Frederick Law Olmsted understood that parks are essential to public well being. They serve as spaces for connection, community, and inspiration. That legacy lives on in Bridgeport, proudly known as the Park City. As Connecticut’s largest city, Bridgeport residents are inundated with significant environmental burdens, yet the fabric of the city still carries this green vision in places like Seaside Park and Beardsley Park. For me, this tension is deeply personal because Bridgeport is also home to my favorite green space, Remington Woods (Lake Success Park). 

 

Nearly six years ago, I began working on the campaign to “Save Remington Woods”— a location that was the most peaceful part of my school bus route as a teen. This advocacy journey has been rooted in listening to the community, creatively uplifting their hopes for conservation, and facilitating deeper relationships with land. It has meant prioritizing joy, discovery, and belonging, and it has been a remarkable adventure. 

 

In 2024, volunteers penned petition comments from over 2,300 people onto Valentine’s Day cards and delivered them to Corteva -- a display of community love and advocacy for conservation and this special parcel of land. Residents spoke up, not only for climate resilience and wildlife, but also for the residents of Bridgeport, who live between highways, waste facilities, power plants, and other environmental burdens that no community should bear. 

 

This advocacy effort helped lead to the “Nature for All” conservation plan -- Corteva’s commitment to preserve the largest urban forest in New England in perpetuity, powered by clean energy, for community — forever. 

 

Today, I have the unique opportunity to witness what happens when community rallies around conservation: pollinator gardens, pocket forests, riparian restoration, and a renewed sense of stewardship. 

 

Bridgeport residents have always been at the forefront of climate-forward advocacy. As a coastal city along the Long Island Sound, the impacts of flooding, beach erosion, and climate change are not abstract — they are lived in realities. But this moment is different. This is an opportunity where an organization has been receptive to active listening and action in the best interest of the community. 

 

Over the years, I’ve seen youth future-cast what will be possible in Remington Woods one day. They’ve birdwatched in forests, gone on their very first hikes, designed nature classrooms and observation decks, worked with GIS to map out the impacts of conserving this forest’s tree canopy. I’ve spoken with elders who remember feeding deer through the fence, who advocated for remediation in the 80’s and 90’s, and whose families worked in the Remington Arms factories. Across generations, there is a shared, deep, and enduring desire to protect this land. 

 

This project stands as a legacy of what is possible when community voices are heard and a vision is shared. It proves that prioritizing people is not at odds with the bottom line. More than that, it offers hope — a model for resilience in environmentally burdened communities facing the realities of climate change. 

 

Finally, Bridgeport is beginning to resemble a true Park City. I believe Fredrick Olmsted would be proud. And so is my teen self.  

 

To get more involved in our conservation work email remington.woods@sierraclub.org for more information.

 

Jhoni Ada is Sierra Club Connecticut’s Organizer on Save Remington Woods project in Bridgeport, along with other outreach and projects within the city and Fairfield County.