Fairfield County, Connecticut Totally Explained

Everything about Fairfield County Connecticut totally explained

Fairfield County is located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. Its population according to the 2000 census was 882,567, but a 2006 survey put the population at 905,000. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut.
   Fairfield County is one of the highest-income counties in the United States, and home to wealthy New York City metropolitan suburbs such as Greenwich, Darien, Westport, Fairfield, Wilton and New Canaan. It is also home to many lower middle and working class communities. Bridgeport, Stamford, Danbury, and Norwalk, as well as other larger communities are more densely populated and economically diverse than the affluent areas for which the county is better known.
   The towns in Fairfield County bordering Long Island Sound are sometimes referred to as The Gold Coast.
The county's largest cities are Bridgeport, Stamford, Danbury, and Norwalk. Together these cities contain about 420,000 people - almost half the population of the county.
   As is the case with all eight of Connecticut's counties, there's no county government, and no county seat. In Connecticut, towns are responsible for all local government activities, including fire and rescue, schools, and snow removal; in a few cases, neighboring towns will share certain resources. However, Fairfield County is merely a group of towns on a map, and has no particular authority, with the exception of the Fairfield County Court System. The county also had a Sheriff's Department until November of 2000 when the office of County Sheriff in Connecticut Counties was eliminated. Following that in December of 2000 all Deputy Sheriff's were transferred to Connecticut State Judicial Marshals.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 837 square miles (2,168 km²), of which, 626 square miles (1,621 km²) of it's land and 211 square miles (547 km²) of it (25.23%) is water.
The terrain of the county trends from flat near the coast to hilly and higher near its northern extremity. The highest elevation is 1,290 feet (393 m) above sea level along the New York state line south of Branch Hill in the Town of Sherman; the lowest point is sea level itself.
Except for the Town of Sherman (860), all of Fairfield County is in area code 203. (In the near future, area code 475 is planned to overlay 203.)

Adjacent counties

Litchfield County (north)
New Haven County (east)
Westchester County, New York (southwest)
Putnam County, New York (west)
Dutchess County, New York (northwest)

History

Fairfield County was the home of many small, unconnected Native American tribes prior to the coming of the Europeans. The first European settlers were Puritans from England. David Sherman Boardman was a prominent early lawyer and judge in this and neighboring Litchfield County.
Although it's often viewed as an extension of metro-New York City, Fairfield County has had much industry in its own right. Stamford, Connecticut is an example of edge city urbanization, with many large and important companies having offices there.
At the height of its influence in the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan had a distinct presence in the county and county politics. The group was most active in Darien. The Klan has since disappeared from the county.

Politics

Presidential elections results>

Year	Republican	Democratic
2004	47.3% 189,605	51.4% 205,902
2000	43.1% 159,659	52.3% 193,769
1996	41.4% 144,632	48.9% 172,337
1992	42.8% 175,158	39.1% 160,202
1988	59.0% 221,316	39.9% 149,630
1984	65.8% 257,319	33.8% 132,253
1980	54.9% 201,997	33.7% 124,074
1976	58.1% 209,458	41.2% 148,353
1972	64.0% 233,188	34.3% 125,128
1968	51.8% 173,108	41.7% 139,364
1964	39.2% 125,576	60.8% 194,782
1960	53.4% 167,778	46.6% 146,442

Fairfield County has leaned slightly Democratic since 1992 when George H.W. Bush won a majority in the county. During the 2004 Presidential Election voters favored John Kerry over George W. Bush by a 51.4% to 47.3% margin. Liberals hold firm majorities in Danbury, Bridgeport, Stratford, Norwalk, Stamford and the affluent town of Westport. Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Shelton, and Wilton have long been Republican strongholds in the county.

Cities, towns, sections of towns and villages*

Bethel (Town)

Stony Hill

Bridgeport (City) Former county seat

Black Rock
North End
Newfield
Ox Hill
Hollow
Mill Hill
South End/Seaside Park
West Side
East Side
East End
Steel Point

Brookfield (Town)

Danbury (City)

Germantown
Mill Plain
Little Brazil

Darien (Town)

Noroton
Noroton Heights
Tokeneke

Easton (Town)

Aspetuck
Sport Hill

Fairfield (Town)

Southport
Stratfield
Greenfield Hill

Greenwich (Town)

Glenville
Byram
Cos Cob
Old Greenwich
Riverside
Back Country
Belle Haven
Mianus

Monroe (Town)
Stepney
Stevenson

New Canaan (Town)
Silvermine (part)

New Fairfield (Town)
Candlewood Corners

Newtown (Town)
Sandy Hook
Dodgingtown
Botsford
Hawleyville

Norwalk (City)
Cranbury
East Norwalk
Rowayton
Silvermine (part)
South Norwalk

Redding (Town)
Georgetown (most)
Redding Ridge
West Redding
Five Points

Ridgefield (Town)
Branchville
Ridgebury

Shelton (City)
Huntington
White Hills
Long Hill

Sherman (Town)

Stamford (City)
Belltown
Downtown
The Cove
Glenbrook
Newfield
North Stamford
East Side
Shippan
Shippan Point
Springdale
South End
Turn of River
West Side

Stratford (Town)
Hawley Lane
Lordship
Paradise Green
Putney
Oronoque

Trumbull (Town)
Long Hill
Nichols
Tashua

Weston (Town)
Georgetown (part)

Westport (Town)
Greens Farms
Saugatuck

Wilton (Town)
Cannondale
Georgetown (part)
Silvermine (part) * Villages are named localities within towns, but have no separate corporate existence from the towns they're in.

Transportation

Mass transit
With the county's major thoroughfares, Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway, increasingly clogged with traffic, state officials are looking toward mass transit to ease the traffic burden. In the 2005 and 2006 sessions of the Legislature, massive appropriations were made to buy more rail cars for the Metro-North New Haven Line and branch lines. Ferry lines for some commuters in and out of Stamford are also in development.
New office buildings are being concentrated near railroad stations in Stamford, Bridgeport and other municipalities in the county to allow for more rail commuting. Proximity to Stamford's Metro-North train station was cited by the Royal Bank of Scotland as a key reason for locating its new U.S. headquarters building in downtown Stamford; construction on the office tower started in late 2006.
Rail
Commuter Rail is perhaps Fairfield County's most important transportation artery, as it allows many of its affluent residents an efficient ride to Grand Central. Service is provided on Metro-North's New Haven Line, and every town on the shoreline has at least one station. Connecting lines bring service to New Canaan from Stamford and to Danbury from South Norwalk. Many trains run express from New York to Stamford, making it an easy 35 minute ride. Stamford and Bridgeport are also served by Amtrak, and both cities see a significant number of boardings on the "Regional Northeast Route" (Boston to Newport News, VA). This route also serves other Amtrak stations in Connecticut, including New Haven, New London, and Mystic.
Bus service
Connecticut Transit (CTTRANSIT)(External Link) runs local and inter-city buses to all some parts of the county. Norwalk Wheels is a bus service for Norwalk. GBTA is for the Bridgeport Area and eastern Fairfield County.
Major roads
Traffic is widely seen as one of the most significant problems in Fairfield County.
Boston Post Road

U.S. Route 1, known by various names along its length, most commonly "Boston Post Road", is the oldest east-west route in the county, running through all of its shoreline cities and towns. Since the route runs along the East Coast, for uniformity's sake, in Connecticut, U.S. 1 east is officially called "North" and west is officially "South". Also potentially confusing are the numerous names that Route 1 takes as it goes from town to town. In Greenwich, for instance, it's called Putnam Avenue. In Stamford it becomes Main Street or Tresser Boulevard. In Darien and Fairfield it's called Boston Post Road or "the Post Road". In Norwalk it's known as Connecticut Avenue.
Interstate 95

Interstate 95, known within Connecticut as the Connecticut Turnpike or the Governor John Davis Lodge Turnpike, crosses the state approximately parallel to U.S. Route 1. The road is most commonly referred to as "I-95". The highway is six lanes (sometimes eight lanes) throughout the county. It was completed in 1958 and is often clogged with traffic particularly during morning and evening rush hours. With the cost of land so high along the Gold Coast, state lawmakers say they don't consider widening the highway to be fiscally feasible, although occasional stretches between entrances and nearby exits are now sometimes connected with a fourth "operational improvement" lane (for instance, westbound between the Exit 10 interchange in Darien and Exit 8 in Stamford). Expect similar added lanes in Darien and elsewhere in the Fairfield County portion of the highway in the future, lawmakers and state Department of Transportation officials say.
Merritt Parkway
The Merritt Parkway, also known as "The Merritt" or Connecticut Route 15, is a truck-free scenic parkway that runs through the county parallel and generally several miles north of Interstate 95. Like I-95, the route typically slows down during rush hours, but rarely stops.
   The interchange between the Merritt Parkway and Route 7 in Norwalk was completed around the year 2000. The project was held up in a lawsuit won by preservationists concerned about the historic Merritt Parkway bridges. It is now exit 39 off the Merritt, and exit 15 off I-95.
Interstate 84
Interstate 84, which runs through Danbury, is scheduled to be widened to a six-lane highway at all points between Danbury and Waterbury. State officials say they hope the widening won't only benefit drivers regularly on the route but also entice some cars from the more crowded Interstate 95, which is roughly parallel to it. Heavier trucks are unlikely to use Interstate 84 more often, however, because the route is much hillier than I-95 according to a state Department of Transportation official.
U.S. Route 7
With its southern terminus at Interstate 95 in central Norwalk, U.S. Route 7 heads north through Wilton, Ridgefield, and Danbury to points north. In Danbury and almost all of Norwalk, the route is a highway (known as "Super 7" in the Danbury area or "The Connector" in Norwalk) but it becomes a four-lane road just south of the Wilton-Norwalk border and up to Danbury. There is significant opposition to making the route a limited access highway for the entire length by residents of Wilton and Ridgefield.
Connecticut Route 8
Route 8 terminates (or starts) in Downtown Bridgeport from I 95 with Connecticut Route 25 and goes north. It splits from Connecticut Route 25 at the Bridgeport/ Trumbull town line and continues north into southeastern Trumbull and Shelton, then beyond the county through some of "The Valley" towns of the Naugatuck River Valley to Waterbury and beyond. Construction of the route provided some impetus for the creation of office parks in Shelton and home construction there and in other parts of The Valley.
Connecticut Route 25
Route 25 Starts in Downtown Bridgeport from I 95 with Route 8 and goes north. It splits from Connecticut Route 8 at the Bridgeport/ Trumbull town line and continues into Trumbull (expressway Ends in northern Trumbull, but still continues into Monroe, Newtown then continues to Brookfield.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 882,567 people, 324,232 households, and 228,259 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,410 people per square mile (545/km²). There were 339,466 housing units at an average density of 542 per square mile (209/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 79.31% White, 10.01% Black or African American, 0.20% Native American, 3.25% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.70% from other races, and 2.49% from two or more races. 11.88% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 17.6% were of Italian, 12.4% Irish, 6.5% German and 6.4% English ancestry according to Census 2000.
   In 2005 70.9% of Fairfield County's population was Non-Hispanic whites. 10.7% of the population was African-Americans. Asians were 4.1% of the population. Latinos now constituted 14.0% of the population.
   As of 2000, 76.2% spoke English, 11.0% Spanish, 2.0% Portuguese, 1.7% Italian and 1.1% French as their first language. Some of the last group were Haitians, although other Haitians would identify Haitian creole as their first language.
   There were 324,232 households out of which 34.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.50% were married couples living together, 11.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.60% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.18.
   In the county the population was spread out with 25.60% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 30.90% from 25 to 44, 23.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 93.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.60 males.
   The median income for a household in the county was $65,249, and the median income for a family was $77,690. Males had a median income of $51,996 versus $37,108 for females. The per capita income for the county was $38,350. About 5.00% of families and 6.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.30% of those under age 18 and 6.60% of those age 65 or over.
Hospitals in the county

Bridgeport Hospital

Danbury Hospital

Greenwich Hospital

Norwalk Hospital

St. Vincent's Medical Center (Bridgeport) in Bridgeport

Stamford HospitalFurther Information
Get more info on 'Fairfield County Connecticut'.

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