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(Redirected from Downtown Stamford, Connecticut)
'Downtown Stamford, Connecticut' is an economically thriving section of Stamford, Connecticut with major retail establishments, a shopping mall and the headquarters of major corporations, as well as other retail businesses and offices. In recent years more housing has been built in the neighborhood, and more is planned.

With transportation widely seen as one of the biggest challenges facing the economy of Stamford, the Downtown has become more important as an area within walking distance of the Metro-North train station, which is one of the busiest on the New Haven line.
The Downtown area has been the heart of Stamford, Connecticut since colonial times. Much of the history of Stamford took place there.
The cherry trees in Mill River Park were presented to the city on April 27, 1957 by Junzo Nojima, a native of Japan who had settled in the city in 1926 and in 1932 became the first Japanese man to own a restaurant in the state (K&J Three Decker Restaurant on Atlantic Street). Nojima gave the city 120 trees, and for three years he watered each one until they took root. He gave the city instructions on how to care for them, but when they were overlooked, he began tending the trees himself. On Arbor Day, April 27, 2007, the city celebrated the 50th anniversary of the gift with a ceremony at the park.^[1]

Contents

Location

Shopping

Entertainment

Events

Filming locations

Pictures

Notes

External links

Location

In relation to other neighborhoods in Stamford, the Downtown is east of the West Side, north of the South End and Shippan, west of the East Side and Glenbrook, and south of Newfield, Belltown, High Ridge and Turn of River.

Shopping

By city ordinance, all large stores in Stamford must be located within the Downtown Special Services District, unless special waivers are given. The area includes the Stamford Town Center, an indoor shopping mall in the heart of the Downtown.

Entertainment

Most of Stamford's larger entertainment venues are located in the downtown, including the Palace Theatre, Rich Forum and various movie theaters. The area around Columbus Park has become a center for bars and restaurants, although both can be found elsewhere Downtown and around the city.

Events

The Downtown Special Services District sponsors "Alive@Five" concerts in Columbus Park in the summer, as well as an annual Thanksgiving Day parade with large balloons. Both events bring thousands of people into the Downtown.

Filming locations

★ Almost all of Elia Kazan's 1947 film, Boomerang was shot in Stamford, Connecticut, and most of that in the downtown area. The Old Town Hall was used, particularly the old Police Department offices and the stairway leading up from them to the courtroom. For a scene in which a pastor was killed, the movie used the front and sidewalk of the Plaza Theatre, which stood on Greyrock Place (a driveway leading into the Stamford Town Center Mall is at that location now). The former offices of ''The Advocate'' of Stamford, on Atlantic Street, were also used. "[I]t wasn't an oddity to run into Dana Andrews, one of the stars of the movie, in a local restaurant, or to see other stars on the street," according to Don Russell, a columnist for ''The Advocate''.Russell, Don, "'Roles' in movies are nothing new for city: Kazan used Stamford in the '40s", editorial page column in ''The Advocate'', Stamford edition, page A10, April 25, 2007

★ Part of Otto Preminger's 1963 film, The Cardinal, was shot in St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church on Atlantic Street. Some people stood for hours on the east side of Atlantic Street (across the street from the church) to get a glimpse of the stars.

Pictures

Notes

1. Deka, Christina, special correspondent, "On Arbor Day, city will honor deep roots: Event will mark 50 years of Mill River cherry trees", news article in ''The Advocate (Stamford) of Stamford, Connecticut, page A11

External links

★ Stamford Downtown Special Services District, established in 1993

★ City of Stamford

★ Stamford Historical Society