Greenwich
(grĕn'ĭch, grĭn'-, grēn'wĭch') A town of southwest Connecticut on Long Island Sound near the New York border. Settled in 1640, it is mainly residential. Population: 62,100.
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(grĕn'ĭch, grĭn'-, grēn'wĭch') A town of southwest Connecticut on Long Island Sound near the New York border. Settled in 1640, it is mainly residential. Population: 62,100.
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| Greenwich, Connecticut | |||
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| Location in Connecticut | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| NECTA | Bridgeport - Stamford - Norwalk | ||
| Region | South Western Region | ||
| Settled | 1640 | ||
| Joined Connecticut | 1656 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Type | Representative town meeting | ||
| - First selectman | James A. Lash | ||
| - Town administrator | Edward Gomeau | ||
| - Town meeting moderator | Thomas J. Byrne | ||
| Area | |||
| - Town | km² ( sq mi) | ||
| - Land | km² ( sq mi) | ||
| - Water | km² ( sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | m ( ft) | ||
| Population (2005) | |||
| - Town | |||
| - Density | /km² (/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | Eastern (UTC-5) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | Eastern (UTC-4) | ||
| ZIP code | 06807, 0683x, 06870, 06878 | ||
| Area code(s) | 203 | ||
| FIPS code | 09-33620 | ||
| GNIS feature ID | 0213435 | ||
| Website: http://www.greenwichct.org/ | |||
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 61,101. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies that have left Manhattan. Of the $1.2 trillion invested in hedge funds worldwide, $120 billion (10 percent) is managed in Greenwich[citation needed]. The town is famous as one of the most affluent communities in the United States.
Greenwich is the southernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 37 minutes by train (express) from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan.
In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Greenwich 12th on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States, although the town did not make it onto the list in 2006 or 2007.
The town is the location of Greenwich Hospital, a community hospital with 174 beds and a teaching affiliate of Yale University School of Medicine.
Greenwich has one local government but consists of several distinct sections, each of which often has its own mailing addresses and ZIP codes: as Cos Cob 06807, Riverside 06878, Old Greenwich 06870, and Greenwich 06830 and 06831 (sometimes referred to as Greenwich proper, central, or downtown Greenwich).
Downtown Greenwich consists primarily of Greenwich Avenue, a one-way street with many restaurants, boutiques, and antique shops, all in extraordinarily expensive retail space (as of 2006: $150 to $200 per square foot). Remaining businesses tend to cluster around Route 1 which runs along the southern edge of the town as East and West Putnam Avenues.
During the late 1990s and early 2000s, Greenwich's location as the first Connecticut town off Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway meant that when New York City-area residents wanted to buy Powerball lottery tickets as the jackpot rose above $100 million, they crowded into Greenwich stores to purchase them, creating traffic jams in the business areas. The Connecticut Lottery introduced special rules for such situations. This no longer became a problem after Pennsylvania joined Powerball in 2002; those living west of the Hudson River usually find the Keystone State more convienent for Powerball.
Vienne, Isère, France, is a sister city of Greenwich.[1]
The town has three Selectmen and a Representative Town Meeting (RTM). The RTM must approve all budgets, and consists of 230 elected representatives, making it the fifth largest legislative body in the United States, after Congress and three state legislatures. RTM members are not paid. The three selectmen are elected on a town-wide basis, although each person can only vote for two members. This assures that there will almost always be one Democrat and two Republicans or two Democrats and one Republican. While voter registration is skewed in the Republican's favor, they do not have a lock on the First Selectman's chair, and Democrats have held the seat recently. Many of the other town committees have equal representation between Democrats and Republicans, regardless of the vote breakdown, since each individual can only vote for half as many seats as are available.
| Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 25, 2005[2] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Active Voters | Inactive Voters | Total Voters | Percentage | |
| Republican | 14,032 | 1,038 | 15,070 | 41.26% | |
| Democratic | 6,835 | 664 | 7,499 | 20.53% | |
| Unaffiliated | 12,611 | 1,327 | 13,938 | 38.16% | |
| Minor Parties | 13 | 2 | 15 | 0.04% | |
| Total | 33,491 | 3,031 | 36,522 | 100% | |
For more information, see History of Greenwich, Connecticut.
The Town of Greenwich, settled in 1640 and incorporated in 1665.
During the American Revolution, General Israel
Putnam made a daring escape from the British on February 26, 1779. Although British forces pillaged the town, Putnam was able to warn
In 1983, the Mianus River Bridge, which carries traffic on Interstate 95 over an estuary, collapsed, resulting in the death of three people.
Originally, Greenwich Point (locally termed "Tod's Point"), was open only to town residents and their guests. However, a lawyer sued, saying his rights to freedom of assembly were threatened because he was not allowed to go there. The lower courts disagreed, but the Supreme Court of Connecticut agreed, and Greenwich was forced to amend its beach access policy to all four beaches.
The town has four beaches on the
A single-visit beach pass for non-residents to Greenwich Point (locally termed "Tod's Point" after the previous private owners), which is on a peninsula and so includes picnic areas, a beach and small marina, is $10 per person and $20 per car. Tickets must be purchased at the town hall or the Eastern Greenwich Civic Center.
There is also a community sailing center and rental area located in the park. Bicycling and rollerblading are popular sports on the trails and paths in the summer.
The town owns the Griffith E. Harris golf course. The 18-link course is named after "Griff" Harris, first selectman from 1952 to 1958. There are also five country clubs in town with golf courses. The Dorothy Hamill Rink is also in town.
Calf Island, a 29-acre island about 3,000 feet from the Byram shore in Greenwich, is open for visitors although as of the summer of 2006 it was getting relatively few of them.[4]
More than half of the island (on the west side) is a bird sanctuary off-limits to members of the public without permission to visit. The island is available for overnight stays for those with permits, otherwise the east side is open from dawn till dusk.[4]
Great Captain Island is also off the coast of Greenwich, and is the southernmost point of New England.
Island Beach or "Little Captain Island" once was the venue for the town's annual "Island Beach Day." Ventriloquist Paul Winchell and his dummy, Jerry Mahoney, once came for a show, and on another occasion the National Guard let adults and children fire machine guns into the water, according to an article in the Greenwich Time.[5]
Island Beach has changed over the decades. The bathhouse once on the island's eastern shore is gone, and erosion is slowly eating away at the beaches themselves, a longtime resident told the newspaper.[5]
See also: Education in Greenwich, Connecticut
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 174.2 km² (67.2 mi²). 123.9 km² (47.8 mi²) of it is land and 50.3 km² (19.4 mi²) of it (28.88%) is water. In terms of area, Greenwich is twice the size of Manhattan. The town is bordered to the west and north by Westchester County, New York, to the east by the city of Stamford, and to the south by Long Island Sound.
Greenwich is divided into several small sections:
Each, with the esception of Byram, has its own ZIP Code and Metro North train station.
A curious aspect of Greenwich's position in the southwestern "tail" of Connecticut is that by traveling north, south, east or west from any point in town, one will eventually reach the State of New York. Westchester and Putnam Counties lie to the north and west. Nassau County is directly south across Long Island Sound, and a long boat ride due east will land you on the northeast branch of Suffolk County, Long Island.
Round Hill, with an elevation of more than 550 feet, was a lookout point for the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The Manhattan skyline is visible from the top of the hill.[7]
The town is served by the Metro-North Railroad (the four stations, from west to east, are Greenwich, Cos Cob, Riverside and Old Greenwich) and is approximately a 40 minute train ride to Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan on the express train and a 50 minute ride on the local.
Interstate 95 (one of the busiest highways in the world) goes through the southern end of town, and there are four exits from I-95 in Greenwich, exits 2 through 5. The Boston Post Road (also known as East or West Putnam Avenue or simply Route 1) also goes through town, as does the Merritt Parkway, although the Merritt Parkway is a considerable distance from the downtown area. Greenwich is also accessible by Metro-North Railroad. Amtrak stops in the adjacent town of Stamford.
Two bridges in Greenwich were among 12 in the state listed in "critical" condition by state safety inspectors as of August 2007. The Riversville Road bridge, built in the 1950s, now has a weight limit of 3 tons, but as of August 5, 2007, the bridge had not been inspected in over two years (in March 2005), according to state records obtained by The Hartford Courant, although a state official said the bridge was inspected in August 2005 and would be inspected again in August 2007. In the March 2005 inspection, the bridge's above-ground structure was deemed to be in critical condition, with other components in poor condition. The Bailiwick Road bridge in town was closed in April 2007 and remained closed as of August 2007 due to storm damage. The ratings for the two bridges were worse than the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed during rush hour on August 1, 2007.[8]
| Historical population of Greenwich[8][9] |
|
| 1756 | 2,021 |
| 1774 | 2,776 |
| 1782 | 2,623 |
| 1800 | 3,047 |
| 1810 | 3,533 |
| 1820 | 3,790 |
| 1830 | 3,801 |
| 1840 | 3,921 |
| 1850 | 5,036 |
| 1860 | 6,522 |
| 1870 | 7,644 |
| 1880 | 7,892 |
| 1890 | 10,131 |
| 1900 | 12,172 |
| 1910 | 16,463 |
| 1920 | 22,123 |
| 1930 | 33,112 |
| 1940 | 35,509 |
| 1950 | 40,835 |
| 1960 | 53,793 |
| 1970 | 59,755 |
| 1980 | 59,578 |
| 1990 | 58,441 |
| 2000 | 61,101 |
| 2002 | 61,784 (estimate) |
As of the census² of 2000, there were 61,101 people, 23,230 households, and 16,237 families residing in the town. The population density was 493.2/km² (1,277.6/mi²). There were 24,511 housing units at an average density of 197.9/km² (512.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 90.02% White, 1.66% African American, 0.09% Native American, 5.18% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.46% from other races, and 1.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 6.29% of the population.
There were 23,230 households out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were non-families. 24.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the town the population was spread out with 25.4% under the age of 18, 4.1% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town is $99,086, and the median income for a family is $122,719. Males have a median income of $95,085 versus $47,806 for females. The per capita income for the town is $74,346. About 2.5% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.
Both the Official AENGLC Wealth Value and the CPR AENGLC Wealth Value show Greenwich as having the highest wealth value in Connecticut at over $430,000 per person. Greenwich was the highest income place with a population of 50,000 or more in 2000. However, using the list of the 100 richest places in the United States with at least 1,000 households yields a different result. This is the most common list used for referring to the richest communities in the country, as it eliminates any places with insignificant populations. On this list Greenwich ranks 56th after New Canaan at 32nd, Darien at 44th, and Weston at 55th. See Highest income places in the United States.
The town's 2006 Grand List (tax rolls) includes more than $1 billion in assessed values for automobiles, which raised $5.5
million in revenue for the town. Overall, there were 2,337 cars worth more than $50,000 on the list, and there were 3,769
BMWs, 3,474 Mercedes-Benzes, 931 Porsches, 94 Ferraris, 90
The median price for a single-family home in town was $1.7 million in 2006, when about 140 properties sold for $5 million or more, according to Prudential Connecticut Realty. In 2007, the highest asking prices for residential property in town were $39.5 million for the 76-acre estate of actor Mel Gibson on Old Mill Road, $19.7 million for a 13,000-square-foot mansion on 8.7 acres with a private lake, and $38 million for an estate with formal gardens and a greenhouse the size of a cottage.[10]
These four Greenwich art collectors were listed in the 2006 Art News magazine list of 200 top collectors:[11]
For further information see: People of Greenwich, Connecticut
Due to its affluence and convenient location near New York City, Greenwich has long been associated with or has been home or birthplace to well-known people in various fields.
These include entertainment, media, sport and literature: Diana Ross, Mel Gibson, actor/director Ron Howard, Jack Nicholson, Gary "Baba Booey" Dell'Abate, and Adam Sandler all have homes in town, as did George C. Scott and comedian Victor Borge. Regis Philbin resides here, as does Kathie Lee Gifford and as did Louis Rukeyser. Matt Lauer, an anchor on The Today Show on NBC went to high school in town. Rita Cosby, a television host on MSNBC, grew up here, as did actresses Glenn Close and Bijou Phillips. Athletes Steve Young, Frank Gifford, Allan Houston, and Bobby Bonilla live in town, and so did Ivan Lendl. Pro wrestling promoter Vincent Kennedy McMahon and wrestler Paul Levesque along with his wife Stephanie McMahon also live here. Authors A.J. Cronin, Truman Capote, Taylor Caldwell, Anya Seton, Lawrence Riley and Howard Fast were residents. Among current best-selling authors living in Greenwich is John Jakes.
And obviously business: Tommy Hilfiger; John Sculley, former CEO of Apple Inc.; the late Charles Peter McColough, former Chairman and CEO of the Xerox Corporation; Donald J. Trump and Leona Helmsley have homes in town. The former, Christopher Sinclair, and current, Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, are residents. And so is Edward S. Lampert, billionaire hedge fund manager and chairman of Sears Holdings Corp. But Greenwich has also been the seat of some of America's leading business dynasties, such as the Greenwich branch of the Rockefeller family; the Gimbels, of Gimbels and Saks Fifth Avenue department stores; and the Watsons, of IBM (Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., former CEO of IBM, is also a local resident). As well, former JPMorgan Chase Chairman William B. Harrison, Jr.
Among other present and past notable residents are: The Barney Family, heirs to the Smith Barney fortune, resides in Greenwich; State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal; Boss Tweed and former President George H.W. Bush. Iranian Empress Farah Pahlavi had a residence in Greenwich, up until 2001, when she moved to the D.C. area, due to the expenses of her home and the incapability of living there after the death of Princess Leila Pahlavi.
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