RIDGEFIELD, NEW JERSEY

'Ridgefield' is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the borough population was 10,830.
Ridgefield was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 26, 1892, from portions of Ridgefield Township."The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606-1968", John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. p. 84.

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Government

Local government

Federal, state and county representation

Politics

Education

Transportation

History

References

External links

Geography

Ridgefield is located at (40.832590, -74.004960).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 7.4 km² (2.9 mi²). 6.8 km² (2.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.7 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (9.06%) is water.
Ridgefield is unofficially divided into three sections because of the geographical contour of the land. The first section is known as Ridgefield, and lies partly in the valley on both the east and west sides and partly on the first hill. The second section is known as Morsemere, and is located in the northern part of the Borough. The third section is Ridgefield Heights, on the second hill at the extreme eastern part of the Borough, running north and south.
Morsemere was named by a real estate development company in honor of Samuel F. B. Morse, inventor of the telegraph and the Morse code. During the middle 1800s, Mr. Morse owned vast tracts of land in the Ridgefield section of the Borough.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 10,830 people, 4,020 households, and 2,966 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,602.1/km² (4,149.8/mi²). There were 4,120 housing units at an average density of 609.5/km² (1,578.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough was 75.87% White, 0.77% African American, 0.08% Native American, 17.42% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.50% from other races, and 2.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.80% of the population.
As of the 2000 census, 16.31% of Ridgefield's residents identified themselves as being of Korean ancestry, which was the sixth highest in the United States and fourth highest of any municipality in New Jersey — behind Palisades Park (36.38%), Leonia (17.24%) and Fort Lee (17.18%) — for all places with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry.^[1] In the same census, 3.0% of Ridgefield's residents identified themselves as being of Croatian ancestry. This was the third highest percentage of people with Croatian ancestry in any place in New Jersey with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry^[2]. 2.4% of Ridgefield's residents identified themselves as being of Armenian ancestry, the 16th highest percentage of Armenian people in any place in the United States with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry.^[3]
There were 4,020 households out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.2% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the borough, the population was spread out with 21.8% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 17.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.8 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $54,081, and the median income for a family was $66,330. Males had a median income of $47,975 versus $36,676 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $25,558. About 4.7% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Ridgefield is governed using the Borough form of New Jersey Government, with a governing body consisting of a mayor and a six-member Borough Council. The mayor is elected directly by the voters to serve a four-year term of office. Members of the Borough Council are elected to three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.
The Mayor of Ridgefield Borough is Anthony R. Suarez, (D) whose term of office ends on December 31, 2007. Members of the Ridgefield Borough Council are:^[4]

★ Robert Avery (R; 2008)

★ Thomas Blackley (R; 2008)

★ James Fucci (D; 2007)

★ Robert Kovic (D; 2007)

★ Angus Todd (R; 2009)

★ Warren Vincentz (R; 2009)
On Election Day, November 7, 2006, voters filled two open three-year seats on the Borough Council from among six candidates running for office. As of Election Day, the council was split with four Democrats and two Republicans, in a community in which registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 5-4 margin. Republican challengers Warren Vincentz (1,471 votes) and Angus Todd (1,396) won election, with Democratic Party incumbent John Quaregna in fourth place (1,139) and Independent Javier Acosta (who had been elected as a Democrat, but ran as an independent) a distant fifth (404). Also falling short were Democrat Marlene Caride (1,145) and Independent Mercedes Penabad (223). The two victors took office on January 1, 2007.^[5][6][7] With the win, Republicans will take control of the Ridgefield Council for the first time since 2000, after winning two seats in 2005 on what had been at the time an all-Democratic council.^[8]

Federal, state and county representation

Ridgefield is in the Ninth Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 38th Legislative District.^[9]

Politics

As of April 1, 2006, out of a 2004 Census estimated population of 11,005 in Ridgefield, there were 5,434 registered voters (49.4% of the population, vs. 55.4% in all of Bergen County). Of registered voters, 1,364 (25.1% vs. 20.7% countywide) were registered as Democrats, 1,142 (21.0% vs. 19.2% countywide) were registered as Republicans and 2,927 (53.9% vs. 60.1% countywide) were registered as Undeclared. There was one voter registered to another party^[10].
On the national level, Ridgefield leans 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%.^[11]

Education

The Ridgefield School District serves public school students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. Schools in the district are Shaler Academy - Mr. Gary Behan, Principal (Pre-K and Kindergarten); Bergen Boulevard School - Mr. Gary Behan, Principal (Grade 1); Slocum-Skewes School - Dr. Bundy, Principal (Grades 2-8); and Ridgefield Memorial High School - Dr. Robert Jack, Principal (Grades 9-12).

Transportation

The New Jersey Turnpike passes through Ridgefield. The Turnpike's Vince Lombardi service area is located between Interchanges 18E/18W and the George Washington Bridge at mileposts 116E on the Eastern Spur and 115.5W on the Western Spur^[12].
U.S. Route 1/9, U.S. Route 46, Route 63 and Route 5 also pass through Ridgefield.
New Jersey Transit bus routes 83, 127, 154, 155, 157, 165, 166, 168 and 321 serve Ridgefield with the bus routes 167 and 321 leaving from the Vince Lombardi Park & Ride. Travel time to New York from Vince Lombardi is 18 minutes on route 321 and 27 minutes on route 167.^[13]

History

Grantwood was an artist's colony established in 1913 by Man Ray, Alfred Kreymborg and Samuel Halpert and became known as the Others group of artists.^[14] The colony was comprised a number of clapboard shacks on a bluff.^[15] Kreymborg moved to Ridgefield and launched '' with Skipwith Cannell, Wallace Stevens, and William Carlos Williams in 1915.

References

1. Korean Communities, Epodunk. Accessed June 28, 2006.
2. Croatian Communities, accessed August 23, 2006
3. Armenian Communities, Epodunk. Accessed June 28, 2006.
4. Members of the Ridgefield Governing Body, Borough of Ridgefield. Accessed February 24, 2007.
5. Ridgefield Election Guide, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', November 1, 2006.
6. Ridgefield election results, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', November 8, 2006.
7. Bergen County 2006 General Election Results, accessed February 1, 2007
8. Republicans gaining power in Ridgefield, ''The Record (Bergen County)'', November 9, 2006.
9. 2006 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government, New Jersey League of Women Voters, p. 63. Accessed August 30, 2006.
10. "County of Bergen: Voter Statistics by Municipality, Ward & District," dated April 1, 2006
11. 2004 Presidential Election results: Bergen County, New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety: Division of Elections, dated December 13, 2004.
12. New Jersey Turnpike: Vince Lombardi Service Area, accessed May 31, 2006
13. New Jersey Transit Bus Schedules. Accessed August 30, 2007.
14. Churchill, ''op. cit.'' page 51
15. Brandon, ''op. cit.'' page 82

External links

★ Ridgefield Borough official web site

★ Ridgefield School District

★

★ National Center for Education Statistics data for the Ridgefield School District

★ Ridgefield community forum