal resiliency planner to serve as a liaison between Connecticut DOH, City of Bridgeport, and the consultant team.

The team will reconvene in this month for the first “design conditions” workshop, and begin the parallel community engagement process in February.