Burlington

Burlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was first settled in 1641, and was officially incorporated on February 28, 1799. It is believed that Burlington takes its name from the English town of Bridlington, Yorkshire, but this has never been confirmed. In colonial times up through the late 19th century, there was an industry in the mills along Vine Brook, which runs from Lexington to Bedford and then empties into the Shawsheen River. Between 1955 and 1965 Burlington was the fastest growing town in the state. In one five-year period, its population tripled as residential and commercial retail development exploded creating the town's present character. The town has a total area of 11.9 square miles (31 km²), of which 11.8 sq mi (31km) is land and 0.1sq mi (0.26 km²) is water. The largest body of water is the 500-million-US-gallon (1,900,000 m3) Mill Pond Reservoir in the eastern part of the town. The highest point is Greenleaf Mountain (290 feet (88 m) above sea level), and its lowest point is the Great Meadow 150 feet (46 m)Above sea level. Burlington is 12 miles (19 km) south of Lowell, 12 miles. (19km) northwest of Boston, 36 miles (58 km) southeast of Fitchburg, and 224 miles (360 km) from New York City.

History

Burlington was first settled in 1641, and was officially incorporated on February 28, 1799. The town is sited on the watersheds of the Ipswich, Mystic, and Shawsheen rivers. For most of its history, it was almost entirely agricultural, selling hops and rye to Boston and supplementing that income with small shoe-making shops. Between 1955 and 1965 Burlington was the fastest growing town in the state. In one five-year period, its population tripled as residential and commercial retail development exploded creating the town's present character. It is currently a residential and professional hub, with a population of around 2,000. It was once the largest town in New Hampshire, but is now a suburban industrial town at the junction of the Boston-Merrimack corridor. It has been named after the English town of Bridlington, Yorkshire, but this has never been confirmed. It's believed that the town was founded in the early 16th century, but the exact date of its founding has not been confirmed by the town officials. The current mayor of the town is Julian Zelizer, who has served as mayor since 2007. He is a former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and served as chairman of the New Hampshire Senate from 2000 to 2008. He was elected to a second term in 2008. The mayor of Burlington was elected for a third term in 2012, the first time in his political career that he had been elected to serve two consecutive terms. He has been re-elected to a fourth term in 2014.

Geography

Located in the Greater Boston Area of eastern Massachusetts, Burlington is bordered by Bedford on the west, Billerica on the north, Wilmington on the northeast, Woburn on the southeast, and Lexington on the south. Its highest point is Greenleaf Mountain (290 feet (88 m) above sea level), and its lowest point is the Great Meadow 150 feet (46 m)above sea level. The largest body of water is the 500-million-US-gallon (1,900,000 m3) Mill Pond Reservoir in the eastern part of the town. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 11.9 square miles (31 km²), of which 11.8 square miles of land and 0.1 sq mi (0.26 km²) of water. There are different area codes in Burlington: 781, 617, and 339. The town is 12 miles (19 km) northwest of Boston, 36 miles (58 km) southeast of Fitchburg, and 224 miles (360 km) from New York City. The elevation at Town Hall is 220 feet (67 m), and the highest point in the town is Greenleaf Mountain, at 290 feet (90 m). The town's highest elevation is The Great Meadow, at 150ft (46m), while the lowest is the Town Hall, at 220ft (67m), at 220 feet. It is located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, which connects Boston to New York.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 24,498 people, 9,668 households, and 6,374 families residing in the town. The racial makeup of the town was 79.2% White, 3.3% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 13.4% Asian,0.02% Pacific Islander, and 0.86% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4%. As of 2019, 23.8% of the residents of Burlington were born outside of the United States. In 2014, the median household income stood at $95,465. The per capita income was $41,849 and 4.7% of residents lived below the poverty line. The median income for a household in the city was $86,052, and the medianincome for a family was $99,123. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.18. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.6% under the age of 18, 6. 3% from 18 to 24, 31.1%. For every 100 females age 18 and over, There were 93.7 males. The. median age was 38 years. For every100 females, there are 97.0 males. For. every 100 males age 18 or over, there is a median age of 38. For each 100 females, There is a. median income of $55,635 versus $36,486 for females.

Arts and culture

Burlington is home to the Town Common and Simonds Park. The Mill Pond Conservation Area is in the eastern part of town bordering Woburn and Wilmington. Mary Cummings Park was envisioned as one of the great public parks of Greater Boston, but it fell into great neglect. The Kevin James movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop was filmed in the Burlington Mall, and scenes from the Ben Affleck movie The Company Men were filmed in an office building off of Wall Street near Route 128. There are multiple parks and public recreation facilities throughout town which have basketball courts, tennis courts, baseball fields, soccer fields, gymnasia, and an indoor skating rink (Burlington Ice Palace) and a skatepark. The Burlington Landlocked Forest consists of 270 acres (1.1 km²) of hiking-mountain biking trails, vernal pools, abundant wildlife, historic stone walls and other structures, meadows, and old-growth forest. The majority of the land is owned by the Town of Burlington, which has kept it as open space since acquiring it by eminent domain in 1985. The main trailhead to the Forest is located at the intersection of Routes 3 and 62 in Bedford. A secondary trailhead can be found on Turning Mill Road in Lexington, under the power lines at the site of the future West Lexington Greenway. In 2017, the Burlington Town Meeting voted to rezone the land asopen space. In recent years, the City of Boston has tried to discourage public access and has investigated selling the park to fund the Rose Kennedy greenway.

Government

Burlington is governed by a 126-member representative Town Meeting (18 representatives elected per precinct) and a five-member executive Select Board. The Burlington Police Department (BPD) has the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation in the town of Burlington. Route 128/I-95 and Route 3 traverse through Burlington and motor vehicle laws are enforced primarily by the Massachusetts State Police on these roadways. Burlington Cable Access Television (BCAT) is a non-profit Public-access television cable TV facility that was formed in 1987. BCAT operates three: Public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channels. Town meetings and events can also be seen on demand on BCAT's website. Burlington is one of 54 law enforcement agencies that comprise the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) The Burlington Fire Department has a force of 41 Firefighters and 16 Officers who are commanded by Chief Michael Patterson. 3 engines, 1 tower, and 1 BLS and 1 ALS rescue/ambulance respond from 2 fire stations and average over 3,200 runs annually. Burlington also operates a hazardous materials/cascade unit and a brush unit and is located at 21 Center Street in Burlington. It is located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, which runs from Boston to Springfield. It has a population of 3,000 and is home to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, which has a campus of 1,500 students. It also has a post office, postmaster, postmistress, and police station.

Education

Burlington has six public schools (four elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school) The elementary schools are Fox Hill, Francis Wyman, Memorial, and Pine Glen. The middle school is Marshall Simonds. The high school is Burlington High School. Burlington is also the home to a satellite campus of Northeastern University. The town operates a Before and After School Program and offers an integrated preschool program. In addition to the public schools, Burlington is home to several private schools. It is also home to the Shawsheen Valley Technical High School, which is a state-funded technical high school. It also offers a pre-kindergarten program and an after-school program for children in the area. The city has a number of parks, including one named after a former mayor of the town, which was named after Marshall Simond. It has also been the site of a World War II-era air base, the Burlington Air Force Base, and the Burlington Army and Navy Base, which were built in the 1940s and 1950s. It was also the location of the U.S. Air Force Academy, which opened in the 1950s and is now the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The U.N. campus is located in the town's downtown area, and is known as the "Burlington Campus" The town also has its own high school, Burlington High, and a technical college, the Shaw sheen Valley Valley Technical College, which began in the 1970s.

Economy

Companies based in Burlington include: Avid Technology, Endurance International Group, Greylock Partners, Keurig Dr Pepper, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, and Nuance Communications. Burlington is home to the U.S. Army's Burlington Barracks, which is located on the Burlington River. The city is also home to Burlington University, which was founded in 1875. The town's population is around 6,000 people, and it has a population of about 20,000. It is the second largest city in the state, after Burlington, New York, with 4,000 residents. It also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the United States, at 0.7%. The city's economy is based on manufacturing, which accounts for about 10% of the city's GDP. It's also the second-largest city in New York state, behind New York City, with 3,500 residents. The state's unemployment rate is 2.7%, which is the lowest in the country. It has the highest unemployment rate in the region, at 1.8%. It is also the fourth-highest in the nation, after New York and New Jersey, with 1.9% and 1.7% respectively. The region's economy has been growing at a rate of 0.8% annually since the start of the decade. It was the fastest-growing in the US in 2008, with a growth rate of 1.6%. The town has a high unemployment rate of 2.2% in 2008.

Infrastructure

Routes 128 (I-95), 3, 3A and, 62 passes through Burlington. MBTA bus routes 350, 351, 352 and 354 operated by the MBTA run through the town. The closest MBTA 'T' subway stations are Alewife, Cambridge, and Wellington Station, Medford. Commuter Rail and Logan Express services are available at the Anderson Regional Transportation Center in neighboring Woburn, about 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east. The town is located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, which runs from Boston to New York City. It is also on the New England Rail Trail, which connects Boston to the East Coast and the New York and Long Island Rail Road. The city is also home to the Massachusetts State Museum, which opened in 1875. It was the first city in the United States to be named after a city, and the first in the state to have a public library. It also has the first high school in the U.S. to open in 1876. It has been the site of the Boston Marathon bombings, which took place on September 11, 1972. The Boston Marathon was the second-busiest race in history, behind only New York's. The race was won by Michael J. Dukakis, who took off from New York for the White House in 1974. The last time it was so close to the finish line was in 1988, when it took off again for New York. The first time since the Second World War that the city had a population of more than 1 million people.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Burlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts = 43.5. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 43. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Burlington = 3.5 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 2,086 individuals with a median age of 41.1 age the population grows by 12.11% in Burlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,200 residents per square mile of area (860/km²). There are average 2.72 people per household in the 9,411 households with an average household income of $91,105 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.10% of the available work force and has dropped -4.07% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 24.76%. The number of physicians in Burlington per 100,000 population = 389.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Burlington = 47.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 62.1 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 133. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 203. 82 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 15.4 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 49, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Burlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts which are owned by the occupant = 78.01%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 39 years with median home cost = $369,170 and home appreciation of 1.67%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $11.70 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $8,786 per student. There are 12.6 students for each teacher in the school, 905 students for each Librarian and 243 students for each Counselor. 7.80% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 26.50% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 15.21% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).