Wellesley

Wellesley was settled in the 1630s as part of Dedham, Massachusetts. On October 23, 1880, West Needham residents voted to secede from Needham. The town was named after the estate of local benefactor Horatio Hollis Hunnewell. Wellesley College, Babson College, and a campus of Massachusetts Bay Community College are located in the town. As of the census of 2000, there were 26,613 people, 8,594 households, and 6,540 families residing in Wellesley. According to a 2007 Census Bureau estimate, the racial makeup of the town was 84.6% White, 10.0% Asian, 2.2% Black, 0.01% Native American, 1.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. The Census Bureau has also defined the town as a census-designated place with an area exactly equivalent to the town, with a population of 29,550 at the time of the 2020 census. The entire 1960s-style Linden Street strip-mall has been replaced by "Linden Square" The town's pre-World War II high school building was torn down and replaced with a brand new high school finished in 2012. The Wellesley Country Club clubhouse, which is the building where theTown was founded, was demolished in 2008. The Town of Wellesley is located in eastern Massachusetts. It is bordered on the east by Newton, on the north by Weston, on the south by Needham and Dover and on the west by Natick.

History

Wellesley was settled in the 1630s as part of Dedham, Massachusetts. The town was named after the estate of local benefactor Horatio Hollis Hunnewell. Wellesley's population grew by over 80 percent during the 1920s. Cottage Street and its nearby alleys are the town's historic district. Most houses in this district were built around the 1860s and qualify as protected buildings certified by theTown's historic commission. The Town of Wellesley was established on April 6, 1881, after a vote by residents of West Needham, which had seceded from Needham in 1880, to form a new town. It is located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, which was built in 1859. It has a population of 2,816. The city's name is derived from Wellesley, Massachusetts, which means "well-settled" in English. It was also known as "Wellesley" or "Wellesley" in the 17th century, when it was a part of Needham. The name was changed to Wellesley in 1881 after the state legislature approved a bill naming the town after Wellesley. The current name was adopted in 1883, when the town was created. It's located in the town of Waltham, Massachusetts and was once called "Waltham-Wentworth" and "Wintham-Suffolk" It is now known as Wellesley and has a total population of 1,822.

Geography

Wellesley is located in eastern Massachusetts. It is bordered on the east by Newton, on the north by Weston and on the south by Needham and Dover. The town's historic 19th-century inn was demolished to make way for condominiums and mixed-use development in 2006. The Wellesley Country Club clubhouse, which is the building where the town was founded, was demolished in 2008, and a new clubhouse was built. The entire 1960s-style Linden Street strip-mall has been replaced by "Linden Square"a shopping district that includes a flagship Roche Bros. supermarket, restaurants, cafes, clothing stores, along with a mixture of national chains and local shops. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 10.49 square miles (27.2 km²), of which 10.18 sq miles (26.4 km²) is land and 0.32sq miles (0.83 km 2) is water. It has a population of 2,816. It was founded in 1836. It's located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, one of the busiest roads in the United States. It also has a post office, which opened in 1837. It had a post station on the Mass Pike in 1838. It closed in 1841. It reopened again in 1852. It now has a Post Office on the Turnpikes. It opened a post post station in 1854.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 26,613 people, 8,594 households, and 6,540 families residing in the town. As of the 2007 Census Bureau estimate, the racial makeup of the town was 84.6% White, 10.0% Asian, 2.2% Black, 0.01% Native American, 1.4% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. The median income for a household was $159,167, and the median family income was $186,518. The per capita income for the town in 2007 was $72,046. About 2.4%. of families and 3.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0%. of those under age 18 and 2.1% of those age 65 or over. The town is a census-designated place with an area exactly equivalent to the town, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is located in the state of New Hampshire, and has a population of 25,613. The population density is 2,614.1 people per square mile (1,009.4/km²). There were 8,861 housing units at an average density of 870.4 per squaremile (336.1/ km²). The town's population was spread out, with 25.1%. under the age of 18, 13.9% from 18 to 24, 22.9%. from 25 to 44, 24.2%. from 45 to 64, and 13. 9% who were 65 and older.

Government

The town government has been run by town meeting since the town's founding. Residents cart their own refuse to Wellesley's Recycling and Disposal Facility (RDF), a town-operated multi-use waste recycling site. Wellesley is serviced by the Wellesley Municipal Light Plant (WMLP). It is one of only a handful of municipal light plants in the state of Massachusetts. The town is part of the Massachusetts Senate's Norfolk, Bristol and Middlesex district. The main library branch near Wellesley Square underwent a major interior renovation in 2021. On December 18, 2014, Wellesley College and the Town of Wellesley announced that the College's Board of Trustees had chosen the town’s $35-million bid for the purchase of 46 acres of land adjacent to its campus. Under this agreement, at least 50% of the North 40 property will be preserved in perpetuity as open space. A special town meeting in January 2015 resulted in a near-unanimous vote in favor of the purchase, and in March 2015, 80 percent of residents that cast votes at the Town election, voted to approve the purchase. In 2004, the Town had to discontinue the "Take it or Leave it" because of funding cutbacks. However, within six months town residents reinstated it by means of a volunteer system. The section reopened with volunteers on duty at all times to organize the goods and ensure that only usable items were left there. There is no residential trash pickup in Wellesley.

Education

Wellesley is a town in Massachusetts. It is the home of Wellesley High School and Wellesley College. The town also contains seven elementary schools and a preparatory school for girls, Dana Hall School. Wellesley is also home to the Raiders, a high school football team. It has three colleges: Wellesley college, Massachusetts Bay Community College, and Babson College. It also has a private elementary school, Tenacre Country Day School, one private Catholic elementary school (St. John the Evangelist) and a Preparatory School for Girls. The Wellesley A Better Chance outfit started in the early 1970s brings promising young women from underserved areas into town to attend Wellesley high School and live nearby. The school system regularly scores higher than the state average on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test, the school system also contains a middle school and 7 elementary schools. The Raiders are the school team that plays in the Massachusetts High School Football Association's Super Bowl XLVIII. The team is nicknamed the "Wellesley Raiders" after the town's mascot, the well-dressed and well-behaved Wellesley Roughriders, who play for the school's football team in the 1970s and 1980s. The football team also plays for the Wellesley Patriots, a team that was founded in the late 1960s and early 1980s by former Massachusetts governor Edward M. DeBartolo. The Patriots are currently playing in the New England Football League's Superbowl XLVII, the first game of the season.

Transportation

Wellesley has had rail service to Boston since 1833. The Wellesley Farms station is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The nearest international airport is Boston Logan Airport, 18 miles from Wellesley. Wellesley College and Babson College both offer discounted Zipcar service. The town is located on the Massachusetts Turnpike, which runs between Boston and Cambridge. It is also on Interstate 95/Massachusetts Route 128, Massachusetts Route 9, Massachusetts route 16, and Massachusetts route 135. It has a population of 4,000. The city is located in the central part of the state, near the Berkshires and the Connecticut River. It was founded in 1833 as the site of the Wellesley Academy, a boarding school for girls. The school was later moved to its current location, which is on the edge of the town, in the town of Wellesley Hills. It also has a high school, Wellesley High, which was established in the early 1900s. The high school has a football field, a baseball field, and a field hockey field. The college has a track and field field, as well as a football and basketball field, which were built in the 1930s. It currently has a swimming pool, a tennis court, a basketball court, and two baseball diamonds. The village is also home to Wellesley University, a private liberal arts college, and Wellesley Heights, a public high school. In addition to the MBTA, the town has a number of other public transportation options.

Sustainability

Wellesley is the longest running Tree City USA community of any city or town in Massachusetts. Wellesley has a unique elected Natural Resources Commission bearing the statutory authority and responsibility of Park Commissions, Conservation Commissions and Tree Wardens. The commission maintains Wellesley's two Community Gardens and maintains a trail network that includes 26 miles of marked trails interconnecting open spaces and conservation lands for walking, dog walking, jogging, bicycling, cross-country skiing, and more. The town's new high school opened in February 2012 and includes such elements as green vegetated roof, geothermal heat pump, Solar thermal cooling, Solar Photovoltaic system, and rainwater recovery systems. The No Idling Campaign received an Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education Award from the state of Massachusetts in 2014. The Wellesley 3R (Reduce/Reuse/Recycle) Working Group was formed to consider possible ways to increase recycling and reduce waste in Wellesley. In 2014 Town Meeting voted to support a new goal of 25% reduction by 2020 using 2007 as the base year. The committee is responsible for Wellesley’s adoption of the Massachusetts Stretch Building Code approved by Town Meeting effective January 2012. In 2009 the town established the Municipal Energy Efficiency Committee (MEEC) made up of representatives from various town departments, to develop and evaluate municipal policies to reduce energy use. In 2012 Wellesley was designated a Green Power Community by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the only Green Power Communities in Massachusetts and the second in all of New England.

Economy

Wellesley is home to the headquarters of many local, national and global businesses. Benchmark Senior Living, Blank Label Apparel, Eagle Investment Systems, EPG Incorporated, GrandBanks Capital, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Livingston and Haynes PC, Roche Bros., and Sun Life Financial U.S. are among the city's top employers. The top employers in the city are: Wellesley's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers are: EPG, Berkshire Hathaway, and Roche Bros. The city's unemployment rate is 3.7 percent. The unemployment rate in Wellesley is 2.9 percent. It is the highest rate in the state of Massachusetts, according to the state's unemployment report, and the lowest rate in New Hampshire, at 1.8 percent. In the city, the average household income is $62,000. The average household wealth is $58,500. The median household income in Well Wesley is $50,000, and it is the largest city in Massachusetts with a population of 1.2 million. The town has a GDP of $36,000 and an unemployment rate of 2.7 per cent. The state's economy is the second highest in the country, after New Hampshire. It has the highest unemployment rate, at 2.8 per cent, and is the third highest in New York state, behind New York City and Washington, D.C. It also has one of the highest poverty rates, at 3.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent in Massachusetts.

Culture

The Wellesley Symphony Orchestra presents classical, pops, and family concerts at Mass Bay Community College at its Wellesley campus. Wellesley contains two Jewish institutions including Temple Beth Elohim and the Wellesley Chabad Center. The Wellesley College campus includes greenhouses and the H. H. Hunnewell Arboretum. The Elm Bank Horticulture Center is home to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. The Town of Wellesley has two local news publications: The Well Wesley Townsman has been published since 1906, and The Swellesley Report since 2005. Both are available online and digitized copies of the paper-based Townsman are available from the Well Wesley Free Library. The town has a reputation for being a good host city for college football games and other sporting events. It also has a tradition of hosting the annual Wellesley's Wonderful Weekend, which includes the annual veterans' parade and fireworks on the weekend before Memorial Day. On May 18, 2008, The Beach Boys performed in a concert on the wellesley High School athletic fields in front of an estimated 10,000 town residents and fans. The funds for the performance, an estimated $250,000, were made as a gift by an anonymous donor and lifelong fan of the band. It is not to be confused with the neighboring private H.Hunnewell estate. Although the entrance is in Wellesley, access is over a small private bridge over the Charles River, so Elm Bank is therefore in the neighboring town of Dover.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Wellesley, Norfolk County, Massachusetts = 26.9. 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 35. 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 Wellesley = 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 3,494 individuals with a median age of 35.4 age the population dropped by -0.13% in Wellesley, Norfolk County, Massachusetts population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 2,902.75 residents per square mile of area (1,120.76/km²). There are average 2.7 people per household in the 8,584 households with an average household income of $139,199 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 5.70% 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 26.16%. The number of physicians in Wellesley per 100,000 population = 414.4.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Wellesley = 44.9 inches and the annual snowfall = 42.4 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 122. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 202. 85 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 17.5 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 50, 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 Wellesley, Norfolk County, Massachusetts which are owned by the occupant = 79.61%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 60 years with median home cost = $763,090 and home appreciation of -16.42%. 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 $11.91 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 $8,177 per student. There are 13.3 students for each teacher in the school, 594 students for each Librarian and 386 students for each Counselor. 3.72% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 34.59% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 41.30% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).