Berlin

Berlin is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,175 at the 2020 census. The geographic center of Connecticut is located in the town. Berlin is residential and industrial, and is served by the Amtrak station of the same name. Berlin was one of the birthplaces of interchangeable parts manufacturing and of the industrial revolution in the United States, in the workshop of Simeon North. The town was formerly known as Kensington. It was incorporated in 1785. It has two hamlets: Kensington and East Berlin. It is located 11 miles away from the city of Hartford, 11 miles from the state capital, and 11 miles north of the town center of New Haven. The town is located on the Connecticut Turnpike, which runs from New Haven to Hartford, with regular stops for meals and sleeping accommodations on the way to and from Hartford. It also has a train station on the New Haven-Hartford line. The train station is also the location of the Connecticut State Museum, which opened in 1851. The state museum is on the former site of the Hartford Post Office, which was built in 1805. It now houses the state's oldest public library, the Hartford Public Library, and the Connecticut Museum of History and Art, which dates back to the 17th century. The city's first postmaster was Benjamin Franklin, who was born in Berlin in 1803. The first post office was established in 1808. The current postmaster is Benjamin Franklin himself, who died in 1974.

Town seal

Berlin is the primary city name, but also Kensington are acceptable city names or spellings, Kenington on the other hand no longer accepted or obsolete and are no longer used as a designation. The official name is Berlin, Connecticut. The Patterson brothers started their business on West Street (now called Lower Lane) in 1760. They kept their work in the family selling their wares from a basket. When demand increased they took apprentices into the shop and engaged peddlers to travel throughout the colonies selling the shiny, useful articles. The seal of the Town of Berlin shows such a "Yankee peddler" in eighteenth-century dress with a basket under his arm, a pack on his back full of tinware. There were so many that the noise of the whitesmiths and their hammering could be heard in every part of town. There were also many white-smiths in Berlin, and they were so loud that the town could hear them from all parts of the city. The town's name is derived from the word "white" which means "to hammer" or "to make" in English. The word "Berlin" means "the town of Berlin" in German, and "berlin" is the name of the street on which the town was founded. The city's name comes from the German city of Berlin, which was founded in 1708. It is now known as Berlin, the capital of the state of New Jersey, and one of the oldest cities in the U.S. It was also the site of the first European contact with the colonies in the 17th century, when it became known as "Bergen" The town is named after the Patterson brothers, who set up a business selling tinware in the early 1760s.

History

Berlin was one of the birthplaces of interchangeable parts manufacturing and of the industrial revolution in the U.S. The town took parts away from Wethersfield, Middletown, Wallingford and Farmington. Simeon North, manufacturer of pistols, became the first official pistol maker for the United States Government. Wares in baskets were pedaled from house to house, then, as surplus accumulated, by mule and wagon, traveling all over America and to Canada. The Berlin Railroad Depot opened as a way station on the New York, New Haven and Hartford line. Today, this train station is one the last places in the US. that sells tickets to anywhere in theU.S., Canada or Canada. It is still in use today as the Kensington Congregational Church. The Worthington Meetinghouse was in continuous use as a church, town hall, school and town offices until 1974. In the 1800s, business of all sorts thrived in Berlin. Makers of wagons, tableware, hats, clocks, books, combs, woolen clothes and blankets, cabinet and coffin makers, sleighs, muffs, and suits, were all local industries. East Berlin Milling Co. produced cotton and woolen yarn which was spun into clothing and blankets. Berlin was on the direct route from New Haven to Hartford, with taverns and inns, which were regular stagecoach stops for fresh horses, meals and sleeping accommodations. It eventually produced 90,000 bricks daily until the 1960s.

Geography

The west side of Berlin is flanked by the Metacomet Ridge, a mountainous trap rock ridgeline that stretches from Long Island Sound to nearly the Vermont border. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 27.0 square miles (69.9 km²) The geographic center of Connecticut is located in Berlin. The town is home to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for the construction of the New Haven, Connecticut, and Hartford, Connecticut airports. The U.N. World Heritage Site is in Berlin, and was established by the United Nations in 1998. The National Park Service is based in Berlin and has a base of operations in the town, as well as a number of other locations in the state. It is the site of the National Park Trail, which runs through the town and connects to the New York and New Jersey borders. The Connecticut River runs through Berlin and connects the town to New York City and the rest of the state of Connecticut. The New York River is a tributary of the Connecticut River, which flows into the East River. The East River is also the source of the Merrimack River and the Connecticut Turnpike, which connect the East and West Rivers. The West River runs into the Connecticut and New York Rivers, which meet at the Connecticut/Massachusetts border. The Connecticut Turnpikes, which run from the East to the West Rivers, are also located in the Town of Berlin and connect the two states.

Demographics

As of the 2010 census Berlin had a population of 19,866. As of the census of 2000, there were 18,215 people, 6,792 households, and 5,155 families residing in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 94.9% white, 0.7% black or African American, 1.05% Native American, and 0.65% Asian. 3.2% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.11. The median income for a household in the city was $68,068, and the median family income was $76,756. The per capita income for the town is $27,744. About 1.4% of families and 2.5% of those under the age of 18 were below the poverty line, including 0.9 of those under age 18 and 6.8  of those age 65 or over. The town is located on the U.S. Turnpike, which runs from New Jersey to Maine. It is the state's second-largest city, after New Jersey, and is home to the New Jersey State Capitol. Berlin is located at the junction of the New York and New Jersey Turnpikes, which is the nation's third-busiest city. The city's population has grown to more than 20,000. It has a population density of 688.6 inhabitants per square mile (265.9/km²).

Government and politics

Berlin has historically been a bellwether to the state of Connecticut in presidential elections. Donald J. Trump, however, put the town back into the GOP column in 2016. The town has had a tendency to lean Democratic, but recently it has been trending toward the Republican side. The city is home to the U.S. Army's Berlin Barracks, which was founded in 1788. The U.N. headquarters is in Berlin, Connecticut, and was established in 1789. The Berlin Barrack is located in the town's historic district. The state's capital, Hartford, is in the neighboring town of Danbury, which has a long history of being a Democratic bastion. It was the site of the first presidential election in 1916, when George H.W. Bush was elected to office. It has been a Democratic stronghold since the late 1800s, but it has recently been trending towards the GOP. It is also the birthplace of President Barack Obama, who won the town in 2008 and 2012, and has a history of electing Republican candidates for president in the past. The mayor of Berlin is a Democrat, and the town has a tradition of electing Democrats to high office. The current mayor is a Republican, who has been in office since 1999. The president's son, Donald Trump, was elected in 2012 and served as president from 2008 to 2012. The presidential election will be held on November 8, 2016, and is expected to be a close race. It will be the first time since 2004 that the state has voted in a Republican presidential candidate.

Economy

According to Berlin's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: BMW, DHL, Siemens, and DHL. The city's unemployment rate is 3.7 per cent. The unemployment rate in Berlin is 2.9 per cent, according to the city's official statistics. Berlin's economy is one of the largest in the world, with an unemployment rate of 2.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2018. The economy is the second largest in Germany, after the U.S. with a rate of 3.1 per cent and the Netherlands at 2.7. The U.N. is the largest economy in Europe, with a workforce of 1.2 million. Berlin has the highest rate of unemployment in the European Union, followed by the Netherlands with 1.3 per cent; the United States at 1.4 per cent  and the UK at 0.7per cent. Berlin is home to some of the world's largest companies, including DHL and BMW, as well as some of Germany's largest private companies, such as Siemens and Deutsche Bank. In the city, the unemployment rate stands at 3.6 per cent with the lowest rate in the EU and the lowest in Germany. The number of new jobs is up in the past year, with more than 1,000 new jobs created in the last three months. The average salary is $50,000 in Berlin, up from 3.5 per cent last year.

Transportation

Berlin is located on the New HavenSpringfield Line with daily passenger service to points north and south and to New York City via a connection in New Haven. In the Kensington neighborhood on Berlin's west side is Berlin station by the CT Rail's Hartford Line trains and by Amtrak'sHartford Line, Northeast Regional, and Valley Flyer. Berlin is bisected by a north-south arterial road, U.S. 5 and an expressway, Connecticut State Route 9. Connecticut State Road 372 is a local east-west road serving the town. The town has a population of about 3,000 people. It is located in the town of Berlin, a suburb of New Haven, Connecticut, and the town's largest city is New Haven and its suburbs are Farmington and Farmington Hills. Berlin's population is about 2,500 people, with the majority of its residents living in or near the town center. The city's population was 3,200 people in the year 2000, and is expected to grow to 4,000 by the end of the year. It has an estimated population of 4,200, with a population growth rate of 1.7 percent in the last five years. It was the site of the World War II Battle of the Bulge, which took place in the early 1900s. It also hosted the Battle of Berlin in the 1930s and 1940s, when the town was known as "Berlin, Connecticut" and was the home of the German-American community.

Education

Berlin has three elementary schools, Catherine M. McGee Middle School, and Berlin High School. The town's public library is the Berlin-Peck Memorial Library located at the Arthur B. Powers complex, the library contains an adjoining community center with publicly available meeting rooms, a gym area and a game room. There is one private education school in Berlin; Saint Paul School (Founded 1958). The town has one high school, Berlin High, and one middle school, Catherine McGee Middle, as well as two elementary schools. Berlin has a population of 3,000, with a population growth rate of 1.7% per year. The city's population has grown by 1.8% since the mid-1980s. The population has increased by 2.9% since then, with the growth rate outpacing the rate of population growth in the rest of the U.S. in the 1990s and early 2000s. Berlin's population was 3,715 in the mid-'90s, up from 3,816 in the early '90s. It has an unemployment rate of 2.7%. It has a high school graduation rate of 9%. The town is home to one of the nation's oldest high schools, Saint Paul, which was founded in 1958. It is also home to a number of private schools, including Mary E. Griswold School, Emma Hart Willard School and Richard D. Hubbard School. It also has a middle school and high school that are part of a private school consortium.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Berlin, Hartford County, Connecticut = 17.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 52. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 11. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Berlin = 3.3 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 20,175 individuals with a median age of 42.6 age the population grows by 13.16% in Berlin, Hartford County, Connecticut population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 766.2 residents per square mile of area (295.8/km²). There are average 2.64 people per household in the 7,762 households with an average household income of $88,051 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 6.90% of the available work force and has dropped -3.68% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 25.74%. The number of physicians in Berlin per 100,000 population = 291.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Berlin = 49.5 inches and the annual snowfall = 43.2 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 113. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 190. 83 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 20.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 52, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Berlin, Hartford County, Connecticut which are owned by the occupant = 86.26%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 39 years with median home cost = $240,080 and home appreciation of -4.95%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $19.40 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $6,413 per student. There are 15.4 students for each teacher in the school, 327 students for each Librarian and 420 students for each Counselor. 7.67% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 21.00% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 10.41% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).