Newark

Newark, New Jersey

As the county capital of Essex County and one of the biggest municipalities in the New York metropolitan area, Newark is the most populated city in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The population of the city was 311,549 as of the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 34,409 (+12.4%) from the 277,140 recorded at the 2010 census, which itself represented an increase of 3,594 (+1.3%) from the 273,546 counted at the 2000 census. 307,220 people were estimated to live there in 2021, ranking it as the 66th most populous municipality in the country according to the Population Estimates Program.

Newark, one of the oldest cities in the country, was founded in 1666 by Puritans from New Haven Colony. The city's shoreline is an essential component of the Port of New York and New Jersey because of its location at the Passaic River's mouth, where it pours into Newark Bay. The busiest seaport on the East Coast of the United States currently has Port Newark-Elizabeth as its main container shipping terminal. The first municipal commercial airport in the United States was Newark Liberty International Airport, which is currently one of the busiest airports in the country.

Prudential, PSEG, Panasonic Corporation of North America, Audible.com, IDT Corporation, Manischewitz, and AeroFarms are just a few businesses that have their corporate headquarters in Newark.

The city is also home to a number of other colleges and universities, such as the Newark campus of Rutgers University, which houses the law and medical schools as well as the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies; University Hospital, formerly the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which included the schools of medicine and dentistry now under the control of Rutgers University; the New Jersey Institute of Technology; and the law school of Seton Hall University. Additionally situated in the city is the District of New Jersey United States District Court.

The Newark Symphony Hall, Prudential Center, Newark Museum of Art, and New Jersey Historical Society are just a few of the local cultural hotspots.

Newark is divided into five electoral wards: East, West, South, North, and Central. These wards comprise neighborhoods with a variety of personalities, from busy metropolitan centers to peaceful suburban communities. The nation's greatest collection of cherry blossom trees, numbering over 5,000, may be found in Branch Brook Park in Newark, which is also the country's oldest county park.

Geography

The city had a total area of 25.89 square miles (67.1 km2), of which 24.14 square miles (62.5 km2) were land and 1.74 square miles (4.5 km2) were water (6.72%), according to the United States Census Bureau. Behind its neighbors, Jersey City and Hialeah, Florida, it has the third-smallest land area among the 100 most populous cities in the United States. From sea level in the east to about 230 feet (70 meters) above sea level in the western part of the city, the city's elevation varies. In essence, Newark is a sizable basin that slopes toward the Passaic River and contains a few valleys created by meandering streams. The more affluent areas of Newark have always been its high points. The wealthy gathered on the hills of Forest Hill, High Street, and Weequahic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The marshes on Newark Bay were challenging to develop before the 20th century since they were mainly undeveloped wilderness with a few landfills, warehouses, and cemeteries on their margins. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was able to reclaim 68 acres (28 ha) of marshland during the 20th century for the development of the port lands as well as the continued expansion of Newark Liberty International Airport.

In addition to dense metropolitan regions to the south and southwest, Newark is flanked by residential suburbs to the west (on the slope of the Watchung Mountains), the Passaic River, and Newark Bay to the east, middle-class residential suburbs and industrial sectors to the north. The city is the biggest in the Gateway Region of New Jersey, which reportedly got its name from Newark's moniker as the "Gateway City."

The city is surrounded by the towns of Elizabeth and Hillside in Union County, as well as Belleville, Bloomfield, East Orange, Irvington, Maplewood, and South Orange in Essex County. It also has borders with Bayonne, East Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Kearny in Hudson County.

Climate

Newark experiences cold winters and hot, humid summers since it is located in the transition zone between a humid subtropical and humid continental climate (Köppen Cfa/Dfa). The average daily temperature in January is 32.8 °F (0.4 °C), and while readings below 10 °F (12 °C) are common in most years, records below 0 °F (18 °C) are uncommon. On the other hand, some days may go as warm as 50 °F (10 °C). Although fluctuations in weather patterns may provide scant snowfall in some years and many significant nor'easters in others, the average seasonal snowfall is 31.5 inches (80 cm), with the highest 24-hour fall of 25.9 inches (66 cm) happening on December 26, 1947. In this region, spring and autumn are typically erratic yet warm. Without taking into account the frequently higher heat index, the average daily temperature in July is 78.2 °F (25.7 °C), and highs reach 90 °F (32 °C) on an average of 28.3 days per year.

The amount of precipitation is evenly spread throughout the year, with the wettest months being summer and the driest being fall.

The amount of precipitation that falls in the city each month ranges from 2.9 to 4.6 inches (74 to 117 mm), often falling on 8 to 12 days. From 14 °F (26 °C) on February 9, 1934, to 108 °F (42 °C) on July 22, 2011, extreme temperatures have been recorded. The NJ Turnpike is roughly where the January freezing isotherm that divides Newark into the Dfa and Cfa zones.

Economy

With over 100,000 commuters each day, Newark is the state's main employment hub and home to numerous white-collar positions in the government, insurance, banking, import-export, healthcare, and industry. In addition to housing more than 1,000 legal firms, it is a significant judicial venue with federal, state, and county facilities. The city is home to almost 50,000 college students who attend its colleges, law schools, and medical schools. Newark is the busiest transshipment hub on the U.S. East Coast in terms of tonnage thanks to its airport, maritime port, rail infrastructure, and highway system.

Despite not being the industrial powerhouse it once was, Newark nevertheless has a sizable industries and light manufacturing sector. Since World War II, numerous factories have been constructed in the southern part of the Ironbound, sometimes known as the Industrial Meadowlands. One such factory is a sizable Anheuser-Busch brewery, which debuted in 1951 and produced 7.5 million barrels of beer in 2007. The facility receives grain by rail. The manufacturing sector, which long dominated Newark's economy, is now being replaced by the service sector, which is also expanding quickly. Additionally, Newark's transportation industry has grown significantly, supporting more than 17,000 jobs in 2011.

After New York City and Hartford, Connecticut, Newark is the third-largest insurance hub in the country. The city gave birth to Prudential Financial, Mutual Benefit Life, Fireman's Insurance, and American Insurance Company, and Prudential still maintains its headquarters there. IDT Corporation, NJ Transit, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), Manischewitz, Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey, and Edison Properties are just a few of the organizations with headquarters in the city.

Millions of dollars in public-private partnership investments were made in Downtown development when Cory Booker was chosen as mayor, but persistent underemployment still permeates many of the city's communities. In Newark, poverty continues to be a persistent issue. Roughly one-third of the city's residents were considered to be poor as of 2010.

Urban Enterprise Zones are present in several areas of Newark. The city was chosen in 1983 as one of the first 10 zones to be included in the program. Along with other incentives to promote employment in the Zone, customers can benefit from a lower sales tax rate at qualifying businesses, which is 3.3125% (as opposed to the statewide rate of 6+58%; this is half the rate). The city's designation as an Urban Enterprise Zone ends in December 2023 after being granted in January 1986.

As of January 1, 2017, the UEZ program in Newark and the other four original UEZ communities have been allowed to expire after Governor Chris Christie, who referred to the program as a "abject disaster," vetoed a compromise bill that would have given it a two-year extension. The program was resurrected in these five cities and the program's expiration date was extended in other zones when Governor Phil Murphy signed a statute in May 2018.

The Economic Development Authority of New Jersey has identified nine localities as being eligible for Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits. Prorated tax credits are available to developers that spend at least $50 million within 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of a train station.

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