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Fordham University GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SERVICE SWKO 6208 Human Behavior & the Social Environment I Neighborhood Assessment - Bethel Connecticut By: Daniel R. Gaita February 2014

Demographic Background Bethel Connecticut is a small New England town with a population, according to the 2010 United States Census, of 18,581 residents. The median age of the population is 42 with 51.3% female and 48.7& male. 7.6% of the community is Hispanic or Latino. Race demographics are charted below:

Bethel, CT Population % By Race & Ethincity

Source: US Census 1.8%4.5% 2.8%

White Black Asian 88.8% Other

31.1% of the population is made up of children under the age of 18. 35.9% of Bethel households have children under the age of 18 while 24.4% of households have individuals aged 65 and over. Bethel provides 7,306 housing units with 94.9% being occupied. 77.4% of these housing units are owner-occupied. (2010 Census)

Specific Neighborhood Economics Defined Bethel is located in the State of Connecticut, the wealthiest state in the United States and sits inside of Fairfield County, which has the highest per capita income in the state. As demonstrated in the charts below, Bethel has a lagging per capita income of only $36,608 placing it not only below the county average, but also below the State average. (US Census)

Bethel CT Income Vs. County, State and Nation

Source: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productvie w.xhtml?src=bkmk

Per Capita

Median Income

$88,286 $36,608

$100,593 $48,295

$84,170 $36,774

$62,982 $27,343

Bethel

Fairfield County

Connecticut

Nation

This subtle difference typically goes unnoticed by most. But to those tasked with creating annual budgets, this creates major challenges as the Towns residents are not financially equipped to provide the same level of services as neighboring communities. Because of the above mentioned challenges the town must either raise tax rates or increase fees to provide the same services or they must reduce or cut services all together.

Historical Development Bethel (which means house of God) first settled around 1700. A large number of Bethels affairs were handled through the Congregational church then. In April of 1777 Bethels historical records were burned by the British during the British raid on Danbury. In the late 1700s P.T. Barnums grandfather built one of the towns earliest hotels, the Barnum Tavern. The Town Center is also defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as an historic district. (US Census)

Geography and Environmental Influences Bethel has a town center of 4.1 square miles, a total area of 16.9 square miles with 16.8 square miles of land and .1 square mile of water. Bethel is bordered by Newtown to the east, Danbury to the west, Brookfield to the north and Redding to the south. Bethel is also conveniently situated along Interstate 84, as well as along Routes 6,58, 53, 25,and 302. The dynamic access to multiple local, state and federal roadways and infrastructures make Bethel an easy commute to surrounding areas. Bethel also sits along the Metro-North Railway system and has its own train station. This allows residents to easily find mass transportation to virtually any location in America, including the relatively close major cities of New York,

NY and Boston, MA. Additionally, Bethel is along the Danbury Housatonic Area Bus Transportation System (HART) route providing another means of accessing mass transportation to locations along designated routes.

Bethel sits in the Northeast region of the United States, her residents can look forward to enjoying four seasons and the spectacular display of colors in the fall and an amazing bloom of foliage and color in the spring and summer.

Beliefs and Attitudes Bethel has manifested into divided population segments. Not along race, ethnicity, or religion, but more along differing ideologies between the schoolees and townees. The schoolees are represented by the students, parents, teachers, and administrators while the townees are represented by the residents of the community living on fixed incomes that no longer have children in the school systems. Those fighting to fund the schools in Bethel often come up against those fighting to reign

in taxes and spending. The key factor in these differing ideologies lay in the interpretation and implementation of required state and federal education mandates.

Those outside of the education process are not aware of the influence that these mandates have on education costs thus they are not fully aware of how and why education costs continue to rise while their fixed incomes remain flat.

Bethel hosts several collective bargaining units, also known as Unions which compounds the challenge of increasing costs. Many have demonstrated reluctance to spending halts or reductions to wages, salary and benefits costs for member employees. As a result, when education budgets are voted down, teachers are laid off, class sizes grows, and the ripple effect punishes the next generation.

The townees believe the schools should not be asking for more money while at the same time the schoolees are trying to cut costs while maintaining all required educational mandates in order to obtain the promised state and federal education dollars, which are, by law due, for mandated education costs.

As these issues continue to surface during budget seasons, the townees and schoolees continue to battle with each other over annual budgets instead of

taking their frustration to the state and federal government for failing to fund 100% of their mandates as required by law.

A second key issue specific to local beliefs and attitudes is in the method by which the town provides selective funding for Non-Governmental-Agencies such as Meals On Wheel, and the Womens Center. Many residents have asked for line item authority via ballot to determine what agencies receive their tax dollars while others argue that taking away funds from any of the many agencies being currently funded would be detrimental.

Finally, Bethel is proud of its Town Hall form of government whereby its residents meet annually to agree upon or make changes to the Board of Finance and Board of Selectmens proposed budgets prior to that budget being placed on an annual referendum ballot for passage. Residents share a belief that this form of government keeps control of spending in the hands of the voters / tax payers, rather than a select few elected Selectmen.

Local Politics Bethel has approximately 11,000 registered voters, half of whom are registered unaffiliated and the other half split fairly evenly between the major Democratic and Republican Party. Dont let the simplicity of these numbers fool you. Every two years Bethel holds its local municipal elections and always gets to experience its form of democracy play out.

During nearly every two-year municipal election cycle, many frustrated residents form their own minor parties while they jockey their ballot line with other major parties to influence the outcome. Additionally, Bethel politics are known for some of the nastiest name-calling, blame games, finger pointing and misinformation trickery tactics in the area. As one political town committee member said, Bethel Republicans eat their young, while referring to the party leaderships resistance to new ideas and new faces witnessed during previous years. However, since 2009 both major political parties have improved their openness to new members and ideas.

Local Economy and Business As of 2011 Bethel has an overall labor force of 11,022 with 10,264 employed. The median home sales price in 2009 was $344,250. Located just 46 miles from the State Capitol of Hartford, 56 miles from New York City, and 140 miles from Boston and sitting along the MetroNorth Railroad, Bethel is considered by some, a prime location to settledown and focus on discovering and or continuing a great career. As can be seen

in the chart on the previous page, Bethel has a fairly diverse local economy with an eclectic selection of both industry and business. Major players in the local economy are Duracell Inc., Target, Eaton Corporation and the esteemed gem, Blue Jay Orchards, whose annual apple and pumpkin seasons draws crowds from across the country.

Income (and wealth) Distribution

Bethel & CT Income Type Distribtuion (2012)

Source: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productvie w.xhtml?src=bkmk

100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0%

Axis Title

Income From Earnings 80% 87.40%

Social Security 28.80% 23.40%

Retirement Income 17.70% 15%

Supplemen tal Security Income 3.60% 0.90%

Public Assistance Income 3% 1.20%

Food Stamp Income 9.50% 5.70%

CT Bethel

Source: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productvie w.xhtml?src=bkmk 25.00% % of population 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00%

Bethel CT Income Distribution (2012)

Housing The Town of Bethel has limited sources of age restricted, public assistance housing units. With only 80 units total, 40 of which are Section 8, and 40 are age and income restricted, Bethel has limited resources specific to low income housing for those most in need. 100% of the low-income age restricted units are occupied by residents earning less than $10,000 individually. Of those, 100% are between the ages of 46-93. While 80% of those are between the ages of 66-89. 73% are female and 26% male. (Housing Authority)

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Educational Facilities Bethel has a centrally located educational campus, The David W. Deakin Educational Park provides five schools from grades K-12 along with multiple sports and recreation fields and areas. Education enrollment has dropped in the recent years. As of 2010-2011 Bethel had 2,938 enrolled students in grades K-12. Breakdown of education specifics are detailed in the following charts provided by the 2010-2011 Bethel Strategic School Profiles report:

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Health and Welfare Systems Bethel has a single employee Social Services Department that coordinates with community charities, volunteer organizations, and churches to ensure basic needs can be met for those most in need. However, with only one employee for the entire department it can become frustrating for those seeking assistance to attain access to available services and aid.

Bethel has many local charities, food pantries and a consistently giving community base. Organizations like Brotherhood-In-Action, the Lions Club, Nights of Columbus, and many local churches and civic organizations provide much needed support for local residents and neighboring communities.

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Social Control and Safety Bethel is served by a full-time police force, two volunteer fire department and boasts one of the regions successful implementations of its paramedic intercept system that has reduced ambulance and paramedic response times from fifteen minutes down to five. Crime rate data is provided in the charts below, complements of: http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ct/bethel/crime/#data

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Sources of Information and Public Opinion Thanks to the internet and digitization, Bethel residents can find help, answers, and information on nearly all activities within the community via the links provided below. http://www.bethel-ct.gov - The official Town of Bethel website with available links to most forms, documents, agendas, minutes and municipal departments, boards and commissions. http://www.bethel.k12.ct.us - The official website for the Bethel, CT School District. http://bethel.patch.com - A local online forum for local news, blogs and information. http://www.bethelbulletin.com A local online forum for local news, blogs and information. https://www.facebook.com/groups/59892217473/ Bethel residents hosts multiple Facebook group pages acting as voter watchdog sites that also serve to provide broad information to residents and voters.

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Sources

2010 United States Census, Retrieved February 14th, 2014, from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml

Chesley, G.M., (2011). Bethel Public Schools, Strategic School Profile 2010-2011, Retrieved February 10th, 2014, from www.bethel.k12.ct.us Town of Bethel, Economic Development Information PDF (2011). Retrieved February 9th, 2014, from http://www.bethelct.gov/filestorage/1190/136/8405/Bethel_Brochure_v2.pdf

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