The city of Stamford was originally made for all that wanted to contribute to its society. It wasn’t built originally for only the wealthy or for luxury, but instead for working families, immigrants and students and people trying to create a future. But after living here since my freshman year of high school and watching the city change in just a few years, it feels like Stamford is slowly becoming a place where only contributing isn’t enough, you also need to be able to afford the rising costs.

When my family moved here, Stamford felt like a city with opportunity. I finally lived closer than a thousand miles away from my extended family in the New York area. Now, the biggest conversation in many households, including mine, is survival. I’ve watched my single mom struggle to keep our family in a place that seems like it doesn’t want us like a one-sided relationship. Rent increasements come every other month, and they’re not subtle whatsoever. According to rent market trends by Apartments.com, Stamford’s average rent climbed and remains far above the national average. These show what many families already know, staying here is getting harder every single year.

At the same time, the development happening around us doesn’t seem built for people already living here. Downtown is filled with high end restaurants that many working families rarely step into. Stamford Town Center was a place for teens and families, but seems to start dying quiet and empty. New apartments and businesses do bring in tax revenue and attract professionals, but growth without any form of balance pushes out the very families that keep Stamford running.

The people being priced out are the absolute backbone of the city. They are the grocery workers, the bus drivers, the teachers, the hospital staff, and the parents raising the next generation here. A city can’t function on only luxury. When working families have to leave, Stamford loses its identity. A community built on opportunity shouldn’t become one where opportunity is only on income.

If Stamford wants to continue calling itself a city of opportunity, it has to prove opportunities still exist for working families. Growth should not come at the cost of erasing the community that made the city desirable in the first place.