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College kids go to bars a lot more than married couples with children. And deli's and fast food places too. Sacred Heart has a parking lot at the Trumbull Mall. There are TONS of students in the Target (and the mall too) non-stop now buying everything you could imagine. I walk in the mall so I see the impact of the kids in the area.
A relative of mine works for Sacred Heart and she said they are going to make the GE campus a computer and technology center. Do you know how Boston has MIT and that was probably an impetus for GE to move to Boston so they could get technology talent. Hopefully this area will become something akin to that here in Fairfield County.
I want to study animation and I would have to go back to Pratt (or a similar school) in NYC to do that. I am hoping this technology center will have those kinds of programs for working adults. I am bullish on this development and I think it will be a very good thing for Fairfield and Fairfield County.
College kids have a meal plan purchased through the university. Corporate campuses do not. That right there means mom and pop restaurants will see a significant decrease in customers.
Even if there were no meal plan and students were required to eat their meals out in the community, the move won't immediately bring in several thousand people to compensate for the lost of GE's workforce. It will be a minor population shift. Growth takes time. In the meantime, those businesses will undoubtedly suffer.
This place is out off the beaten path not near many small businesses, so highly doubt it will have any impact. The closest area is Black Rock turnpike which I believe will continue along just fine. Heard form many the new Little Pub over there is doing extremely well.
This place is out off the beaten path not near many small businesses, so highly doubt it will have any impact. The closest area is Black Rock turnpike which I believe will continue along just fine. Heard form many the new Little Pub over there is doing extremely well.
I know the owners of a lucrative lunch spot in Fairfield who are extremely concerned since at least 30% of their customers were GE employees. Lots of catered lunches, etc came from all over Fairfield.
The only thing more concerning than GE leaving IMO is there are still people who don't think this will have a ripple affect all over town.
I know the owners of a lucrative lunch spot in Fairfield who are extremely concerned since at least 30% of their customers were GE employees. Lots of catered lunches, etc came from all over Fairfield.
The only thing more concerning than GE leaving IMO is there are still people who don't think this will have a ripple affect all over town.
It's a humongous place with 60K+ population and massive congestion and density that should sustain just fine. They've started construction on behemoth sized 5-6 story apt complexes in the BJs area, one is already near completion. Has a burdgeoning dining scene downtown now rivaling Wash St that attracts many out of towners as well. I personally know many who go there from New Haven Woodbridge, Oxford, Wilton, Newtown, Norwalk, Stamford, among a few others. Everywhere you look it's just people and cars all over the place.
I know the owners of a lucrative lunch spot in Fairfield who are extremely concerned since at least 30% of their customers were GE employees. Lots of catered lunches, etc came from all over Fairfield.
The only thing more concerning than GE leaving IMO is there are still people who don't think this will have a ripple affect all over town.
I cannot think of any restaurant that would be that reliant on GE's business. There are only one or two restaurants out that way (the pizza place on the corner of Fairfield Woods Road and the Spanish restaurant at the HiHo). and even they are more reliant on the residences in the area than GE. Black Rock Turnpike which is the main business district on that side of town is very very busy and I would doubt it would matter much there. There are just too many people living in the area to make much difference. Remember GE is pretty much isolated and had its own food services and guest quarters. Not many commercial buildings were built in that area after GE came in back in 1974. Even Black Rock Turnpike was already lined with shopping centers. I think you underestimate the diversity of the Fairfield economy. Jay
College kids go to bars a lot more than married couples with children. And deli's and fast food places too. Sacred Heart has a parking lot at the Trumbull Mall. There are TONS of students in the Target (and the mall too) non-stop now buying everything you could imagine. I walk in the mall so I see the impact of the kids in the area.
A relative of mine works for Sacred Heart and she said they are going to make the GE campus a computer and technology center. Do you know how Boston has MIT and that was probably an impetus for GE to move to Boston so they could get technology talent. Hopefully this area will become something akin to that here in Fairfield County.
I want to study animation and I would have to go back to Pratt (or a similar school) in NYC to do that. I am hoping this technology center will have those kinds of programs for working adults. I am bullish on this development and I think it will be a very good thing for Fairfield and Fairfield County.
MIT has one of the higher percentage of national merit scholars in their student body. Probably top ten every year. How many national merits (Geeks) do you think Sacred Heart has? Maybe one, LOL.
The housing market in Fairfield will be fine. I think towns like Monroe and Newtown will feel the brunt of the impact on that front and even then it should not be huge because the bulk of GE jobs are just moving to Norwalk.
I would have some concern if I operated a breakfast/lunch spot nearby because there is no way to make up that business on the back end with college students.
The housing market in Fairfield will be fine. I think towns like Monroe and Newtown will feel the brunt of the impact on that front and even then it should not be huge because the bulk of GE jobs are just moving to Norwalk.
I would have some concern if I operated a breakfast/lunch spot nearby because there is no way to make up that business on the back end with college students.
But there really aren't those local places nearby. As I noted, the GE campus is surrounded by residential neighborhoods. It had its own food services and its own guest quarters on site. The closet restaurants are a small local pizza joint 2 miles down the road but it most likely relied more on the locals than GE for its livelihood. There is also a Spanish restaurant at the HiHo hotel but I doubt it relied on GE either. The nearest commercial areas are Black Rock Turnpike and Bridgeports North Main Street. Both serve the densely populated areas around them. Both are very busy and vibrant and neither has seen a reduction in traffic that I can see. Don't get me wrong, the lose of GE is not good but it is hardly the death toll some people here think it is. Jay
But there really aren't those local places nearby. As I noted, the GE campus is surrounded by residential neighborhoods. It had its own food services and its own guest quarters on site. The closet restaurants are a small local pizza joint 2 miles down the road but it most likely relied more on the locals than GE for its livelihood. There is also a Spanish restaurant at the HiHo hotel but I doubt it relied on GE either. The nearest commercial areas are Black Rock Turnpike and Bridgeports North Main Street. Both serve the densely populated areas around them. Both are very busy and vibrant and neither has seen a reduction in traffic that I can see. Don't get me wrong, the lose of GE is not good but it is hardly the death toll some people here think it is. Jay
Nobody is saying it's a "death toll" but anyone who thinks the campus being turned into a university on top of GE's loss being no big deal has clearly never ran their own small business. There may not be those places nearby but all of those mom and pop delis and lunch spots in other areas of town very much relied on GE bulk orders. The one place I'm talking about would cater business lunches and will be losing thousands of dollars of revenue per month. Sorry but unless Fairfield sees an explosion in population or another major corporation plant roots (which isn't likely in the near future), that revenue will not be made up. Full stop.
I know the owners of a lucrative lunch spot in Fairfield who are extremely concerned since at least 30% of their customers were GE employees. Lots of catered lunches, etc came from all over Fairfield.
The only thing more concerning than GE leaving IMO is there are still people who don't think this will have a ripple affect all over town.
It is huge in impact, but worst still is nothing has changed to the degree required to preclude future GEXIT's from Ct.
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