Bridgeport and New Haven on right track

For all the development proposals that have been broached over the decades for Bridgeport — and for other state communities, too — there was a significant twist last month when MGM Resorts International unveiled its $675 million proposal for a waterfront casino and entertainment center in the city.

There were, of course, the usual suspects — Bridgeport’s movers and shakers, including Mayor Joe Ganim and assorted elected officials and union reps, developers and just about anyone who would stand to benefit.

But there was also hearty representation from the city of New Haven, including its mayor, Toni Harp and sundry elected officials, union reps and developers.

This represented regional support for a project whose major footprint would be in Bridgeport, but would also have an employee development and training center in New Haven.

Now, the Bridgeport-New Haven partnership may have been nudged into existence on this project by the MGM proposal, but it is an approach that the state’s cities should adopt as standard operating procedure.

It’s ridiculous that a postage-stamp state the size of Connecticut has 169 separate municipal entities and all the duplication of effort and waste that come with that blueprint.

Certainly there have been lasting and ad hoc alliances that have existed for cities to operate in the essentially unfriendly environs of a rural- and suburban-dominated state legislature.

But in the specific case of the Bridgeport-New Haven alliance on MGM — a proposal that has a long, uphill slog in the legislature — the alliance changes the dynamic a bit. Together, they have 17 voices in Hartford, between state representatives and senators.

Bridgeport and New Haven are also, in Ganim’s eyes, the bookends of a location that is being marketed to

Amazon for consideration in its plan to open a second North American headquarters. The universities, for instance, that may be attractive to an Amazon are here.

But why pit a UConn or a Fairfield University or Yale, Quinnipiac and so on against each other in a “my town, my town!” battle, when you can pitch all of them in a regional appeal.

Of course just about every city in America is pitching Amazon. Ganim, who sat with the Hearst Connecticut Media editorial board earlier this week, harbors no illusions about being the winning suitor.

But benefit will come from this nevertheless. “We’ll be better prepared for whatever else comes along.”

And he’s right. This entire notion of Yankee independence is a core value in Connecticut and New England. It reaches back to a time in history when it was, in one sense, every man for himself.

And strength and self-reliance remain essential attributes for a person and a citizenry.

But the adage of strength in numbers hasn’t diminished over the years. Bridgeport and New Haven — and any municipality with the foresight to link arms — are geometrically stronger together than they are alone.