At the corner of Bedford Street and Forest Street, the asphalt is gone. For five years a small parking lot there served as a temporary outdoor dining area. On Thursday, July 30, 2026, the City of Stamford opened it as a permanent public plaza of 9,500 square feet, with seating, new trees, green space and room for restaurants to serve outside.
Two months after the ribbon cutting, the plaza begins its first fall. The more important change sits a few steps east. A 50-foot raised crosswalk now crosses Forest Street to Latham Park, and the city's stated aim was for the plaza and the park to work as "one cohesive public space." Stamford Downtown's fall and holiday calendar already treats that end of Bedford Street as a gathering point. So the plaza's first real test comes in the season when the block hosts its largest crowds.
Ten Months From Parking Lot to Plaza
The city's project page set the schedule plainly. Construction would start in October 2025 and finish in summer 2026. The July 30 ribbon cutting delivered on that schedule. For anyone who drove past the lane and sidewalk closures last winter, the project took about ten months.
The project cost $3 million in total. A state grant covered $2 million and the city paid $1 million. The money paid for more than a seating area. According to the city's project page, the work included:
- 19 new trees using silva cell technology, which the city says will keep the trees growing and healthy over the long term
- new green space, general public seating and space for restaurants to serve outdoors
- a rebuilt intersection at Forest Street and Prospect Street, with a 50-foot raised crosswalk across Forest
- a new traffic signal at Bedford, Spring and Forest Streets
- raised crosswalks across Bedford at Spring Street and at Forest Street, built to improve ADA accessibility and slow traffic
The city listed safety as the primary goal. Its project page says the crossing at Prospect Street and Forest Street has one of the highest crash rates in Stamford, and that speeding is a common concern along Bedford Street. Patch's coverage of the opening made the same point. The new crosswalks were designed to slow nearby cars, and the plaza gave restaurant tables a permanent place where a temporary arrangement had stood.
The Crosswalk Ties the Plaza to the Park
On a map, the plaza and Latham Park are two parcels split by Forest Street. The design treats them as one space. A 50-foot raised crossing is about as wide as a storefront row, and it brings the roadway up to sidewalk level. Walkers cross from the plaza's trees and seating to the park's lawn without stepping down into traffic.
That matters for this block because Latham Park is already the destination for downtown events. When a crowd fills the park, the plaza across the crosswalk becomes the closest place with seating, shade trees and restaurant frontage. Before July, that spillover went into a parking lot and a busy crossing. Now it goes into a public space built for it.
The plaza also sits on the same stretch of Bedford Street as several of downtown's established restaurants with outdoor seating.
Who Is on the Block
Hey Stamford's 2026 outdoor dining guide, updated in July, lists the following Bedford Street places with outdoor seating. Addresses come from the restaurants' own sites and Stamford Downtown's storefront directory.
| Restaurant | Address | Outdoor seating, per the July 2026 guide |
|---|---|---|
| Bradford's Grill & Tavern | 83 Bedford Street | Front sidewalk and rear beer garden |
| Lorca | 125 Bedford Street | Sidewalk patio |
| Hudson Social | 128 Bedford Street | Sidewalk patio |
| Bedford Hall Craft Kitchen & Bar | 135 Bedford Street | Patio |
| Tigin | 175 Bedford Street | Seasonal sidewalk seating |
The newest name on the street isn't in that guide. Uncorked officially opened July 23 at 167 Bedford Street, in the space Bari167 used to occupy. That was one week before the plaza's ribbon cutting. Patch reported diners using both the indoor and outdoor seating in the restaurant's first weeks.
The city's plan reserves space in the plaza for restaurant outdoor dining. No published source yet says which of these restaurants serves tables in the plaza itself. The guide describes sidewalks, patios and a beer garden, and none of these businesses has announced whether that seating stays open or gets heaters into November. The table shows where the block stood in midsummer. The cooler months will show which patios stay open.
The Fall Calendar Ends Here
The fall schedule starts today. The best evidence that the plaza and park now work as one space is where the season's events are booked.
- WineFest on Bedford, Saturday, October 3. Latham Park, 3 to 5:30 p.m., with VIP entry at 2 p.m. Hey Stamford lists tastings from more than 20 wineries, plus live music and lawn games. Stamford Downtown's listing also includes craft vendors and food.
- Giant Balloon Inflation Party, Saturday, November 21. Hoyt Street at Summer Street, 3 to 6 p.m.
- Stamford Downtown Parade Spectacular, Sunday, November 22. Noon to 2 p.m. The current preview gives Summer and Hoyt as the start and Atlantic and Federal as the finish.
- Heights & Lights, Sunday, December 6. The event begins at Landmark Square and ends at Latham Park.
WineFest is the first large event booked into Latham Park since the plaza opened. Stamford Downtown lists the park as the venue, and the plaza sits directly across the new crossing. The November parade weekend is centered elsewhere. The published start and finish points are Summer and Hoyt and Atlantic and Federal, and no full street-by-street route has been released. So the parade can't be placed on this block yet.
December brings the event back to Bedford Street. Stamford Downtown's listing for Heights & Lights describes it this way:
After the rappel Santa and friends will march up Bedford Street to Latham Park for holiday music and the lighting of Stamford's Holiday Tree.
The evening starts 22 stories up. Santa, Rudolph, the Grinch and others rappel from the top of Landmark Square, and a fireworks show follows. The march then follows Bedford Street to the tree in Latham Park, the same park the new crosswalk connects to the plaza. December 6 will be the first time downtown's holiday crowd arrives at the park with a finished plaza across the street. The rebuilt Forest Street crossing will also have its busiest night so far.
What the Cold Months Will Answer
The calendar has three loose ends. Heights & Lights has no posted start time yet, and its page tells visitors to check back for more information. The full parade route is still unpublished. Stamford Downtown's most recent winter lighting page describes light installations in Latham Park running from mid-November through mid-March, but that page covers the 2025 season. A 2026 version hasn't been posted, so the plaza's first winter lighting is not yet confirmed.
The restaurants are the other open question. The plaza was paid for partly to make outdoor dining permanent at Bedford and Forest. Summer tested that easily. November and December will show whether the plaza still gets used after the patio season ends. The trees, seating and raised crossings are in place either way. The new trees and green space Patch described at the opening are part of the infrastructure that makes this corner a public space through the off-season.
For now, WineFest begins at 2 p.m. today for VIP ticket holders and opens to all ticket holders at 3, on the Latham Park lawn across the new Forest Street crosswalk.
Changes like the Bedford and Forest plaza affect how a street works long before they appear in a listing, and noticing them early is part of advising clients well. If you own a home in Stamford and want a discreet view of what it could command today, Kate Cacciatore offers a confidential home valuation grounded in that level of local detail. Request a Confidential Home Valuation.