Saturday, January 13, 2007

Newtonians...

The City of Newton is located eleven miles west of Boston and bounded on three sides by the Charles River. Settled in 1630, it now has a population of 84,000 spread across thirteen villages. Often referred to as the "tree city," Newton in 2004 was named "America's Safest City" by the Morgan Quitno Press and was recently designated as one of five U.S. cities to receive the "U.S. Conference of Mayors Livability Award." Newton is particularly proud of its city museum that was a stop on the Underground Railroad, its award-winning public library, and its reputation for excellent schools. (See Wall Street Journal, April 2, 2004, and Boston Magazine, September, 2005.).
Although the city of Newton encompasses 18.22 square miles, commercial uses occupy only 4.1% of the land. In 2002, the largest employers were Boston College, the City of Newton, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Reed Publishing and Technical Aid Corporation, each with 1000-4999 employees. The unemployment rate in 2002 was only 1.3% in this city of largely academic and professional wage-earners. Over 94% of Newton's adult residents hold a high school or college diploma. Almost 40% hold a graduate or professional degree. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the median household income was $86,052 in 2004. However, amidst this stable affluence, 546 families or 4.3% of Newton's population have an annual income below the poverty line.
The people here are friendly, that is if we ever get to see them in this kind of weather!
The day we moved in, our landlords introduced us to our neighbours. House on the right are the Jewish couple who has a son named Michael. The Columbians live beside them. Our landlords live at the back of our houses & they have always been prompt when it comes to house repairs. Looks like having landlords nearby is going to work well!.On the left are the new house owners from Russia...Mother & daughter team. They paid quite a 'chunk' to get the property. They haven't moved in yet, though..maybe, later when the house is repaired & liveable.
Taking Langley, to the right of Beecher will lead us to Newton Center - around 30 minutes on foot (my pace). That is, if its not snowing, gauky & wet! Anna says when the weather's fine we can go brisk walking together. She's really something for a 65 year old lady..and a good cook too!.. I loVe her glazed roasted almonds..the lemony taste gives the zzziiing to the almonds!
I hear the Boston Marathon will pass through Newton this coming April- I can't wait for that & I hope the weather will be a bit warmer by then. I have heard a lot about the Boston Marathon, in fact I think there's a movie on it. I dare say, the runners are almost 20,000 strong & each of them have got their own stories to tell. Why they need to go through the ordeal of 26.2miles, on Massachusetts terrain is just beyond me!

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