PLANNING UNITS

Middletown is one of the largest towns in Connecticut area-wise; it ranks twenty-fifth, out of the 169 municipalities in the State. The City has been divided into sections in many ways for various purposes. Natural divisions have been created by topographic features. Federal, State and local agencies also have divided Middletown for their own particular reasons. The 1965 plan of development broke up Middletown into fifteen analytic units.

This revision uses the 1970 Census Tracts as the basic planning units in Middletown. The City is divided into nine Census Tracts. Census tracts are small, permanently established geographic areas into which cities and counties are divided for statistical purposes. Tract boundaries are selected by a local tract committee, and approved by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Boundaries usually follow permanently and easily recognizable lines--- streets, railroads and creeks. Tract boundaries are designed to remain the same through time, so statistical comparisons can be made. This comparability of data is the reason for using Census Tracts as the neighborhood unit in local planning. The nine tracts can be characterized as follows:

5401: lands in the northern part of downtown section. This tract is a mixture of residential, industrial and central business uses.

5402: is primarily recent (since World War II) residential properties located west of the railroad tracks, near the Sebethe River.

5403: is the western most portion of the City. There are farms in this section , and undeveloped lands. This tract is a high density area, since it is the location of a planned residential area. Interstate 91 bisects 5403. The City's Sawmill Industrial Park is situated adjacent to this highway. Middletown's commercial strip-along Washington Street is in 5403.

5404: is close to the core of the City. It is chiefly comprised of lands and buildings owned by Wesleyan University.

5405: is in the south western corner of the City, just west of Route 17. While there are some industrial and commercial lands here, the tract is mostly residential. Middletown's largest PRD is in this tract. Also in the tract are a State vocational technical school, a private high school and 2 grammar schools.

5406: is situated north of Randolph Road. It is intensively developed by single family homes.

5407: is Middletown's central business district. Some of the street blocks here have been redeveloped or are slated for redevelopment.

5408: is State owned land and is where Connecticut Valley Hospital is located.

5409: is the largest tract in Middletown. it is in the south eastern portion of the City. Besides scattered residential development there are two large industrial plants. Most of the land here, however is still undeveloped.

1970 Census Tract Information
	Tract Numbers									Totals or Average
	5401	5402	5403	5404	5405	5406	5407	5408	5409
Area (sq. miles)	0.90	3.50	12.76	0.50	3.30	1.84	0.85	0.40	18.84	42.89
Population	4339	3997	5757	3094	4203	5705	3723	1924	4182	36924
Non-White Population	302	149	123	208	229	250	752	231	455	2699
Median Income	$9,868	$11,426	$13,141	$11,709	$11,105	$11,325	$10,188	$14,625	$10,965	$11,595
Housing Units	1685	1136	1745	748	1233	1935	1524	61	1238	11305
Average Value of owner occupied house	$21,408	$25,042	$28,965	$30,538	$26,383	$24614	$20,790	$20,078	$29,147	$25,218
Average rent for renter	$89	$124	$141	$110	$94	$105	$89	$76	$102	$103
Population Ages
0-19	1329	1848	2536	1098	1963	1790	1223	294	1862	13943
20-64	2548	2110	3117	1670	2265	3200	2138	1316	2215	20579
65 and over	573	160	349	383	220	872	450	365	290	3662
School enrollment
Private Nursery School	11	46	50	3	7	9	7	-	49	182
Public Nursery School	12	8	30	-	15	9	7	-	41	122
Total Nursery School	23	54	80	3	22	18	14	-	90	304
Private Kindergarten	4	30	7	5	9	-	-	7	10	72
Public Kindergarten	41	75	94	29	89	117	14	8	97	564
Total Kindergarten	45	105	101	34	98	117	14	15	107	636
Private Elementary School	122	126	177	63	183	86	118	101	69	1054
Public Elementary School	325	597	950	214	543	596	407	7	688	4327
Total Elementary School	447	723	1127	277	726	682	525	108	757	5372
Private High School	54	105	175	45	88	152	18	36	88	761
Public High School	111	173	236	69	391	182	175	5	289	1631
Total High School	165	278	411	114	479	334	193	41	377	2392
Total Private School	191	307	409	116	287	247	143	144	216	2060
Total Public School	489	853	1310	312	1038	904	603	20	1115	6644
Total School Enrollment	680	1160	1719	428	1325	1151	746	164	1331	8704
Economic
Median Income	$9,868	$11,426	$13,141	$11,709	$11,105	$11,325	$10,188	$14,625	$10,965	$11,595
Number of Families below poverty level	90	32	40	47	89	56	95	11	74	534
Housing
Housing Units by structure type
One Unit	232	697	1277	281	783	1255	217	32	903	5677
Two + Units	1453	439	438	466	450	679	1307	29	327	5588
Mobile Homes	-	-	27	1	-	1	-	-	8	37
Average Value of owner occupied house	$21,408	$25,042	$28,965	$30,538	$26,383	$24614	$20,790	$20,078	$29,147	$25,218
Average rent for renter	$89	$124	$141	$110	$94	$105	$89	$76	$102	$103
Persons per unit of occupied housing unit	2.65	3.54	3.39	2.73	3.37	2.91	2.52	3.26	3.58	3.11
Ethnic Characteristics
Native of Foreign or mixed parentage	1046	852	1616	578	1005	1869	1056	557	936	9515
Foreign Born	1004	202	376	378	337	537	444	250	235	3763
Foreign Stock	2050	1054	1992	956	1342	2406	1500	807	1171	13278
United Kingdom	42	58	171	81	190	190	50	48	98	928
Ireland (Erie)	81	36	142	38	30	94	49	95	63	628
Sweden	-	14	80	49	43	71	10	22	34	323
Germany	30	69	109	44	38	192	92	27	52	653
Poland	110	66	463	66	195	487	421	86	142	2036
Czechoslovakia	12	-	19	10	54	26	16	8	20	165
Austria	9	13	31	16	11	26	16	34	24	180
Hungary	-	-	15	-	7	5	-	18	4	49
USSR	23	26	100	54	39	142	61	27	72	534
Italy	1453	481	369	429	487	905	666	170	317	5277
Canada	104	191	274	51	128	139	62	83	191	1223
Mexico	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5
Cuba	-	-	-	35	-	-	-	30	-	65
Other American	-	4	14	21	24	5	6	-	-	74
All other and not reported	186	101	205	59	96	124	51	159	154	1135
Persons of Spanish Language	108	13	29	61	36	-	15	55	82	399
Persons of Spanish Mother Tongue	94	9	22	49	31	-	15	55	37	312
Persons of Puerto Rican Birth or Parentage
Population
Races
White	4037	3848	5634	2886	3974	5455	2971	1693	3727	34225
African Amer.	261	144	116	160	205	244	742	210	432	2496
Other	41	5	7	48	24	6	28	21	23	203
Total	4339	3997	5757	3094	4203	5705	3723	1924	4182	36924
Type of Family
All Families	1187	1030	1478	516	1067	1568	862	44	1091	8843
Husband-Wife	954	944	1351	435	932	1365	644	40	928	7593
Families with Other male head	48	12	27	20	22	54	41	-	24	248
Families with female head	185	74	100	61	113	149	177	4	139	1002

City of Middletown Website