David Kooris is the Director of the Office of Planning and Economic Development for Connecticut’s most populous city, Bridgeport. In this position he manages seven divisions including Planning, Economic Development, Housing and Community Development, Neighborhood Revitalization, Land Use and Construction Review, Buildings, and Zoning. This role enables him to chart a long-range strategy for the city’s revitalization grounded in its diverse neighborhoods, spur economic development in its downtown and commercial centers, and reposition thousands of acres of brownfields for sustainable redevelopment focusing on transportation alternatives, distributed energy generation and green infrastructure, and economic development calibrated to the city’s workforce.
Mr. Kooris has worked on high-speed rail-oriented development, sustainability planning, and urban revitalization projects throughout the Northeast corridor as well as in Kansas City, Vancouver, Turkey, Morocco, Spain, Peru, Taiwan, and South Korea. He received an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Geography from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and a Master’s in City and Regional Planning and a Master’s Certificate in Urban Design from PennDesign at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.