You can see the new Westport everywhere.
In line at new favorite spots like Sweetgreen, Cava and Momu.
At Compo and Old Mill Beaches, where families gather for early evening picnics.
And particularly at last month’s Soundview Summer Stroll. Over 3,000 Westporters jammed the beach exit road for the first-ever festival. There was food and music, plus kids’ fun like rock painting, street chalking and balloon art.
Children swarmed those activities. Everywhere I looked, I saw young parents, with young kids. And it seemed that just about every young mother was pregnant.
It was fantastic.
A small part of the large Soundview Stroll crowd. (Photo/Benji Porosoff)
Westport is at an inflection point. A new generation of residents has arrived.
We’ve seen the statistic: Westport had the greatest influx of newcomers during COVID of any town or city in Connecticut.
That’s not per capita. It’s actual numbers.
And they keep coming.
They choose Westport for the right reasons. They’re looking for a place with excellent schools, great amenities, and — equally important — a sense of community.
(Interesting factoid #1: They’re also looking for space. That’s because 99% — or so it seems — come from Manhattan or Brooklyn.)
(Interesting factoid #2: Among the attractions that realtors sell — recreation, education, restaurants, entertainment — they seldom mention the Library. When new residents walk into the building for the first time, they’re blown away by this unexpected, but spectacular, amenity.)
Everyone loves the Westport Library. (Photo/Eve Potts)
In 1956, my parents chose Westport for similar reasons. They wanted my sister and me to have good schools, open space, and beaches. (Longshore came later. So did my other sister.)
They joined a massive post-war exodus to the suburbs. I joined dozens of baby boom friends. We joined sports teams, Scouts and other organizations. We joined each other, playing up and down High Point Road every day until dark.
My mother joined a garden club, and musical groups. My father joined the RTM.
They — and so many of their friends — helped lay the foundation for what this town is today.
Westport was at an inflection point then. I’m sure the people who had lived here for years — “Connecticut Yankees,” Saugatuck tradesmen and town workers, established artists and writers — wondered what was happened to their town.
It was changing rapidly.
There was new spirit, new energy.
Also: more traffic. Higher taxes, to pay for new schools and services (and the purchase of Longshore).
The purchase of Longshore — including this tower (since torn down) near the entrance — in 1960 was a seminal moment in town. (Photo courtesy of Peter Barlow)
There must have been tension. But life went on. Westport changed, evolved.
And prospered.
As everyone at the Soundview Summer Stroll saw — or who watched the endless stream of kids marching in the Memorial Day parade, or waits in line at any place selling pizza, chicken tenders or ice cream — our town is changing again.
I love it.
The new families bring their own new spirit and energy. They make a fresh impact on every aspect of town life: our schools, stores, sports and everywhere else. There’s a buzz in restaurants and downtown we haven’t felt in years.
Some folks grumble. Traffic is worse! The new folks build big homes, and cut down too many trees! They seem entitled!
Perhaps.
But now this is their Westport too.
Long-time residents can be grumpy old folks, yelling “Stay off my lawn!” But it’s so much better to invite the new neighbors’ kids to play on it.
Older residents too can be King Canutes, trying in vain to stop the tide. How much nicer though to wander over to a new family enjoying dinner at the shore, and introduce ourselves to them.
Our town is at an inflection point. Hundreds of new, young residents are here. More come every day.
This is their Westport now.
But along with the excitement, there’s a challenge: It’s their job to make this place even better tomorrow than it is today.
So, decades from now, they can hand it off to a new generation of newcomers.
Kids are everywhere. They join groups like Scouts. They participate in the Memorial Day parade. Their parents are getting involved in town affairs. It’s a fun, exciting time. (Photo/Stephanie Tang)
(“06880” is your hyper-local blog. We appreciate all our readers, of every age. Newcomers, note: We rely on readers’ support. Please click here to make a tax-deductible contribution. Thank you!)
