Глен-Ридж, Нью-Джерси: История и развитие поселения

Borough in Essex County, New Jersey, US

Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, in the U. S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,802,

In 1666, 64 Connecticut families led by Robert Treat bought land from the Lenni Lenape Native Americans and named it New Ark to reflect a covenant to worship freely without persecution. The territory included the future towns of Bloomfield, Montclair, Belleville and Nutley. When Bloomfield was established in 1812, Glen Ridge was a section "on the hill" composed mostly of farms and woodlands with the exception of a thriving industrial area along Toney's Brook in the glen. For most of the nineteenth century, three water powered mills produced lumber, calico, pasteboard boxes and brass fittings. A copper mine and a sandstone quarry were located on the north side of the brook. In 1856, the Newark and Bloomfield Railroad arrived, with the construction of the Glen Ridge station. In 1872, the New York and Greenwood Lake Railway arrived, with the construction of the station at today's Benson Street. Glen Ridge began its transition to a suburban residential community. Stately homes slowly replaced orchards and wooded fields. In 1891, Mountainside Hospital, a local hospital with more than 300 beds now known as HackensackUMC Mountainside, was founded. The Glen Ridge Country Club was founded in 1894, making it one of the state's oldest clubs. Residents "on the hill" became unhappy with their representation on the Bloomfield Council. In spite of repeated requests to Bloomfield officials, roads remained unpaved, water and sewer systems were nonexistent, and schools were miles away. Area residents marked out the boundaries of a 1.45 square miles (4 km2) area to secede from the adjoining town. At the election held on February 12, 1895, the decision to secede passed by only 23 votes. Robert Rudd was elected the first mayor of Glen Ridge. On February 13, 1895, Glen Ridge was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature from portions of Bloomfield Township, based on the results of a referendum held the previous day. After becoming a borough, architects suggested buying gas lamps, they became a characteristic of the borough. Circa World War II, gas lamps were discarded, many by the City of New York, later salvaged, repaired, and brought to Glen Ridge. With only 3,000 gaslights remaining in operation in the entire United States, the 2,500 managed by Public Service Enterprise Group, succeeding the Welsbach Company, The Gaslamp is the Glen Ridge Historical Society's quarterly newsletter. In 1924, Glen Ridge became the first municipality in New Jersey to establish a zoning ordinance. In 1982, the borough's official name was changed to "Township of Glen Ridge Borough". Glen Ridge was one of more than a dozen Essex County municipalities to reclassify themselves as townships to take advantage of federal revenue sharing policies that allocated townships a greater share of government aid on a per capita basis. Effective May 1993, the borough's original name of "Glen Ridge Borough" was restored. The borough's name comes from the ridge formed by Toney's Brook. In 2010, Glen Ridge was ranked as the 38th Best Place to live by New Jersey Monthly magazine. In 1989, athletes from the high school were involved in the sexual assault of a mentally handicapped student. Three teenagers were found guilty of first degree aggravated sexual assault; a fourth was convicted of third degree conspiracy. Author Bernard Lefkowitz wrote about the incident in the 1997 book Our Guys: The Glen Ridge Rape and the Secret Life of the Perfect Suburb. Lefkowitz's book was adapted into the 1999 TV movie Our Guys: Outrage at Glen Ridge. Glen Ridge is a frequent location for film, television, and commercial shoots. Notable works include Winter Solstice and Mona Lisa Smile. In the 1980s, it was discovered that a section of the borough near Carteret Park was built on top of hazardous waste. Waste contaminated with radium from the old U. S. Radium watch dial plant had been used to fill in low lying areas of Glen Ridge covering , as well as portions of Montclair and West Orange. It was not until the year 2000 that the area was completely cleaned of any contamination.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 1.28 square miles (3.31 km2), including 1.28 square miles (3.30 km2) of land and 0.01 square miles (0.01 km2) of water (0.39%). The borough's US mail ZIP code is 07028. Glen Ridge is located on a ridge on the east side of the First Mountain of the Watchung Mountains. The town stretches 2 mile (3 km) from north to south and a maximum of six blocks wide from east to west, and it is only three or two blocks wide in "the Panhandle" north of Bay Avenue.

Glen Ridge has a temperate climate, with warm / hot humid summers and cool / cold winters, according to the Köppen climate classification humid subtropical climate. The town gets an average of of rain per year and of snowfall, compared to the US averages of and inches. Glen Ridge has 124 days of measurable precipitation a year. During the winter, it is highly recommended to wear warm clothing because it can get very cold, while the summers can get extremely hot and humid. The majority of February and a bit of March is when there are the most snowfall. Due to the town's elevation and the topography of its river banks, it is not prone to significant flooding. There are typically about 205 sunny days per year in Glen Ridge. The temperature ranges from a high around 86 degrees in July and a low around 21 degrees in January. The comfort index for the town is 47 out of 100, compared to a national average of 44 (with higher numbers being more comfortable).

The 2010 United States census counted 7,527 people, 2,476 households, and 2,033 families in the borough. The population density was 5,872.8 per square mile (2,267.5/km2). There were 2,541 housing units at an average density of 1,982.6 per square mile (765.5/km2). The racial makeup was 86.21% (6,489) White, 5.04% (379) Black or African American, 0.04% (3) Native American, 4.65% (350) Asian, 0.00% (0) Pacific Islander, 1.37% (103) from other races, and 2.70% (203) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.01% (377) of the population.

Glen Ridge is located in the 11th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 34th state legislative district.

As of March 2011, there were a total of 5,169 registered voters in Glen Ridge, of which 2,135 (41.3%) were registered as Democrats, 993 (19.2%) were registered as Republicans and 2,037 (39.4%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 4 voters registered as Libertarians or Greens. In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 62.6% of the vote (2,415 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 36.2% (1,396 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (44 votes), among the 3,871 ballots cast by the borough's 5,380 registered voters (16 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 72.0%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 62.9% of the vote (2,583 cast), ahead of Republican John McCain with 35.2% (1,444 votes) and other candidates with 0.8% (33 votes), among the 4,104 ballots cast by the borough's 5,185 registered voters, for a turnout of 79.2%. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 59.1% of the vote (2,381 ballots cast), outpolling Republican George W. Bush with 39.9% (1,608 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (35 votes), among the 4,031 ballots cast by the borough's 4,967 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 81.2. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 53.2% of the vote (1,450 cast), ahead of Democrat Barbara Buono with 45.5% (1,240 votes), and other candidates with 1.2% (34 votes), among the 2,772 ballots cast by the borough's 5,429 registered voters (48 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 51.1%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 51.0% of the vote (1,388 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 39.3% (1,071 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 8.5% (231 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (19 votes), among the 2,722 ballots cast by the borough's 5,144 registered voters, yielding a 52.9% turnout.

The median price for a house in Glen Ridge in 2014 was $580,000, which is double the national average. Out of the 2,549 houses in the borough, 84.7% of them were single units (detached) and had a median of 7.7 rooms. Glen Ridge is known for its old town charm, with 72.8% of its houses having been built before 1939. In 1895, when the town was chartered, Glen Ridge became one of the first communities to hire a town planner which resulted in many late Victorian and Edwardian elements. The condition of the town has been maintained due to the building codes that were established, the creation of the Building Department which included a Building Inspector, and a zoning ordinance (the first in the state of New Jersey). Although the majority of Glen Ridge consists of houses, many residents live in apartment complexes. One apartment complex is behind the Glen Ridge Community Pool, while the other apartment complex is not far from that. The architecture of the borough includes houses representing every major style from the mid nineteenth century onward. Some of the architecture styles include the Carpenter Gothic, the Medieval, the High Victorian Period, the Queen Anne Cottage, American Georgian, Shingle Style, and the Prairie Home Style. Notable architects that have left their legacy in the town include Frank Lloyd Wright, Stanford White, and John Russell Pope. To maintain the historical feel of the town and protect the architectural features, the town has created a Historic Preservation Commission which reviews construction on houses in the historic district.

as of 2010, the borough had a total of 23.29 mile (37 km) of roadways, of which 18.19 mile (29 km) were maintained by the municipality and 5.10 mile (8 km) by Essex County. The primary roads directly serving Glen Ridge include County Route 506 (Bloomfield Avenue) and County Route 509. Major highways near the borough include the New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 80, Interstate 280, the Garden State Parkway, U. S. Route 46, Route 3 and Route 21.

Glen Ridge is a little over 2 mile (3 km) long, north to south, via Ridgewood Avenue, making it accessible for residents by walking or biking. Commuters can also take trains from the Glen Ridge station (formerly named Ridgewood Avenue station), where NJ Transit provides service to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan and to Hoboken Terminal via the Montclair Boonton Line. There are many other train stations near Glen Ridge. The town has a jitney service which provides transportation to and from the Glen Ridge Station for commuters. This service has a fee and is only available between certain hours in the day. The Freeman Parkway Bridge, constructed in 1926, is a deck arch bridge that crosses over Toney's Brook and the Montclair Boonton Line.