Stamford

Stamford is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, 34 miles (55 kilometers) outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 census. Stamford is home to nine Fortune 500 companies and numerous divisions of large corporations. Dominant sectors of Stamford's economy include financial services, tourism, information technology, healthcare, telecommunications, transportation, and retail. Stamford was home to a less famous witch trial than the well-known Salem witch trials, which also occurred in 1692. In the 1960s and 1970s, Stamford's commercial real estate boomed as corporations relocated from New York City to peripheral areas. A massive urban redevelopment campaign during that time resulted in a downtown with many tall office buildings. From 2008 to 2017, the city issued permits for 4,341 housing units. In July 2012, roughly 900 of the projected 4,000 Harbor Point residential units had been constructed. New restaurants and recreational activities have come up in the Harbor Point area, which is considered New Stamford. The city has an area of 52.09 square miles (134.9 km²), of which 37.62 square. miles (97.4 km²) is land and 14.41 square miles is water. The population density was 3,101.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,7km/km²) in 2010. Stamford's metropolitan area is the state's largest city by population.

History

Stamford is the primary city name, but also Ridgeway are acceptable city names or spellings. The official name is Stamford, Connecticut. Stamford was known as Rippowam by the Siwanoy Native American inhabitants of the region. The deed to Stamford was signed on July 1, 1640, between Captain Turner of the New Haven Colony and Chief Ponus. In 1692, Stamford was home to a less famous witch trial than the well-known Salem witch trials, which also occurred in 1692. In 1950, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the city's population as 94.6% white and 5.2% black. In 2008, an 80-acre (32-hectare) mixed-use redevelopment project for Stamford's Harbor Point neighborhood has added additional growth south of downtown. In July 2012, roughly 900 of the projected 4,000 Harbor Point residential units had been constructed. New restaurants and recreational activities have come up in the Harbor Point area, which is considered New Stamford. From 2008 to 2017, the city issued permits for 4,341 housing units. In the 1960s and 1970s, Stamford's commercial real estate boomed as corporations relocated from New York City to peripheral areas. The city's tallest structure, One Landmark Square, at 21 floors high, and the GTE building (now One Stamford Forum), along with the Marriott Hotel, the Stamford Town Center and many other downtown office buildings. The F.D. Rich Company was the city-designated urban renewal developer of the downtown area in an ongoing, contentious project beginning in the 60s and continuing through the 1970s.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has an area of 52.09 square miles (134.9 km²) Stamford is the state's largest city by area. The population density was 3,101.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,197.7/km²) in 2010. The city is halfway between Manhattan and New Haven at approximately 38 miles (60 kilometers) from each. It lies in the broad transition zone where so-called "subtropical indicator" plants and other broadleaf evergreens can be cultivated. Hurricane landfalls have occurred along the Connecticut coast in 1903, 1938, 1944, 1954 (Carol), 1960 (Donna), Hurricane Gloria in 1985, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The warm/hot season in Stamford is from mid-April through early November. Late day thundershowers are common in the hottest months (June, July, August, September), despite the mostly sunny skies. The cool/cold season is from late November though mid-March. Stamford averages about 30 inches (75 cm) of snow annually, compared to inland areas like Hartford and Albany that average 4560 inches (110150 cm) The growing season is rather long in Stamford, averaging 210 days from April 8 to November 5 according to the National Weather Service in Bridgeport. As in much of coastal Connecticut, Long Island, and coastal New Jersey, thegrowing season israther long in. Stamford lies in USDA garden zone 7a.

Demographics

Census data from 2020 showed the City of Stamford with a population of 135,470. This was a 10.5% increase from 2010. Census data also showed Stamford had surpassed New Havens population, making it the state's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. The median household income in 2021 was $99,792 and the per capita income was $58,297, the highest of any city in Connecticut. About 9.3% of the population was at or below the poverty line. The largest religious group in the city are Christians, followed by Judaism, Islam, and eastern religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. Stamford is the 16th safest of the 269 cities in the nation. In 2015, Stamford reported three murders, 19 rapes, and 92 robberies. Crime in Stamford is much more controlled in comparison to cities with similar population size in Connecticut and nationally. Criminal cases are prosecuted by the State's Attorney's Office, and Stamford is home to a State Superior Court, at 123 Hoyt Street, adjacent to the Stamford Police Headquarters. The proportion of the city's population under the age of 18 was 21.6%, age 18 to 24 was 7.8%, age 25 to 44 was 32.5%, age 45 to 64 was 25.0%, and 65 years of age or older was 13.1%. The median age was 37.2 in 2018, lower than the national average of 37.9. In 2020, the racial makeup of theCity was 49.3%. non-Hispanic white, 14.1% Black or African American, 0.3%, American Indian or Alaska Native, 8.6% Asian American, 3.2% from two or more races, and 27.2%. Hispanic or Latino (of any race).

Economy

Charter Communications, Harman International, Synchrony Financial, Indeed.com, Webster Bank, United Rentals, Conair, Gartner, Henkel North American Consumer Goods, WWE, Pitney Bowes, ITT Inc., Gen Re, NBC Sports Group, Nestle Waters North America, Crane Co. and Vineyard Vines. UBS's Stamford trading floor held the Guinness World Record as the largest columnless trading floor in the world until surrendering that space in 2017. The Harbor Point development, in the South End, is one of the nation's largest private-sector development projects. Many large retail stores, such as Design within Reach (also headquartered in Stamford), have moved in, along with multiple companies including ITV America, McKinsey & Company, Bridgewater Associates, and Kayak.com. The Royal Bank of Scotland moved its North American operations into Stamford in 2009, including its RBS Greenwich Capital subsidiary. In 2017, Stamford had four Fortune 500, nine Fortune 1000, three Forbes Global 2000, and one Fortune Global 500 company. The city is home to a number of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, as well as several Fortune Global 2000 companies. It is also home to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which is based in Stamford and has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. It also hosts the World Economic Forum, which was founded by former President George W. Bush in 1993. The U.N. Economic Forum was founded in 1995 and is now based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Arts and culture

Stamford is home to the Fairfield County Astronomical Society, which has a 22-inch (560 mm) telescope. The city's public library, the Ferguson Library, is one of the largest in Connecticut. The Stamford Symphony Orchestra gives five pairs of classical concerts and three pops concerts at the 1,586-seat Palace Theatre. The Rich Forum is occupied by NBCUniversal as a television studio where various television shows are taped and produced, including Jerry Springer, Maury, The Steve Wilkos Show, The Trisha Goddard Show, and Crazy Talk. It is also home to several Champion Trees, the largest of their species in Connecticut, as well as the Stamford Museum and Nature Center, a collection of works by Gutzon Borglum, who was a Stamford resident for a decade. It has two first-run movie houses with a total of 14 movie screens: Landmark 8 and Majestic 6. The Ferguson Library also shows movies and has a used book store run by Friends of Ferguson Library. It also has a bookmobile that runs daily to different neighborhoods. The library has branches in South End, Springdale, and the Turn of River sections of the city, it also has the largest library branch in the state, officially called the Harry Bennett Branch, is the largestLibrary in Connecticut with a book mobile that runs every day to different areas of Stamford. The museum and nature center is on a 118-acre (48-hectare) site in the northern end of town.

Parks and recreation

Cummings Park, a public beach, was once a popular spot for shell fishing. The Italian Center features tennis courts, swimming pools, fitness centers, a playground and a miniature golf course. Jackie Robinson Park on the West Side is named after baseball legend Jackie Robinson, who lived in Stamford. The Stamford Yacht Club is a private organization that provides members with access to boating activities and additional amenities. The E. Gaynor Brennan Golf Course, known locally as Hubbard Heights, opened for play in 1922 as a private course and was purchased by the city in 1949. A concrete skate park was opened at Scalzi Park in July 2007 for $309,850, designed and built by Grindline Skateparks Inc. The city has two municipal golf courses, Sterling Farms Golf Course opened in May 1972 and is the more popular, with a driving range, restaurant, and six tennis courts. It also has a small wildlife sanctuary in the southwest corner that might be interesting for bird watchers. The SoundWaters Community Center for Environmental Education is in the park. It offers swimming lessons and sports, including basketball and indoor soccer Programs are also available periodically for physical fitness. It is the home of the Stamford Youth Hockey Association, which offers ice skating, group lessons, and ice hockey. It has a playground, baseball and softball fields, volleyball courts, tennis Courts, bocce courts, basketball courts, roller hockey courts, and a baseball park, Cubeta Stadium. The park was developed in 1906 and had been known as Halloween Park.

Politics and government

Democrat Caroline Simmons is Stamford's current mayor. Notable Republicans from the city include former U.S. Representative Chris Shays, former Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele, and former mayor Michael Pavia. Prominent Democrats from Stamford include current Attorney General William Tong, former two-term Governor Dannel Malloy, former Attorney General and incumbent senior U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal. Other notable politicians with Stamford roots include Carrie Clyde Holly, the first woman (along with two colleagues) elected to serve in a State Legislature (Colorado, from Pueblo County in the 1894 election) In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama received 64.06% of the city vote to Republican John McCain's 35.35%. Stamford has consistently received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign for LGBT-friendly policies since 2016. The city is home to the Connecticut Supreme Court, which is made up of nine justices. The state's highest court is the Supreme Court of Appeals, which has a seat in Stamford, Connecticut, which was established in 1881. The Supreme Court was the first state Supreme Court in the United States to be elected to a full term, in 1875. It was the second state to do so, after New Haven, Connecticut. It is the only one of the five states to have done so. Stamford has a population of more than 1,000,000. It has the highest percentage of residents of any city in the state, and the second-highest percentage of Connecticut residents in the nation.

Education

Stamford has branches of the University of Connecticut, University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University. Public education is a state responsibility, and Connecticut ranks near the bottom in state share of public education expenditures. In the 2004-2005 academic year, 42.7% of Stamford's public school students were economically disadvantaged, 34.8% did not have English as a home language and 11.6% were students with disabilities. Stamford has one of the nation's most highly educated populations: nine out of ten are high school graduates, and those possessing a bachelor's degree or higher are estimated at 43.6%. Stamford is tied with Iowa City, Iowa, for the U.S. metropolitan area with the highest percentage of the adult population holding a Bachelor's degree. The city also has several private schools, including Villa Maria School, and Bi-Cultural Jewish Day School, King Low Heywood Thomas, and The Long Ridge School. In 2017, UCONN Stamford opened a 300-student dormitory around the corner from the Stamford Campus on Washington Blvd. The public school system is an integrated district with racial balance requirements exceeding those of the state. State standards require that a school's racial makeup be within 25% of the community'sracial makeup. Stamford's standard is 10%. Over the years, schools have become unbalanced. Owing to the state school finance system, the burden of these extra necessary costs of education falls primarily on Stamford's local government. Stamford is a suburb of New Haven, Connecticut.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut = 7.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 32. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 30. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Stamford = 3.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 135,470 individuals with a median age of 39.3 age the population grows by 1.05% in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 3,601.0 residents per square mile of area (1,390.4/km²). There are average 2.55 people per household in the 45,681 households with an average household income of $72,524 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.60% of the available work force and has dropped -3.24% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 25.92%. The number of physicians in Stamford per 100,000 population = 301.6.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Stamford = 49.5 inches and the annual snowfall = 33.6 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 125. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 178. 85 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 18.5 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 46, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Stamford, Fairfield County, Connecticut which are owned by the occupant = 53.11%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 43 years with median home cost = $432,530 and home appreciation of -11.65%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $13.56 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $9,644 per student. There are 14 students for each teacher in the school, 320 students for each Librarian and 430 students for each Counselor. 4.72% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 22.20% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 16.55% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).