Thursday, November 11, 2004
Nobody Asked Me, But . . . (11/11/04)
NOBODY ARCHIVE
"Westchester's getting too crowded!" Who hasn't heard that complaint recently? Continuing our study of Westchester's statistics, let's see what the situation really is in terms of population growth and density. With its 450.5 square miles, Westchester is among the larger counties in the United States. And its population is larger than eight of the 50 states. At the turn of the last century, it was home to 184,257 persons. A hundred years later, its population had grown to 923,459 residents, an increase of 410%. Most of the growth was in the southern part of the county, especially in the early decades. The cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers, fourth largest in the state, more than doubled their populations by the end of the First World War. In the twentieth century, Peekskill's population grew from 10,358 to 22,441 (117%), most of its growth having taken place by 1960.
The fastest growing Westchester town or village in the previous century was Scarsdale. Its 1900 population of 885 increased twentyfold to 17,823. Had the entire county grown at that rate, Westchester population of under a million in 2000 would have been 3.7 million. In the same hundred years, the town of Cortlandt's population of 8,345 (outside the village of Croton-on-Hudson; Buchanan wasn't incorporated until 1927) grew to 28,672 persons, or 410%; in the period, Croton's population swelled from 1,533 to 7,606, an astonishing 396%--but much of this was accomplished before 1960, including its accession of the hamlets of Harmon and Mt. Airy in 1932. In the twentieth century, the town of Ossining's population of 2,956 (not including the villages of Ossining and Briarcliff Manor, which did not exist in 1900) grew by 87% to 5,514. Ossining village's population increased from 7,939 to 24,010, or 202%. Briarcliff Manor, which made its first appearance in a Census in 1910, grew from 950 residents to 7,696.
A close study of Croton's statistics reveals its recent population patterns. In the 1940 Census, its population stood at 3,843. It grew by 77% to 6,812 in the 1960 Census. In the next 30 years, however, Croton's population increased by only 206 persons. Between 1990 and 2000, 588 new Crotonites were added, more than twice the number added in the previous 30 years, thanks to a spate of building. But in the 40 years between 1960 and 2000, Croton grew by only 794 persons (12%), or about 20 persons a year. Croton has now virtually run out of available building lots.
Population changes are not always in the plus column. Communities tend to go through cycles that can be described as youth--characterized by growth, middle age--a period of retrenchment, and old age, a time when housing stocks become older and need restoration or replacement, traffic patterns change, and neighborhoods decline. Between 1960 and 2000, the cities of Mt. Vernon and New Rochelle both lost population, a decline attributed to so-called "white flight." Seven Westchester villages--Bronxville, Hastings-on-Hudson, Mamaroneck, Pelham Manor, Scarsdale, Tarrytown and Tuckahoe--also lost population in the same period.
Of Westchester's 288,200 acres, 46% are given over to residential use; 13% to nonresidential use; 19% to open space, including parks, water supply lands, nature preserves and cemeteries. Eighteen percent of its acreage remains undeveloped, and 4% is classified as interior bodies of water. An analysis of open space yields some interesting facts. Croton-on-Hudson has every right to be proud: Among all Westchester villages, it devotes the most acreage, 1,113 acres, to open space--36.5% of its area. Buchanan (3.5%) and Port Chester (4.4%) are at the bottom of the list of the 43 Westchester cities, town and villages in percentage of open space. Even tiny Pelham, only eight-tenths of a square mile in area, devotes a higher percentage of its area and more acreage to open space than does Buchanan, almost twice its size at 1.5 square miles.
Population density is derived by dividing population by square mileage. The most densely populated municipality in Westchester is Mount Vernon, with 15,541 persons per square mile, followed by Yonkers, Tuckahoe, Pelham, Ossining, New Rochelle, Bronxville, Larchmont, Mamaroneck and Eastchester. Least densely populated is the town of Pound Ridge (only 291 persons a square mile), followed by North Castle, Lewisboro, Bedford, Somers, New Castle, Cortlandt and Yorktown.
If you need proof that women live longer than men, consider the following statistic: In the 2,000 Census, among children five years and under in Westchester, males slightly outnumbered females. Among Westchester's 17,659 oldsters 85 and over, however, females outnumbered males by a ratio of 72% to 28%.
The print media, once fierce bastions of independence and investigative reporting, now fail to paint a true picture of conditions under a foolish self-imposed censorship. A case in point is the lack of coverage of the disastrous effect our ill-advised Iraq adventure is having on the morale of stretched-thin troops, particularly in Reserve and National Guard components. Over this past Labor Day weekend, trouble broke out at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where the 1st Battalion of the 178th Field Artillery Regiment of the South Carolina National Guard was in training for duty in Iraq. Thirteen members of the unit went AWOL, primarily to see their families in South Carolina again before shipping out. An angry confrontation erupted between members of Alpha and Charlie batteries (the term used in artillery units instead of "companies"). Base MP's had to intervene and break it up. During a barracks inspection, alcohol was found, and troops were restricted to barracks.
Because the Pentagon failed to foresee and plan for an extended occupation of Iraq, the Army still lacks enough military police units. The South Carolina artillerymen were being hastily retrained as MP's to escort supply convoys in Iraq. Under the accelerated schedule, the unit's soldiers had received only about 36 hours' leave in two months. Hours were long, and soldiers were restricted to the post and not allowed to wear civilian clothes when off duty. In order to bring the unit to full strength, new soldiers had been transferred from other Guard units. Unfamiliar faces understandably tend to make for low unit morale. To make matters worse, Fort Dix is also home to a federal prison. Many in the 178th felt that the incarcerated prisoners had more rights than the soldiers.
Situations like this are the result of the Pentagon's decision not to increase the size of the forces in Iraq. Forty percent of the 140,000 troops there now are Reserve and National Guard members. Military experts predict a big drop in new enlistments and unwillingness to "re-up" (re-enlist) by those now serving when terms of service expire. The Pentagon's self-created manpower problems will only be exacerbated, making the draft even more likely.
"Westchester's getting too crowded!" Who hasn't heard that complaint recently? Continuing our study of Westchester's statistics, let's see what the situation really is in terms of population growth and density. With its 450.5 square miles, Westchester is among the larger counties in the United States. And its population is larger than eight of the 50 states. At the turn of the last century, it was home to 184,257 persons. A hundred years later, its population had grown to 923,459 residents, an increase of 410%. Most of the growth was in the southern part of the county, especially in the early decades. The cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers, fourth largest in the state, more than doubled their populations by the end of the First World War. In the twentieth century, Peekskill's population grew from 10,358 to 22,441 (117%), most of its growth having taken place by 1960.
The fastest growing Westchester town or village in the previous century was Scarsdale. Its 1900 population of 885 increased twentyfold to 17,823. Had the entire county grown at that rate, Westchester population of under a million in 2000 would have been 3.7 million. In the same hundred years, the town of Cortlandt's population of 8,345 (outside the village of Croton-on-Hudson; Buchanan wasn't incorporated until 1927) grew to 28,672 persons, or 410%; in the period, Croton's population swelled from 1,533 to 7,606, an astonishing 396%--but much of this was accomplished before 1960, including its accession of the hamlets of Harmon and Mt. Airy in 1932. In the twentieth century, the town of Ossining's population of 2,956 (not including the villages of Ossining and Briarcliff Manor, which did not exist in 1900) grew by 87% to 5,514. Ossining village's population increased from 7,939 to 24,010, or 202%. Briarcliff Manor, which made its first appearance in a Census in 1910, grew from 950 residents to 7,696.
A close study of Croton's statistics reveals its recent population patterns. In the 1940 Census, its population stood at 3,843. It grew by 77% to 6,812 in the 1960 Census. In the next 30 years, however, Croton's population increased by only 206 persons. Between 1990 and 2000, 588 new Crotonites were added, more than twice the number added in the previous 30 years, thanks to a spate of building. But in the 40 years between 1960 and 2000, Croton grew by only 794 persons (12%), or about 20 persons a year. Croton has now virtually run out of available building lots.
Population changes are not always in the plus column. Communities tend to go through cycles that can be described as youth--characterized by growth, middle age--a period of retrenchment, and old age, a time when housing stocks become older and need restoration or replacement, traffic patterns change, and neighborhoods decline. Between 1960 and 2000, the cities of Mt. Vernon and New Rochelle both lost population, a decline attributed to so-called "white flight." Seven Westchester villages--Bronxville, Hastings-on-Hudson, Mamaroneck, Pelham Manor, Scarsdale, Tarrytown and Tuckahoe--also lost population in the same period.
Of Westchester's 288,200 acres, 46% are given over to residential use; 13% to nonresidential use; 19% to open space, including parks, water supply lands, nature preserves and cemeteries. Eighteen percent of its acreage remains undeveloped, and 4% is classified as interior bodies of water. An analysis of open space yields some interesting facts. Croton-on-Hudson has every right to be proud: Among all Westchester villages, it devotes the most acreage, 1,113 acres, to open space--36.5% of its area. Buchanan (3.5%) and Port Chester (4.4%) are at the bottom of the list of the 43 Westchester cities, town and villages in percentage of open space. Even tiny Pelham, only eight-tenths of a square mile in area, devotes a higher percentage of its area and more acreage to open space than does Buchanan, almost twice its size at 1.5 square miles.
Population density is derived by dividing population by square mileage. The most densely populated municipality in Westchester is Mount Vernon, with 15,541 persons per square mile, followed by Yonkers, Tuckahoe, Pelham, Ossining, New Rochelle, Bronxville, Larchmont, Mamaroneck and Eastchester. Least densely populated is the town of Pound Ridge (only 291 persons a square mile), followed by North Castle, Lewisboro, Bedford, Somers, New Castle, Cortlandt and Yorktown.
If you need proof that women live longer than men, consider the following statistic: In the 2,000 Census, among children five years and under in Westchester, males slightly outnumbered females. Among Westchester's 17,659 oldsters 85 and over, however, females outnumbered males by a ratio of 72% to 28%.
The print media, once fierce bastions of independence and investigative reporting, now fail to paint a true picture of conditions under a foolish self-imposed censorship. A case in point is the lack of coverage of the disastrous effect our ill-advised Iraq adventure is having on the morale of stretched-thin troops, particularly in Reserve and National Guard components. Over this past Labor Day weekend, trouble broke out at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where the 1st Battalion of the 178th Field Artillery Regiment of the South Carolina National Guard was in training for duty in Iraq. Thirteen members of the unit went AWOL, primarily to see their families in South Carolina again before shipping out. An angry confrontation erupted between members of Alpha and Charlie batteries (the term used in artillery units instead of "companies"). Base MP's had to intervene and break it up. During a barracks inspection, alcohol was found, and troops were restricted to barracks.
Because the Pentagon failed to foresee and plan for an extended occupation of Iraq, the Army still lacks enough military police units. The South Carolina artillerymen were being hastily retrained as MP's to escort supply convoys in Iraq. Under the accelerated schedule, the unit's soldiers had received only about 36 hours' leave in two months. Hours were long, and soldiers were restricted to the post and not allowed to wear civilian clothes when off duty. In order to bring the unit to full strength, new soldiers had been transferred from other Guard units. Unfamiliar faces understandably tend to make for low unit morale. To make matters worse, Fort Dix is also home to a federal prison. Many in the 178th felt that the incarcerated prisoners had more rights than the soldiers.
Situations like this are the result of the Pentagon's decision not to increase the size of the forces in Iraq. Forty percent of the 140,000 troops there now are Reserve and National Guard members. Military experts predict a big drop in new enlistments and unwillingness to "re-up" (re-enlist) by those now serving when terms of service expire. The Pentagon's self-created manpower problems will only be exacerbated, making the draft even more likely.
Labels: Nobody Archive
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Nobody Asked Me, But . . . (11/04/04)
NOBODY ARCHIVE
Isn't it time that we looked at the awkward conglomeration of overlapping communities that is Westchester County? Shouldn't we streamline this unwieldy, balkanized monstrosity and its multiple layers of taxation and duplicated cheek-by-jowl departments? The county is made up of 19 towns, each administered by a supervisor, 6 cities and 20 villages, each administered by a mayor, plus dozens of hamlets of varying sizes. Another category, designated as a "town/village," comprises villages that have the same boundaries with towns under New York State law--Mount Kisco, Scarsdale and Harrison. The latter became a town/village in 1977 when the hamlet of Purchase sought to secede from the town of Harrison. To prevent this, the town made itself a town/village. (Hamlets can secede from towns--but not from villages.) Harrison has both a supervisor and a mayor, although the same person holds both titles. Mount Kisco and Scarsdale each get along with only a mayor.
Nomenclature can be downright confusing. There's an Ossining town and an Ossining village, and a Mamaroneck town and a Mamaroneck village. Two villages, Briarcliff Manor and Mamaroneck, each lie in two towns. Briarcliff Manor is split between the towns of Ossining and Mount Pleasant; Mamaroneck is in the towns of Rye and Mamaroneck.
Westchester County's area is 450.5 square miles, 72% of which is in towns, 16% in villages and 12% in cities. Bedford and Yorktown are the largest towns, each at 39.5 square miles; Ossining (3.0 sq.mi.), the smallest. Among towns, Greenburgh has the most population and Pound Ridge the least. Westchester's six cities are Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Peekskill, Rye, White Plains and Yonkers--the largest city in area, as well as the most populous. Peekskill is the smallest city in area. Rye has the smallest population. In descending order of area in northwestern Westchester are Briarcliff Manor, 6.0 sq.mi.; Croton-on-Hudson, 4.9 sq.mi.; the city of Peekskill, 4.6 sq.mi.; Ossining village, 3.2 sq.mi.; Buchanan, the smallest, only 1.5 sq.mi. Their populations are: Ossining village, 24,229; Peekskill, 23,436; Briarcliff Manor, 7,906; Croton-on-Hudson, 7,801; Buchanan, 2,224.
The most densely populated town in Westchester is Eastchester; Pound Ridge is the least densely populated. Mount Vernon is the most densely populated city; Rye is the least densely populated. Tuckahoe and Port Chester are the most densely populated villages. The least densely populated village is Briarcliff Manor. Population density is a function of lot size and the number of multiple dwellings. Overall, Westchester's population density is 2,087 persons per square mile.
In northwestern Westchester, the most densely populated place in terms of persons per square mile is the village of Ossining (7,572), making it even more densely populated than the city of Peekskill (5,095). Other village population densities are: Croton-on-Hudson (1,592); Buchanan (1,482); Briarcliff Manor (1,318). Town densities are: Ossining (1,651) and Cortlandt (848).
It's the law. Did you know that two countries--Australia and Belgium--require citizens to vote in elections? Those who don't show up at polling places may be fined or even jailed.
A Parallel History? Reading Thucydides' History of the Pelopponesian War in the Rex Warner translation, one is struck by the eerie parallel between the Athenian expedition against Sicily and our invasion of Iraq. The Pelopponesian War was fought between Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 B.C., with a minimally honored truce in the middle period. Greece is a collection of city-states, often warring with one another. The Mediterranean is virtually a Greek lake, with Hellenic colonies in Sicily, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and across North Africa to the very shores of the Atlantic. The Greek colony at Segesta on the island of Sicily is in danger of being attacked by the city of Syracuse, the richest and most powerful city on the island.
Tempted by the great wealth that awaits in Sicily, the Athenians call an assembly and vote to mount an expedition, appointing as commanders Nicias, Alcibiades and Lamachus. Nicias does not wish to be chosen, convinced that Sparta is still the main enemy. His advice is: "In going to Sicily, you are leaving many enemies behind you, and you apparently want to make new ones there and have them also on your hands. Even if we did conquer the Sicilians, there are so many of them and they are so far off that it would be difficult to govern them. It is senseless to go against people who, even if conquered could not be controlled, while failure would leave us much worse off than we were before we made the attempt."
Nicias continues, "The next best thing is to make a demonstration of our power and then after a short time, go away again. We all know that what is admired is what is farthest off and least liable to have its reputation put to the test. The right thing is that we should spend our new gains at home and on ourselves instead of on these exiles who are begging for assistance and whose interest it is to tell lies and make us believe them, who have nothing to contribute themselves except speeches, who leave all danger to others and, if they are successful, will not be properly grateful, while if they fail in any way they will involve their friends in their own ruin."
Countering Nicias, hot-headed Alcibiades points out that the reason Athens had supported Segesta was to make the colony "a thorn in the flesh of our enemies in Sicily, and so prevent them from coming here to attack us." He argues for a preemptive war, saying, "One does not only defend oneself against a superior power when one is attacked; one takes measures in advance to prevent the attack materializing. And it is not possible for us to calculate, like housekeepers, exactly how much empire we want to have."
Nicias responds by pointing out the immensity of the undertaking and the large number of ships and men that would be required--to no avail. "The Athenians, however, far from losing their appetite for the voyage because of the difficulties in preparing for it, became more enthusiastic about it than ever," Thucydides writes. "The result of this excessive enthusiasm of the majority was that the few who actually were opposed to the expedition were afraid of being thought unpatriotic if they voted against it."
The assembly opts for war and gathers an invasion fleet of 134 triremes, huge warships with three tiers of oars on each side, and merchant ships loaded with corn for the troops, which consists of more than five thousand heavily armed soldiers called hoplites, 480 archers and 700 slingers, unerringly accurate in casting stones. As it turns out the invasion force is not large enough for the task. Thucydides writes that the Athenians "were for the most part ignorant of the size of the island and of the number of its inhabitants both Hellenic and native, and they did not realize that they were taking on a war of almost the same magnitude as their war against the Peloponnesians." Two years later, the Athenian fleet and expeditionary army are defeated by Syracuse in a decisive battle. Nicias, the reluctant general, and the captured remnants of the Athenian force are put to work in stone quarries. Thucydides writes, "Their losses were total; army, navy, everything was destroyed, and, out of many, only few returned."
Isn't it time that we looked at the awkward conglomeration of overlapping communities that is Westchester County? Shouldn't we streamline this unwieldy, balkanized monstrosity and its multiple layers of taxation and duplicated cheek-by-jowl departments? The county is made up of 19 towns, each administered by a supervisor, 6 cities and 20 villages, each administered by a mayor, plus dozens of hamlets of varying sizes. Another category, designated as a "town/village," comprises villages that have the same boundaries with towns under New York State law--Mount Kisco, Scarsdale and Harrison. The latter became a town/village in 1977 when the hamlet of Purchase sought to secede from the town of Harrison. To prevent this, the town made itself a town/village. (Hamlets can secede from towns--but not from villages.) Harrison has both a supervisor and a mayor, although the same person holds both titles. Mount Kisco and Scarsdale each get along with only a mayor.
Nomenclature can be downright confusing. There's an Ossining town and an Ossining village, and a Mamaroneck town and a Mamaroneck village. Two villages, Briarcliff Manor and Mamaroneck, each lie in two towns. Briarcliff Manor is split between the towns of Ossining and Mount Pleasant; Mamaroneck is in the towns of Rye and Mamaroneck.
Westchester County's area is 450.5 square miles, 72% of which is in towns, 16% in villages and 12% in cities. Bedford and Yorktown are the largest towns, each at 39.5 square miles; Ossining (3.0 sq.mi.), the smallest. Among towns, Greenburgh has the most population and Pound Ridge the least. Westchester's six cities are Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Peekskill, Rye, White Plains and Yonkers--the largest city in area, as well as the most populous. Peekskill is the smallest city in area. Rye has the smallest population. In descending order of area in northwestern Westchester are Briarcliff Manor, 6.0 sq.mi.; Croton-on-Hudson, 4.9 sq.mi.; the city of Peekskill, 4.6 sq.mi.; Ossining village, 3.2 sq.mi.; Buchanan, the smallest, only 1.5 sq.mi. Their populations are: Ossining village, 24,229; Peekskill, 23,436; Briarcliff Manor, 7,906; Croton-on-Hudson, 7,801; Buchanan, 2,224.
The most densely populated town in Westchester is Eastchester; Pound Ridge is the least densely populated. Mount Vernon is the most densely populated city; Rye is the least densely populated. Tuckahoe and Port Chester are the most densely populated villages. The least densely populated village is Briarcliff Manor. Population density is a function of lot size and the number of multiple dwellings. Overall, Westchester's population density is 2,087 persons per square mile.
In northwestern Westchester, the most densely populated place in terms of persons per square mile is the village of Ossining (7,572), making it even more densely populated than the city of Peekskill (5,095). Other village population densities are: Croton-on-Hudson (1,592); Buchanan (1,482); Briarcliff Manor (1,318). Town densities are: Ossining (1,651) and Cortlandt (848).
It's the law. Did you know that two countries--Australia and Belgium--require citizens to vote in elections? Those who don't show up at polling places may be fined or even jailed.
A Parallel History? Reading Thucydides' History of the Pelopponesian War in the Rex Warner translation, one is struck by the eerie parallel between the Athenian expedition against Sicily and our invasion of Iraq. The Pelopponesian War was fought between Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 B.C., with a minimally honored truce in the middle period. Greece is a collection of city-states, often warring with one another. The Mediterranean is virtually a Greek lake, with Hellenic colonies in Sicily, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and across North Africa to the very shores of the Atlantic. The Greek colony at Segesta on the island of Sicily is in danger of being attacked by the city of Syracuse, the richest and most powerful city on the island.
Tempted by the great wealth that awaits in Sicily, the Athenians call an assembly and vote to mount an expedition, appointing as commanders Nicias, Alcibiades and Lamachus. Nicias does not wish to be chosen, convinced that Sparta is still the main enemy. His advice is: "In going to Sicily, you are leaving many enemies behind you, and you apparently want to make new ones there and have them also on your hands. Even if we did conquer the Sicilians, there are so many of them and they are so far off that it would be difficult to govern them. It is senseless to go against people who, even if conquered could not be controlled, while failure would leave us much worse off than we were before we made the attempt."
Nicias continues, "The next best thing is to make a demonstration of our power and then after a short time, go away again. We all know that what is admired is what is farthest off and least liable to have its reputation put to the test. The right thing is that we should spend our new gains at home and on ourselves instead of on these exiles who are begging for assistance and whose interest it is to tell lies and make us believe them, who have nothing to contribute themselves except speeches, who leave all danger to others and, if they are successful, will not be properly grateful, while if they fail in any way they will involve their friends in their own ruin."
Countering Nicias, hot-headed Alcibiades points out that the reason Athens had supported Segesta was to make the colony "a thorn in the flesh of our enemies in Sicily, and so prevent them from coming here to attack us." He argues for a preemptive war, saying, "One does not only defend oneself against a superior power when one is attacked; one takes measures in advance to prevent the attack materializing. And it is not possible for us to calculate, like housekeepers, exactly how much empire we want to have."
Nicias responds by pointing out the immensity of the undertaking and the large number of ships and men that would be required--to no avail. "The Athenians, however, far from losing their appetite for the voyage because of the difficulties in preparing for it, became more enthusiastic about it than ever," Thucydides writes. "The result of this excessive enthusiasm of the majority was that the few who actually were opposed to the expedition were afraid of being thought unpatriotic if they voted against it."
The assembly opts for war and gathers an invasion fleet of 134 triremes, huge warships with three tiers of oars on each side, and merchant ships loaded with corn for the troops, which consists of more than five thousand heavily armed soldiers called hoplites, 480 archers and 700 slingers, unerringly accurate in casting stones. As it turns out the invasion force is not large enough for the task. Thucydides writes that the Athenians "were for the most part ignorant of the size of the island and of the number of its inhabitants both Hellenic and native, and they did not realize that they were taking on a war of almost the same magnitude as their war against the Peloponnesians." Two years later, the Athenian fleet and expeditionary army are defeated by Syracuse in a decisive battle. Nicias, the reluctant general, and the captured remnants of the Athenian force are put to work in stone quarries. Thucydides writes, "Their losses were total; army, navy, everything was destroyed, and, out of many, only few returned."
Labels: Nobody Archive
