Downtown Stamford Went from a Neighborhood to a Scene

Downtown Stamford has changed quite a bit over the past twenty years. Driving up Bedford Street, you can’t help but notice the new public plaza at the corner of Bedford and Forest Streets; new luxury apartments as you drive toward the new police station and new eateries.

Blink, and you might overlook the mid-century brick building that has stood since 1972: Bedford Towers. Built during an earlier version of downtown renewal, but with a different goal: people who would become stakeholders in the neighborhood. Not tenants.

In the 1970s, the city began an aggressive urban renewal project aimed at rebuilding downtown and attracting large corporate headquarters. The renewal brought businesses to Stamford, but after 5PM, downtown Stamford emptied out.¹ Bedford Towers was built as one of the city’s first condominiums, where those who worked in Stamford could put down roots, instead of transient apartment living. And three years later, I was also born in Stamford Hospital.

In 2002, when the Downtown Stamford Historic District expansion took place, the building was in the target area of Bedford Street, between Broad and Forest Streets.² The irony was that it was built in one of the most expansive eras of the city’s history, and it became part of the push for Stamford to preserve its past.

When I was looking for a condo to buy in 2006, it was one of the buildings I had targeted because of its location. In May 2007, I moved into the building that had been built three years before I was born.

One of the things I loved from the first time I looked at units here was the lobby. Over the years, the building has held holiday parties there and other building events. It is the same as it was in 1972, leather furniture and cube tables.

I swear sometimes all you need is Alice and Mrs. Brady to make it complete.³

One of the newer additions to the lobby has been framed maps of Stamford from the 1800s. When you walk into our building, you see the names of the landowners like Hoyt, as well as pictures from that time.

The building created the roots in downtown Stamford that the builders had intended. In 2013, a bench in Latham Park was dedicated to Tino Kokoros and his wife Bert.⁴ He lived in Bedford Towers and owned a luncheonette at the corner of Bedford and Spring Street for over 40 years. The bench is still there, visible from where they lived and worked for 23 years.

In my twenty years, I’ve experienced the neighborhood feel firsthand. When I was still going out, my favorite night to hit Tigín or Bradford’s was Sunday. Thursday through Saturday was for the “amateur drinkers.” Sundays were different. Going to grab a bite to eat, a few drinks and some craic with your favorite bartender. By 7PM, they were usually very slow, and that was when the best nights were had.

The number of events that take place here has seemingly doubled since I moved in. The marquee event used to be the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. I still watch it from the balcony of my condo. The people I met downtown used to watch the parade from house parties. We’d leave the bars to the amateurs. The community that existed was tight knit.

Downtown Stamford is more of a destination spot now. Latham Park hosts Bark in the Park, Brews on Bedford, Winefest on Bedford and two Arts and Crafts on Bedford. The Sunday night vibe of going to your local has been replaced, a bit, by events. It’s gone from a neighborhood to a scene.

Even the spruce tree in the park has become a renter. It goes up in November and is gone by February.

Recently, a new building popped up right behind Bedford Towers. When I went out on my catwalk, I used to be able to see Summer Street and the balloon parade in November. Now all I see is a 200+ luxury apartment complex.

And nobody in that building will be watching the balloon parade in ten years.

I’ll probably still be here.

Notes

1.Angela Carella, “Up Until Death, Developer Sought to Carry Out Vision for Stamford,” Stamford Advocate, https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Up-until-death-developer-s....

2.Downtown Stamford Historic District (Boundary Increase 2), National Register of Historic Places, reference number 02001744, certified January 31, 2003; boundary described as “roughly, Bedford St. between Broad and Forest Sts.” National Park Service, NPGallery, https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/02001744.

3.The Brady Bunch, created by Sherwood Schwartz (ABC, 1969–1974). Ann B. Davis played housekeeper Alice Nelson; Florence Henderson played Carol Brady.

4.“Longtime Stamford Luncheonette Owner Memorialized,” Stamford Advocate, https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/longtime-stamford-luncheo....

About the Author

Paul Gerardi was born and raised in Stamford. He holds a degree in history from the College of the Holy Cross, where a Jesuit education emphasized ethical responsibility, critical thought, and the enduring principle of People for Others.

His writing is shaped as much by philosophy and history as by film, music, and popular culture — the modern myths that reveal who we are, what we value, and what happens when ethics quietly slip out of view. He is the author of The Cost of Being Human.

He writes weekly at PaulGerardi.co