1. Understanding America: Post-industrial Cities A New Haven Case Study
October 24, 2017
OISS Understanding America Speaker Series
Peter Crumlish, Executive Director & General Secretary

3. Revelation 21:16
The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia[a] in length, and as wide and high as it is long.

6. History of New Haven and Yale
The New Haven area was the home of the Quinnipiac tribe of Native Americans before the arrival of Europeans.
In 1637 Puritans began settling in New Haven in search of creating theological community. Land was “purchased” from the Quinnipiac tribe shortly after.
Yale was founded in 1701 in nearby Saybrook, CT as the Collegiate School to educate students for “Publick employment both in Church and Civil State.”
Yale University moved to New Haven in 1716.

9. Factors Influencing Location Industry
Availability of raw materials
Availability of Labor
Proximity to Markets
Transportation Facilities
Availability (and proximity) of power

12. New Haven’s First Industrialists
Eli Whitney ( ): Cotton Gin, arms manufacturing
Simeon North ( ): milling, interchangeable parts
Elisha Cheney: clocks, brasswork

13. New Haven’s First Industrialists
Textiles
Silverware
Sewing machines
Carriages
Clocks and watches
Firearms and ammunition

15. New Haven’s Economic Growth
During the Civil War, the local economy was boosted with wartime purchases, especially arms and ammunition
The influx of southern European immigrants doubled the population of the city by the start of the 20th century.
Industry continued to thrive during the World Wars

17. New Haven after WWII
After World War II, industries began to leave Northeastern cities like New Haven
After World War II, African Americans from the American South and Puerto Ricans migrated to the city in search of manufacturing jobs
Much of the white middle-class left New Haven for the suburbs
From 1953 to 1958 the Urban Renewal Program in New Haven cleared “slums” to create highways and civic resources like hospitals and museums, creating isolated communities in public housing and segregated neighborhoods

18. Factors Affecting Urban Decline
“Redlining”: National Housing Act of 1934

20. Factors Affecting Urban Decline
“Redlining”: National Housing Act of 1934
“Blockbusting”

22. Factors Affecting Urban Decline
“Redlining”: National Housing Act of 1934
“Blockbusting”
GI Bill

24. Factors Affecting Urban Decline
“Redlining”: National Housing Act of 1934
“Blockbusting”
GI Bill
Speculative Lenders

26. Urban Renewal
Mayor Dick Lee ( ) New Haven as the “Model City”

35. Neighborhoods / Project Areas
As this New Haven Redevelopment Agency map illustrates, during the 1950s and 1960s, nearly every neighborhood in New Haven became a redevelopment “project area.”

36. Oak Street Neighborhood c. 1950

37. Route 34 c. 1960

43. A Tale of Two Connecticuts
New Haven
Population
3,574,097
129,779
Homeownership Rate (%)
69.5%
31.6%
Per Capita Income
$36,468
$21,789
Median Household Income
$66,906
$38,963
Persons Below Poverty Level (%)
9.3%
25.2%

45. 2008 Honda Civic LX Sedan – Tax Due 8/1/15
Kelley Blue Book Value, 75K miles, Very Good condition: $9,306
70% Market Value Tax Assessment: $6,514
Greenwich, CT ( mill rate): $71.45
New Haven, CT (41.55 mill rate): $270.66
Hamden, CT (39.93 mill rate): $260.10
Milford, CT (27.22 mill rate): $177.31
Hartford, CT (74.29 mill rate): $483.93

46. 2010 Honda Civic LX Sedan – Tax Due 8/1/16
Kelley Blue Book Value, 75K miles, Very Good condition: $9,306
70% Market Value Tax Assessment: $6,514
Greenwich, CT ( mill rate): $73.42
New Haven, CT (41.55 mill rate, 32 mill cap): $208.45
Hamden, CT (40.87 mill rate, 32 mill cap): $208.45
Milford, CT (27.88 mill rate): $181.61
Hartford, CT (74.29 mill rate, 32 mill rate): $208.45

47. New Haven Public Schools
20,759 students enrolled
Asian American
1.24%
African American
54.82%
Hispanic
30.95%
Indian American
0.05%
White
11.08%
Other
1.86%
In 2015 there were 42,428 Black residents and 40,866 White residents in New Haven.

52. Final Words of Inspiration

53. Final Words of Inspiration
“…there are certain things in our nation and in the world which I am proud to be maladjusted [to].... I say very honestly that I never intend to become adjusted to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry. I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism, to self‐defeating effects of physical violence….” The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)

54. Thank You! Any questions?