Wilton

Wilton is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 18,503. Wilton is home to many global corporations such as ASML, Breitling SA, Cannondale Bicycle Corporation, Melissa & Doug, and formerly Deloitte. It is also home to AIG Financial Products, whose collapse played a pivotal role in the financial crisis of 2007-2008. In 2017, it was the sixth-wealthiest town per capita in Connecticut, the wealthiest U.S. state per capita. The first written records of the areas that are now Wilton date back to 1640, when Roger Ludlow and his friends purchased land from the Indians between the Norwalk and Saugatuck Rivers and "a day's walk into the country" This land was called Norwalk. In 1725 there were forty families living in Wilton who wanted their own Congregational church and were allowed by Norwalk to hire a minister (Robert Sturgeon, who also became the town's first schoolmaster), open schools and build roads. By 1738 the meetinghouse had become too small, and a second house was built on the corner of Sharp Hill Road. Less than sixty years later, this second house had fallen into disrepair and a third church was built in such disrepair that it still stands as the oldest church building infairfield County. During the Revolutionary War, more than 300 men from Wilton served in some units in some British forces.

History

The first written records of the areas that are now Wilton date back to 1640, when Roger Ludlow and his friends purchased land from the Indians between the Norwalk and Saugatuck Rivers. The first settlers, called the Proprietors, arrived in Norwalk in 1651 and owned 50,000 acres (200 km²) in common. By 1725 there were forty families living in Wilton who wanted their own Congregational church and were allowed by Norwalk to hire a minister. In 1802, despite Norwalk's objections, the people of Wilton sought and were granted separate Town government by an act of the Connecticut General Assembly. In the 19th century, education became the responsibility of the school societies in nine school districts in the area. Wilton's population grew slowly from 1,728 in 1810 to 2,208 in 1860, Most families began to compete by railroads with Wilton. During the Revolutionary War, more than 300 men from Wilton served in some military unit. In 1777, British forces passed through Wilton after raiding nearby Danbury. Several homes were burned along Ridgefield, Belden, Danbury, and Dudley roads, but the town remained intact. About 52 Revolutionary veteran graves are still identifiable inWilton cemeteries. The town chose traditional New England Townmen form of government, which has been in use to this day. It is located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, near the town of Stamford.

Geography

Wilton has about 500 surviving 18th- and 19th-century homes. The town center contains several local restaurants, boutiques, retail stores, including a Starbucks, and a Stop & Shop. South Norwalk Electric and Water (SNEW) has a reservoir on the western side of town with about 350 acres (1.4 km²) of land, along with another 25 acres (100,000 m2) adjacent in New Canaan. In the fall, hunters with bows and arrowsno more than 10 at a timeare allowed to hunt deer on the Wilton property, in order to keep down the number of deer in the area. Between 1999 and 2005, the town's voters endorsed spending $23 million through municipal bonds to preserve land.Recent nature access developments in town include the expansion of the Norwalk River Valley Trail, a multi-use trail designed to run between Norwalk and Danbury. Wilton is bordered by Ridgefield to the northwest, Norwalk to the south, New Canaan to the southwest, Westport to the southeast, and Weston and Redding to the northeast. It is also bordered on the west by the hamlet of Vista in Lewisboro, Westchester County, New York. The southwest corner of town includes part of the Silvermine neighborhood (which also extends into New Canaan and Norwalk). Georgetown, which is primarily within the town but also extending into Redding and partly into Weston, is in the northeast corner ofTown. Other neighborhoods in town are South Wilton, Wilton Center, Gilbert Corners, Cannondale, and North Wilton.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 17,633 people, 5,923 households, and 4,874 families residing in Wilton. The population density was 654.3 people per square mile (252.6/km²) The racial makeup of the town was 95.55% White, 0.60% African American, 2.09% Native American, and 0.69% Asian. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.53% of the population. The median income for a household in the town is $197,428, and the median incomes for a family is $217,415. The per capita income for the town of Wilton is $65,806. About 1.3% of families and 2.9% of people were below the poverty line. The town's population is 31.5% under the age of 18, and 25.6% from 25 to 44. The age distribution is 31 to 44, 27.9 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.91 and the average family size is 3.25. The city's population has a median age of 40 years, and its population density is 654 people per sq mile (252.6 per km²) For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 86.2 males. The town has a population density of 654 person per sq km.

Arts and culture

Wilton Rocks for Food is an annual concert by Wilton-based musicians who send all the proceeds to the Wilton Food Pantry and the Connecticut Food bank. The town's annual Street Fair & Sidewalk Sale is an outdoor sales event in the town center that occurs in the summer. The Wilton Historical Society holds an outdoor farmers' market on Wednesdays from June through October. The Town of Wilton is home to a number of historic buildings, including a National Register of Historic Places site and a National Park Service site. It is also the site of the town's first public school, which was built in 1854. It was named after a local town, Wilton, Connecticut, where the town was founded in 1852. It has been home to the town since 1854, when it was first incorporated. It also has been the location of several other public schools, including Wilton High School and Wilton Middle School, which were built in the early 20th century. In the 1930s and 1940s, the town also had its first public library, which is located in Wilton. It opened in 1855. It closed in the 1950s, when the town moved to a new location, the Town of Wethersfield. It reopened in the 1960s, and has been there ever since. It's located on the banks of the Connecticut River, which runs through the center of the city. The city is also home to several other historic sites, such as the town hall, the library, and the library.

Parks and recreation

The Wilton Parks and Recreation Department offers a number of programs for all ages. There are also many walking paths including part of the Norwalk River Valley Trail. Merwin Meadows is a picnic area for families with a pond, playground and athletic field. The Wilton Public Library has a children's library with a computer lab. The library also has a lending library with computers, iPads and iPods. It is located on the second floor of the Wilton Civic Center. The public library is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for holidays. It has a library that is open to the public on the third and fourth floors of the Civic Center, as well as the second and third floors of a senior center. It also offers a library of its own, with computers and a library library for the elderly and disabled.

Government and politics

In 2008, Wilton voted for Barack Obama, the first Democratic candidate for U.S. President to carry the town since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. The town flipped back in 2012, voting for Mitt Romney, a former governor of neighboring Massachusetts. In 2016, voters in Wilton delivered a 22-point margin of victory to Hillary Clinton. In 2019, Republicans won the majority of local offices. Wilton is a part of the 26th District of the Connecticut Senate. Parts of Wilton are encompassed by the 125th District in the Connecticut House of Representatives. The First Selectwoman is Lynne Vanderslice, a Republican serving her second four-year term. Her term expires on November 30, 2023. She is currently represented by Stephanie Thomas, who is currently in her second term as first selectwoman. In 2020, the town gave a 33- point margin to Joe Biden, who won by the same margin in 2012 and 2008. The Town is also apart of the 143rd District, which is represented by Tom O'Dea, who was elected to the House in 2012. The Mayor of the Town is Michael O'Leary, who has been in office since 2007. He is currently serving his second term in office, and his term expires in 2023, when his current term expires. The mayor is currently representing the town in the state Senate, where he was elected in 2008. He was re-elected in 2012 by a landslide, winning by a margin of more than 20 points.

Education

A total of about 4,150 students attend the town's four public schools. The elementary schools have class sizes typically ranging from 18 to 22 and a 19-to-1 student/teacher ratio. The high school has accelerated classes for gifted students, music and visual arts courses, and a resource center. The language laboratory teaches six languages: French, German, Spanish, Latin, classical Greek, and American Sign Language. There are four private schools in the town: Our Lady of Fatima, a Catholic school, preschool through eighth grade, Seven Acres Montessori School, and Goddard School, a preschool through 8th grade. The town's public schools are: Miller-Driscoll School (Grades Pre-K2) and Cider Mill School (35); Middlebrook School (68); and Wilton High School, which has a high school class of 68. The private schools:Connecticut Friends School (Pre-K-8) and Our Lady Of Fatima School (Preschool-8th grade), a Quaker preschool, and the Goddard School (Preschool-Eighth grade) There are no public schools in town. The public schools have a class size of 20 to 25 with a student/Teacher ratio of 13 to 1. They have interdisciplinary instruction teams in languages and science, mathematics, social studies, computers, art, and gifted student instruction. They also have a language laboratory that teaches French,German, Spanish and Latin. The school's private schools include: The Goddard School and The Friends School.

Infrastructure

The town's main north-south roadways are U.S. Route 7 and Route 33. State highways Route 53 and Route 106 also run through the town. The town has two railroad stations: Wilton near the town center and Cannondale. Metro-North Railroad's Danbury Branch provides direct commuter train service south to Norwalk (15 minutes), Stamford (25 minutes), Danbury (33 minutes), and New York City's Grand Central Terminal (90 minutes) The town is served by the 7 Link bus route of the Norwalk Transit District that runs between Norwalk and Danbury along the Route 7 corridor. A commuter shuttle bus during rush hours is also available between South Wilton and the South Norwalk railroad station on the New Haven Line. Wilton was previously served by a station called SouthWilton (1852-1971) and Kent Road (1976-1994) and by the Georgetown station from 1852-1970. It is located on the Connecticut Turnpike, which runs from New York to Long Island, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. It was also once known as the "Wilton Turnpikes" because of the number of turnpikes that ran through the area. It has a population of about 2,000, with the majority of its residents living in the town of Wilton, Connecticut. It also has a small portion of the Connecticut River Valley, which flows through the center of the town and into New Haven and Boston.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Wilton, Fairfield County, Connecticut = 7.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 32. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 30. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Wilton = 3.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 18,503 individuals with a median age of 41.2 age the population grows by 0.24% in Wilton, Fairfield County, Connecticut population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 680 residents per square mile of area (260/km²). There are average 2.97 people per household in the 5,802 households with an average household income of $182,538 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 6.30% of the available work force and has dropped -3.24% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 27.22%. The number of physicians in Wilton per 100,000 population = 301.6.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Wilton = 48 inches and the annual snowfall = 36.9 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 101. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 205. 85 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 20 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 45, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Wilton, Fairfield County, Connecticut which are owned by the occupant = 86.60%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 41 years with median home cost = $683,300 and home appreciation of -11.82%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $13.56 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $8,358 per student. There are 14.8 students for each teacher in the school, 223 students for each Librarian and 329 students for each Counselor. 5.11% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 37.28% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 33.54% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).