Buying or Selling Your Home in New Haven?
If you are thinking about buying or selling your home in New Haven, or any of the surrounding areas, we can help! A Comparable Market Analysis (CMA) can be conducted to provide you with an estimate of your property’s value in today’s market. Give us a call and we will be happy to share the details with you. If you have any questions about Re/Max Royal Real Estate or real estate in general and would like to set up an appointment to discuss your options, contact us at (203) 248-8086.

Why New Haven?
New Haven, founded in 1638, is the second-largest city in Connecticut. New Haven could be considered the oldest formally planned community in the United States due to its original downtown street grid. This created what is now the center of downtown New Haven. The city instituted the first public tree planting program in America, eventually producing a canopy of mature trees (including some large elms) that gave New Haven the nickname “The Elm City.”

New Haven is best known as the home of Yale University and the National Historic Landmark The New Haven Green. Yale University is New Haven’s biggest visitor attraction, which draws over 550,000 visitors to the city each year. These visitors spend more than $40 million annually in New Haven. Along with Yale University, the base of the New Haven Economy is supported by healthcare (hospitals and biotechnology), professional services (legal, architectural, marketing, and engineering), financial services, and retail trade. Since the mid-1990s, the city’s downtown area and many of its neighborhoods have seen extensive revitalization.

In addition, New Haven offers a plethora of cultural activities for all ages at a variety of different venues. These include, but are not limited to, the Arts + Literature Laboratory, the Connecticut Children’s Museum, the Eli Whitney Museum, the Ethnic Heritage Center at Southern Connecticut State University, the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Wildfield Studios, the Yale Center for British Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery.

Neighborhood Information
Downtown has more residential character than most downtowns. It is occupied by nearly 7,000 residents, yet the downtown area provides about ½ the city’s tax base. It is filled with upscale restaurants, venues for entertainment and shops. Within the city are many distinct neighborhoods. In addition to Downtown, centered on the central business district and the Green, are neighborhoods like: the historic waterfront City Point, the harborside district of Long Wharf, The Annex and Morris Cove, Westville and Amity on the west side, East Rock and Prospect Hill on the east side and the central districts of Mill River and Wooster Square(Little Italy).

We would be happy to give you a glimpse of what living in New Haven, Connecticut can offer. Contact us at (203) 248-8086.

Town History
Hamden was originally settled by Puritans as part of the town of New Haven. The land was purchased by Theophilus Eaton and Reverend John Davenport in 1638 from the local Quinnipiack Native American tribe. It remained a part of New Haven until 1786 when 1,400 local residents incorporated themselves as a separate town. It is named after the English statesman John Hampden.

Hamden was largely developed as a nodal collection of village-like settlements. These include Mount Carmel, Whitneyville, Spring Glen,West Woods and Highwood. It has a long-standing industrial history having been the site of many workshops of Eli Whitney, as well as Charles Goodyear. In 1798, four years after he began manufacturing the cotton gin in New Haven, Whitney began making arms for the U.S. Government at a mill site in Hamden at the border with New Haven, where a waterfall provided a good source of power. It was here that Whitney began the modern era of mass production with the concept of interchangeable parts, manufactured using the newly introduced milling machine. The major thoroughfare through town has been named Whitney Avenue in Eli Whitney’s honor, and it runs past Whitney’s old factory, now the Eli Whitney Museum.

Whitney constructed stone houses for his employees in the nearby area, which is still referred to as Whitneyville; this is believed to be the first example of employer-provided homes in U.S. history. In 1806, the dam Eli Whitney built at the mill site was enlarged to create a reservoir, Lake Whitney. The first truss bridge in the United States was erected nearby over the Mill River in Whitneyville in 1823, but has since been replaced.

The Farmington Canal providing ship travel from New Haven northward passed through Hamden, between 1825 and 1848, until it was supplanted by railroad travel. The canal right-of-way has in recent years became a popular walking and bicycling trail, passing by some of the well-preserved locks of the canal, as well as some of Hamden’s oldest important sites. Before its use as a walking and bicycling trail, many local residents rode their motocross bikes on the Farmington Canal. This was from 1988, when the railroad tracks were removed, until the beginning of construction of the walking and bicycling trail.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Hamden received a steady influx of immigrants, most notably from Italy and Ireland. To this day, Hamden is an essential part of New Haven’s Italian-American community.

In the post-war period, Hamden underwent significant suburban development. Much of the southern section of town is urbanized and is difficult to distinguish from neighboring New Haven. The northern section of town, however, retains a more rural character, and has the distinct neighborhood of Mount Carmel. This area of town is the location of the unique Sleeping Giant hill formation that is the source of the town’s nickname.

The Town Hall at the center of Hamden has a distinctive appearance. Across the street is the small Freedom Park, containing a fountain with concrete stepping stones leading to a sign that pleas for peace in several different languages. Flower beds enclose.

Hamden was host to the Ghost Parking Lot, a notable roadside public art installation located in front of the Hamden Plaza shopping center in Hamden’s commercial district on Dixwell Avenue. Erected in 1978, it consisted of 15 car hulks, specially treated and encased in asphalt. Although featured in over 100 art books, the attraction was torn down in 2003 due to the excessive cost of restoration and repair. [2]

Principal communities in Hamden
Hamden center
Augerville
Centerville
Highwood
Mount Carmel
Spring Glen
Whitneyville
West Woods

Demographics
As of the census² of 2000, there were 56,913 people, 22,408 households, and 14,027 families residing in the town. The population density was 1,736.1 people per square mile (670.4/km²). There were 23,464 housing units at an average density of 715.7/sq mi (276.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 77.30% White, 15.53% African American, 0.13% Native American, 3.53% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.61% from other races, and 1.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.26% of the population.

There were 22,408 households out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were married couples living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 31.1% 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 2.35 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the town the population was spread out with 20.8% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 84.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $52,351, and the median income for a family was $65,301. Males had a median income of $45,909 versus $35,941 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,039. About 4.5% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

– As Reported on Wikipedia 1/21/2008