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The city also has more top Zagat-rated restaurants than any other town or city in Connecticut,{{Fact|date=February 2008}} including many new additions such as upmarket downtown restaurants Bentara, Foster's, Pacifico, and Ibiza. Over 120 restaurants are located within two blocks of the [[New Haven Green]]. Claire's Corner Copia at Chapel and College Streets claims to be the oldest [[vegetarian]] restaurant in the country. Also of note are "The Carts," about 20 lunch carts from neighborhood restaurants that cater to the [[Yale-New Haven Hospital]] pedestrian traffic in the center of the Hospital Green (Cedar and York Sts.) during weekday lunchtimes.
The city also has more top Zagat-rated restaurants than any other town or city in Connecticut,{{Fact|date=February 2008}} including many new additions such as upmarket downtown restaurants Bentara, Foster's, Pacifico, and Ibiza. Over 120 restaurants are located within two blocks of the [[New Haven Green]]. Claire's Corner Copia at Chapel and College Streets claims to be the oldest [[vegetarian]] restaurant in the country. Also of note are "The Carts," about 20 lunch carts from neighborhood restaurants that cater to the [[Yale-New Haven Hospital]] pedestrian traffic in the center of the Hospital Green (Cedar and York Sts.) during weekday lunchtimes.


===Sports and athletics===
=== Theatre ===
The city hosts numerous theatres and production houses including the [[Yale Repertory Theatre]], the [[Long Wharf Theatre]], and the [[Shubert Theatre (New Haven)|Shubert Theatre]]. There is also theatre activity from the [[Yale School of Drama]], which works through the [[Yale University Theatre]] and the student-run [[Yale Cabaret]]. [[Southern Connecticut State University]] hosts the [[Lyman Center for the Performing Arts]].

The Shubert Theater once premiered many major theatrical productions before their Broadway debuts. Productions that premiered at the Shubert include ''[[Oklahoma!]]'', ''[[Carousel (musical)|Carousel]]'', ''[[South Pacific (musical)|South Pacific]]'', ''[[The King and I]]'', and ''[[The Sound of Music]]'', as well as the Tennessee Williams' play ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (play)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]''.

=== Museums ===
New Haven has a variety of museums, many of them associated with Yale. The [[Beinecke Rare Book Library|Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library]] features an original copy of the [[Gutenberg Bible]]. There is also the [[Connecticut Children's Museum]]; the [[Knights of Columbus]] museum near that organization's world headquarters; the [[Peabody Museum of Natural History]]; the [[Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments]]; the [[Eli Whitney]] museum (across the town line in [[Hamden, Connecticut]], on Whitney Avenue); the [[Yale Center for British Art]], which houses the largest collection of British art outside the [[U.K.]],{{Fact|date=June 2007}} and the [[Yale University Art Gallery]], the nation's oldest college art museum.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} New Haven is also home to the [[New Haven Museum and Historical Society]] on Whitney Avenue, which also has a library of many primary source treasures dating from Colonial times to the present. [[Artspace]] on Orange Street is a contemporary art gallery, showcasing the work of local, national, and international artists.

New Haven is also the home port of a life-size replica of the historical ''[[Amistad (ship replica)|Freedom Schooner Amistad]]'', which is open for tours at Long Wharf pier at certain times during the summer. Also at Long Wharf pier is the ''Quinnipiack'' schooner, offering sailing cruises of the harbor area throughout the summer. The Quinnipiack also functions as a floating classroom for hundreds of local students.

=== Music ===
The New Haven Green is the site of many free music concerts, especially during the summer months. These have included the [[New Haven Symphony Orchestra]], the July Free Concerts on the Green in July, and the [[New Haven Jazz Festival]] in August. The Jazz Festival, which began in 1982, was one of the longest-running free outdoor festivals in the U.S., until it was canceled for 2007. Headliners such as Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles and Celia Cruz have historically drawn 30,000 to 50,000 fans, filling up the New Haven Green to capacity.

New Haven is also home to the concert venue [[Toad's Place]]. The city has retained an alternative art and music underground that has helped to influence post-punk era music movements such as indie/college rock and underground hip-hop. Other local venues include Cafe Nine, BAR, Firehouse 12, and Rudy's.

The [[Yale School of Music]] also contributes to the city's music scene by offering hundreds of free concerts throughout the year at venues in and around the Yale campus.

=== Newspapers and media ===
New Haven is served by the daily ''[[New Haven Register]]'', the weekly "alternative" (which is corporate run by Tribune, the company owning The Hartford Courant) ''[[New Haven Advocate]]'' and the online daily [http://www.newhavenindependent.org New Haven Independent]. The city's Spanish-speaking community is served by Registro, a Spanish-language twice-weekly operated by The New Haven Register's parent company. The Register also backs ''[[PLAY]]'' magazine, a weekly entertainment publication. It is also served by several student-run papers, including the ''[[Yale Daily News]]'', the weekly ''[[Yale Herald]]'' and a humor tabloid, ''[[Rumpus Magazine]]''.
<!-- New Haven is also home to a worldwide free-speech, voluntary-contribution based paper called [http://www.sensoredzine.org Sensor(ED)] which tends to run on a bi-monthly schedule. -->
[[WTNH]] Channel 8, the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] affiliate for Connecticut, [[WCTX]] Channel 59, the [[MyNetworkTV]] affiliate for the state, and [[Connecticut Public Television]] station [[WEDY]] channel 65, a [[PBS]] affiliate, broadcast from New Haven.

Though both WTNH and WCTX are located in New Haven, CT, their Master Control, and Traffic departments are located in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]] in a former section of the city called Chicopee.

=== Sports and athletics ===
{{Refimprove|date=April 2008}}
{{Refimprove|date=April 2008}}
Much like other mid-sized Northeastern industrial cities, New Haven has historically supported its minor league hockey teams enthusiastically, having had a hockey team for 76 years. The [[New Haven Eagles]] were founding members of the [[American Hockey League]] in 1936, playing at the old [[New Haven Arena]] on Grove Street. The New Haven Blades of the [[Eastern Hockey League]] played from 1954 to 1972 before being succeeded by the New Haven Nighthawks of the AHL, which played at the then-new [[New Haven Coliseum]], a sports and entertainment facility that hosted such performers and others as the [[U.S. Olympic Hockey Team]], [[Aerosmith]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[Bruce Springsteen]], [[Van Halen]], [[Yes (band)|Yes]], and the [[Steve Miller Band]] before closing in 2003, when the state-funded [[Arena at Harbor Yard]] in Bridgeport later became the preferred venue.
Much like other mid-sized Northeastern industrial cities, New Haven has historically supported its minor league hockey teams enthusiastically, having had a hockey team for 76 years. The [[New Haven Eagles]] were founding members of the [[American Hockey League]] in 1936, playing at the old [[New Haven Arena]] on Grove Street. The New Haven Blades of the [[Eastern Hockey League]] played from 1954 to 1972 before being succeeded by the New Haven Nighthawks of the AHL, which played at the then-new [[New Haven Coliseum]], a sports and entertainment facility that hosted such performers and others as the [[U.S. Olympic Hockey Team]], [[Aerosmith]], [[Grateful Dead]], [[Bruce Springsteen]], [[Van Halen]], [[Yes (band)|Yes]], and the [[Steve Miller Band]] before closing in 2003, when the state-funded [[Arena at Harbor Yard]] in Bridgeport later became the preferred venue.
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New Haven has a very large cycling community{{Fact|date=August 2007}}, which is represented by a large advocacy and community group, [[ElmCityCycling]]. Group rides are held several times per week.
New Haven has a very large cycling community{{Fact|date=August 2007}}, which is represented by a large advocacy and community group, [[ElmCityCycling]]. Group rides are held several times per week.

=== Theatre ===
The city hosts numerous theatres and production houses including the [[Yale Repertory Theatre]], the [[Long Wharf Theatre]], and the [[Shubert Theatre (New Haven)|Shubert Theatre]]. There is also theatre activity from the [[Yale School of Drama]], which works through the [[Yale University Theatre]] and the student-run [[Yale Cabaret]]. [[Southern Connecticut State University]] hosts the [[Lyman Center for the Performing Arts]].

The Shubert Theater once premiered many major theatrical productions before their Broadway debuts. Productions that premiered at the Shubert include ''[[Oklahoma!]]'', ''[[Carousel (musical)|Carousel]]'', ''[[South Pacific (musical)|South Pacific]]'', ''[[The King and I]]'', and ''[[The Sound of Music]]'', as well as the Tennessee Williams' play ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire (play)|A Streetcar Named Desire]]''.

=== Museums ===
New Haven has a variety of museums, many of them associated with Yale. The [[Beinecke Rare Book Library|Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library]] features an original copy of the [[Gutenberg Bible]]. There is also the [[Connecticut Children's Museum]]; the [[Knights of Columbus]] museum near that organization's world headquarters; the [[Peabody Museum of Natural History]]; the [[Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments]]; the [[Eli Whitney]] museum (across the town line in [[Hamden, Connecticut]], on Whitney Avenue); the [[Yale Center for British Art]], which houses the largest collection of British art outside the [[U.K.]],{{Fact|date=June 2007}} and the [[Yale University Art Gallery]], the nation's oldest college art museum.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} New Haven is also home to the [[New Haven Museum and Historical Society]] on Whitney Avenue, which also has a library of many primary source treasures dating from Colonial times to the present. [[Artspace]] on Orange Street is a contemporary art gallery, showcasing the work of local, national, and international artists.

New Haven is also the home port of a life-size replica of the historical ''[[Amistad (ship replica)|Freedom Schooner Amistad]]'', which is open for tours at Long Wharf pier at certain times during the summer. Also at Long Wharf pier is the ''Quinnipiack'' schooner, offering sailing cruises of the harbor area throughout the summer. The Quinnipiack also functions as a floating classroom for hundreds of local students.

=== Music ===
The New Haven Green is the site of many free music concerts, especially during the summer months. These have included the [[New Haven Symphony Orchestra]], the July Free Concerts on the Green in July, and the [[New Haven Jazz Festival]] in August. The Jazz Festival, which began in 1982, was one of the longest-running free outdoor festivals in the U.S., until it was canceled for 2007. Headliners such as Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles and Celia Cruz have historically drawn 30,000 to 50,000 fans, filling up the New Haven Green to capacity.

New Haven is also home to the concert venue [[Toad's Place]]. The city has retained an alternative art and music underground that has helped to influence post-punk era music movements such as indie/college rock and underground hip-hop. Other local venues include Cafe Nine, BAR, Firehouse 12, and Rudy's.

The [[Yale School of Music]] also contributes to the city's music scene by offering hundreds of free concerts throughout the year at venues in and around the Yale campus.


[[Image:IMG 2753a.jpg|right|thumb|Five Mile Point Lighthouse (2005)]]
[[Image:IMG 2753a.jpg|right|thumb|Five Mile Point Lighthouse (2005)]]

Revision as of 10:18, 28 April 2008

New Haven, Connecticut
Nickname: 
The Elm City
Location in Connecticut
Location in Connecticut
NECTANew Haven
RegionSouth Central Region
Settled1638
Incorporated (city)1784
Consolidated1895
Government
 • TypeMayor-board of aldermen
 • MayorJohn DeStefano, Jr. (D)
Area
 • City20.31 sq mi (52.6 km2)
 • Land18.9 sq mi (49.0 km2)
 • Water1.4 sq mi (3.6 km2)
 • Urban
285.3 sq mi (738.9 km2)
Elevation
59 ft (18 m)
Population
 (2006)[1]
 • City124,001
 • Density6,600/sq mi (2,549/km2)
 • Urban
569,000
 • Metro
846,766
 Metro area refers to New Haven County
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (Eastern)
ZIP code
0651x
Area code203
FIPS code09-52000
GNIS feature ID0209231
Websitehttp://www.cityofnewhaven.com/

New Haven is the third-largest municipality[2] in Connecticut, after Bridgeport and possibly Hartford, with a core population of about 124,000 people.[1] "New Haven" may also refer to the wider Greater New Haven area, which has nearly 600,000 inhabitants in the immediate area.[3][4] It is located in New Haven County, on New Haven Harbor, on the northern shore of Long Island Sound.

New Haven was founded in 1638, one of the earliest planned communities in North America.[5] The next year, eight streets were laid out in a grid of four streets by four streets creating what is now commonly known as the "Nine Square Plan,"[6] which is recognized by the American Institute of Certified Planners as a National Historic Planning Landmark. The central common block is the Green, a 16 acre square, now a National Historic Landmark and the center of Downtown New Haven.

New Haven had the first public tree planting program in America, producing a canopy of mature trees (including some large elms) that gave New Haven the nickname "The Elm City."

The city is the home of Yale University. Along with Yale, healthcare (hospitals, biotechnology), professional services (legal, architectural, marketing, engineering), financial services and retail trade form the base of the economy. Since the mid-1990s, the city's downtown area has seen extensive revitalization.[7]

History

Pre-colonial and colonial history

The historic New Haven Green.

Before European arrival, the New Haven area was the home of the Quinnipiac tribe of Native Americans, who lived in villages around the harbor and subsisted off local fisheries and the farming of maize. The area was briefly visited by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block in 1614. Dutch traders set up a small trading system of beaver pelts with the local inhabitants, but trade was sporadic and the Dutch did not settle permanently in the area.

In April 1638, five hundred Puritans who left the Massachusetts Bay Colony under the leadership of the Reverend John Davenport and the London merchant Theophilus Eaton sailed into the harbor. These settlers were hoping to establish a better theological community than the one they left in Massachusetts and sought to take advantage of the excellent port capabilities of the harbor. The Quinnipiacs, who were under attack by neighboring Pequots, sold their land to the settlers in return for protection.

A statue of the Roman orator Cicero in front of the old court house, on Elm Street.

By 1640, the town's theocratic government and nine square grid plan were in place, and the town was renamed Newhaven from Quinnipiac. However, the area north of New Haven remained Quinnipiac until 1678, when it was renamed Hamden. The settlement became the headquarters of the New Haven Colony. At the time, the New Haven Colony was separate from the Connecticut Colony which had been established to the north focusing on Hartford. One of the principal differences between the two colonies was that the New Haven colony was an intolerant theocracy that did not permit other churches to be established while the Connecticut colony permitted the establishment of other churches.

Economic disaster struck the colony in 1646, however, when the town sent its first fully loaded ship of local goods back to England. This ship never reached the Old World, and its disappearance stymied New Haven's development in the face of the rising trade power of Boston and New Amsterdam. In 1660, founder John Davenport's wishes were fulfilled and Hopkins School was founded in New Haven with money from the estate of Edward Hopkins.

In 1661, the judges who had signed the death warrant of Charles I of England were pursued by Charles II. Two judges, Colonel Edward Whalley and Colonel William Goffe, fled to New Haven to seek refuge from the king's forces. John Davenport arranged for these "Regicides" to hide in the West Rock hills northwest of the town. A third judge, John Dixwell, joined the other regicides at a later time.

New Haven became part of the Connecticut Colony in 1664, when the two colonies were merged under political pressure from England, according to folklore as punishment for harboring the three judges (in reality, done in order to strengthen the case for the takeover of nearby New Amsterdam, which was rapidly losing territory to migrants from Connecticut)[citation needed]. Some members of the New Haven Colony seeking to establish a new theocracy elsewhere went on to establish Newark, New Jersey.

It was made co-capital of Connecticut in 1701, a status it retained until 1873. In 1716, the Collegiate School relocated from Old Saybrook to New Haven and established New Haven as a center of learning. In 1718, the name of the Collegiate School was changed to Yale College in response to a large donation from Welsh merchant Elihu Yale.

For over a century, New Haven citizens had fought alongside British forces, as in the French and Indian War. As the American Revolution approached, General David Wooster and other influential residents hoped that the conflict with Britain could be resolved short of rebellion. But on April 23, 1775 (still celebrated in New Haven as Powder House Day), the Second Company, Governor's Foot Guard, of New Haven entered the struggle against the British. Under Captain Benedict Arnold, they broke into the powder house to arm themselves and began a three-day march to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Other New Haven militia members were on hand to escort George Washington from his overnight stay in New Haven on his way to Cambridge. Contemporary reports, from both sides, remark on the New Haven volunteers' professional military bearing, including uniforms.

British forces under General William Tryon raided the 3,500-person town in July of 1779 , but did not torch it as they had with Danbury in 1777 , or Fairfield and Norwalk a week after the New Haven raid, leaving many of the town's colonial features preserved.

Towns created from New Haven

Towns in the New Haven area

New Haven was the original settlement in New Haven Colony; over time other new towns separated from its territory and incorporated. The following is a complete list of towns established from parts of the original New Haven settlement.[8]

Post-colonial history

A sign on New Haven Green that details the city history.

New Haven was incorporated as a city in 1784 , and Roger Sherman, one of the signers of the Constitution and author of the "Connecticut Compromise," became the new city's first mayor.

The city struck fortune in the late 18th-century with the inventions and industrial activity of Eli Whitney, a Yale graduate who remained in New Haven to develop the cotton gin and establish a gun-manufacturing factory in the northern part of the city near the Hamden town line. That area is still known as Whitneyville, and the main road through both towns is known as Whitney Avenue. The factory is now the Eli Whitney Museum which has a particular emphasis on activities for children, and exhibits pertaining to the A. C. Gilbert Company. Whitney pioneered the replacement of hand-shaped piecework with industrial mass-production and interchangeable parts and was the first defense contractor. His methods made early Connecticut a powerful manufacturing economy; so many arms manufacturers sprang up that the state became known as 'The Arsenal of America'. It was in Whitney's gun-manufacturing plant that Samuel Colt invented the automatic revolver in 1836.

The Farmington Canal, created in the early 1800s, was a short-lived transporter of goods into the interior regions of Connecticut and Massachusetts, and ran from New Haven to Northampton, Massachusetts.

New Haven was home to one of the important early events in the burgeoning anti-slavery movement when, in 1839, the trial of mutineering Mendi tribesmen being transported as slaves on the Spanish slaveship Amistad was held in New Haven's United States District Court. There is a statue of Joseph Cinqué, the informal leader of the slaves, beside City Hall. See "Museums" below for more information.

The Civil War boosted the local economy with wartime purchases of industrial goods. After the war, New Haven's population grew and doubled by the start of the 20th century, most notably due to the influx of immigrants from southern Europe, particularly Italy. Today, roughly half the populations of East Haven, West Haven, and North Haven are Italian-American.[citation needed] Jewish immigration to New Haven cannot be discounted, as it has left an enduring mark on the city. Westville was the center of Jewish life in New Haven, though today many have fanned out to suburban communities such as Woodbridge and Cheshire.

Modern history

File:Newhavenstructure2-clocktower.jpg
Harkness Tower, part of the Yale University campus in downtown New Haven

New Haven's growth continued during the two World Wars, with most new inhabitants being African Americans from the South and Puerto Ricans. The city reached its peak population after World War II. The area of New Haven is only 17 square miles (44 km2), encouraging further development of new housing after 1950 in adjacent, suburban towns. Moreover, as in other US cities in 1950s, New Haven began to suffer from an exodus of middle-class workers.

In 1954, then-mayor Richard C. Lee began some of the earliest major urban renewal projects in the United States. Certain sections of Downtown New Haven were destroyed and rebuilt with new office towers, a hotel, and large shopping complexes. Other parts of the city were affected by the construction of Interstate 95 along the Long Wharf section, Interstate 91 and the Oak Street Connector. The Oak Street Connector (Route 34), running between Interstate 95, downtown and The Hill neighborhood, was originally intended as a highway to the city's western suburbs but was only completed as a highway to the downtown area, with the area to the west becoming a boulevard.

From the 1960s through the early 1990s, central areas of New Haven continued to decline both economically and in terms of population despite attempts to resurrect certain neighborhoods through renewal projects. In the mid-1990s New Haven began to stabilize and grow, though poverty in some central neighborhoods remains a problem.


1970 trial

New Haven in 1970 witnessed the largest trial in Connecticut history. Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale and ten other Party members were tried for murdering an alleged informant. May Day, 1970 saw the beginning of the pretrial proceedings for the first of the two New Haven Black Panther trials; it was met with a demonstration by twelve thousand Black Panther supporters, including a large number of college students, who had come to New Haven individually and in organized groups and were housed and fed by community organizations and by Yale students in their dorms.

The demonstrations continued through the Spring. By day protesters assembled on the New Haven Green across the street from the Courthouse to hear speakers including Jean Genet, Benjamin Spock, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and John Froines; afterwards, many taunted the New Haven police, and in return were tear gassed and retreated to their temporary quarters. The police behind them half-heartedly assaulted the dormitories, as was customary for such demonstrations at the time, but on the whole it was peaceful, with very little injury or property damage and only two minor bombings. The National Guard were kept ready on the highways into the city, but police chief Jim Ahern determined that the city police were controlling the situation adequately, and that the presence of the Guard would only inflame the situation; the events at Kent State University a few days later were to prove him prescient.

This coincided with the beginning of the national student strike of May 1970. Yale (and many other colleges) went "on strike" from just before May Day until the end of the term; as at many colleges it was not actually "shut down", but classes were made "voluntarily optional" for the time and students were graded pass/fail for work done up to then.

New Haven in modern political history

New Haven is the birthplace of U.S. President George W. Bush,[9] who was born when his father, former president George H. W. Bush, was living in New Haven while a student at Yale. A predominantly Democratic city, New Haven voters overwhelmingly supported Al Gore in the 2000 election and Yale graduate John Kerry in 2004. In addition to being the site of the college educations of both Presidents Bush, New Haven was also a temporary home to former president Bill Clinton and U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who met while they were students at Yale Law School. New Haven was also the residence of conservative thinker William F. Buckley, Jr. in 1951, when he wrote his influential God and Man at Yale.

Since the mid-1950s and spearheaded by its former long-serving mayor, Richard C. Lee, New Haven has undertaken numerous urban redevelopment projects, but with overall mixed results. The downtown area in particular has been the site of sometimes dubious experiments in urban redesign, with new hotels, retail complexes, parking structures, a sports colliseum, and office towers built under a labyrinth of city, state, federal and private efforts. Of recent note, as each of these pieces of the redevelopment puzzle transform, become obsolete or again redeveloped, New Haven tends to bear the brunt of a fair share of painful analysis in regard to its ongoing rebuilding efforts, mostly in response to the overhyped claims of success that many similar projects touted over a generation ago.

During the 1950s and 60s, New Haven received more urban renewal funding per capita than any city in the U.S. New Haven became the de facto showcase of the new modern redeveloped [original research?] city and plans for its downtown development were featured on the cover of Time Magazine in the early 1960s. Some projects, such as the brutalist-styled New Haven Coliseum (demolished in 2007), drew major crowds but were ultimately considered to be victims of modernist over-design and rapid obsolescence. In 2004, the central structure of the mall was converted to luxury apartments, joining a renovated 4-star Omni hotel and new street-level retail. Other numerous smaller projects have in-fill design qualities and are mixed-use.

Current plans for downtown include developing the sites of the Colliseum and Macy's and Malley's department stores and relocating Gateway Community College, Long Wharf Theatre and a mixed-use development there. A major focus has been the "Ninth Square," named from the original nine square layout of New Haven center. This area has experienced an influx of hundreds of new and renovated apartment and condominium units, plus a significant number of upscale restaurants and nightclubs have opened.

John DeStefano, Jr., the current mayor of New Haven, has served seven consecutive terms and was re-elected for an eighth term in November 2007. Mayor DeStefano has focused his tenure on improving education and public safety, as well as on economic development. Notable initiatives include the Livable City Initiative, begun in 1996, which promotes homeownership and removes blight, and the Citywide Youth Initiative. In 1995, DeStanfo launched a 15-year, $1.5 billion School Construction Program, already half finished, to replace or renovate every New Haven public school.

Geography

Aerial view of downtown New Haven, including the Yale Center for British Art

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.2 square miles (52.4 km²), of which, 18.9 square miles (48.8 km²) of it is land and 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²) of it (6.91%) is water.

New Haven's best-known geographic features are its large deep harbor, and two reddish basalt "trap rocks" which rise to the northeast and northwest of the city core. These trap rocks are known respectively as East Rock and West Rock, and both serve as extensive parks. West Rock has been tunneled through to make way for the east-west passage of the Wilbur Cross Parkway (the only highway tunnel through a natural obstacle in Connecticut), and once served as the hideout of the "Regicides" (see: Regicides Trail). Most New Haveners refer to these men as "The Three Judges." East Rock features the prominent Soldiers and Sailors war monument on its peak as well as the "Great/Giant Steps" which run up the rock's cliffside.

The city is drained by three rivers, the West, Mill, and Quinnipiac, named in order from west to east. The West River discharges into the West Haven Harbor, while the Mill and Quinnipiac Rivers discharge into the New Haven Harbor. Both harbors are embayments of Long Island Sound. In addition, several smaller streams flow through the city's neighborhoods, including Wintergreen Brook, the Beaver Ponds Outlet, Wilmot Brook, Belden Brook, and Prospect Creek. Not all of these small streams have continuous flow year-round.

Streetscape

New Haven has a long tradition of urban planning and a purposeful design of the city's layout. The city is recognized as one of the oldest planned cities in North America [1][2]. Upon founding, New Haven was laid out in a grid plan of nine square blocks; the central square was left open, in the tradition of many New England towns, as the city green (a commons area). The city also instituted the first public tree planting program in America. As in other cities, many of the elms that gave New Haven the nickname "Elm City" perished in the mid-20th century due to Dutch Elm disease, although many have since been replanted. The New Haven Green is currently home to three separate historic churches which speak to the original theocratic nature of the city.[6] The Green remains the social center of the city today. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Downtown New Haven, occupied by nearly 7,000 residents, has a more residential character than most downtowns.[10] The downtown area provides about half of the city's jobs and half of its tax base[10] and in recent years has become filled with dozens of new upscale restaurants, several of which have garnered national praise (such as Ibiza, recognized by Esquire (magazine) and Wine Spectator magazines as well as the New York Times as the best Spanish food in the country), in addition to shops and thousands of apartments and condominium units.[citation needed]

Neighborhoods

The city has many distinct neighborhoods. In addition to Downtown, centered on the central business district and the Green, are the following neighborhoods: the west central neighborhoods of Dixwell and Dwight; the southern neighborhoods of The Hill, historic water-front City Point (or Oyster Point), and the harborside district of Long Wharf; the western neighborhoods of Edgewood, West River, Westville, Amity, and West Rock-Westhills; East Rock, Cedar Hill, Prospect Hill, and Newhallville in the northern side of town; the east central neighborhoods of Mill River and Wooster Square, an Italian-American neighborhood; Fair Haven, a neighborhood that is with majority Puerto Rican families and other Latino groups, located between the Mill and Quinnipiac rivers; Quinnipiac Meadows and Fair Haven Heights across the Quinnipiac River; and facing the eastern side of the harbor, The Annex and East Shore (or Morris Cove).[11][12]

Economy

Data from City-Data.com[13]

Though New Haven's economy originally was based in manufacturing, Yale University has caused a large shift in the city's economic support. Over half (56%) of the city's economy is now made up of services, in particular education and healthcare, with Yale as the city's largest employer, followed by Yale New Haven Hospital.[14] Yale and Yale-New Haven are not only the city's largest employers, but also among of the state's largest, providing more $100,000+-salaried positions than any other employer in Connecticut.[citation needed]

Demographics

Historical population of
New Haven
[15][16]
1790 4,487
1800 4,049
1810 5,772
1820 7,147
1830 10,180
1840 12,960
1850 20,345
1860 39,267
1870 50,840
1880 62,882
1890 86,045
1900 108,027
1910 133,605
1920 162,537
1930 162,665
1940 160,605
1950 164,443
1960 152,048
1970 137,707
1980 126,021
1990 130,474
2000 123,626
2005 124,001 (estimate)

As of the U.S. Census Bureau 2006 American Community Survey, there were 124,001 people and, as of the census of 2000, there were 47,094 households, and 25,854 families residing in the central municipality, the City of New Haven. The population density was 6,558.4 people per square mile (2,532.2/km²). There were 52,941 housing units at an average density of 2,808.5/sq mi (1,084.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 43.46% White, 37.36% African American, 0.43% Native American, 3.90% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 10.89% from other races, and 3.91% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.39% of the population. Non-Hispanic whites made 35.57% of the population.

There were 47,094 households out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.5% were married couples living together, 22.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.1% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.19.

The ages of New Haven's residents are as follows: 25.4% under the age of 18, 16.4% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 91.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,604, and the median income for a family was $35,950. Males had a median income of $33,605 versus $28,424 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,393. About 20.5% of families and 24.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.2% of those under age 18 and 17.9% of those age 65 or over.

In 2001, the New Haven metropolitan area had the third-highest per capita income in the country, after San Francisco and Silicon Valley, California.[17] In 2006, analyzing a slightly differently-defined urban area, it had the 32nd highest, which also placed it among the top 10% highest per-capita income metropolitan areas in the country.[18]

Today New Haven is a very Catholic city, as the city's Dominican, Irish, Italian, Mexican, and Puerto Rican populations are overwhelmingly Catholic. Jews also make up a considerable portion of the population, as do Black Baptists. New Haven is part of the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Education

Colleges and universities

Yale University, at the heart of downtown, is one of the city's best known features and its largest employer [3]. New Haven is also home to other centers of higher education, including Southern Connecticut State University and Albertus Magnus College. Gateway Community College has a campus in New Haven, located in the Long Wharf district.

There are institutions immediately outside of New Haven, as well. Quinnipiac University is located just to the north, in the town of Hamden. The University of New Haven is located not in New Haven but in West Haven.

Primary and secondary schools

Wilbur Cross High School and Hillhouse High School are New Haven's two largest public secondary schools. Hopkins School, a private school, was founded in 1660 and is the fifth oldest educational institution in the United States.[19] New Haven is home to a number of other private schools as well as public magnet schools including High School in the Community, Hill Regional Career High School, Co-op High School and the Sound School, all of which draw students from New Haven and suburban towns. New Haven is also home to Amistad Charter school and Elm City Prep.

The school district is called New Haven Public Schools.


Culture and notable features

Architecture

A view of the buildings around Yale University in New Haven, with its distinctive architecture.

New Haven has many architectural landmarks dating from every important time period and architectural style in American history. The city has been home to a number of architects and architectural firms that have also left their mark on the city including Ithiel Town and Henry Austin in the 19th century and Cesar Pelli, Warren Platner, Kevin Roche, Herbert Newman and Barry Svigals in the 20th. The Yale School of Architecture has fostered this important component of the city's economy. Cass Gilbert, of the Beaux-Arts school, designed New Haven's Union Station and the New Haven Free Public Library and was also commissioned for a City Beautiful plan in 1919. Marcel Breuer, Alexander Jackson Davis, Philip C. Johnson, Gordon Bunshaft, Louis Kahn, James Gamble Rogers, Frank Gehry, Charles Moore, Stefan Behnisch, James Polshek, Paul Rudolph, Eero Saarinen and Robert Venturi all have designed buildings in New Haven.

Many of the city's neighborhoods are well-preserved as walkable "museums" of 19th and 20th century American architecture, particularly by the New Haven Green, Hillhouse Avenue and other residential sections close to Downtown New Haven. Overall, a large proportion of the city's land area is National (NRHP) historic districts. One of the best sources on local architecture is "New Haven: Architecture and Urban Design", by Elizabeth Mills Brown.

The five tallest buildings in New Haven are:[20]

  1. Connecticut Financial Center 383 ft (117 m) 26 Floors
  2. Knights of Columbus Building 321 ft (98 m) 23 Floors
  3. Kline Biology Tower 250 ft (76 m) 16 Floors
  4. Crown Towers 233 ft (71 m) 22 Floors
  5. Harkness Tower 217 ft (66 m)

Cuisine

New-Haven-style pizza, called apizza (pronounced ah-BEETS in the local Italian dialect), made its debut here in 1925. It is baked in coal- or wood-fired brick ovens, and is notable for its thin crust. Apizza may be Red (with a tomato-based sauce) or White (garlic and olive oil), and pies ordered "plain" are made without the otherwise customary mozzarella cheese (pronounced sca-MOTZ, as it was originally smoked mozzarella, known as "scamorza" in Italian). A white clam pie is a well known specialty of the restaurants on Wooster Street in the Little Italy section of New Haven.

Louis' Lunch, located in a small brick building on Crown Street, has been serving fast food since 1895. Louis' Lunch broils hamburgers, steak sandwiches and hot dogs vertically in the original antique 1898 cast iron stoves using locally developed gridirons to hold the meat in place while it cooks. Though fiercely debated, Louis' Lunch is credited with inventing the hamburger.

The tradition of immigration in New Haven has continued to a significant extent, particularly in the late 1990s and 2000s, and as a result there are now literally hundreds of ethnic restaurants and small markets (as well as even a few supermarkets) specializing in various foreign foods, including noted Eritrean, Malaysian, Ethiopian, Spanish, Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indian, Jamaican, Cuban, Peruvian, Syrian/Lebanese, and Turkish restaurants.[citation needed] Many of these establishments are supported by the large immigrant populations in the area.

The city also has more top Zagat-rated restaurants than any other town or city in Connecticut,[citation needed] including many new additions such as upmarket downtown restaurants Bentara, Foster's, Pacifico, and Ibiza. Over 120 restaurants are located within two blocks of the New Haven Green. Claire's Corner Copia at Chapel and College Streets claims to be the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the country. Also of note are "The Carts," about 20 lunch carts from neighborhood restaurants that cater to the Yale-New Haven Hospital pedestrian traffic in the center of the Hospital Green (Cedar and York Sts.) during weekday lunchtimes.

Theatre

The city hosts numerous theatres and production houses including the Yale Repertory Theatre, the Long Wharf Theatre, and the Shubert Theatre. There is also theatre activity from the Yale School of Drama, which works through the Yale University Theatre and the student-run Yale Cabaret. Southern Connecticut State University hosts the Lyman Center for the Performing Arts.

The Shubert Theater once premiered many major theatrical productions before their Broadway debuts. Productions that premiered at the Shubert include Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, as well as the Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire.

Museums

New Haven has a variety of museums, many of them associated with Yale. The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library features an original copy of the Gutenberg Bible. There is also the Connecticut Children's Museum; the Knights of Columbus museum near that organization's world headquarters; the Peabody Museum of Natural History; the Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments; the Eli Whitney museum (across the town line in Hamden, Connecticut, on Whitney Avenue); the Yale Center for British Art, which houses the largest collection of British art outside the U.K.,[citation needed] and the Yale University Art Gallery, the nation's oldest college art museum.[citation needed] New Haven is also home to the New Haven Museum and Historical Society on Whitney Avenue, which also has a library of many primary source treasures dating from Colonial times to the present. Artspace on Orange Street is a contemporary art gallery, showcasing the work of local, national, and international artists.

New Haven is also the home port of a life-size replica of the historical Freedom Schooner Amistad, which is open for tours at Long Wharf pier at certain times during the summer. Also at Long Wharf pier is the Quinnipiack schooner, offering sailing cruises of the harbor area throughout the summer. The Quinnipiack also functions as a floating classroom for hundreds of local students.

Music

The New Haven Green is the site of many free music concerts, especially during the summer months. These have included the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the July Free Concerts on the Green in July, and the New Haven Jazz Festival in August. The Jazz Festival, which began in 1982, was one of the longest-running free outdoor festivals in the U.S., until it was canceled for 2007. Headliners such as Dave Brubeck, Ray Charles and Celia Cruz have historically drawn 30,000 to 50,000 fans, filling up the New Haven Green to capacity.

New Haven is also home to the concert venue Toad's Place. The city has retained an alternative art and music underground that has helped to influence post-punk era music movements such as indie/college rock and underground hip-hop. Other local venues include Cafe Nine, BAR, Firehouse 12, and Rudy's.

The Yale School of Music also contributes to the city's music scene by offering hundreds of free concerts throughout the year at venues in and around the Yale campus.

Newspapers and media

New Haven is served by the daily New Haven Register, the weekly "alternative" (which is corporate run by Tribune, the company owning The Hartford Courant) New Haven Advocate and the online daily New Haven Independent. The city's Spanish-speaking community is served by Registro, a Spanish-language twice-weekly operated by The New Haven Register's parent company. The Register also backs PLAY magazine, a weekly entertainment publication. It is also served by several student-run papers, including the Yale Daily News, the weekly Yale Herald and a humor tabloid, Rumpus Magazine. WTNH Channel 8, the ABC affiliate for Connecticut, WCTX Channel 59, the MyNetworkTV affiliate for the state, and Connecticut Public Television station WEDY channel 65, a PBS affiliate, broadcast from New Haven.

Though both WTNH and WCTX are located in New Haven, CT, their Master Control, and Traffic departments are located in Springfield, Massachusetts in a former section of the city called Chicopee.

Sports and athletics

Much like other mid-sized Northeastern industrial cities, New Haven has historically supported its minor league hockey teams enthusiastically, having had a hockey team for 76 years. The New Haven Eagles were founding members of the American Hockey League in 1936, playing at the old New Haven Arena on Grove Street. The New Haven Blades of the Eastern Hockey League played from 1954 to 1972 before being succeeded by the New Haven Nighthawks of the AHL, which played at the then-new New Haven Coliseum, a sports and entertainment facility that hosted such performers and others as the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, Aerosmith, Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, Van Halen, Yes, and the Steve Miller Band before closing in 2003, when the state-funded Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport later became the preferred venue.

The Nighthawks were replaced by the short-lived Senators in 1993. After a hiatus, hockey returned in 1997, with the Beast of New Haven, a team famous for its ugly logo. Playing in a newly refurbished Coliseum, this team lasted only two seasons, ending AHL hockey in New Haven.

The New Haven Knights of the United Hockey League then took up residence in the Coliseum, playing there until the Coliseum closed in 2002. Afterward, fans' allegiance shifted to the Yale University hockey team, which plays at Ingalls Rink; the Quinnipiac University hockey team; or United Hockey League's Danbury Trashers, owned by James Galante, who attempted to purchase and save the New Haven Coliseum and the New Haven Knights, though the Trashers have been disbanded and Galante is currently incarcerated for alleged mob ties.

New Haven had been known for its blue collar fans who favor rough play, especially the "Crazies" who sat in "The Jungle" — Section 14 at the Coliseum, behind and adjacent to the opposing team's bench. These fans were renowned for being extremely tough on opposing teams, relentlessly screaming obscenities and taunts at opposing players (and sometimes at hometown players), making New Haven an intimidating place to play even though outright physical violence in the stands was rare. Section 14ers maintain a website called "Section 14 Online" which can be found at Section14.com.

New Haven was home to the minor league baseball team the New Haven Ravens, an Eastern League AA unit, from 1994 to 2003. Many of the older Ravens fans fondly recalled their days watching the West Haven Yankees in neighboring West Haven from 1972 to 1979.The Yankees were also the New Haven area's entry in the AA Eastern League. Many future Yankees made their way though West Haven, including Ron Guidry. The Yankees finished 1st five times in their eight years and won the championship four times. In 1980, the New York Yankees moved their farm team else where and the Oakland A's fielded a team for three years in West Haven. They were know as the Whitecaps their first year, then the A's for the last two. They were to give the New Haven area a final championship in 1982 and then the team moved to Albany in 1983. The New Haven area was without professional baseball until the Ravens came to town in 1994.

As was the case for with the prior teams, the Ravens played in neighboring West Haven at Yale Field, just across the town line. Yale Field was renovated for the team, which was very successful in its first few seasons before losing support. The Ravens won the Eastern League championship in 2000, giving New Haven proper its first professional championship since the New Haven Blades' championship in 1956. The Ravens have since moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, becoming the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The New Haven County Cutters baseball team began play at Yale Field in 2004 in the independent Northeast (now Can-Am) League. They suspended operation after the 2007 season leaving New Haven without baseball for the 2008 season.

In 1974, a little league team from New Haven reached the quarterfinals in the Little League World Series[21].

In 2002, New Haven had an af2 minor-league arena football franchise, the Ninjas, who were successful but had to leave when the Coliseum was closed the following year

The New York Giants of the NFL played an exhibition game against the Detroit Lions in 1960 in the Yale Bowl, a pro-football first for the city. The New York Jets played exhibition games in the Bowl through the 1970s, and in 1973 and 1974, the Giants made the Yale Bowl their home field while Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey was under construction. As of 2006, the Yale Bowl is the second-largest stadium in New England, and is often full when rivals Yale and Harvard play what has become known as "The Game". The Yale Bowl received a thorough and long-overdue renovation in 2007.

On March 20, 1914, the first United States figure skating championship was held here.

From July 1July 9 1995, the city hosted the Ninth Special Olympics World Summer Games.

The Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University hosts the Pilot Pen International, a professional men's and women's tennis event, every August. The 15,000 seat Tennis Center Stadium at the Connecticut Tennis Center is the fourth largest tennis venue in the world,[citation needed] behind only to Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, the stadium at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, and Court Philippe Chatrier at Stade Roland Garros in Paris.

New Haven has a very large cycling community[citation needed], which is represented by a large advocacy and community group, ElmCityCycling. Group rides are held several times per week.

File:IMG 2753a.jpg
Five Mile Point Lighthouse (2005)

Points of interest

Miscellaneous

Five Mile Point Lighthouse (1991)

In 1892, local confectioner George C. Smith of the Bradley Smith Candy Co. invented the first lollipops.[22]

In competition with competing explanations, the Frisbee is said to have originated on the Yale campus, based on the tin pans of the Frisbie Pie Company which were tossed around by students on the New Haven Green.[citation needed]

New Haven serves as the world headquarters of the Knights of Columbus organization, which maintains its headquarters and nearby museum downtown. The organization was founded in the city in 1882.[23]

New Haven hosted the first Bell PSTN (telephone) switch office. The District Telephone Company of New Haven created the world's first telephone exchange and first telephone directory (1878) and installed the first public phone (1880).[citation needed] The company expanded and became the Connecticut Telephone Company, then the Southern New England Telephone Company (now part of ATT).[citation needed]

The Erector Set, the popular and culturally important construction toy, was invented in New Haven by A.C. Gilbert in 1911, and was manufactured by the A. C. Gilbert Company at the Erector Square factory in New Haven, Connecticut, from 1913 until the company's bankruptcy in 1967. [citation needed]

The first memorial to victims of the Holocaust on public land in America[24] stands in New Haven's Edgewood Park at the corner of Whalley and West Park Avenues; it was built in 1977 with funds collected from the community[25] and is maintained by Greater New Haven Holocaust Memory, Inc. [failed verification].[26] The ashes of victims killed and cremated at Auschwitz are buried under the memorial.[24]

New Haven was the location of one of Jim Morrison's infamous arrests while he fronted the rock group The Doors. The near-riotous concert and arrest in 1967 at the New Haven Arena was commemorated by Morrison in the lyrics to "Peace Frog" which include the missive "...blood in the streets in the town of New Haven..." This was also the first time a rock star had ever been arrested in concert. [citation needed]

New Haven serves as the home city of the annual International Festival of Arts and Ideas.

Doonesbury comic-strip creator Garry Trudeau attended Yale University. There he met fellow student and later Green Party candidate for senator Charlie Pillsbury, a long-time New Haven resident for whom Trudeau's comic strip is named. During his college years, Pillsbury was known by the nickname "The Doones".

New Haven has been depicted in a number of movies. Scenes in the film All About Eve (1950) are set at the Taft Hotel on the corner of College and Chapel Streets. The hotel was since converted into apartments. New Haven was fictionalized in the movie The Skulls, which focused on conspiracy theories surrounding the real-life Skull and Bones secret society which is located in New Haven. The city was also fictionally portrayed in the movie Amistad concerning the events around the mutiny trial of that ship's rebelling captives.

Several recent movies have been filmed in New Haven, including The Life Before Her Eyes, with Uma Thurman, Mona Lisa Smile, with Julia Roberts, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Harrison Ford and Cate Blanchett.[27]

New Haven has been featured as a setting in the TV show Gilmore Girls. One of the show's protagonists, Rory Gilmore, graduated from Yale, and wrote for the Yale Daily News.

Infrastructure

Hospitals and medicine

The New Haven area supports several medical facilities that are considered some of the best hospitals in the country. These include Yale-New Haven Hospital (including the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital), and the Hospital of Saint Raphael. A large Veterans Affairs hospital is located nearby in West Haven. To the west in Milford is Milford Hospital and to the north in Meriden is the MidState Medical Center.

Transportation

Railroad

New Haven is connected to New York City by both intercity and commuter rail, provided by Amtrak and Metro-North Railroad respectively, and some New Haven residents commute to work in New York City (just under two hours away by train). The city's main railroad station is Union Station, which serves Metro-North trains to New York, Shore Line East commuter trains to New London, and Amtrak trains to New York, Hartford, Boston, and Springfield, Massachusetts. An additional station at State Street provides Shore Line East and a few peak-hour Metro-North passengers easier access to and from Downtown.

The start of the New Haven Railroad began in a small area of New Haven called Cedar Hill Area. It has long been forgotten since its days of grandeur, but still has all the elements in place from the great railroad days.

A commuter rail line to run along the existing Amtrak line from New Haven through Hartford to Springfield, MA has been proposed by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) and is currently in the planning phase.

The City of New Haven is in the very early stages of considering restoring streetcar service, which has been absent since the immediate postwar period.[28]

Major highways

New Haven lies at the intersection of Interstate 95 on the coast - which provides access southwards and/or westwards to the western coast of Connecticut and to New York City, and eastwards to the eastern Connecticut shoreline, Rhode Island, and eastern Massachusetts - and Interstate 91, which leads northward to the interior of Massachusetts and Vermont and the Canadian border. I-95 is infamous for traffic jams increasing with proximity to New York City; on the east side of New Haven it passes over the Quinnipiac River via the Pearl Harbor Memorial, or "Q Bridge", which often presents a major bottleneck to traffic. I-91, however, is relatively less congested, except at the intersection with I-95 during peak travel times.

The Oak Street Connector (Route 34) intersects I-91 at exit 1, just south of the I-95/I-91 interchange, and runs northwest for a few blocks as an expressway spur into downtown before emptying onto surface roads. The Wilbur Cross Parkway (Route 15) runs parallel to I-95 west of New Haven, turning northwards as it nears the city and then running northwards parallel to I-91 through the outer rim of New Haven, and Hamden, offering an alternative to the I-95/I-91 journey (restricted to non-commercial vehicles). Route 15 in New Haven is also the site of the only highway tunnel in the state (officially designated as Heroes' Tunnel), running through West Rock, home to West Rock Park and the Three Judges Cave.

In addition to these expressways, the city also has several major surface arteries. U.S. Route 1 (Columbus Avenue, Union Avenue, Water Street, Forbes Avenue) runs in an east-west direction south of downtown serving Union Station and leading out of the city to Milford, West Haven, East Haven and Branford. The main road from downtown heading northwest is Whalley Avenue (partly signed as Route 63) leading to Westville and Woodbridge. Heading north towards Hamden, there are two major thoroughfares, Dixwell Avenue and Whitney Avenue. To the northeast are Middletown Avenue (Route 17) to the Montowese section of North Haven, and Foxon Boulevard to the Foxon section of East Haven and to the town of North Branford. To the west is also Route 34 which leads to the city of Derby. Other major intracity routes are Ella Grasso Boulevard (Route 10), College Street, Temple Street, Church Street, Elm Street, and Grove Street.

Airport

Tweed-New Haven Airport, located three miles (5 km) east of the city, provides daily service through US Airways.

Seaport

New Haven Harbor is home to The Port of New Haven, a deep-water seaport with three berths capable of hosting vessels and barges as well as the facilities required to handle break-bulk cargo. The port has the capacity to load 200 trucks a day from the ground or via loading docks. Rail transportation access is available, with a private switch engine for yard movements and private siding for loading and unloading. There is approximately 400,000 square feet (40,000 m2) of inside storage and 50 acres of outside storage available at the site. Five shore cranes with a 250-ton capacity and 26 forklifts, each with a 26-ton capacity, are also available.[29]

Power supply facilities

Electricity for New Haven is generated by 448 MW oil and gas-fired generating station located on the shore at New Haven Harbor.[30] In addition, Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) Inc. operates a 220 MW peaking natural gas turbine plant in nearby Wallingford. Near New Haven there is the static inverter plant of the HVDC Cross Sound Cable.

New Construction

The last high-rise/major structure built in New Haven was the Connecticut Financial Center, the city's tallest building, in 1990.[31] Since then, there has been very little new construction outside Yale University. Recently, however, New Haven has seen an upswing in new development.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is currently adding a new pavilion, to be named the Smilow Cancer Hospital. This 14-story structure due to be completed in 2009. The site is bordered by Park Street and Legion Ave./South Frontage Road.[32][33]

The city of New Haven is building a new magnet school on the south block bounded by College, George, and Crown Streets.

Directly across College Street, Residences and Shops at College Square is to be a 19-story condominium complex, with street-front shops.[34] A hotel is also being debated. Ground is yet to break on this project, but one small building has been demolished, and plans call for a May 2008 groundbreaking. However, the site is currently being used to store materials for the school construction across the street; it is reasonable to assume that construction will be held off until completion of the magnet school project later this summer.[35] Despite the delays, the College Square project appears to be a done deal and, when completed, this will be the tallest building built in New Haven since 1990.

An even taller condominium tower, at 30 stories, is proposed for the former Shartenberg site at Chapel and State Street.[36] No work has been done yet, and the groundbreaking date has been pushed forward several times; currently, construction is scheduled to start in June 2008. Controversy over the height and nature of the project has caused delays and it has long been hard to tell if the project was to actually be realized. It finally looks like all major approval hurdles have been cleared and the Shartenberg project is ready to enter the construction phase.[37] Furthermore a fire across the street and subsequent demolition of several buildings seems to have underscored the need for development and revitalization of the neighborhood, which currently hosts more empty lots than any location downtown save the former Coliseum site. Further encouraging news for the Shartenberg tower: a parking lot at the site has been closed, and the entire block-long site has been fenced-in; the fencing features somewhat ambiguous advertising, which fails to mention specific construction plans, but hints at redevelopment with text including: "What do you love most about New Haven?" and further referencing "something new [...] rising [...] downtown."[38]

Yale University is planning two new colleges behind Grove Street Cemetery.[39] While Yale has long considered expansion of its undergraduate housing, this is the first time in recent years that a proposal seems close to realization; Yale currently has the land, the money, and a reasonable level of approval from both town and gown sides. However, any major Yale expansion tends to draw some controversy and there are no architectural plans or other documentation; this project is years from being realized. More current Yale construction includes:

  • a new Sculpture and Art building on Howe Street
  • a new high-rise, linked to the Art and Architecture building on York Street
  • a parking garage behind Ingalls Rink
  • renovation of residential colleges
  • renovation of the Yale Art Gallery's Kahn building
  • and other projects.

The site of the former New Haven Coliseum is a major candidate for new construction, but plans are still vague at this point. There is now an asphalt parking lot at the site, and it is expected to remain until the completion of a second Union Station garage, which itself is not anticipated within the next year or two. Additionally, the Gateway College proposal for the former Macy's/Malley's sites is proceeding slowly, with only demolition work complete for now. While the relocation of Gateway College is settled, the building itself seems to be delayed with no specific groundbreaking date.

Finally, the widening of I-95 promises to bring New Haven a new harbor crossing, in the form of an extradosed bridge; it shall replace the Q-bridge when completed, but delays have pushed the completion date beyond 2012. No work on the bridge has begun, though the I-95 improvement project as a whole is ongoing.[40]

Sister cities

New Haven has the following sister cities designated by Sister Cities International[41]:

Some of these were selected because of historical connection — Freetown because of the Amistad trial. Others, such as Amalfi and Afula-Gilboa, reflect ethnic groups in New Haven.

In 1990, the United Nations named New Haven a "Peace Messenger City".

Notable New Haven natives and long-term residents

Notable Yale alumni and faculty

Notable Hopkins School alumni


Literature

  • Leonard Bacon, Thirteen Historical Discourses, (New Haven, 1839)
  • C. H. Hoadley (editor), Records of the Colony of New Haven, 1638–1665, (two volumes, Hartford, 1857–58)
  • J. W. Barber, History and Antiquities of New Haven, (third edition, New Haven, 1870)
  • C. H. Levermore, Town and City Government of New Haven, (Baltimore, 1886)
  • C. H. Levermore, Republic of New Haven: A History of Municipal Evolution, (Baltimore, 1886)
  • E. S. Bartlett, Historical Sketches of New Haven, (New Haven, 1897)
  • F. H. Cogswell, "New Haven" in L. P. Powell (editor), Historic Towns of New England, (New York, 1898)
  • H. T. Blake, Chronicles of New Haven Green, (New Haven, 1898)
  • E. E. Atwater, History of the Colony of New Haven, (New edition, New Haven, 1902)
  • Douglas W. Rae, City: Urbanism and Its End, (New Haven, 2003)
  • New Haven City Yearbooks
  • Michael Sletcher, New Haven: From Puritanism to the Age of Terrorism, (Charleston, 2004)
  • William Lee Miller, The Fifteenth Ward and the Great Society, (Houghton Mifflin/Riverside, 1966)
  • Preston C. Maynard and Majorey B. Noyes, (editors), "Carriages and Clocks, Corsets and Locks: the Rise and Fall of an Industrial City-New Haven, Connecticut" (University Press of New England, 2005.)

See also

Other articles about people and places in New Haven, CT.

References

  1. ^ a b "Annual Estimates of the Population for All Incorporated Places in Connecticut" (CSV). 2006 Population Estimates. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division. June 21 2006. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ In US Census estimates between 2000 and 2006, New Haven and Hartford's populations have been estimated to have been within 511 of each other. In 2003 and 2005, New Haven was estimated to be larger. Since such differences are well within the margin of error in these estimates, which is actually larger will not be known until the 2010 Census.
  3. ^ U.S. Census Bureau - Population in New England City and Town Areas (NECTAs) in Alphabetical Order and Numerical and Percent Change: 1990 and 2000
  4. ^ South Central Regional Council of Governments
  5. ^ "New Haven Town Plan". The Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
  6. ^ a b New Haven: The Elm City
  7. ^ 03/15/2004 What's Up Downtown? Business New Haven
  8. ^ Connecticut Register and Manual
  9. ^ Biography of President George W. Bush
  10. ^ a b http://www.cityofnewhaven.com/CityPlan/pdfs/PlanningPrograms/ComprehensivePlan/SectionVIDowntown.pdf Comprehensive Report: New Haven pg3
  11. ^ Harrison's illustrated guide to greater New Haven, (H2 Company, New Haven, 1995).
  12. ^ Maps of the New Haven Neighborhoods (PDF) are available from the City of New Haven's City Plan Department. There are also quick traces from the above PDFs in Google Earth/Map Shapes of the New Haven Neighborhoods (KML).
  13. ^ "New Haven Economy". City-Data.com. Advameg Inc. 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-03.
  14. ^ New Haven: Economy - Major Industries and Commercial Activity
  15. ^ Population of the 100 Largest Cities and Other Urban Places In The United States: 1790 to 1990
  16. ^ Population Estimates for Places over 100,000: 2000 to 2006
  17. ^ "Metropolitan Area Personal Income and per Capita Personal Income: 2001". United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  18. ^ "Iowa Workforce Development News and Trends". Iowa Trends. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  19. ^ "Who We Are". Hopkins School. Retrieved 2007-10-01.
  20. ^ Buildings of New Haven
  21. ^ "1974 Little League Baseball World Series". Retrieved 2008-03-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |= ignored (help)
  22. ^ http://www.conntact.com/archive_index/archive_pages/1632_Business_New_Haven.html Connecticut Business News Journal "Dates of Our Lives"
  23. ^ Pushing Boundaries – A History of the Knights of Columbus
  24. ^ a b "The Ashes of Memory, Revealed". New Haven Independent. 2007-05-08. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
  25. ^ Shifre Zamkov on the New Haven Holocaust Memorial
  26. ^ Greater New Haven Holocaust Memory, Inc
  27. ^ http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18340961&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=566835&rfi=6
  28. ^ New Haven Independent: A Streetcar Comeback?
  29. ^ New Haven: Economy - Major Industries and Commercial Activity
  30. ^ The New Haven Harbor Generating Station
  31. ^ Connecticut Financial Center @ Emporis.com
  32. ^ Smilow Cancer Hospital @ Emporis.com
  33. ^ Yale-New Haven Planned Cancer Hospital, official site
  34. ^ Residences and Shops at College Square @ Emporis.com
  35. ^ [Personal visit to the site, April 2008]
  36. ^ Shartenberg Site Tower I @ Emporis.com
  37. ^ City warms to plans for Shartenberg tower @ Yale Daily News
  38. ^ [Personal view of the site; images forthcoming]
  39. ^ Yale Daily News
  40. ^ I-95 Expansion Project for New Haven, official site
  41. ^ Sister-cities.org
  42. ^ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.
  43. ^ a b Reichler, Joseph L., ed. (1979) [1969]. The Baseball Encyclopedia (4th edition ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 0-02-578970-8. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

External links

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