Science Park is Not Fair

Science Park has had a strong impact on Newhallville. It was created in 1981 and established at the old Winchester Arms Factory in 1982. The Olin Company, Yale University, and the city of New Haven provided financial and technical support.

Science Park was originally created to begin new businesses and convert unused factories into laboratories for the three partners in Science Park. This park is a major employment center, but not just for New Haven. Over fifty companies that are part of Science Park have a main office that is not in New Haven.

About twenty Science Park companies are here in New Haven. Unfortunately, many of the jobs there have nothing to do with the people that live in the Newhallville area. No one would think that Science Park is not a major employment company for local residents, because it is so big and connected to companies all over Connecticut. There are certainly upsides; William Ginsberg, the head of the Greater New Haven Community Foundation, believes that Science Park is a good money-making vature.

Ginsberg added that Science Park is placed on a historical site. The Winchester Arms Factory was located in the Newhallville area because of the Civil War. It was one of the gun factories that supplied the north with weapons for the war. It was also one of the first gun factories to manufacture repeating arms, which were guns that could shoot over and over again with fewer stops to reload.

Science Park is still located in the same place in Newhallville, and there is still one factory in Science Park that makes guns. However, it is also full of occupations that are not necessarily the best for local residents. Many locals believe that Science Park should consider making more jobs for the neighborhood that it is in. Even though Science Park is one of the biggest office complexes in New Haven, officials still should consider building more industries and giving the neighborhood residents a chance to get jobs there. It is unfair that it is such a big complex and yet it provides few jobs to the people in the neighborhood. Back in the early 1900s, the Winchester Arms Factory provided many people both in and outside of the neighborhood with jobs. Science Park should not be selfish. Here in New Haven, there are not enough jobs to go around. I hope that Science Park will open up more and stop being selfish.

- Jasmine Streater