New Haven is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut, and is part of the New York metropolitan area. With a population of 129,779 as determined by the 2010 United States Census,[3] it is the second-largest city in Connecticut after Bridgeport. New Haven is the principal municipality of Greater New Haven, which had a total population of 862,477 in 2010.[4]

New Haven was one of the first planned cities in America.[5][6][7] A year after its founding by English Puritans in 1638, eight streets were laid out in a four-by-four grid, creating what is commonly known as the "Nine Square Plan".[8] The central common block is the New Haven Green, a 16-acre (6 ha) square at the center of Downtown New Haven. The Green is now a National Historic Landmark, and the "Nine Square Plan" is recognized by the American Planning Association as a National Planning Landmark.[9][10]

New Haven is the home of Yale University. As New Haven's biggest taxpayer and employer,[11] Yale serves as an integral part of the city's economy. Health care (hospitals and biotechnology), professional services (legal, architectural, marketing, and engineering), financial services, and retail trade also contribute to the city's economic activity.

The city served as co-capital of Connecticut from 1701 until 1873, when sole governance was transferred to the more centrally located city of Hartford. New Haven has since billed itself as the "Cultural Capital of Connecticut" for its supply of established theaters, museums, and music venues.[12] New Haven had the first public tree planting program in America, producing a canopy of mature trees (including some large elms) that gave the city the nickname "The Elm City".[13]

Contents

1 History

1.1 Pre-colonial foundation as an independent colony

1.2 As part of the Connecticut Colony

1.3 Post-colonial period and industrialization

1.4 Post-industrial era and urban redevelopment

1.5 Timeline of notable firsts

2 Geography

2.1 Climate

2.2 Streetscape

2.3 Neighborhoods

3 Economy

3.1 Headquarters

4 Demographics

4.1 Census data

4.2 Other data

5 Law and Government

5.1 Political structure

5.2 Political history

5.3 Crime

6 Education

6.1 Colleges and universities

6.2 Primary and secondary schools

7 Culture

7.1 Cuisine

7.2 Theatre and film

7.3 Museums

7.4 Music

7.5 Festivals

7.6 Nightlife

7.7 Newspapers and media

7.8 Sports and athletics

8 Structures

8.1 Architecture

8.2 Historic points of interest

9 Transportation

9.1 Rail

9.2 Bus

9.3 Bicycle

9.3.1 Bikeshare

9.3.2 Bike lanes

9.3.3 Farmington Canal Greenway

9.4 Roads

9.5 Airport

9.6 Seaport

10 Infrastructure

10.1 Hospitals and medicine

10.2 Power supply facilities

11 In popular culture

12 Notable people

13 Sister cities

14 See also

15 References

16 Further reading

17 External links

History

Pre-colonial foundation as an independent colony

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

The 1638 nine-square plan, with the extant New Haven Green at its center, continues to define New Haven's downtown

In 1637 a small party of Puritans reconnoitered the New Haven harbor area and wintered over. In April 1638, the main party of five hundred Puritans who had left the Massachusetts Bay Colony under the leadership of Reverend John Davenport and London merchant Theophilus Eaton sailed into the harbor. It was their hope to set up a theological community with the government more closely linked to the church than that in Massachusetts, and to exploit the area's excellent potential as a port. The Quinnipiacs, who were under attack by neighboring Pequots, sold their land to the settlers in return for protection.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Government of New Haven Colony

House of New Haven Founder Theophilus Eaton as it stood at Orange and Elm streets in the 17th Century

By 1640, "Quinnipiac's" theocratic government and nine-square grid plan were in place, and the town was renamed Newhaven, with 'haven' meaning harbor or port. (However, the area to the north remained Quinnipiac until 1678, when it was renamed Hamden.) The settlement became the headquarters of the New Haven Colony, distinct from the Connecticut Colony previously established to the north centering on Hartford. Reflecting its theocratic roots, the New Haven Colony forbid the establishment of other churches, whereas the Connecticut Colony permitted them.

Economic disaster struck Newhaven in 1646, when the town sent its first fully loaded ship of local goods back to England. It never reached its destination, and its disappearance stymied New Haven's development versus the rising trade powers of Boston and New Amsterdam.

In 1660, Colony founder John Davenport's wishes were fulfilled, and Hopkins School was founded in New Haven with money from the estate of Edward Hopkins.

In 1661, the Regicides who had signed the death warrant of Charles I of England were pursued by Charles II. Two of them, Colonel Edward Whalley and Colonel William Goffe, fled to New Haven for refuge. Davenport arranged for them to hide in the West Rock hills northwest of the town. Later a third judge, John Dixwell, joined the others.

As part of the Connecticut Colony

New Haven as it appeared in a 1786 engraving

Second meeting house on the New Haven Green, as it stood from 1670 to 1757

In 1664 New Haven became part of the Connecticut Colony when the two colonies were merged under political pressure from England. Some members of the New Haven Colony seeking to establish a new theocracy elsewhere went on to establish Newark, New Jersey.

Connecticut Hall, built 1750–1756, is the oldest extant building at Yale

It was made co-capital of Connecticut in 1701, a status it retained until 1873.

In 1716, the Collegiate School relocated from Old Saybrook to New Haven, establishing New Haven as a center of learning. In 1718, in response to a large donation from East India Company merchant Elihu Yale, former Governor of Madras, the name of the Collegiate School was changed to Yale College.[citation needed]

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

On July 5, 1779, 2,600 loyalists and British regulars under General William Tryon, governor of New York, landed in New Haven Harbor and raided the 3,500-person town. A militia of Yale students had been preparing for battle, and former Yale president and Yale Divinity School professor Naphtali Daggett rode out to confront the Redcoats. Yale president Ezra Stiles recounted in his diary that while he moved furniture in anticipation of battle, he still couldn't quite believe the revolution had begun.[14] New Haven was not torched as the invaders did with Danbury in 1777, or Fairfield and Norwalk a week after the New Haven raid, so many of the town's colonial features were preserved.

Post-colonial period and industrialization

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

Towns created from the original New Haven Colony[15]

New town Split from Incorporated

Wallingford New Haven 1670

Cheshire Wallingford 1780

Meriden Wallingford 1806

Branford New Haven 1685

North Branford Branford 1831

Woodbridge New Haven and Milford 1784

Bethany Woodbridge 1832

East Haven New Haven 1785

Hamden New Haven 1786

North Haven New Haven 1786

Orange New Haven and Milford 1822

West Haven Orange 1921

New Haven's harbor and long wharf as seen from Depot Tower, ca. 1849

The city struck fortune in the late 18th century with the inventions and industrial activity of Eli Whitney, a Yale graduate who remained in New Haven to develop the cotton gin and establish a gun-manufacturing factory in the northern part of the city near the Hamden town line. That area is still known as Whitneyville, and the main road through both towns is known as Whitney Avenue. The factory is now the Eli Whitney Museum, which has a particular emphasis on activities for children and exhibits pertaining to the A. C. Gilbert Company. His factory, along with that of Simeon North, and the lively clock-making and brass hardware sectors, contributed to making early Connecticut a powerful manufacturing economy; so many arms manufacturers sprang up that the state became known as "The Arsenal of America". It was in Whitney's gun-manufacturing plant that Samuel Colt invented the automatic revolver in 1836. Many other talented machinists and firearms designers would go on to found successful firearms manufacturing companies in New Haven, including Oliver Winchester and O.F. Mossberg & Sons.

The Farmington Canal, created in the early 19th century, was a short-lived transporter of goods into the interior regions of Connecticut and Massachusetts, and ran from New Haven to Northampton, Massachusetts.

Site of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, which has since 1981 been converted to Science Park at Yale, a complex for start-ups and technological firms

New Haven was home to one of the important early events in the burgeoning anti-slavery movement when, in 1839, the trial of mutineering Mende tribesmen being transported as slaves on the Spanish slaveship Amistad was held in New Haven's United States District Court.[16] There is a statue of Joseph Cinqué, the informal leader of the slaves, beside City Hall. See "Museums" below for more information. Abraham Lincoln delivered a speech on slavery in New Haven in 1860,[17] shortly before he secured the Republican nomination for President.

The American Civil War boosted the local economy with wartime purchases of industrial goods, including that of the New Haven Arms Company, which would later become the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. (Winchester would continue to produce arms in New Haven until 2006, and many of the buildings that were a part of the Winchester plant are now a part of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company Historic District).[18] After the war, population grew and doubled by the start of the 20th century, most notably due to the influx of immigrants from southern Europe, particularly Italy. Today, roughly half the populations of East Haven, West Haven, and North Haven are Italian-American. Jewish immigration to New Haven has left an enduring mark on the city. Westville was the center of Jewish life in New Haven, though today many have fanned out to suburban communities such as Woodbridge and Cheshire.

Post-industrial era and urban redevelopment

The historic New Haven Green, ca. 1919

New Haven's expansion continued during the two World Wars, with most new inhabitants being African Americans from the American South and Puerto Ricans. The city reached its peak population after World War II. The area of New Haven is only 17 square miles (44 km2), encouraging further development of new housing after 1950 in adjacent, suburban towns. Moreover, as in other U.S. cities in the 1950s, New Haven began to suffer white flight of middle-class workers. One author suggested that aggressive redlining and rezoning made it difficult for residents to obtain financing for older, deteriorating urban housing stock, thereby condemning such structures to deterioration.[19][additional citation(s) needed]

In 1954; then-mayor Richard C. Lee began some of the earliest major urban renewal projects in the United States. Certain sections of downtown New Haven were redeveloped to include museums, new office towers, a hotel, and large shopping complexes.[20] Other parts of the city, particularly the Wooster Square and Fair Haven neighborhoods were affected by the construction of Interstate 95 along the Long Wharf section, Interstate 91, and the Oak Street Connector. The Oak Street Connector (Route 34), running between Interstate 95, downtown, and The Hill neighborhood, was originally intended as a highway to the city's western suburbs but was only completed as a highway to the downtown area, with the area to the west becoming a boulevard (See "Redevelopment" below).

In 1970, a series of criminal prosecutions against various members of the Black Panther Party took place in New Haven, inciting mass protests on the New Haven Green involving twelve thousand demonstrators and many well-known New Left political activists. (See "Political Culture" below for more information).

From the 1960s through the late 1990s, central areas of New Haven continued to decline both economically and in terms of population despite attempts to resurrect certain neighborhoods through renewal projects. In conjunction with its declining population, New Haven experienced a steep rise in its crime rate.

The Connecticut Financial Center, completed in 1990, is the tallest building in New Haven

Since approximately 2000, many parts of downtown New Haven have been revitalized with new restaurants, nightlife, and small retail stores. In particular, the area surrounding the New Haven Green has experienced an influx of apartments and condominiums. In recent years, downtown retail options have increased with the opening of new stores such as Urban Oufitters, J Crew, Origins, American Apparel, Gant Clothing, and an Apple Store, joining older stores such as Barnes & Noble and Raggs Clothing. In addition, two new supermarkets opened to serve downtown's growing residential population. A Stop & Shop opened just west of downtown, while Elm City Market, located one block from the Green, opened in 2011.[21] The recent turnaround of downtown New Haven has received positive press from various periodicals.[22][23][24]

Whitney Avenue, one of downtown New Haven's principal commercial corridors

Major projects include the current construction of a new campus for Gateway Community College downtown, and also a 32-story, 500-unit apartment/retail building called 360 State Street. The 360 State Street project is now occupied and is the largest residential building in Connecticut.[25] A new boathouse and dock is planned for New Haven Harbor, and the linear park Farmington Canal Trail is set to extend into downtown New Haven within the coming year.[26] Additionally, foundation and ramp work to widen I-95 to create a new harbor crossing for New Haven, with an extradosed bridge to replace the 1950s-era Q Bridge, has begun.[27] The city still hopes to redevelop the site of the New Haven Coliseum, which was demolished in 2007.

Recent decades have brought increased commercial activity to much of New Haven, including this stretch of upper State Street

In April 2009, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a suit over reverse discrimination brought by 18 white firefighters against the city. The suit involved the 2003 promotion test for the New Haven Fire Department. After the tests were scored, no black firefighters scored high enough to qualify for consideration for promotion, so the city announced that no one would be promoted. In the subsequent Ricci v. DeStefano decision the court found 5-4 that New Haven's decision to ignore the test results violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[28] As a result, a district court subsequently ordered the city to promote 14 of the white firefighters.[29]

In 2010 and 2011, state and federal funds were awarded to Connecticut (and Massachusetts) to construct the Hartford Line, with a southern terminus at New Haven's Union Station and a northern terminus at Springfield's Union Station.[30] According to the White House, "This corridor [currently] has one train per day connecting communities in Connecticut and Massachusetts to the Northeast Corridor and Vermont. The vision for this corridor is to restore the alignment to its original route via the Knowledge Corridor in western Massachusetts, improving trip time and increasing the population base that can be served."[31] Set for construction in 2013, the "Knowledge Corridor high speed intercity passenger rail" project will cost approximately $1 billion, and the ultimate northern terminus for the project is reported to be Montreal in Canada.[32] Train speeds between will reportedly exceed 110 miles per hour (180 km/h) and increase both cities' rail traffic exponentially.[33]

Timeline of notable firsts

The world's first phonebook was made in New Haven in 1878.

See also: Yale – New Haven Hospital § Milestones in medicine

1638: New Haven becomes the first planned city in America.

1776: Yale student David Bushnell invents the first American submarine.

1787: John Fitch builds the first steamboat.

1793: Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin.

1836: Samuel Colt invents the automatic revolver in Whitney's factory.

1839: Charles Goodyear of New Haven discovers the process of vulcanizing rubber in Woburn, Massachusetts, and later perfects it and patents the process in nearby Springfield, Massachusetts.[34]

1860: Philios P. Blake patents the first corkscrew.

1877: New Haven hosts the first Bell PSTN (telephone) switch office.

1878–1880: The District Telephone Company of New Haven creates the world's first telephone exchange and the first telephone directory and installs the first public phone. The company expanded and became the Connecticut Telephone Company, then the Southern New England Telephone Company (now part of AT&T).[35]

1882: The Knights of Columbus are founded in New Haven. The city still serves as the world headquarters of the organization, which maintains a museum downtown.[36]

1892: Local confectioner George C. Smith of the Bradley Smith Candy Co. invents the first lollipops.[37]

Late 19th century-early 20th century: The first public tree planting program takes place in New Haven, at the urging of native James Hillhouse.[38]

1900: Louis Lassen, owner of Louis' Lunch, is credited with inventing the hamburger, as well as the steak sandwich.[39]

1911: The Erector Set, the popular and culturally important construction toy, is invented in New Haven by A.C. Gilbert. It was manufactured by the A. C. Gilbert Company at Erector Square from 1913 until the company's bankruptcy in 1967.[40]

1920: In competition with competing explanations, the Frisbee is said to have originated on the Yale campus, based on the tin pans of the Frisbie Pie Company which were tossed around by students on the New Haven Green.[41]

1977: The first memorial to victims of the Holocaust on public land in America[42] stands in New Haven's Edgewood Park at the corner of Whalley and West Park avenues. It was built with funds collected from the community[43] and is maintained by Greater New Haven Holocaust Memory, Inc.[44] The ashes of victims killed and cremated at Auschwitz are buried under the memorial.[42]

Geography

View of the Quinnipiac River from Fair Haven

Map of towns in the New Haven area

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 20.1 square miles (52.1 km2), of which 18.7 square miles (48.4 km2) is land and 1.4 square miles (3.7 km2), or 6.67%, is water.[45]

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

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

Climate

According to the Köppen classification, New Haven is cfa, or a Temperate climate. The city has hot, humid summers and cool to cold winters. From May to late September, the weather is typically hot and humid, with average temperatures exceeding 80 °F (27 °C) on 70 days per year. In summer, the Bermuda High creates as southern flow of warm and humid air, with frequent thundershowers. October to early December is normally mild to cool late in the season, while early spring (April) can be cool to warm. Winters are moderately cold with both rain and snow fall. The weather patterns that affect New Haven result from a primarily offshore direction, thus reducing the marine influence of Long Island Sound—although, like other marine areas, differences in temperature between areas right along the coastline and areas a mile or two inland can be large at times. During summer heat waves, temperatures may reach 95 °F (35 °C) or higher on occasion with heat-index values of over 100 °F (38 °C). Tropical cyclones have struck New Haven in the past, including 1938 Hurricane (Long Island Express), Hurricane Carol in 1954, Hurricane Gloria in 1985.[citation needed]

Climate data for New Haven (HVN), elevation: 4 m or 13 ft, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1948-present

Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year

Record high °F (°C) 66

(19) 67

(19) 81

(27) 90

(32) 99

(37) 98

(37) 104

(40) 104

(40) 101

(38) 86

(30) 86

(30) 70

(21) 104

(40)

Mean maximum °F (°C) 53

(12) 53

(12) 63

(17) 76

(24) 81

(27) 89

(32) 90

(32) 89

(32) 85

(29) 77

(25) 67

(19) 58

(14) 92

(33)

Average high °F (°C) 37.8

(3.2) 40.5

(4.7) 47.6

(8.7) 58.2

(14.6) 68.5

(20.3) 77.3

(25.2) 82.5

(28.1) 80.9

(27.2) 74.4

(23.6) 63.4

(17.4) 53.5

(11.9) 42.9

(6.1) 60.7

(15.9)

Daily mean °F (°C) 30.0

(−1.1) 32.7

(0.4) 39.4

(4.1) 49.2

(9.6) 58.9

(14.9) 68.5

(20.3) 74.0

(23.3) 72.9

(22.7) 65.3

(18.5) 54.2

(12.3) 45.1

(7.3) 35.7

(2.1) 52.2

(11.2)

Average low °F (°C) 22.2

(−5.4) 24.9

(−3.9) 31.2

(−0.4) 40.2

(4.6) 49.3

(9.6) 59.7

(15.4) 65.5

(18.6) 64.9

(18.3) 56.1

(13.4) 45.0

(7.2) 36.6

(2.6) 28.4

(−2.0) 43.8

(6.6)

Mean minimum °F (°C) 4

(−16) 7

(−14) 16

(−9) 27

(−3) 37

(3) 48

(9) 55

(13) 52

(11) 42

(6) 30

(−1) 22

(−6) 11

(−12) 4

(−16)

Record low °F (°C) −8

(−22) −5

(−21) 1

(−17) 17

(−8) 30

(−1) 40

(4) 49

(9) 43

(6) 34

(1) 24

(−4) 14

(−10) −5

(−21) −8

(−22)

Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.19

(81) 2.89

(73) 4.29

(109) 4.44

(113) 4.17

(106) 4.02

(102) 4.01

(102) 3.95

(100) 4.37

(111) 4.24

(108) 3.93

(100) 3.61

(92) 47.11

(1,197)

Average snowfall inches (cm) 9.2

(23) 9.7

(25) 6.7

(17) 0.7

(1.8) trace 0.0

(0.0) 0.0

(0.0) 0.0

(0.0) 0.0

(0.0) 0.1

(0.25) 0.8

(2.0) 6.2

(16) 33.4

(85.05)

Average precipitation days 12 11 12 11 12 10 9 9 8 7 11 12 124

Average relative humidity (%) 62.8 60.3 64.4 65.1 69.7 73.8 74.2 73.8 74.1 70.4 68.2 63.6 68.4

Mean daily sunshine hours 6 6 7 8 9 9 9 8 7 7 5 5 7

Average ultraviolet index 2 2 4 6 7 8 8 8 6 4 2 1 5

Source: NOAA,[46] WRCC (some extremes), Weatherbase (precipitation days and humidity)[47] and Weather Atlas (daily sunshine hours and UV index)[48]

Streetscape

The city from the south with The Hill in the foreground. East Rock is visible in the background.

American Elm in New Haven

New Haven has a long tradition of urban planning and a purposeful design for the city's layout.[49] The city could be argued to have some of the first preconceived layouts in the country.[50][51] Upon founding, New Haven was laid out in a grid plan of nine square blocks; the central square was left open, in the tradition of many New England towns, as the city green (a commons area). The city also instituted the first public tree planting program in America. As in other cities, many of the elms that gave New Haven the nickname "Elm City" perished in the mid-20th century due to Dutch elm disease, although many have since been replanted. The New Haven Green is currently home to three separate historic churches which speak to the original theocratic nature of the city.[8] The Green remains the social center of the city today. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Downtown New Haven, occupied by nearly 7,000 residents, has a more residential character than most downtowns.[52] The downtown area provides about half of the city's jobs and half of its tax base[52] and in recent years has become filled with dozens of new upscale restaurants, in addition to shops and thousands of apartments and condominium units which subsequently help overall growth of the city.[53]

Neighborhoods

The Quinnipiac River Historic District, located in the Fair Haven neighborhood, is one of dozens of listed historic districts in New Haven.

Main article: Neighborhoods of New Haven, Connecticut

The city has many distinct neighborhoods. In addition to Downtown, centered on the central business district and the Green, are the following neighborhoods: the west central neighborhoods of Dixwell and Dwight; the southern neighborhoods of The Hill, historic water-front City Point (or Oyster Point), and the harborside district of Long Wharf; the western neighborhoods of Beaver Hills, Edgewood, West River, Westville, Amity, and West Rock-Westhills; East Rock, Cedar Hill, Prospect Hill, and Newhallville in the northern side of town; the east central neighborhoods of Mill River and Wooster Square, an Italian-American neighborhood; Fair Haven, an immigrant community located between the Mill and Quinnipiac rivers; Quinnipiac Meadows and Fair Haven Heights across the Quinnipiac River; and facing the eastern side of the harbor, The Annex and East Shore (or Morris Cove).[54][55][56][57]

Economy

Data from City-Data.com[58]

The Port of New Haven

New Haven's economy originally was based in manufacturing, but the postwar period brought rapid industrial decline; the entire Northeast was affected, and medium-sized cities with large working-class populations, like New Haven, were hit particularly hard. Simultaneously, the growth and expansion of Yale University further affected the economic shift. Today, over half (56%) of the city's economy is now made up of services, in particular education and health care; Yale is the city's largest employer, followed by Yale – New Haven Hospital. Other large employers include Southern Connecticut State University, Assa Abloy lock manufacturing, the Knights of Columbus headquarters, Higher One, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Covidien and United Illuminating.[59] Clothing stores Gant and Ann Taylor were founded in the city.

In 2017, New Haven was ranked by a Verizon study as one of the top 10 cities in America for launching tech startups, and top two in New England.[60]

Industry sectors: Agriculture (.6%), Construction and Mining (4.9%), Manufacturing (2.9%), Transportation and Utilities (2.9%), Trade (21.7%), Finance and Real Estate (7.1%), Services (55.9%), Government (4.0%)

Headquarters

The Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization and a Fortune 1000 company, is headquartered in New Haven.[61] Two more Fortune 1000 companies are based in Greater New Haven: the electrical equipment producers Hubbell Incorporated, based in Orange,[62] and Amphenol, based in Wallingford.[63] Eight Courant 100 companies are based in Greater New Haven, with four headquartered in New Haven proper.[64] New Haven-based companies traded on stock exchanges include NewAlliance Bank, the second largest bank in Connecticut and fourth-largest in New England (NYSE: NAL), Higher One Holdings (NYSE: ONE), a financial services firm United Illuminating, the electricity distributor for southern Connecticut (NYSE: UIL), Achillion Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ACHN), Alexion Pharmaceuticals (ALXN), and Transpro Inc. (AMEX: TPR). Vion Pharmaceuticals is traded OTC (OTC BB: VIONQ.OB). Other notable companies based in the city include the Peter Paul Candy Manufacturing Company (the candy-making division of the Hershey Company), and the American division of Assa Abloy (one of the world's leading manufacturers of locks). The Southern New England Telephone Company (SNET) began operations in the city as the District Telephone Company of New Haven in 1878; the company remains headquartered in New Haven as a subsidiary of Frontier Communications and provides telephone service for all but two municipalities in Connecticut.[65] SeeClickFix was founded and has been headquartered in the city since 2007.

Demographics

Census data

See also: List of Connecticut locations by per capita income

Graph of New Haven demographics from the US Census, 1790–2010

Historical population

Year Pop. ±%

1756 5,085 —    

1774 8,295 +63.1%

1790 4,487 −45.9%

1800 4,049 −9.8%

1810 5,772 +42.6%

1820 7,147 +23.8%

1830 10,180 +42.4%

1840 12,960 +27.3%

1850 20,345 +57.0%

1860 39,267 +93.0%

1870 50,840 +29.5%

1880 62,882 +23.7%

1890 86,045 +36.8%

1900 108,027 +25.5%

1910 133,605 +23.7%

1920 162,537 +21.7%

1930 162,665 +0.1%

1940 160,605 −1.3%

1950 164,443 +2.4%

1960 152,048 −7.5%

1970 137,707 −9.4%

1980 126,021 −8.5%

1990 130,474 +3.5%

2000 123,626 −5.2%

2010 129,779 +5.0%

2019 130,250 +0.4%

Source:

U.S. Decennial Census[2]

Connecticut Census 1756 & 1774[66]

The U.S. Census Bureau reports a 2010 population of 129,779, with 47,094 households and 25,854 families within the city of New Haven. The population density was 6,859.8 people per square mile (2,648.6/km2). There were 52,941 housing units at an average density of 2,808.5 per square mile (1,084.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 42.6% White, 35.4% African American, 0.5% Native American, 4.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 12.9% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 27.4% of the population.[67] Non-Hispanic Whites were 31.8% of the population in 2010,[68] down from 69.6% in 1970.[69] The city's demography is shifting rapidly: New Haven has always been a city of immigrants and the Latino population is growing rapidly. Previous influxes among ethnic groups have been African-Americans in the postwar era, and Irish, Italian and (to a lesser degree) Slavic peoples in the prewar period.

As of the 2010 census, of the 47,094 households, 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.5% include married couples living together, 22.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.1% were non-families. 36.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size 3.19.[70][71]

The ages of New Haven's residents were 25.4% under the age of 18, 16.4% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years, which was significantly lower than the national average. There were 91.8 males per 100 females. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,604, and the median income for a family was $35,950. Median income for males was $33,605, compared with $28,424 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,393. About 20.5% of families and 24.4% of the population were living below the poverty line, including 32.2% of those under age 18 and 17.9% of those age 65 or over.[70][71]

Other data

It is estimated that 14% of New Haven residents are pedestrian commuters, ranking it number four by highest percentage in the United States. This is primarily due to New Haven's small area and the presence of Yale University.

New Haven is noted for having the highest percentage of Italian American residents of any US city.[72]

New Haven is a predominantly Roman Catholic city, as the city's Dominican, Irish, Italian, Mexican, Ecuadorian, and Puerto Rican populations are overwhelmingly Catholic. The city is part of the Archdiocese of Hartford. Jews also make up a considerable portion of the population, as do Black Baptists. There is a growing number of (mostly Puerto Rican) Pentecostals as well. There are churches for all major branches of Christianity within the city, multiple store-front churches, ministries (especially in working-class Latino and Black neighborhoods), a mosque, many synagogues (including two yeshivas), and other places of worship; the level of religious diversity in the city is high.[citation needed]

A study of the demographics of the New Haven metro area, based on age, educational attainment, and race and ethnicity, found that they were the closest of any American city to the national average.[73]

Law and Government

Political structure

See also: List of mayors of New Haven, Connecticut

Statue of Roman orator Cicero at the New Haven County Courthouse

New Haven is governed via the mayor-council system. Connecticut municipalities (like those of neighboring states Massachusetts and Rhode Island) provide nearly all local services (such as fire and rescue, education, snow removal, etc.), as county government has been abolished since 1960.[74]

New Haven City Hall

New Haven County merely refers to a grouping of towns and a judicial district, not a governmental entity. New Haven is a member of the South Central Connecticut Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG), a regional agency created to facilitate coordination between area municipal governments and state and federal agencies, in the absence of county government.[75]

Justin Elicker is the mayor of New Haven. He was sworn in as the 51st mayor of New Haven on January 1, 2020.

The city council, called the Board of Alders, consists of thirty members, each elected from single-member wards.[76] Each of the 30 wards consists of slightly over 4,300 residents; redistricting takes place every ten years.[77]

The city is overwhelmingly Democratic. In 2017, of the town's 83,694 voters, 66% were registered as Democrats (-4% since 2015), 4% were registered as Republicans (+1%), and 29% were unaffiliated (+3).[78] The board of alders is dominated by Democrats; a Republican has not served as a New Haven alder since 2011.[79][80]

New Haven is served by the New Haven Police Department, which had 443 sworn officers in 2011.[81] The city is also served by the New Haven Fire Department.

New Haven lies within Connecticut's 3rd congressional district and has been represented by Rosa DeLauro since 1991. Martin Looney and Gary Holder-Winfield represent New Haven in the Connecticut State Senate, and the city lies within six districts (numbers 92 through 97) of the Connecticut House of Representatives.[82][83]

The Greater New Haven area is served by the New Haven Judicial District Court and the New Haven Superior Court, both headquartered at the New Haven County Courthouse.[84] The federal District Court for the District of Connecticut has a New Haven facility, the Richard C. Lee United States Courthouse.

Political history

See also: List of Yale University people § Law and politics; and List of people from New Haven, Connecticut § Politicians

A portrait of Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, author of the Connecticut Compromise, and the first mayor of New Haven

New Haven is the birthplace of former president George W. Bush,[85] who was born when his father, former president George H. W. Bush, was living in New Haven while a student at Yale. In addition to being the site of the college educations of both Presidents Bush, as Yale students, New Haven was also the temporary home of former presidents William Howard Taft, Gerald Ford, and Bill Clinton, as well as Secretary of State John Kerry. President Clinton met his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while the two were students at Yale Law School. Former vice presidents John C. Calhoun and Dick Cheney also studied in New Haven (although the latter did not graduate from Yale). Before the 2008 election, the last time there was not a person with ties to New Haven and Yale on either major party's ticket was 1968. James Hillhouse, a New Haven native, served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate in 1801.

A predominantly Democratic city, New Haven voters overwhelmingly supported Al Gore in the 2000 election, Yale graduate John Kerry in 2004,[86] and Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. In the 2008 election, New Haven County was third among all Connecticut counties in campaign contributions, after Fairfield and Hartford counties. (Connecticut, in turn, was ranked 14th among all states in total campaign contributions.)[87][88]

New Haven was the subject of Who Governs? Democracy and Power in An American City, a very influential book in political science by preeminent Yale professor Robert A. Dahl, which includes an extensive history of the city and thorough description of its politics in the 1950s. New Haven's theocratic history is also mentioned several times by Alexis de Tocqueville in his classic volume on 19th-century American political life, Democracy in America.[89] New Haven was the residence of conservative thinker William F. Buckley, Jr., in 1951, when he wrote his influential God and Man at Yale. William Lee Miller's The Fifteenth Ward and the Great Society (1966) similarly explores the relationship between local politics in New Haven and national political movements, focusing on Lyndon Johnson's Great Society and urban renewal.[90]

George Williamson Crawford, a Yale Law School graduate, served as the city's first black corporation counsel from 1954 to 1962, under Mayor Richard C. Lee.[91]

In 1970, the New Haven Black Panther trials took place, the largest and longest trials in Connecticut history. Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale and ten other party members were tried for murdering an alleged informant. Beginning on May Day, the city became a center of protest for 12,000 Panther supporters, college students, and New Left activists (including Jean Genet, Benjamin Spock, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, and John Froines), who amassed on the New Haven Green, across the street from where the trials were being held. Violent confrontations between the demonstrators and the New Haven Police occurred, and several bombs were set off in the area by radicals. The event became a rallying point for the New Left and critics of the Nixon Administration.[92][93]

During the summer of 2007, New Haven was the center of protests by anti-immigration groups who opposed the city's program of offering municipal ID cards, known as the Elm City Resident Card, to illegal immigrants.[94][95][96] In 2008, the country of Ecuador opened a consulate in New Haven to serve the large Ecuadorean immigrant population in the area. It is the first foreign mission to open in New Haven since Italy opened a consulate (now closed) in the city in 1910.[97][98]

In April 2009, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a suit over reverse discrimination brought by 20 white and Hispanic firefighters against the city. The suit involved the 2003 promotion test for the New Haven Fire Department. After the tests were scored, no blacks scored high enough to qualify for consideration for promotion, so the city announced that no one would be promoted. On 29 June 2009, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of the firefighters, agreeing that they were improperly denied promotion because of their race.[99] The case, Ricci v. DeStefano, became highly publicized and brought national attention to New Haven politics due to the involvement of then-Supreme Court nominee (and Yale Law School graduate) Sonia Sotomayor in a lower court decision.[100]

Garry Trudeau, creator of the political Doonesbury comic strip, attended Yale University. There he met fellow student and later Green Party candidate for Congress Charles Pillsbury, a long-time New Haven resident for whom Trudeau's comic strip is named. During his college years, Pillsbury was known by the nickname "The Doones". A theory of international law, which argues for a sociological normative approach in regards to jurisprudence, is named the New Haven Approach, after the city. Connecticut US senator Richard Blumenthal is a Yale graduate, as is former Connecticut US Senator Joe Lieberman who also was a New Haven resident for many years, before moving back to his hometown of Stamford.[101]

Crime

See also: America's Safest and Most Dangerous Cities

Crime increased in the 1990s, with New Haven having one of the ten highest violent crime rates per capita in the United States.[102] In the late 1990s New Haven's crime began to stabilize. The city, adopting a policy of community policing, saw crime rates drop during the 2000s.[103][104]

Violent crime levels vary dramatically among New Haven's neighborhoods, with some areas having crime rates in line with the state of Connecticut average, and others having extremely high rates of crime. A 2011 New Haven Health Department report identifies these issues in greater detail.[105]

In 2010, New Haven ranked as the 18th most dangerous city in the United States (albeit below the safety benchmark of 200.00 for the second year in a row).[106] However, according to a completely different analysis conducted by the "24/7 Wall Street Blog", in 2011 New Haven had risen to become the fourth most dangerous city in the United States, and was widely cited in the press as such.[107][108]

However, an analysis by the Regional Data Cooperative for Greater New Haven, Inc., has shown that due to issues of comparative denominators and other factors, such municipality-based rankings can be considered inaccurate.[109] For example, two cities of identical population can cover widely differing land areas, making such analyses irrelevant. The research organization called for comparisons based on neighborhoods, blocks, or standard methodologies (similar to those used by Brookings, DiversityData, and other established institutions), not based on municipalities.

Education

Colleges and universities

New Haven is a notable center for higher education. Yale University, at the heart of downtown, is one of the city's best known features and its largest employer.[110] New Haven is also home to Southern Connecticut State University, part of the Connecticut State University System, and Albertus Magnus College, a private institution. Gateway Community College has a campus in downtown New Haven, formerly located in the Long Wharf district; Gateway consolidated into one campus downtown into a new state-of-the-art campus (on the site of the old Macy's building) and was open for the Fall 2012 semester.[111][112]

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

The 1911 student body of the Hopkins School, the fifth-oldest educational institution in the United States

Primary and secondary schools

New Haven Public Schools is the school district serving the city. Wilbur Cross High School and Hillhouse High School are New Haven's two largest public secondary schools.

Hopkins School, a private school, was founded in 1660 and is the fifth-oldest educational institution in the United States.[113] New Haven is home to a number of other private schools as well as public magnet schools, including Metropolitan Business Academy, High School in the Community, Hill Regional Career High School, Co-op High School, New Haven Academy, Edgewood Magnet School, ACES Educational Center for the Arts, the Foote School and the Sound School, all of which draw students from New Haven and suburban towns. New Haven is also home to two Achievement First charter schools, Amistad Academy and Elm City College Prep, and to Common Ground, an environmental charter school.

The city is renowned for its progressive school lunch programs,[114] and participation in statewide bussing efforts toward increased diversity in schools.[115]

Culture

Cuisine

Livability.com named New Haven as the Best Foodie City in the country in 2014. There are 56 Zagat-rated restaurants in New Haven, the most in Connecticut and the third most in New England (after Boston and Cambridge).[116] More than 120 restaurants are located