Maplewood

Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 25,684. The first European settlers arrived around 1675, primarily English, Dutch and French Puritans who had earlier settled Hempstead, Long Island, and Stamford, Connecticut, via Newark and Elizabeth. In 1802, Jefferson Village and North Farms were named as districts within the Township of Newark. The three communities developed and functioned independently, each establishing their own school associations: South Orange established the Columbian School in 1814, which would form the basis of Columbia High School. Maplewood was originally formed as South Orange Township, which was created on April 1, 1861. Portions of the township were taken to form South Orange village (established May 4, 1869) and became fully independent on March 4, 1904. The name was changed to Maplewood on November 7, 1922, when the Morris and Essex Railroad from Newark was extended to the area. This name came to comprise areas known as Jefferson Village, Spring Spring, and Spring Spring Village, previously known as Hilton, previously part of Jefferson Village. The area was originally known for its orchards and related industries, including cider mills and rum distilleries, as well as honey and livestock. It was originally the Town of Clinton from 1869 to 1894.

History

Maplewood was originally formed as South Orange Township, which was created on April 1, 1861, from portions of Clinton Township and what was then the Town of Orange. The name of the township was changed to Maplewood on November 7, 1922. The first house of worship was a Baptist chapel in 1812. In 1867, when the State of New Jersey established public education through the School Law, the newly appointed County Superintendent merged the three associations into one school district. Edward Balch, a homebuilder who envisioned Maplewood as a suburban community, earning him recognition as the "Father of Maplewood" in 1900, was the first resident to be buried in the town's public cemetery. The town's first post office was granted in 1880; it was named Hilton in 1880 when it was granted a post office. Maplewood is located on the banks of the Hackensack River, which flows into the Hudson River. It is the site of the New Jersey Turnpike, which runs from New Jersey to New York City. The township's name is derived from the name of a former rail line, the Morris and Essex Railroad, which ran through the area from 1838 to 1859. The current name of Jefferson Village came from a speculator who built a railroad station in Jefferson Village and named it Maplewood. It was also known as Springfield, and areas of Springfield were subdivided into parcels for housing and the area became a commuter suburb in 1868. It became known for its orchards and related industries, including cider mills and rum distilleries, as well as honey and livestock.

Geography

The township shares a border with West Orange and South Orange to the north, Newark and Irvington to the east, Union (in Union County) to the south, and Millburn to the west. The Rahway River runs through the township and there is a municipal pool club with four man-made pools of water. Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Hilton and Valley View.Maplewood has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfa). The township is located in New Jersey's Bergen and Passaic counties, and is part of the Bergen-Hudson County Metropolitan Statistical Area. The township has a total area of 3.88 square miles (10.04 km²), including 3.87 square miles of land and 0.01 square miles of water (0.08 km²) A pond is in Memorial Park, the Rahway river runs through it, and the township has four swimming pools. It is located on the New Jersey Turnpike, which runs from New Jersey to New York City. It has a population of 3,816. The Township has a climate of Dfa, which means it is hot and humid in the summer, and dry in the winter, with an average monthly temperature of °C (°F) of 3.7 °F (°C) The township also has a large amount of water, with 0.01 square miles of water in its area.

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States Census there were 23,868 people, 8,452 households, and 6,381 families residing in the township. The racial makeup of the township was 58.78% White, 32.63% Black, 0.13% Native American, 2.86% Asian,0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.56% from other races, and 4.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.68% (1,595) of the population. The median household income was $101,463 (with a margin of error of +/ $6,610) and the median family incomes was $122,102 (+/ $9,324) in 2010. The per capita income for the borough was $47,404. About 1.5% of families and 2.8% of the residents were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those age 65 or over. The average household size was 2.81 and the average family size was 3.27. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 85.4 males. The. median income for a township was $79,637, and the. median for a family was $92,724. The population. density was 6,155.3 per square mile (2,376.6/km²). There were 8,608 housing units at an average density of 2,220.0 per squaremile (857.1/km 2).

Arts and culture

Maplewood has been the site for several films, including I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Garden State, Gracie, One True Thing, and Stepmom. The township owns and operates the Burgdorff Center for the Performing Arts at 10 Durand Road. The Maplewood Theater, designed by William E. Lehman, was where Cheryl Crawford first revived Porgy and Bess.Ultimate Frisbee (now called simply "Ultimate") was invented in Maplewood in 1968 by students at Columbia High School. The main character of the Robert Sheckley novel Dimension of Miracles, Thomas Carmody, is from Maplewood. In 2008, the township committed to a $130,000 plan to improve the building. Every year, on the weekend following the weekend closest to July 4, there is a concert in town called Maplewoodstock. The town is the birthplace of the wooden golf tee, invented by William Lowell at the Maplewood Golf Club in 1921. It is also home to StarFish, a rock band for children, and Bullet For My Valentine, who filmed their music video for "Waking the Demon" in the town. The Township of Maplewood is located in New Jersey's Hudson River Valley and is located near the New Jersey Turnpike and New York City's East River. The Township is one of several "least suburban of suburbs," according to Brooke Lea Foster of The New York Times. In 2018, Maplewood was named one of the top 10 suburbs in the United States by CNN.

Parks and recreation

The East Branch of the Rahway River runs through the center of the town. The town is home to the South Mountain Reservation, a 2,100-year-old nature reserve. It is also home to Maplecrest Park, which was designed by the Olmsted Brothers in the 1920s. The East Branch is part of the National Register of Historic Places, and is known as the "East Branch" of the East Branch. The West Branch is the "West Branch," which is the largest of the two branches. It was designed in the 1930s by the same architects, who also designed the West Branch, which is called "The West Branch" It is located on the west side of the river. The east branch is the main branch of the West River, which runs from the west to the east. The west branch is called the East River, and it is located in the east of the city, near the town's central business district. The north branch is named after the east bank of the east river, which goes through the town to the west. The south branch is made up of two smaller parks, one of which is named for the first one, the other for the second. The two parks are adjacent to each other, and are connected by a road that runs along the west bank. They are known as "The East River Park" and "The South River Park", and are located at the east end of the East River Park. The West River Park is a small park that was built in the early 1900s.

Government

Maplewood is governed under the Township form of government, one of 141 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form. The governing body is a Township Committee, which is comprised of five members who are elected directly by the voters at-large in partisan elections. The Township Committee is the legislative body of the municipality and is responsible for enacting the township's laws. As of 2022, members of the Maplewood Township Committee are Mayor Dean Dafis (D), Deputy Mayor Victor De Luca (D) and Jamaine L. Cripe (D). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027) and Bob Menendez (Harrison, term end 2025) Essex County is governed by a directly-elected County Executive, with legislative functions performed by the Board of County Commissioners. The County Executive is Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. (D, Roseland), whose four-year term of office ends December 31, 2022. For the 2022-2023 session, the 27th Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature is represented by Richard Codey (D, Roseland) and in the General Assembly by Mila Jasey (D, South Orange) and John F. McKeon (D., West Orange) Maplewood is located in the 11th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 27th state legislative district. There were a total of 16,399 registered voters in Maplewood in 2011, of which 9,306 were registered as Democrats, 1,645 as Republicans and 5,439 as Republicans.

Community

Maplewood is home to a gay village or "gayborhood" The township has a movie theater, several upscale and mid-scale restaurants, a small supermarket, independent café, two liquor stores, a toy store and an independent bookstore. In June 2018, Maplewood unveiled permanently rainbow-colored crosswalks to celebrate LGBTQ pride across the full year. Maplewood counts among its residents a large number of theater professionals working in Broadway and off-Broadway productions, owing to the town's convenient rail access and relatively short commute via train into Manhattan. In 2010, a group of 32 of these actors and technicians formed their own repertory theater company and named it Midtown Direct Rep, after the NJ Transit line on which they all commuted. In 2015, New Jersey Monthly magazine's Downtown Showdown magazine noted the community's "myriad boutiques, art galleries and notable restaurants" Maplewood won the award for best downtown area in the 2015 edition of the magazine. The town is located on the New Jersey Turnpike, which runs between Newark and Fort Lee. It has a population of around 2,000 people, making it one of the smallest towns in New Jersey. It is the only town in the state to have a large percentage of residents who are of African-American descent. The population of Maplewood is about 1,800 people, with the majority of the population living in the central part of the town. The majority of residents are white, with only a few African-Americans and Hispanics.

Education

As of the 2019-2020 school year, the district, comprised of 11 schools, had an enrollment of 7,353 students and 576.1 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a studentteacher ratio of 12.8:1. The district has a single high school (located in Maplewood) two middle schools a central pre-school and neighborhood elementary schools in each municipality. Schools in the district are:Montrose Early Childhood Center, Seth Boyden Elementary Demonstration School, Clinton Elementary School, South Mountain Elementary School and South Orange Middle School. Schools are:Columbia High School (1,967, 912; Maplewood), Tuscan Elementary School (K5, 637) and South Orange Elementary School Annex (NA, K1; South Orange). The district is part of the unified South Orange-Maplewood School District, together with the neighboring community of South Orange. The school district is made up of the towns of Maplewood, South Orange, and West Orange, as well as the city of West Orange and the town of South Lake Tahoe. It has a total enrollment of more than 7,000 students, with 7,300 of those being students in elementary and middle school. It is the largest school district in New Jersey, with more than 1,200 students in middle and high school classes. It also has two elementary schools, one middle school, and one elementary school in high school. In 2013, Maplewood had a population of 1,715, with the high school population at 1,966.

Transportation

As of May 2010, the township had a total of 59.06 miles (95.05 km) of roadways. Two nearby controlled-access highways serve Maplewood: the Garden State Parkway, which runs northsouth, and Interstate 78. The township operates the rush-hour Maplewood Jitney service to and from the train station.NJ Transit provides passenger rail service to Maplewood station on the Morristown Line and Gladstone Branch to Newark Broad Street Station, Secaucus Junction and New York Penn Station, with connecting service to Hoboken Terminal. Independent Bus provides bus service on its 31 route. There are approximately 226 streets within Maplewood, with four thoroughfares being Essex County roads and one being a state highway. There is also a bus service to Newark on the 25, 37 and 70, and to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on the 107 route. It is also possible to take the train from Maplewood to Newark via Secaucus and Hoboken, and from Newark to New York City on the 37 route and 107 route, as well as the 25 and 37 routes. The town has a population of 3,827. It has a total population of 4,823. It also has an area of 2,822. It was the site of the World War II Battle of the Bulge, which took place in World War I and is now known as one of the deadliest battles in the history of the U.S. The Battle of New Jersey was fought between the United States and the Soviet Union.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Maplewood, Essex County, New Jersey = 18.9. 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 1. 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 10. 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 Maplewood = 3.7 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 25,684 individuals with a median age of 38.9 age the population dropped by -8.73% in Maplewood, Essex County, New Jersey population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 6,629.8 residents per square mile of area (2,559.8/km²). There are average 2.83 people per household in the 7,660 households with an average household income of $97,148 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 10.80% of the available work force and has dropped -3.41% 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 22.38%. The number of physicians in Maplewood per 100,000 population = 319.6.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Maplewood = 46.2 inches and the annual snowfall = 26.1 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 125. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 205. 87 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 23.2 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 47, 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 Maplewood, Essex County, New Jersey which are owned by the occupant = 74.82%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 21.5 years with median home cost = $453,620 and home appreciation of -5.10%. 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 $28.54 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 $8,947 per student. There are 13.7 students for each teacher in the school, 707 students for each Librarian and 468 students for each Counselor. 5.06% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 28.20% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 20.60% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).