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Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, 34 mi outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, and Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 census. It is in the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk-Danbury metropolitan statistical area, which is part of the New York City metropolitan area (specifically, the New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT–PA Combined Statistical Area).

As of 2023, Stamford is home to eight Fortune 500 companies and numerous divisions of large corporations. This gives it the largest financial district in the New York metropolitan region outside New York City and one of the nation's largest concentrations of corporations. Dominant sectors of Stamford's economy include financial management and real estate, tourism, information technology, healthcare, telecommunications, transportation, and retail. Its metropolitan division is home to colleges and universities including UConn Stamford and Norwalk Community College.

History
Stamford was known as Rippowam by the Siwanoy Native American inhabitants of the region, and the very first European settlers in the area also called it that. The present name is after the town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. The deed to Stamford was signed on July 1, 1640, between Captain Turner of the New Haven Colony and Chief Ponus. By the 18th century, one of the town's primary industries was merchandising by water, which was possible due to Stamford's proximity to New York.

In 1692, Stamford was home to a less famous witch trial than the well-known Salem witch trials, which also occurred in 1692. The accusations were less fanatical and on a smaller scale, but they also grew to prominence through gossip and hysterics.

New Canaan officially separated from Stamford when it incorporated as a town in 1801, followed by Darien in 1820.

Starting in the late 19th century, New York residents built summer homes on the shoreline, and some moved to Stamford permanently and started commuting to Manhattan by train. Stamford incorporated as a city in 1893.

In 1950, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the city's population as 94.6% white and 5.2% black.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Stamford's commercial real estate boomed as corporations relocated from New York City to peripheral areas. A massive urban redevelopment campaign during that time resulted in a downtown with many tall office buildings. The F.D. Rich Company was the city-designated urban renewal developer of the downtown area in an ongoing, contentious project beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. The company put up what was the city's tallest structure, One Landmark Square, at 21 floors high, and the GTE building (now One Stamford Forum), along with the Marriott Hotel, the Stamford Town Center and many other downtown office buildings. One Landmark Square has since been dwarfed by the new 34-story Park Tower Stamford condominium tower, and again by the Atlantic Station development, another Rich Company project in partnership with Cappelli Enterprises. Over the years, other developers have joined in building up the downtown, a process that continued through the 1980s and 1990s and into the new century.

Since 2008, an 80 acre mixed-use redevelopment project for Stamford's Harbor Point neighborhood has added additional growth south of downtown. The redevelopment plan included 6 e6sqft of new residential, retail, office and hotel space, and a marina. In July 2012, roughly 900 of the projected 4,000 Harbor Point residential units had been constructed. New restaurants and recreational activities have come up in the Harbor Point area, which is considered New Stamford. From 2008 to 2017, the city issued permits for 4,341 housing units.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., many New Yorkers relocated to Stamford and its metropolitan area.

Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has an area of 52.09 sqmi, of which 37.62 sqmi is land and 14.41 sqmi is water. Stamford is the state's largest city by area. The population density was 3101.9 PD/sqmi in 2010. The city is halfway between Manhattan and New Haven at approximately 38 mi from each; it is 79 mi from the state capital of Hartford.

Stamford is near the southwestern point of Connecticut, on Long Island Sound; it is part of the Gold Coast. Stamford comprises approximately 45 distinct neighborhoods and villages, and two historic districts, including Cove, East Side, Downtown, North Stamford, Glenbrook, West Side, Turn of River, Waterside, Springdale, Belltown, Ridgeway, Newfield, South End, Westover, Shippan, Roxbury, and Palmers Hill.

North of the Merritt Parkway is considered the North Stamford section of the city, encompassing its largest land mass though it is the least densely populated. North Stamford functionally and legally acts as one municipality with the city of Stamford. Stamford borders Pound Ridge, New York to the north, the Long Island Sound to the south, Greenwich to the west, Darien to the east, and New Canaan to the northeast.

The city has islands in Long Island Sound: Cove Island, Grass Island, Greenway Island, Jack Island, and Cuties Island (also known as Vincent Island). Cove Island is a prominent beach and recreation area. It lies approximately 9 mi from Norwalk.

Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, Stamford has a temperate climate (Cfa), with long, hot summers, and cool to cold winters, with precipitation spread fairly evenly throughout the year. Like the rest of coastal Connecticut, it lies in the broad transition zone between the colder continental climates of the northern U.S. and southern Canada to the north, and the warmer temperate and subtropical climates of the middle and south Atlantic states to the south.

The warm/hot season in Stamford is from mid-April through early November. Late day thundershowers are common in the hottest months (June through September), despite the mostly sunny skies. The cool/cold season is from late November though mid-March. Winter weather is far more variable than summer weather along the Connecticut coast, ranging from sunny days with higher temperatures to cold and blustery conditions with occasional snow. As on much of the Connecticut coast and nearby Long Island, some of the winter precipitation is rain or a mix and rain and wet snow. Stamford averages about 30 in of snow annually, compared to inland areas like Hartford and Albany that average 45-60 in.

Although infrequent, tropical cyclones (hurricanes/tropical storms) have struck Connecticut and the Stamford metropolitan area. Hurricane landfalls have occurred along the Connecticut coast in 1903, 1938, 1944, 1954 (Carol), 1960 (Donna), Hurricane Gloria in 1985, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Stamford lies in USDA garden zone 7a. It averages about 90 days annually with freeze. Coastal Connecticut is the broad transition zone where so-called "subtropical indicator" plants and other broadleaf evergreens can be cultivated. As such, Southern Magnolias, Needle Palms, Windmill palm, Loblolly Pines, and Crape Myrtles are grown in private and public gardens. As in much of coastal Connecticut, Long Island, and coastal New Jersey, the growing season is rather long in Stamford, averaging 210 days from April8 to November5 according to the National Weather Service in Bridgeport.

2020 census
Census data from 2020 showed the city of Stamford with a population of 135,470. This was a 10.5% increase from 2010. Census data also showed Stamford had surpassed New Haven's population, making it the state's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport.

In 2020, the racial makeup of the city was 49.3% non-Hispanic white, 14.1% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian or Alaska Native, 8.6% Asian American, 3.2% from two or more races, and 27.2% Hispanic or Latino (of any race). 2020 American Community Survey estimates show that of the Hispanic or Latin American population, Guatemalans form the largest group (6.75% of the city's population), followed by Puerto Ricans (3.77%), Colombians (2.87%), Ecuadorians (2.42%), and Mexicans (2.38%). In 2018, 5.9% of the city was West Indian. The median age was 37.2 in 2018, lower than the national average of 37.9.

There were 54,513 housing units at the 2018 estimates and 50,847 households. The average household size was 2.53 and there were approximately 31,347 families living in the city. The owner-occupied housing rate was 46.6% and the renter-occupied housing rate was 53.4%. Stamford's median household income in 2021 was $99,792 and the per capita income was $58,297, the highest of any city in Connecticut. The average household income was $143,222. About 9.3% of the population was at or below the poverty line.

In 2010, its population was 122,643. At the U.S. Census Bureau's mid-year 2010 estimates, it grew to 122,902. Roughly 49.8% of the population was non-Hispanic white, 12.9% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 6.8% Asian, 1.6% from two or more races, and 28.3% Hispanic or Latino. The American Community Survey determined there were 46,396 households. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.15. The owner-occupied housing rate was 56.5% and the renter-occupied rate was 43.5%.

The 2000 census determined Stamford had a population of 117,083. The proportion of the population under the age of 18 was 21.6%, age 18 to 24 was 7.8%, age 25 to 44 was 32.5%, age 45 to 64 was 25.0%, and 65 years of age or older was 13.1%. The median age of 37.1 was slightly lower than the U.S. median age of 37.2. Composition of the population based on sex was 50.7 females to 49.3 males.

According to Sperling's BestPlaces, 64.0% of the city's inhabitants are religious or religiously affiliated. The largest religious group in the city are Christians, followed by Judaism, Islam, and eastern religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. The largest Christian denomination in the city is the Roman Catholic Church, served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport.

Crime
According to FBI statistics in 2014, Stamford is the 16th safest of the 269 cities in the nation and well ahead of any in Connecticut with a population greater than 100,000 that report crime statistics to the FBI. In 2015, Stamford reported three murders, 19 rapes, and 92 robberies. Crime in Stamford is much more controlled in comparison to cities with similar population size in Connecticut and nationally. Lower crime rates in Stamford are attributed to the city's robust economic growth in recent decades. Criminal cases are prosecuted by the State's Attorney's Office, and Stamford is home to a State Superior Court, at 123 Hoyt Street, adjacent to the Stamford Police Headquarters.

Economy
Stamford's cluster of corporate headquarters includes a number of Fortune 500, Fortune 1000 and Forbes Global 2000 companies. In 2017, Stamford had four Fortune 500, nine Fortune 1000, three Forbes Global 2000 and one Fortune Global 500 company.

Among the larger companies with headquarters in Stamford are Charter Communications, Harman International, Synchrony Financial, Indeed.com, Webster Bank, United Rentals, Conair, Gartner, Henkel North American Consumer Goods, WWE, Pitney Bowes, ITT Inc., Gen Re, NBC Sports Group, Nestle Waters North America, Crane Co. and Vineyard Vines. UBS' Stamford trading floor held the Guinness World Record as the largest columnless trading floor in the world until surrendering that space in 2017. The building was sold after the bank downsized. The Royal Bank of Scotland moved its North American operations into Stamford in 2009, including its RBS Greenwich Capital subsidiary.

The Harbor Point development, in the South End, is one of the nation's largest private-sector development projects. Many large retail stores, such as Design within Reach (also headquartered in Stamford), have moved in, along with multiple companies including ITV America, McKinsey & Company, Bridgewater Associates and Kayak.com.

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 Astronomical Society was started in 1954 and runs the Stamford Observatory, which has a 22 in telescope.
 * Bartlett Arboretum and Gardens is a 91 acre botanical gardens and science education center with over 850 specimen trees and plants from around the world. It is also home to several Champion Trees, the largest of their species in Connecticut.
 * SoundWaters Community Center for Environmental Education is in Cove Island Park.

Theater, film, and video

 * Curtain Call Inc. presents plays and other entertainment at the Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Avenue.
 * Stamford Center for the Arts: The Palace Theatre, originally opened as a vaudeville house in 1927 and 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.
 * Latham Park
 * The Rich Forum is occupied by NBCUniversal as a television studio where various television shows are taped and produced, including Jerry Springer, Maury, The Steve Wilkos Show, The Trisha Goddard Show, and Crazy Talk.
 * AMC Theatres has two first-run movie houses in Stamford with a total of 14 movie screens: Landmark8 and Majestic6. The Avon Theatre Film Center, a two-screen nonprofit movie house focusing on first-run independent movies, is on Bedford Street. The Ferguson Library also shows movies.

Music

 * In a typical season, the Stamford Symphony Orchestra 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 website, the CGO claims to offer "the most ambitious opera season of any company between New York and Boston".
 * Alive @ Five is an annual summer concert series in Columbus Park typically lasting six weeks.
 * The Stamford Chorale is a non-audition community choir that has been active since 1949. The group performs classical and contemporary choral music at two formal concerts a year and rehearses once a week downtown.
 * Treetops CMS, a nonprofit chamber music organization, is in Westover, providing six chamber music concerts annually, as well as art exhibits and installations.

Fine art

 * UCONN Stamford Art Gallery showcases both emerging and established artists.
 * Franklin Street Works maintains an art space in the downtown area.
 * Fernando Luis Alvarez Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Connecticut with diverse international exhibitions.
 * Stamford Loft Artists Association provides support for visual artists and opportunities to exhibit their work.

Libraries
Stamford's public library, the Ferguson Library, is one of the largest in Connecticut. The library also shows movies and has a used book store run by Friends of Ferguson Library.

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.

Parks and recreation

 * Mill River Park is in the center of downtown. Its ancient grist mill (present when George Washington traveled through Stamford) was modernized in the 1920s. There are numerous community activities offered at the park coordinated by the Mill River Park Collaborative.
 * Cummings Park, a public beach, was once a popular spot for shell fishing. The park was developed in 1906 and had been known as Halloween Park because Mayor Homer Cummings cast the deciding vote to create it on Halloween Night.
 * The 83 acre Cove Island Park, once a farm and then an enormous factory site (Stamford Manufacturing Company), has beaches, picnic grounds and bluffs. It has a small wildlife sanctuary in the southwest corner that might be interesting for bird watchers. The SoundWaters Community Center for Environmental Education is in the park.
 * Jackie Robinson Park on the West Side is named after baseball legend Jackie Robinson, who lived in Stamford.
 * Terry Connors Ice Rink shares a parking lot with Cove Island Park. It offers public ice skating, group lessons, and ice hockey. It is the home of the Stamford Youth Hockey Association.
 * Scalzi Park on Bridge Street has a playground, baseball and softball fields, volleyball courts, tennis courts, bocce courts, basketball courts, roller hockey courts, and a baseball park, Cubeta Stadium. A concrete skate park was opened at Scalzi in July 2007 for $309,850, designed and built by Grindline Skateparks Inc.
 * Stamford has two municipal golf courses. Sterling Farms Golf Course opened in May 1972 and is the more popular. The facility also has a driving range, restaurant, and six tennis courts.
 * The E. Gaynor Brennan Golf Course, known locally as Hubbard Heights, opened for play in 1922 as a private course and was purchased by the city in 1949.
 * Dorothy Heroy Park is in North Stamford.
 * Mianus River Park is 187 acre of nature reserve in Stamford, owned by the city.
 * The Italian Center features tennis courts, swimming pools, fitness centers, a playground and a miniature golf course.
 * The Stamford YMCA offers swimming lessons and sports, including basketball and indoor soccer. Programs are also available periodically for physical fitness.
 * The Stamford Yacht Club is a private organization that provides members with access to boating activities and additional amenities.

Connecticut House of Representatives
Stamford is predominantly Democratic but not nearly as heavily Democratic as Connecticut's more urban cities like Bridgeport and New Haven. In 2008, Democrat Barack Obama received 64.06% of the city vote to Republican John McCain's 35.35%.

Stamford is governed via the strong-mayor form of the mayor-council system. The city's legislative body is called the Board of Representatives. The forty members of the Board of Representatives are elected from twenty districts, with each district electing two representatives every four years, concurrent with the Mayor's term.

Democrat Caroline Simmons is Stamford's current mayor. Notable Republicans from the city include former U.S. Representative Chris Shays, former Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele, and former mayor Michael Pavia. Prominent Democrats from Stamford include current Attorney General William Tong, former two-term Governor Dannel Malloy, former Attorney General and incumbent senior U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, former Attorney General George Jepsen, former U.S. Attorney General and former mayor Homer Stille Cummings, Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Andrew J. McDonald, and Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court Richard A. Robinson. Other notable politicians with Stamford roots include Carrie Clyde Holly, the first woman (along with two colleagues) elected to serve in a State Legislature (Colorado, from Pueblo County in the 1894 election) in U.S. history, Joe Lieberman, former Attorney General of Connecticut and Independent/Democratic U.S. Senator who was Al Gore's vice-presidential nominee in the 2000 presidential election; William F. Buckley, Jr., conservative commentator; and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau.

Stamford has consistently received a perfect score from the Human Rights Campaign for LGBT-friendly policies since 2016.

Education
Stamford has a highly educated population. Per the American Community Survey from 2017 to 2021, 89.1% of adults aged 25 and older graduated from high school, and 52.3% have a Bachelor's degree or higher. This compares to 91.1% and 37.9% nationally, respectively.

Stamford is home to a branch of the University of Connecticut, commonly called UConn Stamford. Sacred Heart University also hosts a physician assistant studies program located on the Stamford Hospital campus. The city also used to host a branch of the University of Bridgeport. UConn Stamford's campus is located in Downtown Stamford, and its main building, reconverted from hosting a former Bloomingdale's store that had closed in 1990, opened in 1998. In 2017, UCONN Stamford opened a 300-student dormitory around the corner from the Stamford Campus on Washington Boulevard.

Stamford Public Schools comprises 13 elementary schools, 5 middle schools, and 3 high schools. As of the 2022–2023 school year, the school district serves 16,212 students, a slight increase over the previous year. Stamford Public Schools students come from a diverse array of backgrounds, mirroring the city's diversity. As of 2022, the majority of Stamford Public Schools students are Hispanic or Latino. 75 different languages are spoken at home by Stamford Public School students, with English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, Bengali, and Polish among the most common languages. Per an April 2023 report by the Connecticut State Department of Education on racial imbalance in public school enrollment, none of the 10 Stamford School District schools studied had a racial imbalance of more than 14% compared to the school district at large. According to the Connecticut State Department of Education, in the 2004–2005 academic year, 42.7% of Stamford's public school students were economically disadvantaged, and 11.6% were students with disabilities.

The supermajority of Stamford Public Schools funding comes from the City of Stamford. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, Stamford Public Schools had a total operating budget of $301,843,542, provided by the City of Stamford. This represented 82.6% of its total revenue that year, with an additional 9.8% coming from federal grants, 7.5% coming from state grants, and 0.1% coming from other sources.

Stamford's three public high schools are Westhill High School, Stamford High School, and the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering. As of 2022, the Stamford School District's average SAT score was 990, below the state average.

The city also has several private schools, including Villa Maria School, Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy of Connecticut, King School, and The Long Ridge School.

Media

 * NBC Sports Group world headquarters is in Stamford, connected to Chelsea Piers Connecticut. All studios are based in Stamford, including Football Night in America, and all the NBC Olympic coverage.
 * Three NBCUniversal syndicated programs relocated to Stamford's Rich Forum in 2009: Maury came to Stamford from New York City, while Jerry Springer and The Steve Wilkos Show were previously based in Chicago. The former two shows ended production in 2022 and 2018 respectively, while The Steve Wilkos Show remains in production as of 2024.
 * Television show The People's Court was taped in Stamford from 2012 until the show's cancellation in 2023.
 * ITV America announced the opening of a major production office in Stamford with 450 employees, along with a digital media incubator program. Televisions shows produced in Stamford include Hell's Kitchen, Pawn Stars, The Real Housewives of New Jersey, Queer Eye on Netflix, and The Four: Battle for Stardom.
 * WWE has had its global headquarters in Stamford since 1985, when it was Titan Sports. Originally located at 1241 East Main Street, the company progressively moved to 677 Washington Boulevard starting early 2021.
 * Fortune 100 company Charter Communications' world headquarters has been based in Stamford since 2012. Charter distributes services through its Spectrum brand.
 * Stamford serves as a major office for YES Network, The Yankee Entertainment and Sports Network.
 * A+E Networks has a major production studio based in Stamford.
 * Soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live were taped in Stamford in 2013.
 * This Old House relocated its headquarters to Stamford from Manhattan in 2016, and has about 50 employees in the city.
 * Stephen David Entertainment, a division of Banijay Group, opened a production office in Stamford in 2019.
 * Who Wants to Be a Millionaire started taping in 2014 at the Connecticut Film Center.
 * Synapse Group, part of Time Inc. now owned by Dotdash Meredith, is headquartered in Stamford.
 * Chief Executive Group is headquartered in Stamford, and publishes Chief Executive Magazine.
 * The fictional movie Take My Hand from the episode "I Heart Connecticut" of the NBC show 30 Rock was set and shot in Stamford.
 * Stamford served as a location for one of five branches of the fictional Dunder Mifflin paper company on the US television series The Office. The branch was shown during several episodes during the 3rd season of the show, and exterior shots were of the former Starwood headquarters building at 333 Ludlow in Stamford's South End.
 * The TBS sitcom Are We There Yet, starring Terry Crews, was shot at the Connecticut Film Center in Stamford.
 * In the Civil War event published by Marvel Comics, Stamford was destroyed during a fight between the New Warriors and the supervillain Nitro, in which Nitro detonated himself, killing many citizens of Stamford and indirectly causing the Superhero Civil War.

Print media

 * Stamford Magazine, published by Moffly Media
 * Stamford Advocate, daily newspaper
 * Hey Stamford! digital media brand focused on the City of Stamford
 * The Stamford Times, weekly newspaper, owned by The Hour Newspapers.
 * Stamford Plus magazine is published by Significance Media LLC.
 * El Sol News, weekly Spanish-language newspaper.
 * La Voz, weekly Spanish-language newspaper.

Radio stations in the city

 * WEDW-FM 88.5; 2,000 watts, a National Public Radio station
 * WSTC-AM 1400; 1,000 watts; shares programming with WNLK-AM 1350
 * WEBE 108 -107.9 1400; 50,000 watts

Stamford Emergency Medical Services
A not-for-profit agency, Stamford Emergency Medical Services (SEMS) provides pre-hospital emergency care in Stamford, Connecticut. SEMS also provides contracted paramedic intercept response to Darien Emergency Medical Services, located in Darien, Connecticut. SEMS is the only Connecticut EMS service accredited by the Commission on the Accreditation of Ambulance Services (CAAS). All SEMS units are staffed by at least one Connecticut-licensed paramedic. Stamford EMS responds to 14,000 calls annually.

In Stamford, medical facilities include:
 * Stamford Hospital, Level II Trauma Center
 * Tully Health Center
 * Franklin Street Community Health Center

Fire department
Fire protection in the city of Stamford is provided by the paid Stamford Fire Department (SFD) and four all-volunteer fire departments—Glenbrook-New Hope, Belltown, Springdale, and Turn of River—plus a combination company (paid and volunteer members), Long Ridge.

Budgeting and districting of the various fire departments throughout the city had been unstable since 2007, due to an extended legal conflict between the volunteer departments and the Malloy administration. As of May 16, 2012, a decision was reached by the city's charter revision committee to combine the paid and volunteer fire departments into one combination fire department, known as the Stamford Fire Department.

Police department
The Stamford Police Department (SPD) is Stamford's only police force, and has lost four officers in the line of service since 1938. The police force has about 280 sworn police officers making it the fifth largest police force in Connecticut after Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, and Waterbury. Most Stamford Officers were trained at the Connecticut Police Training Academy before patrolling in the city. Aside from Police Headquarters, located at 725 Bedford St., opened in 2019, in Downtown Stamford, SPD also operates substations in Stamford's West Side at Wilson St. and W. Main St., and at 1137 High Ridge Rd and Hope Street. The current Chief of Police is Tim Shaw since April 9, 2020, who was a police officer in Stamford before leaving to Easton, Connecticut and coming back to Stamford to become police chief.

Mass transit
Stamford is on the New Haven Line of the Metro-North Railroad, the commuter rail system for northern metropolitan New York City. Stamford is the second-busiest station on the Metro-North system, after Grand Central Terminal, and serves as a major transfer point for local trains. Stamford Station is also the terminus of a Metro-North branch that ends in New Canaan, 8 mi away, known as the New Canaan Branch, and a part-time terminal of Shore Line East and Danbury Branch trains. Two smaller train stations in Stamford are Glenbrook and Springdale, both a part of the New Canaan branch.

Commuter trains come into Stamford from all points between New London to the east and New York (Grand Central Terminal) to the south. The average nonstop commute is 47 minutes. Trains operate from the Stamford station between 4:43 a.m. (first departure to Grand Central) until 12:55 a.m. (last departure to Grand Central).

Stamford also serves as a prominent station along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. The Acela, a high speed train service between Boston and Washington D.C., makes several daily stops in Stamford. Amtrak's higher-speed Northeast Regional (between Boston or Springfield, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.) and Vermonter (between Saint Albans, Vermont and Washington, D.C.) also make plentiful daily stops in Stamford. Amtrak has facilities in upper level of the Stamford station.

Airports
Stamford is within reasonable distance of 11 airports: four general aviation, two regional, five international.

Buses
City bus transportation is provided by CT Transit, which is run and financed by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. The main terminal is adjacent to the train station on State Street, under the I-95 highway. Bus service runs along major arterial roads through the towns of Darien, Norwalk, Greenwich and Port Chester, New York. A non-stop direct route is also offered to White Plains, New York. Commuters can connect in Norwalk to points as far east as Milford and as far north as Danbury. Additional connections can be made in Port Chester and White Plains to all points covered by the Bee-Line bus system in Westchester County.

Greyhound provides inter-city bus service from the lower level of the Stamford train station. Bus service is provided to New Haven (Union Station), Boston (South Station), and New York (Port Authority).

Highways
Two limited-access highways run through the city. Interstate 95 serves as the main route through downtown Stamford with four exits (6–9). The Merritt Parkway runs through the northern part of the city. This road is designated for passenger vehicles only. Any congestion on the Merritt Parkway is mostly likely to occur on the southbound lane in the morning and the northbound in the evening (route to and from New York). At night, due to the absence of lighting, visibility on the Merritt Parkway is relatively poor. Stamford exits on the Merritt Parkway are 33–35, and exit 36 is just over the border in New Canaan.

Stamford is also served by four other state highways. Route1, also known as Main Street in Stamford, is also used as a major artery during the morning and evening commute. Most traffic via Route1 is short distance or fairly local, yet vehicles have utilized Route1 during times of heavy congestion on I-95 as a re-route. Route 137 (Washington Boulevard and High Ridge Road) is the main north–south road of the city and runs from the Stamford Transportation Center and serves the Turn of River, North Stamford, and High Ridge sections of the city. Route 104 (Long Ridge Road) branches off from Route 137 to serve the Long Ridge section. Route 106 (Courtland Avenue) serves the Glenbrook neighborhood and continues towards the town of Darien.

Notable people
Noteworthy past and present residents include:
 * Alvin Alden (1818–1882), Wisconsin state legislator
 * Revington Arthur (1908–1986), painter, educator
 * Andrew P. Bakaj (born 1982), former Department of Defense and CIA official, lead counsel for the whisteblower during the inquiry and subsequent impeachment of President Donald Trump, born and raised in Stamford
 * Michael Cuscuna (1948–2024), jazz record producer
 * Albert K. Dawson (1885–1967), photojournalist and film correspondent in World War I. His firm, Brown & Dawson, was based in Stamford from 1912 to 1919.
 * Candace Owens (born 1989), political pundit, born and raised in Stamford
 * Dana Delany (born 1956), actress, grew up in Stamford
 * Willy DeVille (1950–2009), R&B singer and composer, born in Stamford
 * Greg Farshtey (born 1965), author and editor at Lego, known for his work on Bionicle, grew up in Stamford
 * William Phillips Hall (1864–1932), born in Stamford, transportation executive, lay preacher
 * Harry Houdini (1874–1926), escape artist, had a summer home in Stamford
 * Nick Howard (born 1993), professional baseball player
 * J. Walter Kennedy (1912–1977), mayor of Stamford, commissioner of the National Basketball Association
 * Bernard Jackson (born 1959), singer of R&B music, born in Stamford
 * Robert Kravchuk (born 1955), author, scholar, born in Stamford
 * Cyndi Lauper (born 1953), singer, has a home in North Stamford
 * Joe Lieberman (1942–2024), U.S. Senator and 2000 Democratic nominee for vice president, born and grew up in Stamford
 * Christopher Lloyd (born 1938), actor, born in Stamford
 * Meat Loaf (Michael Lee Aday; 1947–2022), rock singer and songwriter, lived in Stamford 1979–1981, coached Babe Ruth League and Little League baseball
 * Dan Malloy (born 1955), former governor of Connecticut
 * Frank J. Marion (1869–1963), pioneer of motion pictures, founder of Kalem Company, who built and lived at Marion Castle
 * Vince McMahon (born 1945) and Linda McMahon (born 1948), founders of World Wrestling Entertainment
 * Don Morrow (1927–2020), actor, announcer, voiceover artist
 * Chris Noth (born 1954), actor, grew up in Stamford
 * Gilda Radner (1946–1989), comedian, actress, wife of Gene Wilder, lived in the city
 * Jackie Robinson (1919–1972), baseball player, made North Stamford his home later in his life; one of the Stamford little leagues is named after him
 * Stephen Sondheim (1930–2021), composer, lived in North Stamford as a boy
 * Grant Tinker (1926–2016), former husband of Mary Tyler Moore and former chairman and CEO of NBC (1981–1986), was born in the city
 * Bobby Valentine (born 1950), former baseball player manager, owner of downtown sports bar "Bobby V's"
 * Vivian Vance (1909–1979), actress who starred as Ethel Mertz in I Love Lucy
 * Mort Walker (1923–2018), cartoonist for Beetle Bailey and Hi and Lois
 * Gene Wilder (1933–2016), actor and director, lived and died in the city

Sister cities

 * 🇮🇱 Afula, Israel
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title: Stamford, Connecticut


text:
Trumbull, Connecticut

Trumbull is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, and borders on the cities of Bridgeport and Shelton, as well as the towns of Stratford, Fairfield, Easton and Monroe. The population was 36,827 during the 2020 census. Trumbull was the home of the Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation for thousands of years before the English settlement was made in 1639. The town was named after Jonathan Trumbull (1710–1785), a merchant, patriot and statesman, at its incorporation in 1797. Aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky lived in Trumbull during his active years when he designed, built, and flew fixed-wing aircraft and put the helicopter into mass production for the first time.

History
The area comprising the town of Trumbull was occupied by the Paugusset Indian nation for thousands of years before English colonists arrived here during the Great Migration from England and established the town of Stratford, Connecticut, in 1639.

In 1725, Stratford residents living in the northern part of the town petitioned the Colony of Connecticut to establish their own separate village. They wished to call their new village Nickol's Farms, after the family who lived in its center. However, the Colony named it Unity instead. The village of Unity merged with the village to its west called Long Hill (organized in 1740), to form the town of "North Stratford" in 1744.

In the late 1780s, North Stratford began to petition the Connecticut General Assembly seeking independence from Stratford. The Assembly finally granted full town rights in October 1797 and named the new town after Jonathan Trumbull (1710–1785), a merchant, patriot, statesman and slave owner when it was incorporated in 1797. Aviation pioneer Igor Sikorsky lived in Trumbull during his active years when he designed, built, and flew fixed-wing aircraft and put the helicopter into mass production for the first time.

Bodies of water
The Pequonnock River is the only major waterway in Trumbull, beginning northwest of Old Mine Park at the Monroe border and flowing southeasterly through the Pequonnock River Valley State Park, Trumbull Center and Twin Brooks Park. The river leaves Trumbull and continues into Beardsley Park in Bridgeport.

Major bodies of water include Canoe Brook Lake, Pinewood Lake, Tashua Hills Golf Club Pond, and the six Twin Brooks Park ponds. Minor bodies of water include Curtiss (Secret) Pond, Dogwood Lake, Frog Pond, Kaatz Pond, Kaechele Pond, Porters Pond, Thrush Wood Lake and Unity Park Pond.

Land
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 23.5 sqmi, of which 23.3 sqmi is land and 0.2 sqmi, or 1.0%, is water. According to the U.S. Geological Survey in 1986, the lowest point in town is approximately 40 ft above sea level at Beach Park. The highest point is the top of Monitor Hill at 615 ft above sea level.

According to the U.S. Geological Society, at 615 ft Monitor Hill (Tashua Hill) in Trumbull is the highest coastal point on the east coast of the United States. It is marked with a plaque on Monitor Hill Road.

Parks
Trumbull has 871.23 acre of park facilities. These areas include:

 * Abraham Nichols Park/Wood's Estate (13.8 acre)
 * Aldo Memorial Park (Westwind Road) (7.0 acre)
 * Robert G. Beach Memorial Park (331.0 acre)
 * Davidow Park (15.2 acre)
 * Great Oak Park (69.9 acre)
 * Gunther Pond Park (1.3 acre)
 * Indian Ledge Park (104.6 acre)
 * Island Brook Park (47.0 acre)
 * Kaatz Pond Park ( 17.5 acre)
 * Kaechele Soccer Fields (12.23 acre)
 * Long Hill Green (0.1 acre)
 * Middlebrooks Park (13.7 acre)
 * Mischee Brook Park (16.6 acre)
 * Nothnagle Memorial Field (4.0 acre)
 * Old Mine Park (Historic Mine Area Dedication) (72.1 acre)
 * Parlor Rock Historic Amusement Area (2.5 acre)
 * Strawberry Brook Estates (4.4 acre)
 * Tashua Recreation Area (20 acre)
 * Twin Brooks Park (83.2 acre)
 * Unity Park (35.1 acre)

State parks
The town of Trumbull, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection and the Bridgeport Hydraulic Company agreed to make a joint Town and State purchase of land in the Pequonnock River Valley in 1989. The 382 acre parcel cost $9,275,000 and is maintained by the Department of Environmental Protection.

Villages

 * Daniels Farm
 * Long Hill
 * Nichols
 * Tashua
 * Trumbull Center

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 34,243 people, 11,911 households, and 9,707 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,470.6 PD/sqmi. There were 12,160 housing units at an average density of 522.2 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town was 94.0% White, 2.7% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 2.4% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.9% of the population.

There were 11,911 households, out of which 37.5% had children under the age of 18 living within them, 71.7% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.5% were non-families. 16.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.8 and the average family size was 3.2.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.0% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 17.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.9 males. As of the 2000 census, males had a median income of $62,201 versus $41,384 for females. The per capita income for the town was $34,931. About 1.4% of families and 2.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those over age 65.

2008 estimates
According to the American Community Survey (ACS) 2008 estimate, there were 37,134 people, 12,338 households, and 10,021 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,593.7 people per square mile. There were 12,651 housing units (93% ownership, 7% rental) with an average density of 542.9 per square mile.

There were 12,338 households, out of which 40.9% had children under the age of 18 living within them, 69.0% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.8% were non-families. 17.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.90 and the average family size was 3.31.

In the town, the population includes 25.5% under the age of 18 and 20.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $103,082, and the median income for a family was $115,686.The per capita income for the town was $46,307. About 1.7% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 2.8% of those over age 65.

The racial makeup of the town was 92.0% White, 4.1% Asian, 2.9% Black or African American, 0.5% from other races, and 0.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.7% of the population. The ten largest ethnicities were Italian 11,025 (29.7%), Irish 9,166 (24.7%), German 4,363 (11.7%), English 3,112 (8.4%), Polish 2,762 (7.4%), Russian 1,558 (4.2%), Hungarian 1,447 (3.9%), French (except Basque) 1,087 (2.9%), Portuguese 885 (2.4%), & Slovak 881 (2.4%).

Places of worship

 * St. Catherine of Siena Church (Trumbull, Connecticut)
 * St. Theresa Catholic Church (Trumbull, Connecticut)

Bicentennial fountain and time capsule
The town's Bicentennial fountain is located at the corner of Quality Street and Church Hill Road (Connecticut Route 127), near the main branch of the library and the town hall. It features the Trumbull town seal and a memorial plaque of donors. In 1997 a time capsule was laid at the base of the Bicentennial Fountain with an opening date of October 12, 2097, Trumbull's tricentennial.

On the National Register of Historic Places

 * Christ Episcopal Church and Tashua Burial Ground – 5170 Madison Ave. (added May 25, 2001)
 * David Mallett Jr. House – 420 Tashua Road (added March 20, 1986)
 * Nichols Farms Historic District – Center Road, 1681–1944 Huntington Turnpike, 5–34 Priscilla Place, and 30–172 Shelton Road (added September 20, 1987)
 * Old Mine Park Archeological Site (added 1990)

Economics
The revised town budget for 2009–2010 is $140,054,187.23. For 2009, Trumbull maintained a AA bond rating on $26.3 million in new general obligation issues. The total of Trumbull GOs is $98.1 million. Trumbull has approximately 1400 businesses.

Corporate and industrial parks
Located north of the Merritt Parkway and east of Route 8 near the town boundary with Shelton and Stratford, 93000 sqft of commercial space is zoned and includes offices for large firms such as Helicopter Support, Sun Products, Unilever, and United Healthcare. It is also home to the Market Integrity office of the NASDAQ OMX Group.

Retail
The Westfield Trumbull Mall is located on Route 111, or Main Street, on the town boundary with Bridgeport, has over 180 stores. The Hawley Lane Mall is located on Hawley Lane south of Route 8 on the town boundary with Stratford.

Planning and Zoning Regulations
Professional Office Overlay Zones (formerly Design Districts) have been established on certain areas along White Plains Road (Route 127), Church Hill Road and Main Street (Route 111). A combination Business Commercial Multi-Family Residential Zone, or Mixed-use, has been created around the historic Long Hill Green (dating to 1720), to encourage new commercial development.

Adaptive reuse has been adopted to permit the reuse of all antique structures situated on state numbered roads which have been previously occupied by a non-conforming use, or are deemed historic by the town, and for which uses allowed by the existing zones are no longer viable—resulting in structures that may become badly maintained, under-utilized, vacant or demolished by neglect.

Blight Ordinance
The town amended its Municipal Code effective on October 1, 2012, to establish a Blight Prevention Ordinance pursuant to Section 7-148(c) (7) (H) (xv) of the Municipal Powers Act of the State of Connecticut General Statutes. This new ordinance encourages the rehabilitation of blighted premises by prohibiting any owner(s), or occupant(s) of real property from; allowing, creating, maintaining or causing the creation or maintenance of a blighted premises.

Taxes
The town's grand list assesses the taxable value in Trumbull at $5.114 billion, with a 2017 mill rate of 33.39. The cumulative value of Trumbull real estate is $4.615 billion.

Roads

 * Route 8 runs through the southeast part of town. Route 8 is a freeway that leads to Waterbury and Interstate 84, continues into Massachusetts as Massachusetts Route 8 and finally terminates in Searsburg, Vermont. Nichols residents petitioned the legislature and won a bypass for Route 8 which was initially proposed to be built directly through the center of the historic village in the early 1900s.
 * Route 15, the historic Merritt Parkway, runs north (east) to New Haven (eventually connecting to Interstate 91) and south (west) towards New York City. Route 15 was built through Nichols center displacing a home, the old Nichols Store and Trinity Episcopal Church in 1939.
 * Route 25 runs north to south, merging with Route 8 at the Bridgeport line and continues overlapped with Route 8 (commonly known as the Route 8/25 connector) into Bridgeport ending at Interstate 95. Continuing north on Route 25, the freeway ends as it crosses Route 111 and continues as a surface road towards I-84 in Newtown leading to Danbury.
 * Route 108, also known as Nichols Avenue and Huntington Turnpike, heads north into Trumbull from Stratford at Hawley Lane. The Nichols Avenue portion in Trumbull was completed and its dimensions and abutting landowners were entered into the land records on December 7, 1696, making it the third oldest documented highway in Connecticut. It terminates in Shelton at the intersection with Route 110 (Howe Avenue). Route 108 can be reached via exit 52 from Route 15 or exit 8 from Route 8.
 * Route 111, also known as Main Street, begins at the intersection of Route 15 (exit 48) at the North End of Bridgeport. In 1801, the road connecting Bridgeport to Newtown was called the Bridgeport and Newtown Turnpike. From 1826 to 1852, the road from Trumbull to Stevenson was chartered as a turnpike and called the Monroe and Zoar Bridge Turnpike. Route 111 terminates at Route 34 in Monroe. Prior to the last section of the Route 25 highway opening in 1982, the portion of the current Route 111 from Route 15 to the intersection with the northern terminus of the divided-highway section of Route 25 was known as Route 25 instead of Route 111, with Route 111 starting at the Route 25 intersection.
 * Route 127, also known as White Plains Road and Church Hill Road, runs through the town center from south to north from the East Side of Bridgeport. The section in Trumbull was laid out to Pulpit Rock in 1705. Route 127 ends at the intersection of Main Street (Route 111) at the Town Hall.

Bus
The Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority provides bus service for Trumbull.

Train
Three train stations are located near Trumbull: All three stations are served by Metro-North's New Haven Line. Bridgeport's station is served by Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and the Vermonter. All are easily accessible by bus routes or driving. The New Haven Railroad used to serve the town.
 * Bridgeport, 4.6 miles away.
 * Stratford, 4.9 miles away.
 * Fairfield Metro, 5.7 miles away.

Public education
Public schools are managed by the Trumbull Public Schools System and as of 2022–2023 include 6,868 students and 512 teachers.

The system includes Trumbull High School, which is also home to an Agriscience & Biotechnology program, the Alternative High School, and REACH. Trumbull has two middle schools: Hillcrest Middle School and Madison Middle School. The six elementary schools in town include Booth Hill Elementary, Daniels Farm Elementary, Frenchtown Elementary, Jane Ryan Elementary School, Middlebrook Elementary, and Tashua Elementary. The Trumbull Early Childhood Education Center serves as the town's pre-school.

Private education
Trumbull has several private schools, including the (non-denominational) Christian Heritage School (K–12) and (Catholic) St. Catherine of Siena School (K–8), St. Joseph High School, and St. Theresa School (K–8). A private pre-school, the Montessori Center for Early Learning, is located in Trumbull.

Continuing education
Trumbull provides adult education in a variety of subjects at Trumbull High School, typically in the early evening.

Emergency Medical Services
Trumbull EMS is a combined volunteer/paid organization founded in 1976. Trumbull EMS Headquarters is at 250 Middlebrooks Avenue. Today, the organization is a town operated entity, operating as a "third service" with paid staff being town employees. Trumbull EMS is part of the Sponsor Council Hospitals of Greater Bridgeport region. Their fleet of vehicles includes three Chevrolet Type III ambulances, two Mercedes Benz Sprinter Type II ambulances, two Chevy Tahoe paramedic fly-cars, and one Ford Police Interceptor Utility style command vehicle. EMT-B and EMT re-certification classes are regularly offered.

Fire departments
Firefighting in the town of Trumbull is served by three independent and all-volunteer fire departments. Each fire department handles its own tax structure and fundraising but receives no funding from the town. There are a total of seven fire stations located throughout the town. The current Town Fire Marshal is Megan Murphy.
 * Long Hill Fire District (since 1921)
 * Nichols Fire District (since 1917)
 * Trumbull Center Fire District (since 1925)

Police department
The Trumbull Police Department was created in 1941 through an act of the State Legislature. It is under the jurisdiction of a six-member Board of Police Commissioners appointed by the First Selectman. The department currently has eighty officers and ten civilian workers, including the dog warden. The current Chief of Police is Micahel Lombardo. The police department is located at 158 Edison Road. The 2009–2010 revised departmental budget was $6,819,421.

Government and politics
Historically, Trumbull was a reliably Republican stronghold in presidential elections. However, the town has seen a few swings in favor of the Democrats in recent years. In 2008, John McCain only carried the town by 0.9% In 2016, Hillary Clinton only lost by 2.8%. In 2020, Democrat Joe Biden won it by 12.8%.

Notable sport teams
The National Little League of Trumbull defeated the Kang-Tu Little League of Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in the championship game of the 1989 Little League World Series.

Activities and organizations

 * The Nichols Improvement Association was founded in 1889 and has 47 acre of open space. Its gazebo is used for wedding pictures, social gatherings and for the sale of Christmas trees.
 * Tashua Recreation Facility, at 268 acre in size, includes basketball, tennis courts, swimming pool, playground, picnic area, multi-purpose field and Tashua Knolls, an 18-hole golf course built in 1976 and designed by noted golf architect Al Zikorus. The course features a driving range, two putting greens, pro shop, locker rooms, restaurant and banquet facility. There is also Tashua Glen, a 9-hole "Executive style" course opened in 2004. Both courses feature cart paths. There is a Men's Club, Senior Men's Club, Ladies 9-holer, and Ladies 18-holer organizations active at the course.
 * The Trumbull Community Women is a group dedicated to promoting civic service. It is open to all women over 18, and runs a Young Women's Club as well. They meet at the Trumbull Library Community Room, generally on the first Tuesday of the month September through June.
 * The Town Hall Gazebo is host to concerts, mainly on Tuesday nights during the Summer.
 * The Trumbull Historical Society, founded in 1964, maintains a museum of Trumbull's past at 1856 Huntington Turnpike on the site of Abraham Nichols farm.
 * The Trumbull Nature & Arts Center is located at 7115 Main Street and coordinate trips for fishing, butterfly searches, gardening, outdoor photography and other nature related activities.
 * The Trumbull Teen Center was located at the barn at Indian Ledge Park and featured activities such as air hockey, Foosball, local band concerts, ping pong and basketball for Trumbull residents. The barn has not served as a teen center for several years, but there are efforts underway to reopen it.
 * Trumbull's Senior Center is located at 23 Priscilla Place. The senior transportation department continues to provide effective door-to-door services to seniors age 60 and over without transportation or unable to drive. Services include doctor' s appointments, shopping, nutrition program, dentist appointments and legal appointments. It provides a variety of resources such as Continuing Education and Social Services as well as activities.
 * The Society Farsharotu, an Aromanian cultural organization, has its headquarters at Trumbull.

Library
The Trumbull Library System (TLS) is the town's main lending library with a staff of fifteen and two locations. The library features online book searches & renewal, statewide inter-library loan, adult & youth sections, and several meeting rooms. Internet terminals and photocopy machines are also available for use. Various groups utilize the library for meetings and workshops. The catalog of the library includes over 148,000 printed materials, 10,000 video materials, 4,500 audio materials and 200 subscriptions available as audio books on CD/tape/MP3, books, DVD's, graphic novels, magazines, music CD's, and VHS tapes. Annual circulation exceeds 373,000 transactions.

There are two branches of the library:
 * The Trumbull Library (main branch) is adjacent to Town Hall at 33 Quality Street.
 * The Fairchild-Nichols Memorial Library is located at 1718 Huntington Turnpike.

Local outlets

 * Trumbull Community Television is available via Charter Cable on channel 17 and via Frontier Communications on channel 99. The Educational-access television cable TV station's programming features coverage of school events and programs, Government-access television (GATV) provides coverage of all town government commissions, boards and legislative meetings. It also provides emergency announcements, community information and announcements regarding town services.
 * Public-access television is available via Charter Cable Community Vision 192.
 * The Trumbull Times is the local community newspaper, published weekly on Thursdays.

Filming location

 * Isn't it Delicious?, Independent film (2011)
 * A Dance for Grace (2010)
 * Revolutionary Road (2008)
 * Oprah Winfrey presents For One More Day which aired on ABC in December 2007

Accolades
Family Circle magazine has ranked Trumbull 7th in their "10 Best Towns for Families" 2011. U.S. News & World Report magazine has ranked Trumbull one of the best 15 places to retire in Connecticut. RelocateAmerica.com ranked Trumbull in their annual list of America's "Top 100 Places to Live". Money magazine ranked Trumbull #68 in their 100 best places to live rankings of U.S. cities in 2007 and #77 in 2009.

Notable people

 * Lee Abbamonte, travel blogger and the youngest American to visit all 193 United Nations member states
 * Dick Allen (1939–2017), American poet and poet laureate of the state of Connecticut
 * John W. Beach (born 1825), seventh President of Wesleyan University
 * James Beebe (1717–1785), Reverend at Unity Parish, Army Preacher in the French and Indian War and patriot
 * Truman Bradley (1826–1900), American Indian from the Schaghticoke tribe
 * Craig Breslow (born 1980), professional baseball player (pitcher) Oakland Athletics and Boston Red Sox, and Red Sox executive, 1998 Trumbull High School graduate
 * P. W. Catanese, author of the Books of Umber and Further Tales Adventures series
 * Joseph DiMenna, hedge-fund manager and patron of the arts
 * Nancy DiNardo, Chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Connecticut
 * Chris Drury, professional hockey player, won the Stanley Cup, 2-time Olympic silver medalist and member of the 1989 Little League World Series championship team from Trumbull
 * Ted Drury, former NHL player
 * Felly, rapper
 * Will Geer (1902–1978), actor and folklorist, maintained "Geer-Gore Gardens"
 * Nero Hawley (1742–1817), slave, served in the Continental Army earning his freedom
 * Robert Hawley (1729–1799), Captain North Stratford Train Band in the American Revolutionary War
 * Carolyn Hax (born 1966), writer and columnist for The Washington Post and the author of the advice column "Tell Me About It"
 * Tony Horton, actor, personal trainer and creator of p90x home fitness program
 * Harvey Hubbell (1857–1927), inventor
 * Joseph Judson (1619–1690), early settler, militia officer and local official. Negotiated the purchase of Long Hill area from the Paugussett Indians
 * Burt Kearns, television and motion picture writer and producer, journalist and Tabloid Baby author
 * Lisa Lampanelli, comedian, actress and writer
 * January LaVoy, Broadway and television actress
 * Mark Longwell, professional soccer player and United States men's national soccer team member
 * Brian E. Luther, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral
 * Manya Makoski, professional soccer player (Los Angeles Sol)
 * Charlie Morton, two-time MLB All-Star pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays, who was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series with the Houston Astros
 * Alyssa Naeher, United States women's national soccer team goalkeeper in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup
 * Igor Sikorsky (1889–1972), aviation pioneer and helicopter inventor
 * Benjamin Silliman (1779–1864), first professor of science at Yale and first to distill petroleum
 * Chris Soule, Olympic skeleton (sport) athlete
 * Jim Tennant, former MLB player

Sister city
Xinyi, Jiangsu (China), since 2008. A plaque in Twin Brooks Park commemorates this friendship.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Trumbull, Connecticut


text:
Westport, Connecticut

Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is 48 mi northeast of New York City. The town is part of the Western Connecticut Planning Region. Westport's public school system is ranked as the top public school district in Connecticut and 17th best school district in the United States.

History
The earliest known inhabitants of the Westport area as identified through archaeological finds date back 7,500 years. Records from the first white settlers report the Pequot Indians living in the area which they called Machamux translated by the colonialists as beautiful land. Settlement by colonialists dates back to the five Bankside Farmers; whose families grew and prospered into a community that continued expanding. The settlers arrived in 1693, having followed cattle to the isolated area. The community had its own ecclesiastical society, supported by independent civil and religious elements, enabling it to be independent from the Town of Fairfield. As the settlement expanded its name changed: it was briefly known as "Bankside" in 1693, officially named Green's Farm in 1732 in honor of Bankside Farmer John Green and in 1835 incorporated as the Town of Westport.

During the Revolutionary War, on April 25, 1777, a British force of 1,850 under the command of the Royal Governor of the Province of New York, Major General William Tryon, landed on Compo Beach to destroy the Continental Army's military supplies in Danbury. Minutemen from Westport and the surrounding areas crouched hiding while Tryon's troops passed and then launched an offensive from their rear. A statue on Compo Beach commemorates this plan of attack with a crouching Minuteman facing away from the beach, looking onto what would have been the rear of the troops. An additional statue of two cannons facing the water, a testament to the resistance the minutemen displayed, was erected on the beach in 1901. A sign on Post Road East also commemorates this event.

The Town of Westport was officially incorporated on May 28, 1835, with lands from Fairfield, Weston and Norwalk. Daniel Nash led 130 people of Westport in the petitioning of the Town of Fairfield for Westport's incorporation. The driving force behind the petition was to assist their seaport's economic viability that was being undermined by neighboring towns' seaports. For several decades after that, Westport was a prosperous agricultural community, distinguishing itself as the leading onion-growing center in the U.S. In addition, Westport became a shipping center in part to transport onions to market. Blight caused the collapse of Westport's onion industry, leading to mills and factories replacing agriculture as the town's economic engine.

Starting around 1910 the town experienced a cultural expansion. During this period artists, musicians, and authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald moved to Westport to be free from the commuting demands experienced by business people. The roots of Westport's reputation as an arts center can be traced back to this period during which it was known as a "creative heaven."

In the 20th century, a combination of industrialization and popularity among New Yorkers attracted to fashionable Westport—which had attracted many artists and writers—resulted in farmers selling off their land. Westport changed from a community of farmers to a suburban development.

From the 1950s through the 1970s, New Yorkers relocating from the city to the suburbs discovered Westport's culture of artists, musicians and authors. The population grew rapidly, assisted by the ease of commuting to New York City and back again to rolling hills and the "natural beauty of the town." By this time Westport had "chic New York-type fashion shopping" and a school system with a good reputation, both factors contributing to the growth.

By the 21st century, Westport had developed into a center for finance and insurance, as well as professional, scientific and technical services.

Geography
According to a publication by the 2010 Census, Westport has a total area of 33.45 sqmi of which 19.96 sqmi (59.67%) is land with the remaining area of 13.49 sqmi (40.20%) water.

Westport is bordered by Norwalk on the west, Weston to the north, Wilton to the northwest, Fairfield to the east and Long Island Sound to the south.

Topography
Both the train station and a total of 26 percent of town residents live within the 100-year floodplain. The floodplain was breached in 1992 and 1996 resulting in damage to private property, the 1992 flooding of the train station parking lot and the implementation of flood mitigation measures that include town regulations that affect renovations and additions to building within the floodplain zone.

Neighborhoods

 * Saugatuck – around the Westport railroad station near the southwestern corner of the town – a built-up area with some restaurants, stores and offices. Saugatuck originates from the Paugussett tribe meaning "mouth of the tidal river"
 * Saugatuck Shores – a curved peninsula surrounded by the Long Island Sound, this area was once part of the town of Norwalk. Today several hundred residents live on the peninsula, which became part of Westport in the 1960s.
 * Saugatuck Island – founded in the 1890s as Greater Marsh Shores, the island was renamed to its current name in 1920 and became a special taxing district on November 5, 1984.
 * Westport Village – The area around Post Road and Main Street on and near the Saugatuck River that serves as the center of Westport, with many shops and restaurants. There has been recent growth in the downtown area, including Levitt Pavilion, and Bedford square, a mixed-use development incorporating the Bedford Mansion
 * Greens Farms – Westport's oldest neighborhood, starting around Hillspoint Road and ending at Westport's boundary on the east side. Greens Farms has its own post office and train station
 * Cockenoe Island (pronounced "KuhKEEnee") – just off the southeastern coast of the town. Cockenoe Island is an uninhabited island that was purchased by Westport for $212,740 from the United Illuminating Company in 1969 so that the company could not use the land to build a nuclear plant
 * Old Hill – west of the Saugatuck River and north of the Post Road, a historic section of town with many homes from the Revolutionary and Victorian eras. Prior to the road being called the Boston Post Road it was called the Connecticut Turnpike
 * Coleytown – Located at the northern edge of town, near the Weston town line. Home to Coleytown fire station, Middle and Elementary school. Named for Farmer Coley, who owned lots of land in this area
 * Compo – Located around the main beach in the town, Compo Beach. Compo (Compaug), can be traced back to the early Paugussett tribe and means the bear's fishing ground
 * SewTrol – The area containing the Town Sewage Treatment Plant, the Town Animal Control, and the State Boat Launch

Demographics
The 2019 US Census reported a population estimate of 28,491 with the median household income at $206,466.

The 2010 US Census counted the total number of households in Westport being 9,573 of which 7,233 (75.6%) were family households. The population density was 1322.2 PD/sqmi. There were 10,065 housing units at an average density of 503.0 /sqmi.

According to the 2010 Census, the population of Westport was 92.6% White, 4.0% Asian, 1.2% Black or African American, and 0.1% American Indian. Individuals from other races made up 0.6% of Westport's population while individuals from two or more races made up 1.6%. In addition, Latinos of any race made up 3.5% of Westport's population. About 29.8% of Westport residents were younger than age 18 as of 2010; higher than the U.S. average of 24%.

According to the 2000 Census, there were 9,586 households, of which 38.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.1% were married couples living together, 6.8% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 25.2% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 27.9% under the age of 18, 2.7% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the town was $147,391, and the median income for a family was $176,740. As of the 2000 Census, males had a median income of $100,000 versus $53,269 for females. The per capita income for the town was $73,664. 2.6% of the population and 1.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 2.7% are under the age of 18 and 2.1% are 65 or older.

In July 2008, Westport was named the fifth top-earning city in the US, with a median family income of $193,540 and median home price of $1,200,000. In 2018, data from the American Community Survey revealed that Westport was the 9th wealthiest city in the United States.

Commerce and industry
The financial services sector employs 7,171 in Westport; half of whom commute daily to Westport. The financial services industry is a major segment of the local economy. The major financial services companies in Westport now are Bridgewater Associates, a global investment manager and Westport's largest employer, and BNY Mellon. Professional, scientific, and technical services companies include Terex, a Fortune 500 company manufacturing industrial equipment and offering professional and technical services around those products, and dLife, a multimedia diabetes education (and marketing) company.

Nonprofits

 * Save the Children, the American charity, governed entirely separately from the British charity of the same name, was headquartered in Westport before moving to Fairfield
 * The Smith Richardson Foundation, a public policy think tank, is headquartered in Westport, Connecticut
 * Joseph J. Clinton Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 399 and August Matthias American Legion Post 63 are 501(c)(19) Non Profit charities located in Westport.

Attractions

 * The Westport Country Playhouse, founded in 1930, is a regional theater. After Paul Newman moved to Westport in 1960, he became a principal "driving force" behind the playhouse.
 * Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) Westport, part of the Westport Arts Center; the facility was expanded in 2019 to include the permanent contemporary art collection.
 * Westport Museum for History and Culture, founded in 1889, is dedicate to the history of Westport.
 * The Wakeman Town Farm is a historic working farm and sustainability demonstration center.
 * The Rolnick Observatory is located on a former Nike missile site.
 * Earthplace, The Nature Discovery Center, is a 62 acre natural history museum, nature center and wildlife sanctuary.

Parks and recreation
Comprising 234 acre, Sherwood Island State Park is located on Long Island Sound and includes beach access. Compo Beach and Burying Hill Beach are municipal beaches that are open to out-of-town visitors in the summer for a fee. The state's 9/11 memorial was put in Sherwood Island State Park in Westport; on a clear day the New York City skyline can be seen.

In 1960, Westport purchased Longshore Club Park.

In 2011, Paul Newman's estate gave land to Westport to be managed by the Aspetuck Land Trust.

Government
Westport, like Connecticut as a whole, is heavily Democratic. Hillary Rodham Clinton outscored Donald J. Trump by 42 points in 2016. Joe Biden outscored Donald J. Trump by more than 50 points in 2020, marking the best performance for a Democratic presidential nominee in the town in over 60 years.

Westport was one of five towns in Connecticut that backed former Governor John Kasich over Donald J. Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. Kasich received 1,098 votes (46.19 percent) ahead of Trump who garnered 1,053 votes (44.30 percent). U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas finished third with 165 votes (6.94 percent).

The town switched to a Representative Town Meeting style governance in 1949. The government consists of a three-member Board of Selectmen, a Representative Town Meeting (RTM), a Board of Finance, a Board of Education, a Planning and Zoning Commission, and various other commissions, boards, and committees.

Taxes
As of 2019, the current mill rate of Westport is 16.86.

Public schools

Staples High School is Westport's only public high school. Staples High School was ranked No. 1 for best high schools in Connecticut and 279th best nationwide." The school is in the Staples neighborhood.

The district has two middle schools, Bedford Middle School and Coleytown Middle School. In September 2009, Bedford Middle School was awarded the government-honored Blue Ribbon Award. In 2020, Bedford Middle and Coleytown Middle schools were ranked No. 3 and No. 7 in the state, respectively.

There are five elementary schools with a total of 2,556 students:
 * Coleytown Elementary School
 * King's Highway Elementary School
 * Green's Farms Elementary School
 * Saugatuck Elementary School
 * Long Lots Elementary School

Private schools
Greens Farms Academy, located in the 1920s Vanderbilt estate overlooking Long Island Sound, is a K–12 private preparatory school located in the Greens Farms section of town.

Media
Westport's first newspaper dates back to the printing and publication of the first issue of The Saugatuck Journal on December 26, 1828.

Westport is served by both English-language newspapers and news websites including Westport News and WestportNow. The town is also home to a monthly magazine Westport.

Transportation
Interstate 95, the Merritt Parkway, and U.S. 1, as well as the Saugatuck River, run through Westport.

Westport has two train stations, Green's Farms and Westport on the Metro-North Railroad's New Haven Line, which serves Stamford and Grand Central Terminal in New York City or New Haven-Union Station. This line is shared with Amtrak trains as it is part of the Northeast Corridor, but no Amtrak services stop at Green's Farms or Westport. The nearest Amtrak stations are at Bridgeport (10 miles) and Stamford (12 miles).

As of 2019, Westport has the highest per capita electric vehicle ownership among municipalities in Connecticut, and #3 overall.

"Main to Train" study
A recent initiative by residents of the Town of Westport, Connecticut, culminating in a 2019 report. It is part of a greater interest to improve pedestrian and cyclist options from the major places of interest in town: downtown Westport to the Westport Train Station. This approximate two-mile stretch of road is most directly accessible via Post Road East (U.S. Route 1) to Riverside Avenue. The third iteration of the study will more specifically address ways in which this path can be improved for people not traveling by car; the first report considered the conditional state of the path and the second analyzed traffic conditions.

The Norwalk Transit District offers transit options.

Police department
As of 2020, the Westport Police Department has a full-time complement of 64 sworn police officers that serve the Town of Westport. This department has purchased electric and hybrid fleets.

Fire department
The town of Westport is protected by the paid, full-time firefighters of the Westport Fire Department. Established in 1929, the Westport Fire Department currently operates out of 4 fire stations, located throughout the town, and maintains a fire apparatus fleet of 6 Engines, (4 first line and 2 reserve) 1 truck, 1 rescue, 1 fireboat, 1 High Water Unit, 1 utility unit and 1 Shift Commander's unit. The fire department also holds the Fairfield County Hazardous Materials Truck, housed at Westport Fire Headquarters. The Westport Fire Department responds to, on average, approximately 4,000 emergency calls annually.

Notable people
Among the many actors, singers and other entertainers who have lived in town is Paul Newman who resided in Westport from 1960 until his death in 2008. His wife, Joanne Woodward, still resides in town. Fala (1940–1952), President Franklin D. Roosevelt's dog, was an early Christmas gift from Mrs. Augustus G. Kellogg, a town resident. Actress Grace Carney moved to Westport in 1979, when she became president of United Tool and Die, a company started by her father. She died in the city in 2009. Actress Gene Tierney grew up in Greens Farms. Adult film star Marilyn Chambers grew up in Westport under her given name Marilyn Briggs. Martha Stewart also lived in Westport at her historic estate of Turkey Hill. Jean Donovan, a lay Roman Catholic missioner martyred in El Salvador in 1980 grew up in Westport and graduated from Staples High School. She is honored on the litany of saints by the Lutheran World Federation and by The Anglican Communion. Academy Award winner Sandy Dennis lived in Westport until her death in 1992. Former FDA chief Scott Gottlieb is a resident of Westport. Former FBI director, James Comey, was a long-time resident of the town. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald also lived in Westport around 1920.

In popular culture

 * In the television series The West Wing, Josh Lyman is a native of Westport
 * Westport was the location of the fictional residence (1164 Morning Glory Circle) of Darrin and Samantha Stephens on the television series Bewitched
 * In the sixth and final season of I Love Lucy, the Ricardos and Mertzes leave New York and move to Westport
 * The Twilight Zone had one episode called "A Stop at Willoughby", wherein the main character worked in NYC and commuted by train to his home in Westport. It aired on May 6, 1960, and the episode was written by then-Westport resident Rod Serling
 * The 1955 film The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit includes a scene where Jennifer Jones meets Gregory Peck at the Westport station
 * The Swimmer (1968), a film starring Burt Lancaster, is based on a short story by John Cheever. Most of the film was shot in backyard pool locations in Westport
 * The Stepford Wives (1975) was filmed in various Westport locations and used a colonial house in the Williamsburg district as the home of the main characters
 * Don DeLillo's Underworld (1997) features an ad executive named Charlie Wainwright who in 1961 lives in Westport
 * The 1998 production This Is My Father was partly filmed in Westport
 * The 2004 film The Girl Next Door was vaguely based on Westport – director Luke Greenfield grew up in town. It was filmed and set in California. That same decade parts of the 2008 production of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 were filmed in Westport
 * American Housewife takes place in Westport
 * Robert Lawson's children's novel Rabbit Hill depicts a colony of anthropomorphic rabbits living in the countryside near Westport
 * In The Last Olympian, the final novel of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, the titular character, Percy Jackson, travels to Westport to visit antagonist Luke Castellan's childhood home
 * The Land of Steady Habits is set in Westport

Sister cities
, Westport has four sister cities:
 * Lyman, Ukraine
 * Marigny-le-Lozon, France
 * Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China
 * St. Petersburg, Russia

title: Westport, Connecticut


text:
New Britain, Connecticut

New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 mi southwest of Hartford. The city is part of the Capitol Planning Region. According to 2020 Census, the population of the city is 74,135.

Among the southernmost of the communities encompassed within the Hartford-Springfield Knowledge Corridor metropolitan region, New Britain is home to Central Connecticut State University and Charter Oak State College. The city was noted for its industry during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and notable sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places include Walnut Hill Park, developed by the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted and Downtown New Britain.

The city's official nickname is the "Hardware City" because of its history as a manufacturing center and as the headquarters of Stanley Black & Decker. Because of its large Polish population, the city is often playfully referred to as "New Britski."

History
New Britain was settled in 1687 and then was incorporated as a new parish under the name New Britain Society in 1754. The name is a transfer from Great Britain. Chartered in 1850 as a township and in 1871 as a city, New Britain had separated from the nearby towns of Farmington and Berlin, Connecticut. A consolidation charter was adopted in 1905.

During the early part of the 20th century, New Britain was known as the "Hardware Capital of the World", as well as "Hardware City". Major manufacturers, such as The Stanley Works, the P&F Corbin Company (later Corbin Locks), Landers, Frary & Clark (LF&C) and North & Judd, were headquartered in the city.

In 1843 Frederick Trent Stanley established Stanley's Bolt Manufactory in New Britain to make door bolts and other wrought-iron hardware. In 1857 his cousin Henry Stanley founded The Stanley Rule and Level Company in the city. Planes invented by Leonard Bailey and manufactured by the Stanley Rule and Level Company, known as "Stanley/Bailey" planes, were prized by woodworkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and remain popular among wood craftsmen today. The two companies merged in 1920, and the Stanley Rule and Level Company became the Hand Tools Division of Stanley Works.

The wire coat hanger was invented in 1869 by O. A. North of New Britain. In 1895, the basketball technique of dribbling was developed at the New Britain YMCA. In 1938, New Britain High School competed in the high school football national championship game in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 1954 saw the development of racquetball, also at the YMCA.

The heads of the fire and police departments and seven other municipal employees were arrested as part of a corruption scandal in the 1970s.

City motto
New Britain's motto, Industria implet alveare et melle fruitur—translated from Latin—means "Industry fills the hive and enjoys the honey." This phrase was coined by Elihu Burritt, a 19th-century New Britain resident, diplomat, philanthropist and social activist.

In 2007 it was reported that the Latin word for "honey" in the motto had been a typo for decades; it should be melle, but it had long been misspelled as mele. Former mayor William McNamara, who unsuccessfully tried to fix it during his term, suggested "to either fix the spelling immediately" or "switch to the English version of the motto." As controversy arose from the matter, the word was superseded with the correct spelling, melle.

Geography and topography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.4 square miles (34.7 km$2$), of which 13.3 square miles (34.6 km$2$) is land and 0.1 square mile (0.2 km$2$)  (0.52%) is water.

New Britain's terrain is mostly made up of gentle, rolling hills and young Connecticut forest. The many parks are populated with trees, and in small, undeveloped areas, there are also brushy woods. New Britain's streets also have many trees lining the sides of the roads. Many front yards in the northern half of the city have at least one tree. One or two streams flow through New Britain, undisturbed by the development.

Demographics
As of the census of 2020, there were 74,135 people. The racial makeup of the city was 38.1% Non-Hispanic White, 42.7% Hispanic or Latino (of any race), 14.2% African American, 0.4% Native American, 2.7% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander and 11.7% from two or more races.

There were 28,261 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.4% were married couples living together, 25.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.7% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 3.23.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 21.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 88 males.

In 2021, the median income for a household in the city was $51,586, and for a family, was $67,482. The per capita income for the city was $26,152. 19.9% of the population below the poverty line (Poverty Rate is 15.4% for White Non-Hispanic residents, 25.7% for Hispanic or Latino residents).

Polish community
New Britain has the largest Polish population of any city in Connecticut, and by 1930 a quarter of the city was ethnically Polish. Also referred to as "Little Poland", the city's Broad Street neighborhood has been home to a considerable number of Polish businesses and families since 1890. On September 23, 2008, through the urging of the Polonia Business Association, the New Britain City Council unanimously passed a resolution officially designating New Britain's Broad Street area as "Little Poland." In recent years, the Polish community has been credited with revitalizing the area both culturally and economically. Media is served by three Polish language newspapers and a television station, and many businesses and civil agencies are bilingual. The post office branch in Little Poland is the only one in the nation with the word "post" written in Polish to welcome visitors. Each year, a Little Poland festival is held on a Sunday in the spring.

Notable visitors to the Polish district have included Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan on July 8, 1987. In 1969, as then-Cardinal Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II gave a mass at Sacred Heart Church. A statue was erected in his honor in 2007. Dubbed the city's "Polish heart" by The Boston Globe, Little Poland caught the attention of Polish Ambassador to the US Ryszard Schnepf, who toured the area with US Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, US Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, as well as several members of the Polish Sejm. An honorary Polish consulate was established in March 2017. The first of its kind in Connecticut, it was established by Polish diplomat to the United States Piotr Wilczek.

In September 2019, Polish President Andrzej Duda became the first head of state to visit New Britain when he addressed thousands in Walnut Hill Park prior to traveling to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly. Duda was joined by a variety of Connecticut politicians, including Governor Ned Lamont, U.S. Representative Jahana Hayes and Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal.

Accent
Natives of New Britain have a fairly unmarked Connecticut accent, though there is some local perception of a distinct accent, popularly attributed to the Polish-American community, such as the use of a glottal stop in place of before syllabic : in other words, in words like cattle and bottle. The short "a" vowel as in  may be raised to  for some speakers in Connecticut, including New Britain, though this feature appears to be declining among younger residents.

Economy
New Britain is home to the global headquarters of the Fortune 500 manufacturing conglomerate Stanley Black & Decker. Other notable companies headquartered in New Britain include Gaffney, Bennett and Associates, Tomasso Group, Creed Monarch, Guida's Dairy, and Polamer Precision.

Top employers
According to the City's 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Sites of interest

 * Central Connecticut State University
 * New Britain Little League.
 * New Britain Museum of American Art, the oldest art museum in the United States devoted to American art.
 * New Britain Industrial Museum, a museum of New Britain's industrial past and present
 * The Hospital of Central Connecticut, the city's largest employer.
 * Walnut Hill Park – Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed Central Park in New York City.
 * Walnut Hill Rose Garden, the recently restored landmark with over 800 roses.
 * Connecticut Theatre Company, located in the historic Repertory Theatre of New Britain.
 * Hole in the Wall Theater.
 * New Britain Youth Museum, contains children's artifacts and exhibits on regional culture.
 * The Polish district or "Little Poland": Located primarily in the vicinity of Broad Street, visitors can find unique amber jewelry, handcrafted items, blown glass, Christmas ornaments, and carved chess sets, as well as eat Polish food.

Sports

 * New Britain Bees, minor league professional baseball team playing in New Britain Stadium.
 * Hartford City FC, professional soccer team playing at CCSU Soccer field.
 * New Britain Fagan Cal Ripken Baseball League, a youth baseball program that serves children from the City of New Britain between the ages of 4 and 12.
 * New Britain Little League (NBLL, previously known as Walicki – A.W. Stanley Little League), a youth baseball and softball organization that serves the children of New Britain who are between the ages of 4 and 16.
 * Connecticut United Football Club, a professional soccer team affiliated with the American Soccer League

Colleges and universities
The city is home to Central Connecticut State University and Charter Oak State College, a public liberal arts college.

Primary and secondary schools
New Britain Public Schools operates public schools. The local high school is New Britain High School. New Britain was also home to the Mountain Laurel Sudbury School but has since closed in 2019.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford is responsible for the operation of Catholic schools. A Catholic elementary school, Sacred Heart School, is in New Britain. St. Thomas Aquinas High School closed in 1999.

The Holy Cross Catholic School was established in 1954. The Holy Cross, St. Francis of Assisi and St. Joseph Catholic schools merged into Saint John Paul II School in 2006; the Holy Cross parish sponsored the consolidated school. The archdiocese closed the SJP School in 2015. At the time of its closing, SJP school had debts of over $300,000.

Transportation
Connecticut Route 9 is the city's main expressway connecting traffic between Hartford (via I-84 and I-91) and Old Saybrook and Middletown. I-84 itself clips the northwestern corner of the city. Public transportation is provided by Connecticut Transit.

Downtown New Britain serves as the southern terminus of CTfastrak, a bus rapid transit line. Operated by Connecticut Transit, the project officially broke ground in May 2012, and became operational in March 2015. The route's northern terminus is Union Station in Hartford. There are also CTfastrak stations on East Main Street and East Street, the latter near Central Connecticut State University. New Britain is served by Connecticut Transit New Britain.

New Britain has a nearby Amtrak station in adjacent Berlin. The Vermonter (once daily) and Shuttle (multiple daily arrivals/departures) provide service to destinations throughout the northeastern United States. There is also a Berlin stop on the CT Rail Hartford Line, which provides northbound service to Hartford and Springfield, and southbound service towards New Haven.

Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks and Tweed New Haven Airport (HVN) in East Haven are the closest commercial airports to New Britain.

Notable people

 * Paul S. Amenta (1922–2014), state senator
 * Anita Antoinette (born 1989), reggae singer and songwriter
 * Charles Avedisian (1917–1983), NB athletic director (1952–1966), member of 1944 New York Football Giants team ranked as #1 defensive unit in NFL history
 * Robert S. Barton (1925–2009), computer designer and system architect, inventor of stack architecture
 * Christopher A. Bray, member of the Vermont House of Representatives and Vermont Senate
 * Elihu Burritt (1810–1879), diplomat, philanthropist, social activist, appointed by Abraham Lincoln as U.S. Consul in Birmingham, England
 * Harold V. Camp (1935–2022), lawyer, politician, and businessman
 * Walter Camp (1859–1925), Yale football player and coach, often referred to as the "Father of American Football"
 * Phillip Corbin (1824–1910), founder of P&F Corbin Co. – a major manufacturer of locks and keys
 * Steve Dalkowski (1939–2020), former pitcher in the minor leagues famous for his high speed fastball
 * Daym Drops (born 1977), YouTube food reviewer
 * Anna Eshoo (born 1942), U.S. Representative of California's 18th congressional district
 * Lena Santos Ferguson (1928–2004), second African-American member of the Daughters of the American Revolution
 * Willie Hall (born 1949), linebacker for the Super Bowl XI champion Oakland Raiders; Pulaski High School, University of Southern California
 * Charles K. Hamilton (1881–1914), aviator
 * Harry Jacunski (1915–2003), professional football player with Green Bay Packers, member of Fordham University Seven Blocks of Granite, Yale football coach for 33 years
 * Nancy Johnson (born 1935), U.S. Representative for 5th and 6th CT districts (1983–2007)
 * Byron Jones (born 1992), NFL player currently free safety for the Dallas Cowboys and unofficial world record holder of the standing long jump
 * Tebucky Jones (born 1974), professional football player
 * James Kilbourne (1770–1850), founder of Worthington, Ohio
 * David LaFlamme (born 1941), virtuoso violinist in both classical and rock music
 * Tony Leone (born 1969), rock and jazz drummer
 * Sol LeWitt (1928–2007), Conceptual artist
 * Bruce H. Mahan (1930–1982), noted Professor of Chemistry at UC-Berkeley, thesis advisor of Nobel Laureate Y.T. Lee
 * Paul Manafort (born 1949), lobbyist, advisor to political campaigns of Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Robert Dole, George W. Bush, John McCain and Donald Trump
 * Thomas J. Meskill (1928–2007), NB Mayor (1962–1964), Governor (1971–1975), appointed by Richard Nixon to the US Court of Appeals for 2nd Circuit (1975–2007)
 * Chris Murphy (born 1973), U.S. Congressman for 5th CT district (2007–2013) and U.S. Senator for Connecticut (2013–present)
 * Lamar Odom (born 1979), St. Thomas Aquinas basketball great, NBA player with the Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks
 * Jon Olsen (born 1969), swimmer, winner of four Olympic gold medals
 * Charles Patterson, author and historian
 * Carl Pavano (born 1976), professional baseball player
 * Joe Porcaro, drummer in Los Angeles and father to the Porcaro brothers who founded the band [Toto]
 * Charles J. Prestia (1909–1953), Secretary of the State of Connecticut from 1945 to 1947
 * Frank W. Putnam (1917–2006), biochemist, born in New Britain
 * Charles Quigley (1906–1964), actor
 * Adolfas Ramanauskas (1918–1957), one of the prominent leaders of the Lithuanian partisans
 * Abraham A. Ribicoff (1910–1998), Congressman (1949–1953), Governor (1955–1961), Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare (1961–1962), U.S. Senator from Connecticut (1963–1981)
 * Velvet Sky (born 1981), ring name of professional wrestler Jamie Szantyr with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
 * George Springer (born 1989), professional baseball player currently with the Toronto Blue Jays
 * Frederick Trent Stanley (1802–1883), first mayor of NB (1870), founder of Stanley Bolt Manufacturing (1843) that became The Stanley Works (1857) and (2010) Stanley Black & Decker
 * Erin Stewart (born 1987), Mayor of NB (2013–), currently (2016) youngest female mayor in United States
 * Tom Thibodeau (born 1958), current head coach of the New York Knicks of the NBA

Sister cities
New Britain's sister cities are:
 * Atsugi, Japan
 * Giannitsa, Greece
 * Pułtusk, Poland
 * Rastatt, Germany
 * Solarino, Italy

title: New Britain, Connecticut