Bridgeport, CT

Client: City of Bridgeport

Team of experts: Lisa Mueller Levy, Local Initiatives Support Corporation; Alan Mallach, National Housing Institute; Melissa Barry, Louisville Metro Housing; Bruce Baird, Indianapolis Housing Agency

Description of work:

The City is looking for technical assistance that will enable the process to have a shorter turnover from vacant status to redevelopment and reuse. The mayor has made the reduction and obliteration of blight one of his highest priorities.

The Campaign is working with Bridgeport to plan a Vacant Properties Roundtable to assemble a range of stakeholders to discuss how their acquisition and disposition is working, and to hear from experts from other cities who have tackled this problem. The Roundtable, scheduled for spring 2006, will lay the foundation for a more thorough assessment of potential vacant properties strategies in the future.