The Bridgeport News
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Few indicators for economic growth are as critical as those involving new housing starts. In non-metropolitan communities in particular, the presence of new homes can easily be the biggest indicator for economic growth.
During the past 10 years, growth in the housing market in this region – with the exception of Monongalia County and the Morgantown and Cheat Lake areas – has been dominated by the city of Bridgeport. Dozens of new homes have been constructed annually, including town houses, duplexes and single-family units.
Although the current calendar year is roughly two-thirds of the way complete, the city of Bridgeport has already issued 31 new home building permits. That total, according to Bridgeport Community Development Director Randy Spellman, puts the city on pace for a potential record year. Even better, the numbers Spellman recently provided were only through the end of July, which means they could actually be higher once everything is totaled.
Among the new housing starts are the first single-family home building permits issued for the Charles Pointe development. While townhouses and duplexes have been under construction for some time at the development off Interstate 79, the first single-family homes recently had permits acquired. Jamie Corton, the managing partner of Genesis Partners, the group responsible for the overall development of Charles Pointe, said he hopes those homes are complete and occupied by the end of the calendar year.
Already, dozens of units are occupied at Charles Pointe. Even though we don’t have an official head count, that likely means there’s roughly 100 or more people calling various parts of the massive development home. We expect the trend for residential growth there to continue and, as it does, commercial growth will continue as well. In most cases, particularly in planned communities, the two go hand in hand.
The trend has been in place for years in Bridgeport. New home construction has helped Bridgeport become one of the few cities in the region to experience population growth on a consistent basis. At the same time, it would be hard to argue Bridgeport is also one of the few cities in the region to experience continual economic growth in nearly every area of the city. Right now, however, most of the growth is along I-79, where Charles Pointe and White Oaks are situated.
For some, the growth in those areas has caused angst. There have been cries at City Council meetings that Charles Pointe isn’t really part of the city and that it gets too much help from Bridgeport officials. The fact of the matter is that Charles Pointe is most certainly part of Bridgeport, and that the city is simply doing what it should – facilitating development where it’s feasible and in the best interest of the city.
As for concerns, there is at least one that could become a problem. Many of the new homes being built in Charles Pointe and other sections of Bridgeport are drawing owners from outside the city limits. Some, however, are being occupied by individuals who are moving from other, older parts of Bridgeport.
City officials have to make sure the “older parts” of the city don’t become downtrodden. They have to make sure they don’t become slum areas where landlords cut corners and bring in individuals who don’t care about the property they’re renting, much less the neighborhood in which they live.
Those issues, however, haven’t materialized and there’s time to make sure they don’t. Other than that, despite national discussion of housing market woes, Bridgeport’s home market is marching ahead at full steam. It’s an indication that the economy in our city remains strong.