Video: The Changing Face Of Bridgeport

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 30, 2014 1:45PM

When I first moved to Bridgeport 15 years ago a neighborhood hardware store sold T-shirts that read, "Where the hell is Bridgeport?" My earliest posts on Chicagoist would offer answers to that question; many readers to this day ask back, "who the fuck cares?"

The main reason I fell in love with this neighborhood is its combination of grit, history and the fact that there was slow and steady change happening in the neighborhood, especially west of Halsted Street. A 2008 DePaul University study listed Bridgeport as Chicago's fourth-most diverse neighborhood, even as many Chicagoans' opinions on the neighborhood still tend to veer toward Mike Royko's accounts of Bridgeport in Boss and some old school residents react to the changes around them like xenophobes.

Photographer Rosa Gaia Saunders filmed "Bridgeport: A Portrait" during a spring weekend as part of an art installation called "Here You Are Welcome" for the Chicago Home Theatre Festival, highlighting the diversity and everyday life of "the neighborhood of mayors."

Here, you are welcome.

Bridgeport: A Portrait from rosagaia on Vimeo.