How Local Government Kept New Canaan and Darien White
by Julia Hammond
Columbia University historian Kenneth T. Jackson studied three small areas within the New York City metropolitan region, all within fifty miles of Midtown Manhattan, and wondered why they had very little in common. He looked at the Connecticut towns of New Canaan and Darien, at Newark, New Jersey and at White Plains, New York. Jackson argues that “socioeconomic variation in American towns” -- the economic inequity between cities and suburbs or between racial groups within the same town -- “is not random or natural. Rather, it is determined by government.”
The United States has a uniquely decentralized form of government; local authorities actually have far more power and influence in the lives of town residents than authorities in other countries. In the U.S., the size of a small town’s tax base makes a significant difference in what government can provide. Planning and zoning boards are mostly not subject to higher authorities. It is for that reason, Jackson writes, that a town like New Canaan could be so obviously different from a place like White Plains or Newark even though they’re part of the same metropolitan region.
Today, New Canaan is one of the most affluent communities in the United States (and the most affluent community in Connecticut). In the 1800s, the town was a center for shoemaking -- in fact, there were more shoemakers than farmers -- but the industry died down by the 1870s. Replacing the shoemakers were wealthy weekenders and summer residents. The town was quick to adopt zoning ordinances to preserve property values in the mid-20th century, eventually eliminating all space zoned for industry and establishing 2- and 4-acre minimum lot sizes.
In the 1930s, African Americans and Jews were “not welcome in stores, restaurants, or the Darien playhouse, and doors were slammed in their faces when they tried to rent places to live,” writes Jackson. In addition to explicit discrimination, the town also avoided providing low-income housing because federal assistance programs to build it were optional -- town leadership could simply choose not to apply for it. When New Canaan did build low-income housing, it was restricted to town residents only, effectively excluding similarly qualified families from out of town. The Home Owners Loan Corporation, tasked with evaluating the relative safety of mortgage loans, determined that New Canaan was “desirable,” and “of greater than the average attraction.”
By 1923, the New Haven Railroad allowed commuters from New Canaan to easily get to Manhattan for work. By 1950, Connecticut had the most extensive road system in the US, with 3,000 paved miles. But industry was nowhere to be found in New Canaan itself -- and residents liked the peace and quiet. For many years, New Canaan’s town leadership and its residents chose to build an exclusive community. Jackson juxtaposes New Canaan (and Darien) with Newark and White Plains, which took a different route. For example, Newark did choose to apply for federal subsidies to put up low-income housing. When HOLC and FHA came around, their maps of Newark were red and yellow -- designating “inhospitable racial or minority groups” and “hazardous” communities and disincentivizing investment. It also disincentivized the wealthy from staying there, and those with the money to seek out more exclusive communities took their tax dollars to neighboring suburbs.
What does Newtown have in common with New Canaan and Darien?
The United States has a uniquely decentralized form of government; local authorities actually have far more power and influence in the lives of town residents than authorities in other countries. In the U.S., the size of a small town’s tax base makes a significant difference in what government can provide. Planning and zoning boards are mostly not subject to higher authorities. It is for that reason, Jackson writes, that a town like New Canaan could be so obviously different from a place like White Plains or Newark even though they’re part of the same metropolitan region.
Today, New Canaan is one of the most affluent communities in the United States (and the most affluent community in Connecticut). In the 1800s, the town was a center for shoemaking -- in fact, there were more shoemakers than farmers -- but the industry died down by the 1870s. Replacing the shoemakers were wealthy weekenders and summer residents. The town was quick to adopt zoning ordinances to preserve property values in the mid-20th century, eventually eliminating all space zoned for industry and establishing 2- and 4-acre minimum lot sizes.
In the 1930s, African Americans and Jews were “not welcome in stores, restaurants, or the Darien playhouse, and doors were slammed in their faces when they tried to rent places to live,” writes Jackson. In addition to explicit discrimination, the town also avoided providing low-income housing because federal assistance programs to build it were optional -- town leadership could simply choose not to apply for it. When New Canaan did build low-income housing, it was restricted to town residents only, effectively excluding similarly qualified families from out of town. The Home Owners Loan Corporation, tasked with evaluating the relative safety of mortgage loans, determined that New Canaan was “desirable,” and “of greater than the average attraction.”
By 1923, the New Haven Railroad allowed commuters from New Canaan to easily get to Manhattan for work. By 1950, Connecticut had the most extensive road system in the US, with 3,000 paved miles. But industry was nowhere to be found in New Canaan itself -- and residents liked the peace and quiet. For many years, New Canaan’s town leadership and its residents chose to build an exclusive community. Jackson juxtaposes New Canaan (and Darien) with Newark and White Plains, which took a different route. For example, Newark did choose to apply for federal subsidies to put up low-income housing. When HOLC and FHA came around, their maps of Newark were red and yellow -- designating “inhospitable racial or minority groups” and “hazardous” communities and disincentivizing investment. It also disincentivized the wealthy from staying there, and those with the money to seek out more exclusive communities took their tax dollars to neighboring suburbs.
What does Newtown have in common with New Canaan and Darien?
Sources Used:
Kenneth T. Jackson, “Gentleman’s Agreement: Discrimination in Metropolitan America,” in Bruce Katz (ed) Reflections on Regionalism. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2000.
Kenneth T. Jackson, “Gentleman’s Agreement: Discrimination in Metropolitan America,” in Bruce Katz (ed) Reflections on Regionalism. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2000.