Holmdel Township, New Jersey
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Holmdel Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the township population was 15,781.
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[edit] History
In 1964, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson of Bell Labs discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation while working on the Horn Antenna in this town. The earliest work on radio astronomy was conducted by Bell Labs engineer Karl Guthe Jansky in 1931, also in this town.
The PNC Bank Arts Center (formerly the Garden State Arts Center), a popular outdoor amphitheatre concert venue that opened in 1968, is located in Holmdel. Adjacent to it is the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial, which opened in 1995.
VoIP provider Vonage Holdings, Inc., moved its world headquarters from Edison, New Jersey, to Holmdel in November of 2005, occupying the building that formerly housed Prudential Property Casualty & Insurance.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 46.9 km² (18.1 mi²). 46.5 km² (18.0 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water.
Crawford Hill (40 23' 28" N, 74 11'07" W) is Monmouth County's highest point, standing at least 380 feet (116 m) above sea level. The top portion of the hill is owned by Lucent Technologies and houses a research laboratory of Bell Laboratories.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 15,781 people, 4,948 households, and 4,328 families residing in the township. The population density was 339.1/km² (878.4/mi²). There were 5,137 housing units at an average density of 110.4/km² (285.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the township was 80.20% White, 0.65% African American, 0.03% Native American, 17.45% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.52% from other races, and 1.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.45% of the population.
As of the 2000 census, 9.97% of Holmdel Township's residents identified themselves as being of Chinese ancestry. This was the highest percentage of people with Chinese ancestry in any place in New Jersey with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry[1].
There were 4,947 households out of which 47.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 79.1% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 12.5% were non-families. 11.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.09 and the average family size was 3.35.
In the township the population was spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 29.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $112,879, and the median income for a family was $122,785. Males had a median income of $94,825 versus $54,625 for females. The per capita income for the township was $47,898. About 2.7% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
Holmdel operates under the Township form of municipal government. The Township Committee, which is the Governing Body, consists of five members elected at large for 3-year staggered terms. The Township Committee at its annual reorganization meeting selects one of its own to serve as Mayor.
The Township Committee exercises control over the conduct of municipal business by means of legislation through ordinances or resolutions, approval and adoption of the annual budget and the formulation of policy to be carried out by the staff.
Members of the Holmdel Township Council are Mayor Serena DiMaso, Deputy Mayor Rocco Pascucci, Alan Bateman, Larry Fink and Terence M. Wall.[2]
[edit] Local issues
The public schools in Holmdel have a reputation for excellence within the State of New Jersey (and in the wider New York metropolitan area) and act as a magnet for immigrants into the town. The township has a large debt load assocatiated with municipal bonds approved by the electorate of the township for the purposes of funding the school. Such bond issuance is a common and controversial topic in local elections as there is a systematic bias of residents who intend to leave after their children graduate from the high school to approve bonds to fund the school now, leaving a legacy of debt for long term residents to service through their high property taxes.
[edit] Federal, state and county representation
Homdel Township is in the Twelfth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 13th Legislative District.[3]
New Jersey's Twelfth Congressional District, covering all of Hunterdon County and portions of Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Morris County, and Somerset County, is represented by Rush D. Holt Jr. (D). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Robert Menendez (D, Hoboken).
The 13th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Joseph M. Kyrillos (R, Middletown Township) and in the Assembly by Amy Handlin (R, Middletown Township) and Samuel D. Thompson (R, Old Bridge Township). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).
Monmouth County is governed by a five-member Board of Chosen Freeholders. Monmouth County's Freeholders are Freeholder Director William C. Barham, Freeholder Deputy Director Robert D. Clifton, Lillian G. Burry, Anna C. Little and Theodore J. Narozanick.
[edit] Education
The Holmdel Township Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district are Village Elementary School (K-3), Indian Hill School (4-6), William R. Satz School (7&8) and Holmdel High School for grades 9-12.
Holmdel High School was the 19th-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools[4] and was ranked as Number 426 in Newsweek magazine's listing of "America's Best High Schools" in the August 5, 2005, issue[5].
In 1989 Holmdel High School became the center of a scandal due to a homoerotic hazing incident at a football camp that was reported in the press and received considerable notoriety.
[edit] Points of interest
- Holmdel Arboretum
- Holmdel Park
- PNC Bank Arts Center
[edit] References
- ^ Chinese Communities, accessed August 23, 2006
- ^ Your 2006 Township Committee, accessed July 17, 2006
- ^ League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 58, accessed August 30, 2006
- ^ Top Public High Schools in New Jersey, New Jersey Monthly, September 2006
- ^ "America's Best High Schools", Newsweek, August 5, 2005
[edit] External links
- Holmdel Township's official website
- Holmdel Township Public Schools
- Holmdel Township Public Schools's 2004-2005 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- National Center for Education Statistics data for the Holmdel Township Public Schools
- Holmdel Police Department
