A 35-minute drive down Interstate 95, Mercedes-Benz of Greenwich is doubling the size of its showroom. "Our intention is to make it a first-class, luxury-type experience," said Tony Pordon, an executive vice president at Penske Automotive Group Inc., which owns the facility. The Mercedes C-Class, with some sedans starting at $58,930, is one of the best-sellers, he said.
The psychological impact of poverty weighs uniquely on the poor living in areas with such large income gaps, said Carla Miklos, who quit investment banking to run Operation Hope, a food pantry and homeless shelter in Fairfield.
"Everywhere you turn you're seeing extreme wealth -- BMWs and Mercedes and Porsches," she said. "It's not a lot of keeping up with the Joneses anymore. It's like keeping up with J. Lo."
The U.S. recession shifted the job market in a way that puts the poor at an even greater disadvantage, said Scott Wilderman, president of Career Resources, a nonprofit group that finds work for the unemployed. The market for entry-level jobs at places like Wal-Mart and Home Depot -- which Wilderman had matched with the formerly incarcerated or people on welfare -- is now crowded by the formerly middle class with college degrees.
At 61, Sandra Vining is looking for a second job. Wilderman hired her to assist people applying for food stamps and other aid. She'd sign up herself, except she earns $400 above the monthly threshold. She relies on her daughter, Dawn, to pay part of her rent and phone bills. She hasn't bought a new pair of shoes in two years and sometimes chooses between gas and groceries.
"All I want to do is be normal, and open my icebox and see it not empty," she said.
Once the spine of an industrial powerhouse, Bridgeport's Barnum Avenue now features block after block of factories with overgrown foliage poking through broken windows. Liquor stores far outnumber fresh-produce groceries in the surrounding neighborhoods, including the nearby street where Gonzalez, the cleaner, lives.
In an age when governors around the country are plugging state budget deficits by paring spending on education and social services, Connecticut's Dannel Malloy has sought to shield residents most reliant on the safety net.
His budget, which lawmakers passed in May, increased personal-income and sales taxes by the most in state history and included a "luxury tax" on expensive clothing and boats. It also provides an earned-income tax credit that puts millions of dollars each year into the pockets of the working poor.
"People who were once solidly middle class are now solidly hurting," Malloy, a Democrat who took office this year, said in a telephone interview.