The State of the City: An Analysis of New BritainPrepared by: Brigitte
Schulz·Associate Professor of Political Science Prepared for: Citizens for
Action in New Britain·19 Chestnut Street Trinity Center for Neighborhoods ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors of this study would like to acknowledge the help of a number of people who gave of their time and knowledge, as well as providing data without which this study could not have been completed: David Pudlin, member of the Connecticut Legislature from New Britain; Sarajane S. Pickett, Director of the New Britain City Planning Department; Gilbert Andrada, Connecticut State Department of Education; Kenneth A. Malinowski, Executive Director of the New Britain Commission on Community and Neighborhood Development; and, most importantly, George S. Brusznicki, President and CEO of the Central Connecticut Workforce Development Project, Inc. I. INTRODUCTION The following study is a presentation of data regarding the current state of the City of New Britain, Connecticut. The statistics are based largely on the 1990 United States Census Report, with additional figures provided by the New Britain City Planning Department, the New Britain Commission on Community and Neighborhood Development, the Central Connecticut Workforce Development Project, the Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency, the Connecticut State Department of Education, and the Connecticut State Department of Labor. To the extent that available data permit, the study provides a longitudinal view in an effort to place the present state of New Britain in a historical context. The first part of the study traces the economic, demographic, and racial-ethnic transformation of the city from the beginning of the early nineteenth century to the present. Following are seven substantive sections on population, income and poverty, labor and employment, education, housing, transportation, and land use. The study concludes with a summary of the findings. II. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE In the first half of the nineteenth century New Britain, Connecticut was one of the early poles of American industrial development that over the next century saw the United States become the world's dominant industrial power. The first European settlers, arriving in the seventeenth century, were English Protestants who established a religious-agricultural community in an area that had been swampland. Consequently, New Britain's identity beyond a backward agricultural village has always been that of an industrial center. During the colonial period the town that is today New Britain was part of Farmington and later Berlin. By 1850, when it became a separate political entity, New Britain was already known for its growing hardware and textile industries. As a mark of the town's emerging importance, the New Britain Normal School was founded in 1849 to train Connecticut's elementary school teachers. It was this institution, Connecticut's oldest state supported institution of higher education, that metamorphosed into Central Connecticut State University over a century later. At mid-century Irish and German immigrant artisans, fleeing harsh economic conditions in their homelands, were attracted to the area by the prospect of employment. These newcomers were met with a certain ambivalence by the virtually exclusively Anglo-Protestant residents. Although the skills and labor power of the Germans and Irish were absolutely essential to the areas's economic growth, they nevertheless introduced an ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic heterogeneity to the community that made some of the older Anglo-Saxon residents uncomfortable. Simultaneous-ly the Civil War gave an enormous boost to the area's economy as the city's hardware and textile production was geared almost entirely to the Union's wartime needs. In the two decades between 1850-1870 New Britain's population increased from slightly over 3,000 to nearly 10,000. This was not the last time that New Britain would benefit from war, nor the last time it would become nervous with unfamiliar "outsiders" migrating to the city. Between 1870-1890 the city's popula-tion doubled to 19,000. The preceding forty year period had witnessed the area's definitive transformation from a relatively backward agricultural comm-unity to an internationally known center of manufacturing production. New Britain's greatest phase of growth was in the thirty-year period between 1890 and 1920 when its population again surged ahead by an average of over 13,000 new residents per decade - a decennial population growth never again reached. This period, which included the economic stimulus represented by World War I, was the culmination of an era in which the United States became the leading global industrial power. Such rapid economic growth created periodic shortages in the labor market, a need that was met by immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. The consequence of the arrival of large numbers of Italians, Jews, Poles, Slovaks and others - this time bringing entire families - was an increase in tension with the previous residents who began complaining that they were being replaced by foreigners. Insofar that these immigrants represented an expansion in available labor supply, their arrival tended to act as a damper on wage increases. The result was a certain amount of resentment on the part of the existing working class, particularly in periods of economic downturn. Despite the vigorous overall expansion that marked the last three decades of the nineteenth century, the American economy at large had also suffered several severe depressions. In the post World War I period the entire American economy witnessed a boom of which New Britain was an integral part. This era of economic expansion was suddenly halted by the crash of the stock market at the end of the decade and the ensuing radical contraction that is known at the Great Depression. Despite fits and starts the economic picture remained bleak throughout the thirties and high unemployment persisted. Population growth in New Britain was static during the thirties and the city's population at the end of the decade - slightly under 69,000 - was virtually the same as it had been at the beginning. Again war intervened. World War II acted as an enormous stimulus to production and almost the entire manufacturing output of the New Britain area was geared to that end. Virtually overnight the situation changed from a labor surplus and high unemployment to full employment and extreme labor shortages. In earlier periods of economic expansion labor shortages had been met by increased immigration from Europe. This was not an available option during World War II as the war in Europe made emigration impossible. The labor scarcity was further exacerbated by the fact that an estimated 10,000 New Britain residents - primarily young men of working age - were mobilized into the Armed Forces. The demand for labor had to be met internally and only two sources were generally available: women and African-Americans. Black Americans came from the South to the factories of the industrial Northeast, Mid-West and West Coast in enormous numbers; an internal population movement that has been called the Great Migration. Women had found employment in New Britain's industry as early as the 1890s, but their mobilization during World War II was unprecedented. "Rosie the Riveter" became a national phenomenon. By war's end years of pent-up consumer demand that had been deferred due to military production and rationing, plus the thousands of demobilized military personnel, further fed rapid economic growth. By 1950 New Britain's population had increased to 73,700. This explosive growth continued on through the fifties, a period during which the American economy was the locomotive that powered the continuing post-war global recovery. Demand for new housing, automobiles and all manner of consumption goods was further fueled by the Baby Boom - children born to returning members of the military services - and a new wave of European immigrants escaping the aftermath of war. By 1960 the city's population exceeded 82,000. New Britain's immense post-war expansion convinced the city of the need to carry on further growth according to some sort of plan. The result was the creation of a full time City Planning Department. Shortly after New Britain's first Development Plan was adopted in 1958, the city's economic bubble began a gradual deflation. The late sixties once again saw an upturn in industrial production, stimulated by the Vietnam War, but the ensuing seventies witnessed the onset of yet another painful period of stagnation and contraction. The long post-war wave of expansion and its accompanying prosperity had appeared to be normal to a generation of people who had known no other experience. A constant increase in prosperity became an expectation and looked upon as a virtual entitlement. With rising prosperity there had been a relatively constant increase in the tax base that allowed all levels of government - municipal, state and federal - to expand services in a more or less painless manner. In fact New Britain's economy had always been characterized by boom and bust; the long post-war expansion was an historical exception rather than a condition of normality. During the 1960s four of New Britain's five largest employers left the city; a consequence of changing production requirements, and the need to replace outdated plant and equipment under conditions where the cost of land for plant location was far cheaper elsewhere. A related incentive was to escape comparatively high rates of taxation. It also appears that several New Britain firms, their old plant and equipment already amortized, used their knowledge of impending highway construction to have their property condemned for the highway right of way. Thus they received hefty condemnation fees for land, plant and equipment they were planning to abandon anyway. The consequence was that the state's taxpayers effectively subsidized private industry's new investment that would have had to have been undertaken under any circumstances. This disguised taxpayer subsidy not only cost New Britain thousands of jobs, but it eroded the tax base as well; depriving the city of revenues necessary to pay for public goods such as schools, infrastructure, redevelopment, etc. This was part of a broader trend that contributed to a general fiscal crisis at all levels of government nationwide. In certain instances New Britain's industrial sector fell to an earlier wave of "mergermania" that particularly characterized the late sixties throughout the industrial northeast and midwest. In some instances local industries were bought up by far larger firms and then simply closed in order to remove competition. A further incentive for moving out (or simply vanishing) was the relatively high labor costs in New Britain where unions have been particularly strong since the turn of the century. In the late fifties nearly three-quarters of all manufacturing workers in New Britain were union members. Sixty percent of the city's labor force in 1960 was employed in relatively high paying manufacturing jobs; 25 percent greater than Connecticut's state-wide average. From its zenith in 1958 of 24,000 the number of manufacturing jobs in the city declined to 17,000 in 1965; a drop of more than 25 percent in just seven years! This was to be a long term trend, despite the temporary increase in manu-facturing production in the late sixties. Over the next quarter century the decline in manufacturing employment entered a free fall. In the seventies the entire ball bearing industry in New Britain collapsed. Once a world leader in this industrial sector, central Connecticut lost out to cheaper and more technologically advanced overseas production. The 1990 Census showed only 6,750 industrial jobs remaining in New Britain; a disastrous collapse of over seventy percent. This drop appears to have continued during the nineties. One 1996 estimate indicates that only 4,000-4,200 manufacturing jobs still exist in New Britain, only about half of them unionized. Another suggests that this picture is too negative and argues that a more accurate picture for mid-decade would be that around 6,000 industrial jobs remain in the city. A rough estimate, however, would indicate that relatively high paying, unionized, private sector manufacturing jobs declined from around 18,000 to between 2-3,000 in slightly less than forty years. The sixties were also marked by two other connected decisions. Taking advantage of federal funds available for Urban Renewal, many older neighborhoods were razed to make way for new construction. As mentioned above, the traditional face of the city was further changed by the decision to build a multi-lane highway through its heart. By the time highway construction was completed in 1993 the destruction that began with Urban Renewal of older, city-center neighborhoods, some of which had already undergone considerable deterioration, was completed by giant swathes of superhighway. A consider-able portion of the city's pre-existing character appears to have been buried beneath tons of concrete, brick and steel. Accompanying the economic downturn of the sixties and seventies was another wave of immigration; but a wave with a significant difference from those of the past. Just as their predecessors, these new immigrants sought to escape the grinding poverty of their homelands. However, instead of arriving at a time of economic expansion and increased job opportunities they were met with increasing economic stagnation. Available jobs were much lower paying, if they existed at all. The result was a rather significant increase in the relative number of poor people. This further exacerbated the problem of a declining tax base that eventually produced a fiscal crisis at all levels of government; a phenomenon not confined only to New Britain or Connecticut. Government could no longer afford the services that, paradoxically, were now more needed than ever. New Britain's population growth began to level off and, eventually, to decline. Between 1960 and 1970 the city's population increased by slightly more than 1,000 to 83,441. Over the next decade it dropped by nearly 10,000 persons; 11.5 percent. The 1990 census showed a very moderate increase, but at 75,491 the number of New Britain residents still had not reached its peak of 1960 and was only marginally higher than it had been forty years earlier. Increasingly New Britain has been seen as a declining urban center with growing numbers of poor, surrounded by relatively wealthy suburbs trying their best to isolate themselves from the central city's problems. It should be noted that New Britain is hardly alone in having undergone such a startling and difficult transformation over the last quarter century or more. Similar contractions have characterized most medium and large-sized industrial cities throughout the northeast and midwest. Compared to disaster cases like Gary, Indiana and Youngstown, Ohio, for example, New Britain has fared rather well. The phenomenon of urban decline in the industrialized world has been experienced nationally and even internationally, although urban areas in Western Europe have used more effective planning to escape some of the worst of the ravages that have been experienced by American cities. Many of New Britain's older working class neighborhoods are still tidy and intact with a strong sense of community and in this sense the future there seems far less bleak than in other areas. III. POPULATION a. General New Britain's overall population numbers have remained relatively stable for nearly a half-century. Although there was a sharp climb in the fifties and an equally acute decline in the seventies, the United States Census figures for 1990 show a rather small overall increase over forty-plus years of less than 2.5 percent; from 73,700 (1950) to 75,491 (1990). Mid-decade estimates by the New Britain City Planning Department, on the one hand, and the Connecticut State Department of Economic Development, on the other, show significant deviations in terms of their projections for the year 2,000. As with many urban areas in the United States that contain significant pockets of the working poor and unemployed - people who tend to be more transient than higher income groups - New Britain's overall population may have been undercounted in 1990. A 1994 report produced for the City Planning Department estimates that the overall population was closer to 80,000 in 1990. However, this study predicts no significant growth in the near or medium-term future, and projects for planning purposes that New Britain's population will remain stable at about 80,000. The Central Connecticut Regional Economic Development Plan (1995) is more modest, projecting New Britain's population at 74,780 in the year 2,000; an increase of 0.9 percent over the official 1990 Census Report. In a 1993 report the State of Connecticut's Department of Economic Development projected a population of only 71,103 in the year 2,000; a significant deviation from the City's projections. Were this last figure as projected by the State to hold true until the next Census four years hence, it would represent a population decline of 5.8 percent from the official 1990 figure, and be 11.1 percent below the total projected by the City government. The deviation between City and State projections represents a difference nearly as large as the City's population loss of 11.5 percent between 1970-1980. The State's projection would place the number of people living in New Britain at nearly 3,000 below the total of 1980 and, in fact, would be lower than any time since the mid-forties. It should be pointed out that recently reported mid-decade data by the US Census Bureau projects the State of Connecticut to have a sufficiently large overall population drop between 1990-2,000 to lead to the loss of one of its six congressional seats. Despite the overall numerical stabilization over the past half century, New Britain's demographic character has changed markedly during that time. Fifty years ago New Britain was populated overwhelmingly by people of Central and Southern European descent added to the original English Protestant stock. Additionally there had been a small African American population since the mid-nineteenth century, augmented during World War II by southern blacks moving to the area in search of jobs. By 1990, according to the decennial Census, about one in every six New Britain residents was Hispanic. Furthermore, since it is the Hispanic population that tends to be undercounted, it has been suggested that the actual figure exceeds one in five. Additionally, the city has grown significantly older since the fifties; an increase of 52.4 percent in the age cohort older than sixty-five. However, the number of children under five years old grew by thirty percent between 1980-1990 after a quarter century of sharp decline. The fastest rate of growth in the younger age category was among the Hispanic population. Nevertheless, the youngest age cohort was still 36.8 percent lower in 1990 than it was in 1960. b. Race and Ethnicity According the 1960 Census fewer than 2,500 residents of New Britain were categorized as "non-white"; about 3 percent of the population of 82,201. It should be noted that, historically, the definition of "non-white" has been less than precise. In the 1960 Census the term applied almost exclusively to African Americans. Both the "white" and the "non-white" categories included those who are now categorized as "Hispanic". Comparisons, therefore, of four successive census reports - 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990 - are constrained by the way in which racial/ethnic categories have changed over time. It should also be noted, though, that the major influx of Hispanic immigrants to the area occurred after 1960. Consequently, one can assume that most of the 2,446 residents of New Britain classified as "non-white" in 1960 were what the Census Report now refers to as non-Hispanic blacks. One can say that the "non-white" population of New Britain was always relatively small when compared to other northern industrial cities. Between 1960-70 the white population remained virtually static, falling by less than 1 percent. Between 1970-80 there was an abrupt decline; 16.7 percent. The rate of decrease slowed during the eighties, but it was still a substantial 6.6 percent lower. The sharp drop (11.5 percent) in New Britain's overall population between 1970-80 appears not to have been the consequence so much of out-migration as it was of a substantial fall in the birthrate. The city's birthrate began to increase in the eighties, due primarily to the "non-white and/or Hispanic" population. The white population showed a marked overall decline in every age category except the very youngest and the very oldest between 1980-90. Most significantly whites between the ages of fifteen and fifty-nine declined by nearly 5,000; 11.9 percent. This would seem to point to a significant out-migration of whites in the eighties. At the end of the thirty year period (1960-90) the overall white (including Hispanics counted as white) population of New Britain was 22.5 percent lower at 61,790; an absolute decline of nearly 18,000. If one factors out "white Hispanics" from these overall numbers, the figures show that New Britain's "white, non-Hispanic" population in 1990 was 56,682; still 75.1 percent of the city's overall total, but indicating an even steeper fall in the "Anglo/Central/Southern European" eth-nic component. Conversely the non-white population figures show the opposite trajectory. From fewer than 2,500 in 1960 (theoretically including "non-white" Hispanics) it increased by 72 percent in the sixties, by 69.8 percent in the seventies, and by 91.7 percent in the eighties. In absolute terms "non-whites" (excluding "white" Hispanics) increased to 13,687; nearly 500 percent. It is important to remember that racial/ethnic categories are socially rather than scientifically determined. They depend largely on two factors: first, according to the way in which an individual chooses to identify her/himself, a self-identification that itself may change over time; and, second, according to the way in which society at large identifies those persons, also a socially imposed definition that may change over time. These two modes of identification, of course, symbiotically interact upon and alter one another. Looking at racial/ethnic catego-ries in a slightly different way the 1990 Census figures show the following with regard to the overall New Britain population: non-Hispanic blacks 5,269 (7.0% of the total, up from 5.5% in 1980); Hispanics 12,082 (16.0%, up from 9.0% in 1980); Asian and Pacific 1,311 (1.7%, from 0.3% in 1980). The city's Hispanic population is overwhelmingly Puerto Rican in origin; 10,290, or 85.2 percent of the total Hispanic category. The initial wave of Puerto Rican immigrants in the late sixties were blue collar workers from the urbanized areas of Puerto Rico who came to New Britain in search of work in regional factories that were undergoing a period of expansion stimulated by the Vietnam War. Still relatively poor compared to the descendants of earlier waves of immigrant workers, they settled in New Britain because the housing costs were less expensive than in neighboring towns. The wave of immigrants who arrived in the eighties, on the contrary, came from extremely poor rural areas of the island for whom living conditions that might seem destitute in New Britain were still better than those from where they came. There are also small numbers of Cuban (1.5%), Dominican (1.4%), Central American (1.4%) and South American (3.0%) origins. 6.6 percent of New Britain's population, or 802 people, are designated by the Census report as "Other Hispanic". A still small, but rapidly growing component of the city's ethnic mix is that Census category referred to as Asian and Pacific Islander (API); in the case of New Britain subdivided into people of Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Thai and "Other API" origin. In 1980 the total in the API category was a mere 218 people. This had increased by more than 600 percent to 1,311 by 1990. The largest single national group is Laotian - 444 people. c. Neighborhoods With regard to neighborhoods only four Census Tracts lost population between 1980-90: those numerically designated as 4156, 4157, 4159, 4172. These tracts are generally (not absolutely) coterminous with the neighborhoods, respectively, of Willow Brook, Vance, Broad Street and Belvedere. However, several changed rather dramatically with regard to their racial/ethnic configuration. Census Tracts 4153 (Chestnut Street), 4155 (South Main Street), 4158 (Walnut Hill), 4159 (Broad Street), 4161 (LaSalle/Dublin Hill), 4162 (Allen/Oak/North Street) and 4171 (Central Business District) all had a decrease in their white population of more than 25 percent. The Hispanic population was concentrated (defined here as in greater numbers than their city wide share of the total population - 16.0%) in the following neighborhoods: Broad Street, LaSalle/Dublin Hill, Allen/Oak/North Street, Hillhurst, M.I. Academy, Corbin Heights and the Central Business District. The African American population was concentrated (defined as greater than their city wide share of the total population - 7.0%) in the following neighborhoods: South Main Street, Allen/Oak/North Street, Hillhurst, M.I. Academy, Corbin Heights, Central Business District and North Stanley. From the foregoing one can easily see that African Americans and Hispanics tend to be concentrated in the same neighborhoods. Conversely, those neighborhoods that had a significant decline in their white population between 1980-90 tend to be the ones that now have heavier concentrations of blacks and Hispanics. d. Age As mentioned earlier New Britain has aged considerably since the 1950s. According to the 1960 Census there were 8,391 New Britain residents over the age of sixty-five; slightly more than 10 percent of the total. By 1990 this number had reached 12,759; nearly 17 percent. This represents a thirty year increase in the elderly population of 52.4 percent. On the other hand, in 1960 there were 8,480 children under five years old; virtually the same number as those over sixty-five. By 1990 this youngest age group had declined by 36.8 percent, to a total of 5,357. However, it should be noted that the number of pre-school children marked a sharp rebound from its low in the late seventies, an increase between 1980-90 of 30.3 percent. From a low of 818 in 1976 the annual number of New Britain births climbed steadily upwards over the next decade. By 1988 it was 1,150 and was projected to rise slightly through the nineties. The same sort of change was characteristic of the 5-19 year old category. In 1960 there were 19,844 people in this grouping; roughly speaking the entire school age population. In 1990 there were only 13,244; a significant 33.3 percent decline over the thirty year period. The number in this age cohort also declined by 14.4 percent between 1980-1990. However, the increased number of births beginning in the late seventies would seem to be arresting this fall. New Britain residents in the 20-34 year old group increased by 55.9 percent over the thirty year period from 1960-1990; from 14,533 to 22,656. The rate of increase, however, has shown a decline for the last three Census Reports. Between 1980-90 it reached a low of 13.6 percent. This element represents both new workers as well as new parents. The next age cohort - ages 35-64 - has also shown a significant decline since the fifties. Between 1960-90 it fell by 26.4 percent. However, this seems to have levelled off between 1980-90 during which time it increased slightly by one percent. While the white population of New Britain declined in every age category except the youngest (0-4) and the oldest (over 65) between 1980-90, the African American population increased in every age group, as did the Hispanic and Asian and Pacific Islander population. However, while the white population between the ages of 0-4 increased by 298 in this period (8.9%), the Hispanic population in the same age group, but starting from a much smaller base, grew by 544 persons (59.6%). African Americans between 0-4 years grew by ninety-three persons (21.8%), and the API population in this age group grew by seventy people (437.5%). This clearly indicates that New Britain as a whole is becoming more and more "non-white", and that this trend promises to continue. e. Marital Status According to the 1990 Census there were 61,735 people over the age of fifteen living in New Britain; an insignificant increase of 464 persons over 1980. In that year slightly less than one-third of this group (32.0%) was single. By 1990 the single population over the age of fifteen had increased marginally to 34.5 percent. Of much greater significance was the decline in the number of intact married families. In 1980 half of all those over the age of fifteen were married and living with their spouse. By 1990 that number had fallen to only 43.6 percent of the total; a decline of 12.6 percent. The widowed portion of the population remained virtually the same as it had been in 1980, but the numbers of divorced and separated persons rose sharply, from 6.8 percent in 1980 to 13 percent in 1990. f. Households and Families According to U.S. Census Bureau definitions a family refers to one or more persons living in the same household who are related by birth, marriage or adoption. A household, on the other hand, includes all persons who occupy a housing unit; a house, apartment, group of rooms, single room, etc. intended for separate living quarters. Average household size has declined over the last thirty years in New Britain from over three persons per household in 1960 to 2.5 persons in 1990. Of the total number of New Britain households (30,099) 63.4% (19,074) were family households. In 1980 77.2 percent of all families involved married couples. By 1990 that figure had declined to 69.9 percent. In 1990 female headed families (no spouse present) amounted to nearly a quarter of the total (23.5%) up from the 1980 figures of 18.5 percent. Interestingly, male headed families (no spouse present) also increased from 4.3 to 6.6 percent of the total. In 1990 75.3 percent of all white families were made up of married couples living together, down from 79.4 percent in 1980. 6.3 percent were headed by males and 18.3 percent headed by females, both increases over the previous Census. The percentage of single parent families in 1990 was much greater among blacks (49.1%) and Hispanics (58.9%). The decline in the share of married couple African American families, however, was down only 2.4 percentage points from 1980, less than the 4.1 percentage point drop for whites. It was the Hispanic family that suffered the most severe decline. In 1980 62.9 percent of all Hispanic families were headed by married couples. Over a ten year period this number fell by over twenty-one percentage points to 41.1 percent. The overall upward national trend in female headed families was reflected in the figures for black families in New Britain; from 39.6 percent of the total in 1980 to 43.7 percent in 1990. The increase among female headed Hispanic families leaped from 34.6 to 51.4 percent over a ten year period, making it the only population group in New Britain with more than half of its total families headed by single women. The number of single Hispanic male headed families also increased from 2.5 percent to 7.5 percent of the total. It is important that certain numbers be placed in perspective and one should realize that percentages and rates of change can sometimes give a distorted view of reality. In 1990, for example, 89.9 percent of white families in Burlington were headed by a married couple. By comparison 100 percent of its black families were intact. On the other hand 100 percent of all Hispanic families in Burlington were headed by single females in that same year. Just a decade earlier 100 percent of Hispanic families in Burlington had been headed by married couple families. (In 1990 there were only eighteen African American families and only eight Hispanic families in Burlington. In 1980 there were twenty Hispanic families living there.) Given the foregoing, one must be aware with regard to New Britain that the number of white families headed by a single parent (3,884) is more than twice the total for Hispanic families (1,783). Furthermore, 2,884 white New Britain families are headed by single women, 1,556 Hispanic families are headed by single women, and only 607 African American families are headed by single women. g. Summary According to the New Britain City Planning Department, the city's overall population seems to have stabilized at around 80,000 for the foreseeable future. Other studies dispute this figure and project a decline of nearly 6 percent by the year 2,000. The city's white population is getting older and its black and Hispanic population is younger and, particularly the latter, growing rapidly. Nevertheless, New Britain has always had a relatively high "white" population compared to other northern industrial cities, and the Anglo/Southern/Middle European ethnic component still constitutes three-quarters of the city's total. As elsewhere in the country, the trend toward a decline in the "traditional" family structure of a married couple with children has been reflected in New Britain's changing demography, and the number of families headed by single women in all three racial/ethnic categories we have considered is climbing rapidly. IV. INCOME AND POVERTY a. An Overview By most indices the State of Connecticut is the wealthiest of the fifty states in terms of annual household, family and per capita income. However, statistics such as these, because they include areas of sizeable wealth, often obscure the fact that parts of the state are comparable, for example, with the nation's poorer regions. New Britain does not yet fall into the category of the very poorest areas in the state, but it does contain significant pockets of poverty. New Britain is a longstanding center of industrial production with a history of organic, stable working class communities whose fortunes rise and fall with the vagaries of the regional and national economies as a whole.Just like similar medium-sized industrial towns throughout the country, New Britain experienced a general stagnation of wages and incomes over the last quarter century . According to 1990 Census figures New Britain's median household income was $30,121; only 72 percent of the $41,721 that characterized the State of Connecticut as a whole. (Note: A recent interim report by the US Census Bureau based on 1995 data indicates the statewide median household income has declined by 3.5 percent to $40,243 since 1990) By comparison, neighboring Burlington has a median household Berlin of $49,004. Hartford County, which includes Berlin, Burlington and New Britain, has a median household income of $40,609. The City of Hartford, on the other hand, had a median household income of merely $22,140 in 1990. Furthermore, gross figures tend to obscure significant realities depending upon what is counted and how it is counted. For example, a recent (1994) report prepared for the City Planning Department describes the rise in median family (as distinguished from household) income in New Britain between 1960-1990 as a "dramatic increase" even when taking into account significant inflation. Median family income rose during that thirty year period from $6,481 to $35,711. What these figures ignore is that in 1960 it was far more typical for a single family's income to be provided by one (usually male) wage earner who was a union member working a normal work week with a reasonable expectation of lifetime tenure. More than three decades later, the maintenance of its (1960) income in real terms requires a typical family to have two or more wage earners working a total of many more hours. Most of the time this has meant that the wife must also enter wage employment, most often at earnings lower than the generally stagnant male wages. Forty years ago female spousal earnings were generally considered "supplemental" and used for discretion-ary spending. Over the last two decades, however, these earnings have become absolutely fundamental to the mainten-ance of the average family's standard of living. Calculating the total number of hours worked by all income generating members of the family would thus show a thirty year increase that was something less than dramatic. b. Disaggregating New Britain's Neighborhoods A further difficulty with gross figures (median household, median family, average per capita incomes) for a city as a whole, even a city as small as New Britain, is that they obscure significant polarization of incomes. For example, New Britain is made up of twenty-one Census Tracts, roughly consonant with neighborhoods. Eleven of these tracts/neighborhoods have median household incomes below the city's overall figure. For example, half of (the median) the 973 households in the Central Business District (Tract 4171) have annual incomes below $16,349. Fully 44 percent (425 households) have annual incomes below $15,000; an amount below which even a household consisting of only one person must be considered as bordering on the impoverished. In the adjacent Broad Street neighborhood (Tract 4159) half the 980 households have incomes of less than $20,362, and 36 percent (355 households) of them are below $15,000 annually. In Tract 4166 (M.I. Academy) the median household income is $20,469. Of the 1,166 households in this neighborhood 40 percent (467) have incomes below $15,000. In H.C./ Washington Park (Tract 4160) there are 2,024 households with a median income of $28,178; 22 percent (436) of which are below $15,000 per annum. In the adjacent LaSalle/Dublin Hill neighborhood (Tract 4161) there are 2,077 households, half of which are below $22,547 and 771 (37%) are less than $15,000. Next door in Allen/Oak/ North Street (Tract 4162) the median is $22,235 and 33 percent of the 1,312 (428) have incomes of less than $15,000 annually. These six Census Tracts (4171, 4159, 4166, 4160, 4161, and 4162) together constitute the contiguous core area of New Britain. Their median household incomes are well below the citywide figure of $30,121. Of the 8,532 households located in this concentrated district, 2,882 (34%) have annual incomes of less than $15,000. In fact 1,973 households (23.2%) have incomes of less than $10,000 per annum, circumstances that can only be considered as living in dire poverty. Three of the six (4159, 4166, 4162) have average annual per capita incomes of less than $9,750. When it is considered that the average household in New britain consists of 2.4 people, one is forced to conclude that a significant number of people are very poor indeed. Looked at this way, a significant portion of New Britain begins to resemble Hartford's median household income of $22,140 per annum. By contrast, the West End (Tract 4164) contains 1,316 households, half of which have an income of more $50,523. 195 (15%) have incomes of more than $100,000 annually. The six poorer neighborhoods mentioned above, containing over 8,500 households, have a combined total of only fifty-five households with incomes over $100,000 annually. The West End's average per capita income of $26,468 is roughly three times as large as that of the Broad Street neighborhood's $8,989. c. Race, Age, Gender Three significant elements characterize low income households in New Britain when compared to neighboring communities such as Burlington, Berlin, Bristol and Southington, where low income households are much more likely to be headed by persons older than sixty-five. Not only are the poorer households in New Britain much younger on average, but they much more typically belong to racial and ethnic minorities. Furthermore, the city's low income families are much more likely to be headed by females. Between 1980-90 the number of female headed families (no spouse present) increased by 42.2 percent. In fact, despite the expanding economy that supposedly characterized the eighties, the overall poverty rate increased from 8 percent to 13 percent of all New Britain families between 1980-90. Particularly hard hit by rising poverty rates were New Britain families headed by single women with children under eighteen years of age; over half the total. This figure rises to 60.9 percent when restricted to families with children under five years old. The youngest and most vulnerable members of the community were those most affected by poverty; about 25 percent of all children living in New Britain in 1990 were living in families with incomes below the poverty line. It should be pointed out for emphasis that the "official" government determined poverty line is not a particularly generous one. In 1989 the poverty line for a family of three was $9,885. This means, for example, that families of three with incomes between $10-$12,000 were not considered to be living in poverty. As referred to briefly above, poverty in New Britain is far more heavily concentrated among racial and ethnic minorities than it is among white families. The poverty rate among all families (black, white, Hispanic) in New Britain is 10.7 percent; more than twice the statewide percentage of 5 percent. When the presence of children under eighteen is factored in one sees that nearly one out of every five families in New Britain lives in poverty. Only 6.1 percent of all New Britain's white families live in poverty, but that figure rises to 12.6 percent when restricted to families with children under eighteen. If that white family in New Britain with children under eighteen is headed by a single female the figure shoots up radically to 40.3 percent. 15.4 percent of all white female headed families in the city live in poverty, and when one considers that 2,884 of New Britain's white families are headed by single women, one is speaking of a sizable group. By contrast 19.1 percent of all black families in New Britain live below the poverty line. The percentage rises to 21.1 if only families with children under eighteen are counted, and if these are headed by a single female the rate rises further to 31.5 percent. However, it is among New Britain's Hispanic families that the highest rates of poverty are seen. 39.1 percent of all New Britain's Hispanic families live in poverty; 47 percent of Hispanic families with children under eighteen are impoverished; and a stunningly high rate of 71.5 percent of all Hispanic families headed by single females with children under eighteen live in poverty. d. Summary Problems of poverty and low income in New Britain increased substantially between 1980-90 with the poverty rate growing by about 50 percent in that period despite what was claimed to be a time of economic growth and full employment. Rising rates of poverty applied to all races, ages and genders, but their effects were felt in sharply disparate ways. Poverty fell far more heavily on racial and ethnic minorities with Hispanics being far the most seriously effected. The burdens of poverty were also far more deeply felt by the very young and the female. This intersection of poverty, ethnicity, youth and gender had its most frightening cumulative effect on Hispanic children living in households headed by single females. V. LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT a. Employment, "Official" Unemployment and Lack of Work According to the 1990 US Census Report New Britain's civilian population 16 years of age and older (those neither in the military nor institutionalized) numbered 60,980; the age bracket used to calculate the civilian labor force. 36,681 were employed, 3,128 unemployed, and 21,171 were listed as being out of the labor force. These numbers allow the labor force participation rate to be calculated as 65.3 percent. (Note: Among the reasons for being "out of the labor force" are full-time school enrollment, retirement, being on welfare, deemed physically or mentally disabled, and no longer actively looking for work.) Despite an overall population increase, the total number of employed city residents actually declined by 0.2 percent (from 36,769) between 1980-90 . The number of those officially classified as unemployed rose a significant 57.4 percent (from 1,987). The "official" unemployment rate increased from 5.1 percent to 7.9 percent, markedly higher than the statewide rate of 5.4 percent, and much higher than any of its neighboring communities with the exception of Hartford where unemployment stood at 10.7 percent in 1990. However, the actual conditions would seem to be far worse than these numbers indicate. The official unemployment rate is a statistical artifact that measures the "unemployed" as a percentage of the total of those 16 years of age and older who are not considered "out of the labor force". It does not measure those on various forms of welfare who would enter employment were decent jobs available. More importantly, it does not measure those who have simply given up looking for work; the so-called "discouraged" worker. The "official" unemployment rate does not account for those physically disabled who would take jobs were work available, nor does it account for those who are unable to work due to drug or alcohol dependency. The "official" unemployment rate also does not account for the burgeoning prison population which, arguably, would be at least somewhat smaller if those who are now inmates been able to find adequate employment before resorting to illegal methods of earning income. Finally, it does not account for that proportion of the workforce counted as employed, but working part-time, since full-time employment was not available. As a counterbalance to what has been said above, neither do the official employment figures take into account all those who work in what has been labeled the "underground" economy; from services such as carpentry, electrical work, appliance repair and plumbing to illegal activities such as drugs. According to one knowledgeable expert on New Britain, the "underground" economy - both legal and illegal activities - is far larger than is often assumed. Ultimately, however, an underground economy is inherently unstable. For one thing, underground activities seldom produce commodities (goods) that expand the total amount of production. They are much more likely to take the form of services (carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, etc.) done for cash payment; or they take the form of trade (illegal drugs, for example) in which part of the total amount of consumption is simply redirected from legal items, say, clothes or food to drugs. Because of its very nature, so-called underground activity is subject to sudden fluctuations that make it difficult for a complex economy to be based on it. Finally, underground activity does not expand the tax base and, therefore, deprives the community as a whole of the wherewithal to pay for public goods such as schools, parks and streets. 1994 data provided by the Central Connecticut Workforce Develop-ment Project (based on information from the Connecticut State Department of Labor) show a picture strikingly different from that provided by official unemployment figures. Between 1990-94 the number of employed residents of New Britain declined from 36,681 to 33,102; a drop of 9.8 percent in four years. Hartford, by comparison, also suffered a a sharp decrease of 17,210 jobs in the early nineties. The number of officially unemployed in New Britain fell from 3,128 to 2,782 in the four years between 1990-94. Using the "official" method of calculation, this would indicate that there was a slight decline in the unemployment rate (from 7.9 to 7.8 percent) over the four year period. However, this fall gives slight cause for celebration. Given the decline in the absolute number of jobs, the overall figures would indicate that several thousand people simply disappeared from the labor force along with their jobs. Calculating the available 1994 data in a different way reveals a much grimmer picture. Adding up the monthly average of "official" unemployed (2,782), AFDC recipients (2,728), State Supplement cases (1,114) and those on General Assistance (1,666) one arrives at a total of 8,290; representing 23.4 percent of the labor force. It is the assumption that a significant number of these people would have entered employment were a sufficient number of decent jobs available. It should also be pointed out that the figure of 23.4 percent does not include those who have become discouraged and simply stopped looking for work, nor does it include any of those workers who did not work at least 40 weeks annually (23.2% in 1990), but who would have worked more weeks had work been available, nor does it include those who might have worked 50-52 weeks in a year but on a part-time basis, and would have taken full-time employment had they been offered it. Of all those employed in New Britain in 1989, irrespective of the number of weeks worked per annum, 22.9 percent worked fewer than 34 hours per week. b. Employment and Unemployment by Race, Ethnicity and Gender According to the 1990 Census 73.5 percent (2,298 out of 3,128) of the "official" unemployed were whites. However, the white male unemployment rate (7.4%) was more than a percentage point higher that the rate for white females (6.3%). The "official" unemploy-ment rate among blacks jumped from 9.6 percent to 11.6 percent between 1980 and 1990. As pointed out in the next section, black educational levels are at least as high, and sometimes higher than those of New Britain whites (only 66% of whites compared to 70% blacks over the age of twenty-five in 1990 have a high school diploma). Thus one might infer that racially discriminatory hiring practices may be a factor. There was no significant difference in unemployment rates for African American males (11.3%) and African American females (11.8%). It should be noted, however, that the "official" unemployment rate for black females was almost twice as high as that for white females. The unemployment rate for Hispanics leaped sharply to 16.7 percent in 1990, more than double the 7.9 percent only ten years earlier. When the rate of unemployment for Hispanics is broken down further on the basis of gender, we find the rate for males at 15.0 percent and that of females at 18.5 percent. Considering that over half the Hispanic households in New Britain are headed by single women with children one can see the potentially catastrophic consequences of such a high rate of unemployment. Two further points should be emphasized in this regard: first, the above figures are based on the 1990 Census and do not reflect the fact that New Britain has lost nearly 10 percent of its jobs since that enumera-tion was made, and, secondly, that these are "official" unemployment rates that fail to take into consideration many of the factors mentioned in the previous section. According to 1990 Census figures 62.8 percent of the female working age population of New Britain was employed during the previous year. (Note: This refers to all women who reported working during that year whether they worked only one week or fifty-two weeks, full-time or part-time. As mentioned above, it makes no distinction between those who worked less than full-time on a per week or a per annum basis, nor does it reveal the degree to which more hours/weeks would have been worked had more work been available.) In that same year 8,172 women with children under the age of 18. 61.4 percent (5,016) were employed, and another 9.7 percent were un-employed. A further 2,617 were listed as "out of the labor force"; representing 32.2 percent of all women with children under the age of 18. The available data do not reveal the degree to which these women would enter the labor force were jobs available. A further point might be made here with regard to the aggregate number of job losses. If this loss of jobs was a ccompanied by a commensurate loss of population, through out migration or any other factor, the rates of unemployment and underemployment would certainly be affected. c. Employment by Sector In 1958 New Britain was considered a major manufacturing center with over 24,000 industrial manufacturing jobs; about 60 percent of the total number of jobs in the city. An estimated three-quarters of them were unionized. In 1980 only 39.6 percent of New Britain residents were employed in the manufacturing sector. According to the 1990 Census this sector had further declined to 22.9 percent of the total; representing a loss of 6,154. However, manufacturing remained, if only barely, the largest sectoral employer. The 36,681 New Britain residents were employed in the following sectors in 1990: wholesale and retail trade increased to 22.0 percent (up from 17.3 percent in 1980); professional and related services, 21.2 percent (up from 18.4 percent in 1980); finance, insurance and real estate [FIRE], 10.5 percent; construction, 5.6 percent; transport-ation, communications and public utilities, 5 percent; bus and repair services, 4.8 percent; public admin-istration, 3.9 percent; and personal service and entertainment, 3.4 percent. The largest employer in New Britain in 1994 was New Britain General Hospital with 2,670 employees. The second, The Stanley Works with 1,800, was the largest manufacturing employer. The city's first, third, fourth, fifth and seventh largest employers are public institutions. Only one of the top ten is in manufacturing, six are in services, one in construction and two in wholesale or retail trade. Of the city's twenty-three largest employers only five are engaged in manufacturing and four of them are relatively small specialty companies ranging from 165 to 250 employees. All the employers mentioned above are located in New Britain. It should be noted, however, that not all of those they employ are residents of New Britain. The Workforce Development Project has emphasized that the higher the pay, skill and authority level of those employed by New Britain firms, the more likely they are to live outside the city. Conversely, the lower the pay, skill and authority level the more likely the employees are to be New Britain residents. For example, relatively highly paid physicians at New Britain General Hospital are more likely as a group to live outside the city than are the much lower paid housekeeping staff. It should be pointed out furthur that not all New Britain residents who are employed are employed in New Britain. In fact, 63.1 percent of the employed residents work outside the city. This represents a significant change over the 1980-90 decade. In 1980 only 48.8 percent of the city's workforce worked outside the city. Table 1
d. Summary The employment picture for New Britain appears to have deteriorated rather significantly over the last 35 years. New Britain has lost a significant number of jobs, many of them in the relatively high wage manufacturing sector. This loss has continued into the 1990s. As in the country as a whole, there has been a marked shift in the local economy from manufacturing employment to the service sector. Unemployment rates, as officially measured, are higher than the statewide average and what might be called "underemployment" has gotten even worse. As a whole, while median household income has risen, the number of workers per household needed to maintain that income level has also increased. Unemployment and underemployment have their most serious repercussions among members of minority communities and among women. Female members of minority groups are the most seriously affected. While there would appear to be a significant problem with an undertrained and undereducated population, the lack of available employment opportunities also affects those with high school diplomas and some college training. As the prominent Harvard sociologist, William Julius Wilson, has recently observed in his book, When Work Disappears, the lure of welfare is not what keeps people poor, but the fact that decent jobs have ceased to be available. Such a "disappearance of work" is what has happened in New Britain over the last three and a half decades. VI. EDUCATION a. School Age Population The population of New Britain between the ages of five and nineteen dropped sharply over the thirty year period between 1960-90. In 1960 there were 19,844 persons in this age cohort. Three decades later there were but 13,244; 6,600 or 33.3 percent fewer. However, the most significant decrease (28.1%) occurred between 1970-80 when the city's overall population fell by more than 10 percent. The decline in the school age population continued into the mid-eighties. The 1980-90 period showed signs of a bottoming out of the downward curve that would lead eventually to an increase in the city's school age population. During the eighties the children of the recent influx of Hispanic immigrants began working their way through the school system. New Britain's declining birth rate reached its nadir in 1977 when there were only 818 births. Total school enrollment from kindergarten through twelfth grade was at its lowest ebb in the 1984-85 school year, when there were only 7,774 school children enrolled in the public schools. Children born in 1977 began first grade in 1983-84, a school year which saw an overall first grade enrollment of only 590. However, that same year (1983) 1,041 children were born, reflected in an increase in the 1989-90 first grade enrollment of 971; up 64 percent in six years. The annual number of births in New Britain continued to increase throughout the rest of the decade, averaging 1,167 per annum. (Note: The figures used in this section are drawn from three sources; those of the Connecticut State Department of Education (1996), the New Britain City Planning Department's report entitled "Population" (1994), and tables provided by the Central Connecticut Workforce Development Project. The figures from the two latter sources are based on 1990 (and earlier) US Census data. These three sets of data differ slightly and are sometimes based on overlapping units of comparison.) Just as the lower birth rate of the seventies produced lower school enrollments through the first half of the eighties, an increase in the early eighties began to be reflected in higher enrollment figures for the latter half of the decade. From its low point in 1984-85 (7,077) total enrollment rose to 9,241 in the 1994-95 school year; an increase of nearly 31 percent in nine years. Projections for future enrollment show a continued gradual rise. b. School Enrollments by Race/Ethnicity Just as the school age population of New Britain has fluctuated over the last two decades, it has sharply changed its racial/ethnic makeup as well. In 1980 64.1 percent of the 7,774 students attending the city's public school were white, 21.8 percent were Hispanic, 13 percent were black and 1.1 percent Asian. By 1985, the low point of overall enrollment, whites had declined eleven percentage points to 53.1 percent. Hispanics (31.2%), blacks (14.1%) and Asians (1.6%) all increased their relative share, although the black and Asian increases were marginal. This trend has continued into the mid-nineties, the latest year for which statistics are available. By 1995 Asians had increased to slightly under 3 percent, blacks marginally to 15.5 percent and Hispanics became the largest racial/ethnic group with 46.1 percent. The white public school population had declined again to only 35.6 percent. Catholic schools in New Britain (1995) educate a further 1,594 students enrolled in first through twelfth grade (another 143 are in kindergarten): 1,248 in four elementary schools and 346 in two high schools. Of these 1,594 parochial school (grades 1-12) students approximately 1,400 are from New Britain and an estimated 80 percent are non-Hispanic white. (Note: Figures and estimates regarding parochial school students were provided by the School Department of the Archdiocese of Hartford.) Combining public and parochial school numbers (using the estimated figure of 1,400 New Britain residents), enrollment in Catholic schools would account for slightly more than 13 percent of the total. The latest year for which aggregate public-private school enrollments are given is the 1990 US Census. That year there were 10,477 New Britain residents enrolled in both public and private schools; 17 percent in private schools. This latter category would include both Catholic and non-Catholic private schools, as well as New Britain pupils attending private schools not located in New Britain. c. Level of Education and Dropout Rates In 1990 there were 59,553 residents of New Britain eighteen years of age and older, compared to 58,196 ten years earlier. A comparison with figures reported in the 1980 Census shows a marked improvement in the educational levels achieved. The percentage of those without high school diplomas declined significantly during that ten year period; from 39.2 percent in 1980 to 33 percent in 1990. In 1980 those with only a high school diploma represented 33 percent of the over 18 age group, while in 1990 it was 29.8 percent. The decline in this last figure is explained by the fact that more New Britain high school graduates were continuing on to college. Between 1980-90 those with 1-3 years of college increased from 15.7 percent to 21.5 percent. Those with four or more years of college increased from 11.4 percent to 15.8 percent. However, there was something of a disturbing trend when comparison groups were changed slightly from the entire population eighteen and over to the age cohort between 18-24. In this later group (a total of 12,366 for the city) 20.4 percent dropped out of school before receiving a high school diploma in 1980. By 1990 it had increased to 22 percent. d. Racial and Ethnic Breakdown The available figures do not give a racial/ethnic breakdown for the 18 and over group, nor for the 18-24 group. They are, however, broken into such categories for those 25 years old and over. This last group could well be the most important regarding long term trends as many in the 18-24 cohort might drop out of high school and/or college and then return at a later point. A high school dropout past his/her twenty-fifth birthday is far less likely to return to earn a diploma than 18-24 year old dropouts. In 1990 there were 42,895 (42,676 = 1980) white people in New Britain 25 years old or more. 34 percent of them (43.9% = 1980) had not received a high school diploma; 30.3 percent (32.1% = 1980) had only a high school diploma; 18.5 percent (11.5% = 1980) had some college and 17.2 percent (12.5% = 1980) had achieved a college degree. The African American population 25 years and older in 1990 was 3,080 (1,958 = 1980). According to the 1990 Census 30.2 percent (35.8% = 1980) had not completed twelve years of schooling. 33.5% in 1990 (42.2% = 1980) had received only a high school diploma, while 22.1 percent (12.8% = 1980) had completed from 1-3 years of college. In 1990 14.3 percent of blacks (9.2% = 1980) had completed a college degree. These figures indicate that the educational achievement of blacks in New Britain compares favorably and in some instances exceeds that of the white population. Whites, for example, have a higher high school dropout rate than blacks; 34 percent versus 30 percent. While 17.2 percent of whites have a college degree, compared to 14.3 percent of blacks, 22.1 percent of blacks have 1-3 years of college compared to only 18.5 percent of whites. It is among the Hispanic population in the twenty-five and over group that educational levels are the lowest. Of the 5,236 Hispanics in that age group in the 1990 Census (there were 2,700 in 1980; nearly double that of ten years earlier) 55.8 percent (67% in 1980) had not completed a twelve years of schooling. In fact, a startling 31.1 percent (48.3% in 1980) have completed fewer than nine years of school. 22.3 percent of the Hispanic population has only a high school diploma (12% = 1980), 13.8 percent (6.7% = 1980) have 1-3 years of college, while only 8.2 percent (6.7 = 1980) has completed a college degree. That this lack of educational achievement correlates strongly with income level and economic opportunity is shown by the fact that in neighboring Berlin 41.4 percent of the Hispanic population has not merely a bachelor's degree, but graduate or professional degrees; over four times the percentage of whites in Berlin. Other neighboring communities, while not as high as Berlin, show far greater Hispanic educational achievements than does New Britain. As the figures show, there were clear signs of improvement in the educational levels of the Hispanic community between 1980-90, but they are still dismally low when compared to other racial/ethnic sectors of the community. This disparity can be illustrated quite clearly by looking at the Hispanic enrollment at New Britain High School and comparing it with the Hispanic enrollment in the lower grades. In 1995 Hispanic students made up 46.1 percent of all students enrolled in the New Britain public school system. They represented over half the enrollments in elementary and middle schools in New Britain; 52.3 percent. Yet at New Britain High School this ratio drops sharply. Hispanics are only 36.1 percent of students in grades 10-12. This would indicate that a sizeable proportion of Hispanic youngsters are dropping out of school around the age of 15-16; before they begin the tenth grade. The implications for the future of such a high level of high school dropouts, particularly as it is concentrated in a specific ethnic group (more than half the Hispanic population over 25 years of age), would seem to be daunting. e. Higher Education A significant educational resource in New Britain is the presence of Central Connecticut State University. The University enrolls over 11,000 undergraduates, about 6,000 of whom are full time students. Bachelor's degrees are awarded in four areas: arts and sciences, business, education and professional studies, and technology. Nearly 2,500 students are enrolled in numerous complementary graduate programs that award Masters of Arts, Masters of Science and Masters of Business Administration degrees as well as Sixth Year Certificates. f. Summary The overall educational level of New Britain residents showed an improvement between 1980-90, and indications from more recent school enrollment figures would seem to indicate that this trend has continued into the nineties. More recent high school dropout rates are not presently available from the State Department of Education. However, if 1980-90 trend continues through the present decade they will again decline. However, there are some disturbing figures also. The fact that the dropout rate for those between ages 18-24 increased slightly from 1980-90 would seem to be a danger sign if it were to continue. Far more troubling, however, would have to be the radical differences in educational achievement existing between racial/ethnic groups. Although 35.2 percent of all New Britain residents 25 years of age and older have not completed high school compared to 41 percent overall in neighboring Hartford, such a figure is still alarmingly high. African Americans in New Britain have a lower percentage in this category (30.2%) than do whites. In Hartford the comparable figures are 34 percent for whites (same as New Britain) and 40 percent for blacks. It is among the Hispanic population of New Britain that dropout levels would appear to be bordering on the catastrophic; nearly 56% (in Hartford it is an even higher 60%). VII. HOUSING a. Overall Increase In 1990 New Britain contained a total of 32,335 housing units; a gross increase of 6,367 (24.5%) units over the thirty year period from 1960-90. Between 1980-90 the number of housing units increased by 2,573; 8.6 percent. New Britain's vacancy rate was 6.7 percent in 1990 (2,165 units); up from 4.1 percent in 1980. By comparison, during those same three decades, Hartford's total number of housing units declined from 57,653 to 56,098; a loss of 2.7 percent. Hartford's total housing units also increased between 1980-90, but only by 1.5 percent compared to New Britain's 8.6 percent for that decade. The vacancy rate in Hartford in 1990 was 8.3 percent, roughly the same as it had been ten years earlier. Based on these figures New Britain vacancy rates would seem to be, if only gradually, catching up to Hartford's. b. Disaggregated by Neighborhood General figures showing a marked thirty year upward trend in housing units are only appropriate to New Britain as a whole. Consequently, they disguise the fact that several neighborhoods and parts of others were completely devastated during the period in question. By looking at the twenty-one individual Census Tracts and their corresponding neighborhoods one can disaggregate the numbers that show an overall increase and bring into focus, instead of a broad general rise in housing units, a highly differentiated picture. For example, four of the neighborhoods/Census Tracts (the Central Business District, Walnut Hill, Broad Street, Chestnut Street: respectively Tracts 4171, 4158, 4159, 4153) lost housing units over the three decades in question. In some cases the losses were enormous. The CBD (4171) lost 42.3 percent of its housing units in thirty years. In 1960 8.2 percent of New Britain's housing units were in the Central Business District. By 1990 only 3.8 percent of them were located there. Such massive losses can be devastating to a downtown area. (Note: For the 1960, 1970 and 1980 Census the CBD was made up of two Census Tracts - 4151 and 4152. They were combined and labeled Tract 4171 in 1990. In 1960 Tracts 4151 and 4152 contained 1,270 and 860 housing units respectively, for a total of 2,130. In 1990 the combined Tract 4171 contained only 1,229 units. Housing units in the former Tract 4152 was virtually wiped out between 1960-80.) Over the same thirty year period Walnut Hill (Tract 4158) lost almost one third (31.9%) of its housing units and Broad Street (Tract 4159) declined by 17.6 percent. The Chestnut Street neighborhood (Tract 4153) declined marginally. Others, such as Vance (4157) and Allen/Oak/North Street increased only marginally. The South Main Street neighborhood (4155) increased by 11.7 percent, less than half as much as the city as a whole. The significant loss of housing units in several areas was due to urban renewal and the construction of multi-lane highways that converge in the city center, leaving a broad scar that severely damaged what were once organic neighborhoods. It should also be pointed out that two of the three neighborhoods that suffered the greatest loss in housing units (the Central Business District and Broad Street) are also two of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. According to several informants at least part of the explicitly stated reasons for routing the highway through those neighborhoods was that the affected areas contained large numbers of minority groups who, uprooted by construction, might move to Hartford and remove "unwanted" citizens. The neighborhoods with the greatest increase in housing units over the thirty year period were those located away from the city center at the periphery: Brittany (Census Tract 4174), North Stanley (4175), Belvedere (4172), College (4173), Corbin Heights (4167), Willow Brook (4156), the East End (4154). Each of these had an increase in housing units ranging from 51.6 percent (the East End) to 151.3 percent (North Stanley and Brittany). (Note: From the 1960 census through 1980 North Stanley and Brittany - Tracts 4174 and 4175 - were combined as Tract 4170; and College and Belvedere - Tracts 4172 and 4173 - were combined as Tract 4169.) Hillhurst, Fairview-Bronson and the West End also experienced marked increases, though they were less than 50 percent. This shift in housing availability away from the city center to the periphery created a situation in which the relatively poor, over-whelmingly Hispanic population was concentrated in the core while those with higher incomes lived at the city's borders. c. Racial/Ethnic Breakdown Of New Britain's 30,170 occupied housing units 80.8 percent are occupied by non-Hispanic whites, 6.0 percent by African Americans and 11.7 percent by Hispanics. These figures indicate that nearly 17 percent of the population (Hispanic) is concentrated in only 12 percent of the housing units, while roughly three-quarters of the population (non-Hispanic whites) occupy four-fifths of the available housing. Of the city's total amount of occupied housing units, 57 percent (17,165) are occupied by renters and 43 percent (13,005) is owner occupied. Of that owner occupied housing half (49.7%) is by non-Hispanic whites, 19.4 percent African American and only 12.7 percent Hispanic. The median value (value here refers to price) of New Britain's owner occupied housing is $138,800. Homeownership rates have increased for all three racial/ethnic categories, with the black increase the most substantial and the Hispanic increase the least. While rental housing exists throughout the city it tends to be located in the central neighborhoods which is, of course, where vacant rental housing is also most heavily concentrated. Owner occupied, single family housing is overwhelmingly concentrated in the city's southwestern, northwestern and northeastern quad-rants where zoning laws most severely restrict multiple family dwellings. According to the zoning map the city's southeastern quadrant - which includes all the low income neighborhoods clustered around the Central Business District - has no zoning restrictions on multiple family housing. d. Age of Housing Stock New Britain's overall housing stock is relatively old. Nearly half of it (49% = 15,851 units) was built before 1950 and only 10 percent (3,565 units) was built during the eighties. e. Rental Housing Of the city's 17,153 renter occupied units 32.4 percent cost between $300-500 per month and 44.1 percent between $500-750. Only 13.8 percent of rents are below $300 per month. Blacks, whites and Hispanics are spread rather evenly through all Census categories with regard to rent paid per month. For example, 13.5 percent of white, 15.8 percent of black and 13.4 percent of Hispanic renters pay $300 per month or less. 44.9 percent of whites, 42.9 percent of blacks and 38.6 percent of Hispanics pay between $500-750 per month. There is some disparity in the $300-500 per month category: 30.8 percent of blacks, 31.6 of whites and 41.9 percent of Hispanics are in this category. What cannot be determined from the Census numbers is the degree to which there is (or is not) a racial/ethnic difference in the relative quality of similarly priced rental housing to each group. Neither can it be determined from the available statistics the degree to which there is (or is not) a racial/ethnic difference in the ratio between rental costs and household income. The statistics do point out that 29.4 percent of New Britain renters as a whole (black, white, Hispanic) pay 35 percent or more of their household income for rent and another 7.7 percent pay between 30-34 percent. At the other end of the spectrum 36.4 percent of renters pay under 20 percent of their household income in rent. However, given the disparity in household incomes that tends to place ethnic/racial minorities in the lower income groups, along with the fact that the main racial/ethnic groups are more or less evenly spread across all categories of rent paid per month, one can infer that it is likely that racial/ethnic minorities use a higher percentage of their household income in the payment of housing costs than do whites. A more significant statistic, that would certainly have a much more burdensome impact on the poor, is the fact that between 1980-1990 the percentage of New Britain renters who paid more than 35 percent of their household income in rent increased by 32.8 percent. Those who pay between 25-34 percent increased by 64.5 percent. VIII. TRANSPORTATION a. Roads and Highways Located at virtually the geographic center of the state, New Britain benefits from access to a comprehensive highway system. Multi-lane State Routes 9 and 72 link the city to the east-west Interstate 84 and to north-south Interstates 91 and 95. New York City and Boston are two hours distant (113 miles) by road. Springfield and Western Massachusetts is about an hour away and Providence, Rhode Island less than an hour and a half. The capital city of Hartford is a mere twelve miles distant. The pattern of New Britain's primary traffic arteries, as well as many other streets, was determined in the early nineteenth century by the more or less haphazard development of the transportation needs typical of a rather isolated agricultural village. In 1993 there were 200-plus miles of streets that were maintained by the City. The main arterials that direct traffic through the city and to and from neighboring towns, including Hartford, were already in place several decades prior to the Civil War. Within the city an extensive system of collectors channels traffic from neighborhood streets, to shopping areas, places of work, to the major arterials and onto the major intercity highways. b. Commuting to Work The extensive road and highway system facilitates lengthy commuting by automobile and allows local businesses to have access to a widespread labor market throughout Central Connecticut. It also facilitates the movement of New Britain residents to jobs that lie outside the city. According to the 1990 Census only 36.9 percent of the local population actually works in New Britain. Nearly two-thirds (63.1%) have found employ-ment elsewhere. This represents a 28.7 percent increase over 1980 when only 48.8 percent of New Britain residents worked outside the city. Whereas in 1980 two-thirds of New Britain workers (66.2%) drove alone to their place of work, by 1990 this had increased to more than three-quarters (76.1%). In 1980 one-fifth (20.2%) participated in a car pool, this mode of transportation to work had declined to 14.2 percent by 1990. Thus, 90.3 percent of all workers get to their jobs via an automobile. The use of public transportation, already insignificant by 1980 (4.0%), fell another percentage point to 3 percent of all workers by 1990. What was once a common occupance in a relatively compact city like New Britain with large numbers of industrial firms with the town - walking to work - had fallen from 8.0 percent of the working population in 1980 to just 4.7 percent by 1990. Indicative of the fact that finding a job takes the New Britain worker farther and farther afield are the figures showing relative commuting time: in 1990 16.9 percent could get to their job in less than ten minutes; another 65.1 percent took between ten and twenty-nine minutes; 15.8 percent from thirty minutes to an hour; and for 2.2 percent the one-way daily commute lasts more than an hour. c. Public Transportation Through the first half of the twentieth century New Britain residents had access to an extensive system of public transportation. As late as the 1950s there was hourly commuter train service to Hartford and similar service to other neighboring communities. There was also an extensive and constant trolley system that carried passengers throughout the city and served neighboring areas such as Hartford as well. In the days when New Britain was home to a large number of factories with a large industrial work force, workers either walked or took the trolley from their working class neighborhoods to their jobs. This had largely changed by the end of the fifties. Industries associated with automobile production (autos, rubber, steel, petroleum, etc.), in concert with the federal government, promoted and effectively subsidized the increased use of cars for everyday types of travel: to and from work, to go shopping, etc. Not only was the automobile more convenient, with the demise of public transportation (for which government support was withdrawn), the car became an absolute necessity. This dependence on the automobile was exacerbated by the change in housing patterns from the relatively compact confines of the city to the suburbs. The development of strip malls in the fifties, only reachable by car, spelled the knell for central city shopping districts. Presently, there are eleven bus routes serving New Britain with their hub located in the downtown area. Neighboring communities are served only sporadically. Service is restricted to the daytime hours so those working the second and third shifts have no access to public transportation for getting to and from work. d. Intercity Rail and Bus Service Passenger service by intercity bus lines is extremely limited. Amtrak rail service going north to Boston and south to New Haven and New York is available from neighboring Berlin, five miles from New Britain. However, this service is also sporadic. City officials have indicated they hope to get passenger rail service restored to New Britain in the future. The city does have access to freight rail service through the Boston and Maine Railroad. e. Air Transportation Passenger and freight air service is readily available, particularly from Bradley International Airport, located north of Hartford, but easily accessible by freeway (27 miles) from New Britain. Boston, Providence, and the two New York City airports are about two hours away. Corporate and charter service is easily accessible from two smaller local airports: Brainard Airport, 12 miles away, and Robertson Airport, only seven miles from New Britain. f. Summary New Britain is at the center of a modern and highly developed transportation system. Like the rest of America, its dependence upon the automobile for personal transportation is virtually total. Not only is the automobile socially and economically necessary, it is has become an essential part of the culture, making any diminution of its centrality problematic. It has been only recently that people have become somewhat conscious of the social costs that such a dependence on auto transportation entails: the high costs of road construction and maintenance, enormous parking problems, traffic jams, polluted air and its attendant health costs, not to mention the vulnerability that comes with the need for imported petroleum products. Several New Britain officials have pointed to the fact that an extensive system of rails still exists, though extremely underutilized, that could make possible a revitalization of rail travel for commuting purposes. IX. LAND USE New Britain is a rather compact, highly urbanized area consisting of 13.3 square miles with a population density in 1990 of 5,676 persons per square mile. The potentially very attractive historic downtown district has deteriorated in recent years and is one of the city's poorer neighborhoods. Many retail businesses formerly located there have closed over the past two decades and the area is dotted with vacant storefronts. The downtown area is also scarred by the two multi-lane superhighways which intersect at the City's core. Admittedly, the neighborhoods through which the highways were built were already in various stages of decline. However, their construction destroyed much of the pre-existing neighborhood cohesiveness that did exist and significantly inhibited any alternative plans for the re-development of these areas. New Britain has three areas that have been designated National Historic Districts: the City Hall and Monument area downtown, Walnut Hills Park, and the entire Walnut Hills neighborhood. Another 560 properties have been identified as having architectural and historical significance and recommendations have been made that they be placed on the list of historic areas. New Britain, in this sense, has escaped the virtually complete devastation of its older areas that has been experienced by neighboring Hartford The downtown area is part of a larger Enterprise Zone that includes most of the poorer Census Tracts located in the core of the city. The Enterprise Zone program, begun in 1982 as a cooperative venture between the City and the State, encourages economic development through tax abatement, opportunities for special financing, job training programs and grants to encourage job creation. The boundaries of the Enterprise Zone tend to follow lines demarcated by the highway and the railroad and are available for both commercial and industrial enterprises. Exact figures are not available, but the City Planning Department indicates that approximately 35 percent of the land area has been zoned for residential use, much of it for single families. 34.3 percent of all residential housing in the city is single family (SEE MAP). Although blocs of land zoned for commercial and/or office use are located throughout the city by far the largest portion - over half the total - is located in or adjacent to the Central Business District. With the exception of a large area on the southeast border with Newington, zoned as an industrial park, the areas allocated for industrial use are wide corridors that follow the paths of the superhighway and the railroad. From the city center these corridors stretch directly westward toward Plainville, directly south toward Berlin, and in a northeasterly direction toward Hartford. Approximately 10 percent of the land, according to the Planning Department, is zoned for industrial or commercial use. Nearly 30 percent of the City's total area is occupied by tax exempt institutions of one sort or another: parks, schools, colleges, cemeteries, hospitals, city or state land, etc. Another 18 percent is devoted to the more than 200 miles of City maintained streets and roads. There is very little land in the city classified as vacant; the City Planning Department estimates it at between 7-10 percent of the total (see map). Of the thirty-one parcels of vacant land listed by the city in 1994 only thirteen are not zoned for residential use. Of the thirteen available for non-residential use, only two are more than 480,000 square feet. As mentioned above vacant commercial buildings have proliferated in the downtown area over recent years. Several city officials, as well as other knowledgeable observers, see little likelihood in the near term of these vacant stores being occupied. Housing vacancies are also concentrated in the various neighbor-hoods that make up the contiguous core of the city. The city wide vacancy rate in 1990 was 7.5 percent (for purposes of comparison, only slightly below Hartford). The largest number of vacant housing units, according to the 1990 Census, was located in the LaSalle/Dublin Hill area, followed closely by its adjacent neighborhoods. X. SUMMARY During the nineteenth century New Britain was transformed from an agricultural community into one of America's premier industrial centers. Its most explosive growth took place during the fifty-year period spanning the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the first quarter of the twentieth. It was also during this time that the city's demographic composition and, accordingly, its self-identity was established: a largely working class, Catholic, central and southern European majority superimposed on the original Anglo-Saxon Protestant population. New Britain continued to have periods of sharp growth (World War II and the consumer driven early fifties, the Vietnam War) but they were punctuated by periods of contraction and stagnation. While the city's decline has hardly been as precipitous and wrenching as many other older mid-sized industrial cities in America, the past two decades have witnessed a gradual, but definitive deterioration. There has been a significant change in the city's ethnic makeup that began in the sixties with large numbers of Hispanic immigrants, primarily from Puerto Rico. The white population, while still three-quarters of the total, has been getting older and the black and Hispanic minorities are both younger and growing more rapidly. From virtually zero thirty-five years ago the Hispanic proportion of the population has grown close to 20 percent. As elsewhere in the country, there has been a marked increase in the number of households headed by single women. If immediate social acceptance may have been withheld, earlier waves of working class immigrants with limited formal education were absorbed into the local economy through factory jobs that were generally plentiful. This has not been the case over the last two decades as economic changes have seen the sharp decline in New Britain's industrial base. The city has not so much lost its jobs to cheaper wages overseas, although this has been something of as factor, as it has lost them to machines, mergers and economic restructuring. The disappearance of good, unionized factory jobs has allowed the formation of a significant pocket of poverty in New Britain. Poverty has fallen most heavily on the Hispanic immigrant population where median household and average per capita incomes are well below the averages for the white population. However, the majority of white families have also found that several of its members must enter wage employment in order to maintain a standard of living that forty years ago could be afforded by having only one family member at work. In comparison to the city of Hartford, however, New Britain's income levels still compare very favorably. In 1994 there were only three employers in New Britain with a workforce larger than 1,000 and one of them was the City of New Britain itself. Employers who are looking for workers have complained at the lack of skills of their prospective employees. This had led to some fingerpointing at the newer immigrants, but it should be pointed out that statistics show the educational levels of the Hispanic community are not significantly different from those of the white working class population four decades earlier. Even today, over one-third of the white population over the age of twenty-five has not achieved a high school diploma. Were a sufficient number of good jobs available, even those requiring higher levels of educational and technical proficiency, there is no reason to believe that the community as a whole, including its minority population, would not respond to such an incentive. New Britain's educational system would certainly seem poised to engage in such an educational task. The existence of a state supported university located in the city must certainly be regarded as a significant educational plus. Although the city's housing stock is older, with half of it built before 1950, the city benefits from a number of stable, working class communities. Housing in the city's central neighborhoods has deteriorated in both quantity and quality as a result of urban renewal, highway construction and poverty. In terms of transportation New Britain is at the center of a highly developed urban complex that can only be viewed as an advantage, although its overdependence on road traffic might be criticized from the point of view of quality of life. In general New Britain is going through the same difficult changes that have affected many other similarly situated cities in America. Compared to many other places that are in far worse shape as a result of restructuring, it has weathered the changes rather well. New Britain has few problems that would not be solved by an infusion of new investment bringing with it good jobs at good wages. As a whole, the city seems well positioned to take advantage of this were it to occur.
SOURCES
Center for Labor Market Studies, Northeastern University, various tables and graphs based on data taken from the United States Census Report, 1990. Analysis of Income and Poverty Data prepared by George Brusznicki, Central Connecticut Workforce Development Project. Downtown New Britain Landmark Center Development Strategy and Plan, December 1994. Bristol/New Britain Regional Employer Survey, 1996. Central Connecticut Regional Strategic Economic Development Plan, 1995 Hartford State of the City, 1995. New Britain Growing Strong, New Britain Municipal Economic Development Agency. Population, New Britain Plan of Development (1994), New Britain City Planning Department. Distribution Analysis of New Britain Labor Force (1994), Central Connecticut Workforce Development Project. New Britain Consolidated Plan, July 1996.
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