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The Gold Coast is a region of the state of Connecticut, United States, roughly contiguous with the boundaries of Fairfield County; it derives its regional nickname from Fairfield County being ranked as one of the wealthiest counties in the United States and being the headquarters to most of the hedge funds in the country. Much of its economy and population are dependent on the region's proximity to New York City. The Gold Coast is considered to be part of the New York metropolitan area.

The region, as befits its name, is known for having some of the wealthiest towns and neighborhoods in the country. These towns include Greenwich, North Stamford, Darien, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Wilton, Westport, Weston and Fairfield. The region has been portrayed numerous times in popular culture as a wealthy bastion of conformity, immorality, or anomie, most notably in The Stepford Wives and The Ice Storm.

In contrast with its well-known wealth, the Gold Coast also features one of the poorest cities in the United States—the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Other cities in the region, Norwalk and Stamford, have a significant lower-class populations but do not suffer from the same issues as Bridgeport. The Gold Coast remains a region of marked income extremes, exacerbated by many middle-class residents moving out of the region because of the high cost of living.

The region is roughly coterminous with the U.S. Census Bureau definition of the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT Metropolitan NECTA (New England City and Town Area), with a total population of 892,283 (2000 census). It includes most of Fairfield County and a small portion of New Haven County.

Greenwich is the wealthiest town in Fairfield County.

List of cities/towns


Fairfield County (part)

Litchfield County (part)

New Haven County (part)

Connecticut

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Gold Coast (Connecticut)".

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