Stamford, Connecticut


Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, outside of New York City. It is the sixth-most populous city in New England. Stamford is also the largest city in the Western Connecticut Planning Region, and Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford surpassed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 census. It is in the Bridgeport–Stamford–Danbury metropolitan statistical area, which is part of the New York City metropolitan area.
As of 2023, Stamford is home to eight Fortune 500 companies and numerous divisions of large corporations. This gives it the largest financial district in the New York metropolitan region outside New York City and one of the nation's largest concentrations of corporations. Dominant sectors of Stamford's economy include financial management and real estate, tourism, information technology, healthcare, telecommunications, transportation, and retail. Its metropolitan division is home to colleges and universities including UConn Stamford and Norwalk Community College.

History

Stamford was known as Rippowam by the Siwanoy Native American inhabitants of the region, and the very first European settlers in the area also called it that. The present name is after the town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, England. The deed to Stamford was signed on July 1, 1640, between Captain Turner of the New Haven Colony and Chief Ponus. By the 18th century, one of the town's primary industries was merchandising by water, which was possible due to Stamford's proximity to New York.
In 1692, Stamford was home to a less famous witch trial than the well-known Salem witch trials, which also occurred in 1692. The accusations were less fanatical and on a smaller scale, but they also grew to prominence through gossip and hysterics.
New Canaan officially separated from Stamford when it incorporated as a town in 1801, followed by Darien in 1820.
Starting in the late 19th century, New York residents built summer homes on the shoreline, and some moved to Stamford permanently and started commuting to Manhattan by train. Stamford incorporated as a city in 1893.
From late 1945 through April 1946, more than 3,000 workers at the city's Yale & Locke factory, the largest employer in Stamford at the time, went on strike. The strike earned nationwide attention after the union declared a day of action on January 3, 1946, which drew approximately 10,000 attendees, resulted in solidarity strikes in surrounding towns and cities, and effectively brought Downtown Stamford to a standstill. Professor George Lipsitz called it "the first general strike in the United States in twelve years".
In 1950, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the city's population as 94.6% white and 5.2% black.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Stamford's commercial real estate boomed as corporations relocated from New York City to peripheral areas. A massive urban redevelopment campaign during that time resulted in a downtown with many tall office buildings. The F.D. Rich Company was the city-designated urban renewal developer of the downtown area in an ongoing, contentious project beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1970s. The company put up what was the city's tallest structure, One Landmark Square, at 21 floors high, and the GTE building, along with the Marriott Hotel, the Stamford Town Center and many other downtown office buildings. One Landmark Square has since been dwarfed by the new 34-story Park Tower Stamford condominium tower, and again by the Atlantic Station development, another Rich Company project in partnership with Cappelli Enterprises. Over the years, other developers have joined in building up the downtown, a process that continued through the 1980s and 1990s and into the new century.
Since 2008, an mixed-use redevelopment project for Stamford's Harbor Point neighborhood has added additional growth south of downtown. The redevelopment plan included of new residential, retail, office and hotel space, and a marina. In July 2012, roughly 900 of the projected 4,000 Harbor Point residential units had been constructed. New restaurants and recreational activities have come up in the Harbor Point area, which is considered New Stamford. From 2008 to 2017, the city issued permits for 4,341 housing units.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., many wealthy New Yorkers relocated to Stamford and its metropolitan area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has an area of, of which is land and is water. Stamford is the state's largest city by area. The population density was in 2010. The city is halfway between Manhattan and New Haven at approximately from each; it is from the state capital of Hartford.
Stamford is near the southwestern point of Connecticut, on Long Island Sound; it is part of the Gold Coast. Stamford comprises approximately 45 distinct neighborhoods and villages, and two historic districts, including Cove, East Side, Downtown, North Stamford, Glenbrook, West Side, Turn of River, Waterside, Springdale, Belltown, Ridgeway, Newfield, South End, Westover, Shippan, Roxbury, and Palmers Hill.
North of the Merritt Parkway is considered the North Stamford section of the city, encompassing its largest land mass though it is the least densely populated. North Stamford functionally and legally acts as one municipality with the city of Stamford. Stamford borders Pound Ridge, New York to the north, the Long Island Sound to the south, Greenwich to the west, Darien to the east, and New Canaan to the northeast.
The city has islands in Long Island Sound: Cove Island, Grass Island, Greenway Island, Jack Island, and Cuties Island. Cove Island is a prominent beach and recreation area.
Stamford is the only city in the United States from which one can cross the border into the same neighboring state by going due north, due east, due south and due west.

Climate

Under the Köppen climate classification, Stamford has a temperate climate, with long, hot summers, and cool to cold winters, with precipitation spread fairly evenly throughout the year. Like the rest of coastal Connecticut, it lies in the broad transition zone between the colder continental climates of the northern U.S. and southern Canada to the north, and the warmer temperate and subtropical climates of the middle and south Atlantic states to the south.
The warm/hot season in Stamford is from mid-April through early November. Late day thundershowers are common in the hottest months, despite the mostly sunny skies. The cool/cold season is from late November though mid-March. Winter weather is far more variable than summer weather along the Connecticut coast, ranging from sunny days with higher temperatures to cold and blustery conditions with occasional snow. As on much of the Connecticut coast and nearby Long Island, some of the winter precipitation is rain or a mix and rain and wet snow. Stamford averages about of snow annually, compared to inland areas like Hartford and Albany that average.
Although infrequent, tropical cyclones have struck Connecticut and the Stamford metropolitan area. Hurricane landfalls have occurred along the Connecticut coast in 1903, 1938, 1944, 1954, 1960, Hurricane Gloria in 1985, and Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Stamford lies in USDA garden zone 7a. It averages about 90 days annually with freeze. Coastal Connecticut is the broad transition zone where so-called "subtropical indicator" plants and other broadleaf evergreens can be cultivated. As such, Southern Magnolias, Needle Palms, Windmill palm, Loblolly Pines, and Crape Myrtles are grown in private and public gardens. As in much of coastal Connecticut, Long Island, and coastal New Jersey, the growing season is rather long in Stamford, averaging 210 days from April8 to November5 according to the National Weather Service in Bridgeport.

Demographics

Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 71,61065,40664,87661.16%53.33%47.89%
Black or African American alone 17,42116,10616,20114.88%13.13%11.96%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 1201241400.10%0.10%0.10%
Asian alone 5,8189,60411,4534.97%7.83%8.45%
Pacific Islander alone 2643220.02%0.04%0.02%
Some Other Race alone 2914561,0180.25%0.37%0.75%
Mixed Race or Multi-Racial 2,1621,7163,8021.85%1.40%2.81%
Hispanic or Latino 19,63529,18837,95816.77%23.80%28.02%
Total117,083122,643135,470100.00%100.00%100.00%

Census data from 2020 showed the city of Stamford with a population of 135,470. This was a 10.5% increase from 2010. Census data also showed Stamford had surpassed New Haven's population, making it the state's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport.
In 2020, the racial makeup of the city was 49.3% non-Hispanic white, 14.1% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian or Alaska Native, 8.6% Asian American, 3.2% from two or more races, and 27.2% Hispanic or Latino. 2020 American Community Survey estimates show that of the Hispanic or Latin American population, Guatemalans form the largest group, followed by Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, and Mexicans. In 2018, 5.9% of the city was West Indian. The median age was 37.2 in 2018, lower than the national average of 37.9.
There were 54,513 housing units at the 2018 estimates and 50,847 households. The average household size was 2.53 and there were approximately 31,347 families living in the city. The owner-occupied housing rate was 46.6% and the renter-occupied housing rate was 53.4%. Stamford's median household income in 2023 was $106,552. The average household income was $161,829. The per capita income in 2022 was $58,297, the highest of any city in Connecticut. About 9.1% of the population was at or below the poverty line.
In 2010, its population was 122,643. At the U.S. Census Bureau's mid-year 2010 estimates, it grew to 122,902. Roughly 49.8% of the population was non-Hispanic white, 12.9% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 6.8% Asian, 1.6% from two or more races, and 28.3% Hispanic or Latino. The American Community Survey determined there were 46,396 households. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.15. The owner-occupied housing rate was 56.5% and the renter-occupied rate was 43.5%.
The 2000 census determined Stamford had a population of 117,083. The proportion of the population under the age of 18 was 21.6%, age 18 to 24 was 7.8%, age 25 to 44 was 32.5%, age 45 to 64 was 25.0%, and 65 years of age or older was 13.1%. The median age of 37.1 was slightly lower than the U.S. median age of 37.2. Composition of the population based on sex was 50.7 females to 49.3 males.
According to Sperling's BestPlaces, 64.0% of the city's inhabitants are religious or religiously affiliated. The largest religious group in the city are Christians, followed by Judaism, Islam, and eastern religions including Hinduism and Buddhism. The largest Christian denomination in the city is the Roman Catholic Church, served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport. There are four synagogues in Stamford: Temple Sinai, Temple Beth El, Congregation Agudath Sholom, and Young Israel of Stamford.