Stamford, Connecticut

Template:Stamford, Connecticut infobox Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. Fairfield County, is one the top five richest county's in the country. Stamford is a big part in that. According to 2006 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 126,745. Its population is rapidly growing due to influx of jobs and its commuting distance to New York City. Stamford is one of the top 4 largest cites in the state of Connecticut. Stamford is part of the New York metropolitan area.

For the first half of 2004, Stamford was the safest city in the United States with population over 100,000, according to the FBI. Factors that may contribute to the relatively low crime rate are an unemployment rate generally lower than the region, high housing prices that skew the city's demographics away from large numbers of urban poor. Crime in the New York metropolitan area in general has diminished since the 1980s and is lower than many other major U.S. metropolitan areas today. In 2005, Stamford was voted "The Best City to Reside In" by the magazine United States Living.

The city has one hospital, Stamford Hospital.

The city is run by Mayor Dannel Malloy and the first family who reside on Ocean Drive East.

History

For more information, see History of Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford was known as Rippowam by the Native American inhabitants to the region, and the very first European settlers to the area also referred to it as such. The name was later changed to Stamford after a town in Lincolnshire, England. The deed to Stamford was signed on 1 July 1640 between Captain Turner of the New Haven Colony and Chief Ponus. By the Eighteenth century, one of the primary industries of the town was merchandising by water, which was possible due to Stamford's proximity to New York.

Starting in the late 19th century, New York residents built summer homes on the shoreline, and even back then there were some who moved to Stamford permanently and started commuting to Manhattan by train, although the practice became more popular later. Stamford incorporated as a city in 1893.

A massive urban redevelopment campaign (starting in the 1960s and gaining steam in the 1970s) resulted in a downtown with many tall office buildings. The F.D. Rich Co. was the city-designated urban renewal developer of the downtown in an ongoing redevelopment project that was contentious, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. The company put up the city's tallest structure, Landmark Building, and the GTE building (now One Stamford Forum). Over the years, other developers have joined in building up the downtown, a process that continued, with breaks during downturns in the economy, through the 1980s, 1990s and into the new century.

Twenty-first century

In the early afternoon of August 3, 2006, one of the hottest days of the year when air conditioning raised electricity consumption, downtown Stamford experienced a blackout after underground electricity cables on Summer Street overheated and caught fire. Many offices were forced to close down. A concert (part of the Alive@Five series) with Hootie & the Blowfish continued at Columbus Park early that evening, but many restaurants had to throw out their food beforehand.

Geography and climate

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 134.9 km² (52.1 mi²). 97.8 km² (37.8 mi²) of it is land and 37.1 km² (14.3 mi²) of it (27.52%) is water.

Neighborhoods

Stamford made up of into sections (locally a more common term than "neighborhoods" for these areas), each of which has distinct character owing to the type of business and industry that thrived there at one time, such as the South End with its heavy manufacturing. Other areas include Downtown, North Stamford, Turn of River, Roxbury, Newfield, Belltown, Springdale, Glenbrook, Hubbard Heights, the East Side, Shippan, Shippan Point, the Cove, the West Side, Waterside, Westover, Bulls Head, and Long Ridge, which is home to many blue chip corporations.

North Stamford (zip code 06903) has been nationally ranked as one of the wealthiest areas in America, and has the highest average household income rate in Fairfield County, surpassing areas of extremely weatlthy towns such as New Canaan and Greenwich.

Downtown also has a shopping mall, the Stamford Town Center, which opened in 1982. Ridgeway Center, located about a mile north of downtown, is one of the oldest shopping centers of its type, having been built in the 1940s. It was renovated in 1998.

Economy

For more information, see Economy of Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford has a cluster of corporate headquarters (many of which moved from New York in the 1980s both to lower their tax bills and to be closer to the homes of their top executives). This includes four Fortune 500 Companies, nine Fortune 1000 Companies, thirteen Courant 100 Companies, numerous divisions of large corporations, as well as a large number of secretive hedge funds. This gives Stamford one of the largest concentrations of corporations in the nation.

Among the larger companies with headquarters in Stamford are World Wrestling Entertainment, Xerox and Pitney Bowes. UBS also has a major headquarters here, boasting North America's largest equities trading floor.

Royal Bank of Scotland announced in October 2005 that it would consolidate its North American headquarters in downtown Stamford and build the largest trading floor in North America (the current largest trading floor is in the UBS building across the street from where the new building is under construction).

Companies also leave Stamford regularly, either to escape the city's traffic problems or relatively high office rental rates (in which case they often move to Norwalk, Westport or farther to the east in Fairfield County), as a result of being acquired by other businesses (in which case they often move out of state), or for other business reasons. International Paper and MeadWestvaco announced in 2006 that they were leaving the city. Pitney Bowes has kept its headquarters in the city but, like many other companies, it moved some of its back-office operations elsewhere (in this case to Shelton). Stamford and Greenwich both rely on businesses moving in from Manhattan or European companies setting up North American headquarters in local buildings.

Crime

According to a 2004 FBI report, Stamford is the 4th safest city in the United States with population over 100,000. According to the same report for the first half of 2005, Stamford was the safest city in the United States with population over 100,000. The low crime rate has been attributed to effective policing and the fact that Stamford is wealthier and not as diverse as many cities of comparable size. However crime has seen a major increase in Stamford since 2004 and as of 2005 due to many shootings in its West Side and gangs. Stamford was not even in the top 10 for safest cities with a population over 100,000. However it is safe compared to other big cites of Connecticut.

Housing

Housing in Stamford is varied. The downtown area and the neighborhoods immediately north of it, especially along Strawberry Hill Avenue, have numerous high-rise apartment and condo buildings. Condos dominate in Glenbrook and The Cove, while Westover, Shippan and North Stamford are almost exclusively covered by expensive single-family housing. Urban decay in Stamford is limited by the fact the area is so expensive; however, parts of the South End, the West Side and Waterside are known for poverty and overcrowded housing.

Education

For more information, see Education in Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford has branches of the University of Connecticut, University of Bridgeport and Sacred Heart University. The University of Connecticut's campus is located in a large modern building in downtown that opened in 1998 after extensive renovations to an abandoned former Bloomingdales store. The other two are located in small office parks in Springdale. All are commuter campuses.

As no study has been conducted to assess the cost of education in Stamford, it is difficult to tell whether or not Stamford has a well-funded public education system. Although providing a public education is a state responsibility, Connecticut ranks near the bottom in state share of public education expenditures. Thus, the majority of education funding must come from local governments like that of Stamford. According to the State Department of Education, in the 2004-05 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. Research has shown that these populations need additional resources to meet state academic standards. Owing to the state school finance system, the burden of these extra necessary costs of education falls primarily on Stamford's local government. The public school system is an integrated district with racial balance requirements exceeding those of the state of Connecticut. State standards require that a school's racial makeup be within 25% of the community's racial makeup. Stamford's standard is a more strict 10%. Over the years, schools have become unbalanced. Stamford has three high schools, Westhill High School, Stamford High School and the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering. The city also has several private schools, including King and Low-Heywood Thomas School and Trinity Catholic High School, and Bi-Cultural Day School.

Libraries

Stamford's public library, the Ferguson Library, is one of the largest in Connecticut. The main library downtown rents space to a Starbucks (with its own doors to the street and to the library), has a used-book store run by Friends of Ferguson Library and shows movies.

The library has branches in South End, Springdale, and the Turn of River sections of the city, it also has a bookmobile that runs daily to different neighborhoods. The Turn of River branch, officially called the Harry Bennett Branch, is the largest library branch in the state. That branch also has a used book store run by Friends of Ferguson Library.

Attractions

Parks and recreation sites

File:100 0929.jpg

Foxwood Lake

• Cummings Park, a public beach, was once a popular spot for shellfishing. According to a Web page of the Stamford Historical Society: "Halloween Park, later called Cummings Park, was developed in 1906, when Mayor Homer Cummings cast the deciding vote on Halloween Night."
• The 83-acre Cove Island Park, once a farm and then an enormous factory site, offers visitors a choice of beaches as well as picnic grounds and bluffs. It has a small wildlife sanctuary in the southwest corner that might be interesting for bird watchers. SoundWaters Community Center for Environmental Education is located at the northeast part of the park.
• Terry Connors Ice Rink shares a parking lot with Cove Island Park. It offers public ice skating for all ages and ability levels, group lessons and ice hockey.
• Scalzi Park has baseball fields, tennis courts and a baseball stadium named "Cubeta Stadium." Stamford baseball leagues play baseball there. J.M. Wright Technical High School is next to the park.
• Stamford boasts two municipal golf courses. E. Gaynor Brennan Golf Course, also referred to locally as Hubbard Heights, opened for play in 1922. Sterling Farms Golf Course opened in May of 1972, and also has a driving range and six tennis courts.

Arts, science and cultural attractions

For more information, see Arts and culture in Stamford, Connecticut

Science and nature

• The Stamford Museum and Nature Center on a 118-acre site in the northern end of town, has a collection of works by Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore, who was a Stamford resident for a decade.
• The Fairfield County Astronomy Society was started up in 1956 runs the Stamford Observatory, which has a 20-inch telescope.
• Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens is run by the Bartlett Arboretum Association runs the institution on a 91-acre site.
• SoundWaters Community Center for Environmental Education

Theater and film

• Stamford Center for the Arts: The Palace Theatre, originally opened as a vaudeville house in 1927, reopened as a nonprofit theater in 1983. It was joined in 1992 by the Rich Forum, another downtown venue. Both have been run by the Stamford Center for the Arts.
• Stamford Theatre Works professional theater located in the red barn at the corner of Strawberry Hill Avenue and Fifth Street on the campus of the former Sacred Heart Academy, is in its 19th season in 2006-2007.
• Curtain Call Inc. presents plays and other entertainment at the Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Ave.

Crown Theatres has two movie houses in Stamford with a total of 15 movie screens: Crown Landmark and Crown Majestic. On Feb. 13, 2004, the Avon Theatre Film Center, a nonprofit movie house focusing on classic, alternative and art films, opened in the former Avon Theatre on Bedford Street. In Springdale, the two-screen State Cinema, run by Garden Homes Cinemas of Stamford, has second-run films. The Ferguson Library also shows films.

Music

• Stamford Symphony Orchestra In a typical season, the SSO gives five pairs of classical concerts and three pops concerts at the 1,586-seat Palace Theatre, as well as a concert for elementary school students and a family concert series.
• Connecticut Grand Opera, a not-for-profit, professional opera company performs at the Palace Theatre. On its web site, the CGO claims to offer "the most ambitious opera season of any company between New York and Boston."

bowtie theaters

Distinctive Architecture

Churches

• The "Fish Church," or the First Presbyterian Church of Stamford, was designed by Wallace K. Harrison, the chief architect of the United Nations buildings in New York City, and opened in 1958. The fish shape is obvious to anyone who drives by, but the floor plan is also fish-shaped. The stained glass windows in the sanctuary contain more than 20,000 pieces of faceted glass. They depict the story of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. The 32-foot-high cross is faced with wood from Canterbury Cathedral. "Brilliant blues, reds and yellows make up the walls -- and seem to fill the air. 'It really is like being inside a jewel,' says Reverend David R. Van Dyke, a co-pastor. 'When I bring people who haven't been here before, there's an audible gasp.'" (Life Magazine, April 14, 2005)

• St. Mary Roman Catholic Church (completed in 1928) on Elm Street is modeled on a Gothic church in Europe and is the largest house of worship in Fairfield County.

• Stamford Baptist Church is the baptist church of Stamford. It is located on 602 High Ridge Road.

Several of the most distinctive buildings in downtown Stamford were designed by the late Victor Bisharat, who designed the Landmark Square and One Stamford Forum buildings, among others were designed for F.D. Rich Co.

On the National Register of Historic Places

For a long list of Stamford places on the national register, see History of Stamford, Connecticut

Media

The major daily newspaper is The Advocate, owned by the Tribune Company. The city's magazine is Stamford Plus magazine, published by Canaiden LLC. The city's largest weekly newspaper is The Stamford Times, owned by The Hour Newspaper Co.

Radio stations in the city

• WSTC-AM 1400; 1,000 watts; shares programming with WNLK-AM 1350
• WEDW-FM 88.5; 2,000 watts, a National Public Radio station

Transportation

Stamford is a transportation hub for smaller communities in Fairfield County and is one of the largest cities on the route between New York City and Boston. It is located on one of the busiest stretches of highway in the nation, and is in the vicinity of six major airports.

Mass transit

Stamford is located on the main branch of the New Haven Line on the Metro-North Railroad, the commuter rail system for northern metropolitan New York City. Stamford Station is the last express station in the direction of New York City, and thus serves as a major transfer point for faster trains into New York City. Stamford Station is also the terminus of a Metro-North branch line that ends in New Canaan, about 15 miles (24 km) away. There are two smaller local stations in Stamford, Glenbrook and Springdale along the New Canaan Branch.

A major increase in the population of Fairfield County in the 1990s put Metro North service under increasing strain to cope with the increase in commuters. Currently, the system operates at capacity with an express train departing from Stamford Station in both directions of the New Haven line every hour during off-peak hours and every 10 to 15 minutes during peak hours. The antiquated M2 railcars have started to break down more regularly, although there is a large service depot located near Stamford Station. While Metro North, in conjunction with New York State for funding, has replaced all the M1A railcars with newer M7A's on all New York State-only lines, it continues to operate the M2's to Connecticut, as the New York State-only lines run on third-rail, and the Connecticut portion is overhead wired, as it is shared with the Northeast Corridor. In 2005, Connecticut outlined a plan to replace the trains on the New Haven Line, with the M8's scheduled to enter revenue service in 2008.

Stamford Station is also a major Amtrak station and has its own Amtrak ticket counter. Stamford is served by the high-speed Acela trains that run from Washington, DC to Boston. Amtrak's Regional and Vermonter service as link Stamford with daily trains to Virginia, Vermont and intermediate points. During the height of the dot com bubble, there was talk of starting a ferry service between Stamford, Long Island, and New York City, but the plans have fallen by the wayside as tax revenue for the city declined.

Airports

Stamford does not have its own airport. However, its location is within an hour of six major airports. International flights come in to John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York and Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey. Commuter and short-haul flights arrive at Westchester County, LaGuardia, and Tweed New Haven airports. Stamford is assigned a three-letter airport code (ZTF) because Continental Airlines offer a code-share with Amtrak to Stamford's train station.

Buses

Bus transportation is provided by CT Transit which is run and financed by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The bus terminus for the city is located alongside State Street, under the I-95 highway, and across from Stamford Station. Bus service runs along major arterial roads as well as connecting the city to Darien, Norwalk, Greenwich and Port Chester, New York. The Stamford School District uses Laidlaw to bring kids to school and back.It serves all schools in the city. This bus service does not go out of town. During school days you will see Laidlaw buses all over city streets.

Highways

Stamford is located on one of the busiest road transportation corridors in the United States. Interstate 95, which runs through the southern portion of the city, is the main highway between New York City and Boston. There are four exits in Stamford, two of which service downtown where the highway is elevated to allow traffic to pass underneath.

The Merritt Parkway runs through northern Stamford. It is has been designated a historic road by the State of Connecticut for the art deco design of many of the bridges that pass over it. Due to the low height of the bridges, no trucks of any kind are allowed on the road, so it serves little commercial transportation use. However, it is used heavily by commuters into Stamford, Greenwich, and New York.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2004, there were 120,045 people, 45,399 households, and 28,964 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,197.5/km² (3,101.9/mi²). There were 47,317 housing units at an average density of 484.0/km² (1,253.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 69.79% White. 65.4% of Whites were of Italian origin, 15.39% Black or African American, 0.21% Native American, 5.00% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 6.50% from other races, and 3.07% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.77% of the population.

There were 45,399 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 11.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 35.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $60,556, and the median income for a family was $69,337. Males had a median income of $48,386 versus $36,958 for females. The per capita income for the city was $34,987. About 5.4% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

Italians form the largest ethnic group in Stamford. Irish, Polish, Jewish, Puerto Rican, African-American, and Caribbean people also make up a significant portion of the population.

Economic disparity

While Stamford's proximity to New York City and low crime rate make it an attractive community in which to reside, the city suffers from a certain amount of economic skewing. High property values, expensive rents, and numerous low-income housing projects mean that many residents of Stamford are either very rich or very poor. The same situation, to different degrees, occurs in Manhattan, in Fairfield County as a whole, and, to a lesser extent, across the state.

Surrounded by the old-money towns of Greenwich, New Canaan, Darien, and Westport, Stamford is generally considered a haven of the newly rich, as the modern, spacious homes built in around Stamford can attest.

Notable people, past and present

For names of other notable people associated with Stamford, see People of Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford has been home to many famous people, now and in the past. Entertainers who have called the city home include band leader Benny Goodman, Christopher Lloyd, who was born in the city. Bob Crane, star of Hogan's Heroes spent part of his childhood in Stamford. Actor and comedian Gene Wilder and singer Cyndi Lauper are current residents.

Baseball star Jackie Robinson made Stamford his home, and football Hall of Famer Andy Robustelli was born in the city, as was baseball manager Bobby Valentine. Valentine also owns a popular restaurant in downtown Stamford that bears his name. Boxing champion Gene Tunney is buried in town.

Georges Clemenceau, the French premier during World War I taught at a girl's school in Stamford in the 1860s. U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman grew up in the city. U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays is a former resident. John J. McCloy, a prominent advisor to presidents, died in Stamford. William F. Buckley Jr., founder of National Review magazine, is a longtime resident.

Gutzon Borglum, sculptor of Mount Rushmore, lived in the city for 10 years. Lubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Major-Archdiocese of Lviv, and one of the cardinals considered a possible successor to Pope John Paul II in 2005, was educated at St. Basil's College in Stamford.

Robert Jarvik, inventor of the first artificial heart, grew up in the city.. Will Shortz, puzzle editor of The New York Times, is current resident and organizes national crossword puzzle championships held in Stamford.

Many professional wrestlers and executives associated with World Wrestling Entertainment reside in Stamford or in neighboring towns, as the city is home to WWE's corporate headquarters.

Rihanna, pop/R&B singer, currently resides in Stamford.

Craig Austrie, point guard on UConn basketball team, is from Stamford. He had played for Trinity Catholic High School.

Movies filmed in Stamford

Full-length, feature films and documentaries, in reverse chronological order:

• Reservation Road (scheduled for release 2007) rented space in Stamford by September 2006 and expected to be picking out locations in the city within weeks, according to an article in The Advocate of Stamford. Joaquin Phoenix and Jennifer Connelly will act in the film, Terry George will direct. The movie is based on a 1999 novel by John Burnham Schwartz. The story involves two families -- the father in one kills the son of the other in a hit and run accident.
• In Bloom (2008), currently in production. In August 2006, sites in Waterside, Springdale, Glenbrook and the West Side were being used as filming locations. "St. Basil College, Victory Deli, Pellicci's Restaurant, Stamford Hospital and private homes on Scott Place and Apple Tree Drive will be used to portray the fictitious town of Briarhill, Conn.," according to The Advocate of Stamford.
• Person of Interest (2007 TBA)
• Wordplay (2006) (filmed at the Marriott hotel)
• Bottom Floor (2004)
• Dark Exposures (2004)
• How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Superlaser (2003)
• Ethereal Plane, The (2002)
• Moby Presents: Alien Sex Party (2003)
• Occupational Hazard (2004)
• [Rock & Roll Superhero][11] (2003)
• Chooch (2003)
• Three Long Years (2003)
• Wrong Number (2001)
• Beyond the Mat (1999)
• Scenes from a Mall (1991)
• Dracula Exotica a/k/a Love at First Gulp (1981)
• The Horror of Party Beach (1964)
• The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964)
• The Cardinal (1963)
• Boomerang! (1947)
• The Struggle (1931)
• The Sporting Duchess (1920)
• How Molly Malone Made Good a/k/a How Molly Made Good (1915)
• The Million Dollar Mystery (1914)
• The Impalement (1910)
• In the Season of Buds (1910)

Herb Williams, assistant coach of the New York Knicks currently resides in Stamford. Source (unless otherwise noted): Internet Movie DataBase page on Stamford

Trivia

• The trading floor at the UBS building in downtown Stamford holds the Guinness World Record as the largest securities trading floor in the world.

• In the NBC television series The Office, the character Jim Halpert transferred to a Dunder Mifflin branch in Stamford.

• Stamford was devastated in a comic book in 2006: Civil War, a cross-over series of Marvel comic books, depicts comic-book heroes and villains battling it out in downtown Stamford and elsewhere in the city, although no specific Stamford buildings seem to be depicted. However a store sign from "A Timeless Journey", a comic book shop in the city, is featured in Issue No. 532 of The Amazing Spider-Man. Marvel writer Jeph Loeb, "who grew up near Riverbank Road and attended the former Riverbank Elementary School, taken over by Mead School in the mid-1990s", came up with the decision to use Stamford, according to an article in The Advocate of Stamford. "The Stamford incident", referring to a massacre in the comic-book series "Civil War" is referred to in later comic books in the series. The use of the comic-book store sign came because the store owner, Paul Salerno, was quoted in an April Advocate story saying he'd love to have his store depicted, even if it were devastated in the comic-book series. The day after the article came out, the store owner got a call from Marvel.

• The NHL on Versus airs it's studio show from its studio in Stamford, Connecticut.

See also

• Stamford Yacht Club

Further reading

• Springdale Remembered 1640-1949, by Rosemary Burns
• The Story of the Early Settlers of Stamford, Connecticut by Jeanne Majdalany

External links

• City of Stamford
• Stamford Historical Society
• "Made in Stamford: A History of Stamford as a Manufacturing Center"
• Ferguson Library
• University of Connecticut-Stamford
• Coastal Fairfield County Convention & Visitor Bureau
• Stamford Chamber of Commerce
• Stamford Downtown Special Services District
• CTE Inc., an anti-poverty agency serving Stamford, Greenwich and Darien