The East Side neighborhood is located across the Pequonnock River from the Downtown and the Enterprise Zone, and is adjacent to the East End. With direct access to Bridgeport Harbor, and bisected by I-95 and the Amtrak/Metro-North rail line, the East Side is strategically located, but functionally divided. Education and health care provide the largest number of jobs in the neighborhood, but the average wage of approximately $37,000 earned by East Side workers in this sector is substantially lower than the industry norm in the city.

The East Side had 13,095 residents in 2000. The majority of residents were Hispanic (67%), followed by Black non-Hispanics (24%), White non-Hispanics (6%) and Asians (3%). Approximately 15 percent of neighborhood residents were foreign-born. In 2000, the neighborhood had 4,577 housing units, over 90 percent of which were built before 1980. The majority of housing in the neighborhood (67%) is multifamily, and is mostly renter-occupied. Nearly one in fi ve housing units in the neighborhood is considered overcrowded, which is the highest rate of overcrowding in the city. In addition, 40 percent of East Side households do not have access to an automobile. The East Side contains the East Main Street Historic District, the East Bridgeport Historic District and the Pembroke City Historic District.