Ridgewood, New Jersey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ridgewood is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the village population was 24,936.
Of 566 municipalities statewide, Ridgewood is only one of four villages in New Jersey, joining Loch Arbour, Ridgefield Park and South Orange.
The Village of Ridgewood was created on November 20, 1894, and superseded what had been Ridgewood Township. In 1902, the village added portions of Orvil Township, which were returned to Orvil Township in 1915. In 1925, Ridgewood Village acquired area from Franklin Township (now Wyckoff). On February 9, 1971, Ridgewood Village acquired area from Washington Township. On May 28, 1974. it acquired area from Ho-Ho-Kus.[1]
Johannes Van Emburgh built the first home in Ridgewood in 1700.
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[edit] Geography
Ridgewood is located at (40.983997, -74.114386)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 15.1 km² (5.8 mi²). 15.0 km² (5.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.86%) is water.
Ridgewood is adjacent to eight municipalities, seven in Bergen County — Paramus, Washington Township, Ho-Ho-Kus, Waldwick, Midland Park, Wyckoff and Glen Rock — and Hawthorne in Passaic County.
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 24,936 people, 8,603 households, and 6,779 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,662.8/km² (4,308.9/mi²). There were 8,802 housing units at an average density of 587.0/km² (1,521.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 87.82% White, 1.64% African American, 0.04% Native American, 8.67% Asian, 0.59% from other races, and 1.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.78% of the population.
There were 8,603 households out of which 44.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.4% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.2% were non-families. 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.87 and the average family size was 3.30.
In the village, the population was spread out with 30.0% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 27.5% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.5 males.
The median income for a household in the village was $104,286, and the median income for a family was $121,848. Males had a median income of $90,422 versus $50,248 for females. The per capita income for the village was $51,658. About 1.8% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
[edit] Local government
In 1970, Ridgewood recognized the need to professionalize municipal management and adopted the more modern Council-Manager plan under the Faulkner Act. Under this form, the public elects five Council Members who act as a Board of Directors. Their principal responsibility is to hire and oversee a professional Village Manager who has full executive power for all departments.
The Village Council is the governing body of the Village of Ridgewood. There are five Council members who are elected at large, on a non-partisan basis. The Municipal Election for Village Council takes place on the second Tuesday in May, in even numbered years. The term of a Council member is four years. The Mayor is chosen by the Village Council every two years, after a Municipal Election. The Reorganization meeting, which is when the new Council members take office, is held on July 1st, and is when the Council selects a mayor and deputy mayor from among its members. The Mayor presides over Council meetings, but has no executive authority.
The Village Council appoints a Village Manager to oversee the day to day operations of the Village, to handle personnel, citizen inquiries and complaints, and to handle the administrative duties of the Village. The Village Council passes local laws, makes appointments to various Boards and Committees, and awards various contracts for purchases of goods and services used by the Village. They also review, amend, and adopt the annual budget for the Village prepared by the Village Manager and Chief Financial Officer.
Members of the Ridgewood Village Council are Mayor David T. Pfund, Deputy Mayor Betty G. Wiest, Jacques Harlow, Patrick A. Mancuso and Kim Ringler Shagin.[2]
[edit] Federal, state and county representation
Ridgewood is in the Fifth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 40th Legislative District.[3]
New Jersey's Fifth Congressional District, covering the northern portions of Bergen County, Passaic County and Sussex County and all of Warren County, is represented by Scott Garrett (R, Wantage Township). New Jersey is represented in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Robert Menendez (D, Hoboken).
The 40th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Henry McNamara (R, Wyckoff) and in the Assembly by Kevin J. O'Toole (R, Wayne) and David C. Russo (R, Midland Park). The Governor of New Jersey is Jon Corzine (D, Hoboken).
Bergen County's County Executive is Dennis McNerney (D). The executive, along with the Board of Chosen Freeholders administer all county business. Bergen County's Freeholders are Chairwoman Bernadette P. McPherson (D, Rutherford), Vice-Chairman David L. Ganz (D, Fair Lawn), Elizabeth Calabrese (D, Wallington), James M. Carroll (D, Demarest), Tomas J. Padilla (D, Park Ridge), Elizabeth Randall (R), Westwood) and Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D, Englewood).
Other countywide elected officials are Sheriff Leo McGuire (D), Surrogate Court Judge Mike Dressler (D, Cresskill) County Clerk Kathleen Donovan (R).
[edit] Politics
As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 24,916 in Ridgewood, there were 15,616 registered voters (62.7% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 2,606 (16.7% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 3,584 (23.0% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 9,422 (60.3% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There were four voters registered to other parties.[4]
On the national level, Ridgewood leans slightly toward the Democratic Party. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 51% of the vote here, defeating Republican George W. Bush, who received around 48%.[5]
[edit] Education
The Ridgewood Public Schools consist of nine public schools and two more additional school facility's, which houses a BOE-run pre-school program and a private day care center:
Pre-School
- Glen School (Pre-School and Private Day Care Center)
- Green Twig Pre-School and Day-Care
Elementary Schools (Grades K-5)
- Henrietta Hawes Elementary School
- Ira W. Travell Elementary School
- Irwin B. Somerville Elementary School
- Ridge Elementary School
- Orchard Elementary School
- Willard Elementary School
Middle Schools (Grades 6-8)
High School
- Ridgewood High School (Grades 9-12). Ridgewood High School athletic teams are nicknamed the Ridgewood Maroons.
According to the New Jersey Department of Education, Ridgewood is a socioeconomic J district.
The Holmstead School is a private school that serves students between the ages of 13 and 18 possess high intellectual potential who have been unable to achieve successfully in traditional school settings.
[edit] Notable residents
- Johnny Damon, Major League Baseball Center fielder for the New York Yankees
- Anne Donovan, Three-time basketball All-America at Old Dominion University and three-time Olympic team member. Ranked #8 on the Sports Illustrated list of The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures.[6]
- Jeff Feagles, Punter for the National Football League New York Giants[7]
- Jay Feely Kicker for the National Football League New York Giants
- Varian Fry, American journalist who helped save many, most notably the French artist Marc Chagall, from persecution and deportation in Vichy France.[8]
- Daniel Henninger, The Wall Street Journal Columnist
- Robert Sean Leonard, actor on House grew up in Ridgewood, and attended Ridgewood High School.
- David Madden, 19-time Jeopardy! champion.[9]
- Major Thomas B. McGuire, Jr., the second leading air ace in World War II, was killed in action on January 7, 1945. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. McGuire Air Force Base is named in his memory.
- Buddy Nielsen, singer of the rock band Senses Fail grew up in Ridgewood and went to Ridgewood High School.
- Chris Simms, National Football League Quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Frankie Muniz, an American actor
[edit] References
- ^ Dutch Door Genealogy - Bergen County New Jersey Municipalities, accessed March 14, 2006
- ^ Ridgewood Village Council, accessed September 10, 2006
- ^ League of Women Voters: 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, p. 63, accessed August 30, 2006
- ^ "County of Bergen: Voter Statistics by Municipality, Ward & District," dated April 1, 2006
- ^ 2004 Presidential Election results: Bergen County New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety: Division of Elections, dated December 13, 2004
- ^ The 50 Greatest New Jersey Sports Figures, Sports Illustrated, December 27, 1999
- ^ Homesick Punter Rejoins Giants, The New York Times, August 23, 2006
- ^ VARIAN FRY: the artists’ Schindler, Jewish Standard, June 8, 2006
- ^ Madden '03 wins big on 'Jeopardy', The Daily Princetonian, September 20, 2005
[edit] External links
- Ridgewood official website
- Ridgewood Public Schools official website
- Ridgewood Public Schools's 2004-2005 School Report Card from the New Jersey Department of Education
- National Center for Education Statistics data for the Ridgewood Public Schools
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
