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For other "Gold Coasts", see Gold Coast (disambiguation)

Map of Connecticut highlighting the Southwestern Region.

The Gold Coast is a region of the state of Connecticut, United States that roughly corresponds to the labor market area of the city of Stamford.^[1] The name is used in popular culture to designate a group of affluent towns in that general area, and as such there is not in fact a definitive list of which towns are part of the Gold Coast. The area includes the southwestern portion of Fairfield County. It derives its regional nickname from Fairfield County being ranked as one of the wealthiest counties in the United States^{[citation needed]} and also from being the headquarters to most of the hedge funds in the country.^{[citation needed]} Much of its economy and population are dependent on the region's proximity to New York City. The Gold Coast is part of the New York metropolitan area.

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, The Ice Storm, and Gentleman's Agreement.

The Gold Coast cities of Norwalk and Stamford have significant working class populations but do not suffer from the same typical urban issues as, for example, nearby Bridgeport.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} (See Gentrification)

The following is a list of towns in the Stamford Labor Market Area.^[2].

• Darien
• Greenwich
• New Canaan
• Norwalk
• Stamford
• Weston
• Westport
• Wilton

Adjacent towns are sometimes included in the Gold Coast, particularly in relation to tourism (Hartford Courant) and Economics (Connecticut Economic Digest).^[3][4]

• Easton
• Fairfield
• Redding
• Ridgefield

Since the mid-20th century, the term "Gold Coast" has been applied to the north shore of Long Island (the setting for the American novel The Great Gatsby) in the area around Cold Spring Harbor, New York. The term is frequently used by real estate agents; for instance, the Sunday New York Times, in the Magazine section, has advertisements for expensive homes in the NYC area; the term Gold Coast is often used in these ads.

Late in the century, Realtors in New Jersey invented the Gold Coast (New Jersey)

1. ^ Connecticut Economic Digest, March 1998, p.2
2. ^ Dept. of Economic and Community Development Labor Market Areas
3. ^ The Hartford Courant - Southwestern Connecticut
4. ^ Connecticut Economic Digest, December 2002, p.3

• Greater Bridgeport for the adjacent region centered on the nearby city of Bridgeport.

• South Western Regional Planning Agency

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