The highway known as US 5 has many names and takes many forms as it bisects Connecticut. But from its Colonial roots as the Upper Post Road between New York and Boston, its primary function has been as a commercial thoroughfare.
In many ways, this 60-mile-long historic road offers a microcosm of commerce in our state and seems a worthy yardstick by which to measure Connecticut’s Road to Recovery from the Great Recession.
Starting today through the Aug. 16 edition, the Hartford Business Journal’s team of writers and photographers report on economic life along the highway.
The first chapter, which begins on Page 14, takes us to an industrial corridor, near US 5’s humble origins under an I-91 bridge in New Haven, bisecting Hamden and North Haven into Wallingford. In subsequent installments, we’ll talk with business owners who have felt the sting of the economy and others who are prospering along US 5. We’ll examine the demographic and style changes that touch us all. We’ll talk with developers and educators, merchants and manufacturers, each of whom has something valuable to contribute to the narrative of the economic life along US 5. And we’ll wrap it all up where the Great Recession really began, talking about the housing market.
US 5 is a road with many faces and with many stories to tell. We hope you’ll find the series both a pleasant summer diversion from the ordinary run of news as well as an informative look at the Road to Recovery.
Norm Bell, Editor
