Greater Hartford | |
---|---|
Hartford–West Hartford–East Hartford, CT MSA | |
Country | United States |
State | Connecticut |
Principal cities | |
Area | |
• Total | 3,923 sq mi (10,160 km2) |
Population (2020) | |
• Total | 1,482,086 (CSA) |
• Rank | Ranked 41st in the US for Combined Statistical Areas |
GDP | |
• MSA | $114.887 billion (2022) |
Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
Area code(s) | 860, 959 |
Greater Hartford is a region located in the U.S. state of Connecticut, centered on the state's capital of Hartford. It represents the only combined statistical area in Connecticut defined by a city within the state, being bordered by the Greater Boston region to the northeast and New York metropolitan area to the south and west. [2] Sitting at the southern end of the Metacomet Ridge, its geology is characterized by land of a level grade along the shores of Connecticut River Valley, with loamy, finer-grained soil than other regions in the state. Greater Hartford (the metropolitan area as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau), had a total population of 1,213,531 at the 2020 United States census.
Hartford's role as a focal point for the American insurance industry is known nationally. The metropolitan area's affluence and its vibrant music and arts scene define the region's culture. The region's economy is closely tied with Springfield, Massachusetts, with both cities being served by Bradley International Airport and with their shared presence within the Knowledge Corridor, being only 25 miles apart. The area is also served by the smaller Hartford-Brainard Airport.
New England City and Town Areas (NECTA) are cluster of cities and towns throughout all of New England defined by the Office of Management and Budget. The Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT Metropolitan NECTA consists of 54 towns, including 25 in Hartford County, 5 in Litchfield County, 6 in Middlesex County, 2 in New London County, 12 in Tolland County, and 4 in Windham County.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1900 | 195,480 | — | |
1910 | 250,182 | 28.0% | |
1920 | 336,027 | 34.3% | |
1930 | 421,097 | 25.3% | |
1940 | 450,189 | 6.9% | |
1950 | 539,661 | 19.9% | |
1960 | 847,157 | 57.0% | |
1970 | 1,034,993 | 22.2% | |
1980 | 1,051,606 | 1.6% | |
1990 | 1,123,678 | 6.9% | |
2000 | 1,148,618 | 2.2% | |
2010 | 1,212,381 | 5.6% | |
2020 | 1,213,531 | 0.1% | |
U.S. Decennial Census [3] [4] |
The United States Census Bureau also defines the Hartford–East Hartford–Middletown, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) based on towns as building blocks. The area contains 54 towns of Hartford County, Tolland County, and Middlesex County. [5] The 2015 population estimate for the MSA is 1,211,324. [6]
A region very similar to the MSA is covered by the combination of the Hartford Service Delivery Area and the Mid-Connecticut Service Delivery Area, covering 56 towns. [7]
County | 2021 estimate | 2020 census | Change | Area | Density |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hartford County | 896,854 | 899,498 | −0.29% | 734.93 sq mi (1,903.5 km2) | 1,220/sq mi (471/km2) |
Middlesex County | 164,759 | 164,245 | +0.31% | 369.30 sq mi (956.5 km2) | 446/sq mi (172/km2) |
Tolland County | 150,293 | 149,788 | +0.34% | 410.35 sq mi (1,062.8 km2) | 366/sq mi (141/km2) |
Total | 1,211,906 | 1,213,531 | −0.13% | 1,514.58 sq mi (3,922.7 km2) | 800/sq mi (309/km2) |
^1 Town also included in the Springfield, Massachusetts NECTA
^2 Division of United Technologies (Otis and Carrier are under the UTC Building & Industrial Systems division)
Public, four-year universities in the area include:. [30] [31]
Public, two-year community colleges in the area include: [30]
Private, nonprofit, four-year universities in the area include: [32]
There are numerous hospitals in the Greater Hartford area, including five teaching hospitals (of which, one is a pediatric hospital) and two psychiatric hospitals.
All of the above hospitals are affiliated with the University of Connecticut School of Medicine [33]
The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts is one of the largest indoor performing arts venues in the area. It houses two theaters within the complex: the 2,800-seat Mortensen Hall and the 906-seat Belding Theater, and is home to the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the premiere orchestra in Connecticut. Other theaters in the area include the Hartford Stage and TheaterWorks.
The area is also home to the Xfinity Theatre, a 7,500-seat open-air amphitheater. The lawn outside the theater is capable of holding roughly 22,500 people, bringing total capacity to around 30,000 people.
In Hartford exurbs, the Connecticut Repertory Theatre on the main campus of the University of Connecticut in Storrs, the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, and the Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center in Simsbury serve as pillars of the New England theatrical and performing arts scene.
The Connecticut Convention Center is located in downtown Hartford adjacent to the Hartford Marriot Downtown. The facility has more than 140,000 square feet (13,000 m2) of exhibition space, a 40,000-square-foot (4,000 m2) ballroom, and 25,000 square feet (2,300 m2) of space for meetings and conferences. Since 2005, it has hosted ConnectiCon, an annual, multi-genre, pop culture convention. [34]
The New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks also hosts many events, with three large hangars available for use. One of the more popular events held there is FlightSimCon.
In addition, AOPA has held their annual aviation summit in Hartford. [35]
Greater Hartford is home to multiple minor league professional sports teams and college teams. There are currently no major league professional sports teams. However, it was home to the Hartford Whalers ice hockey team from 1974 to 1997. The Whalers came to Hartford playing in the World Hockey Association, until they were admitted to the National Hockey League in 1979. In 1997, the team relocated to North Carolina, where they were renamed the Carolina Hurricanes.
Throughout the mid-1990s, the New England Patriots were negotiating with the state of Connecticut for a brand new football stadium located in downtown Hartford to replace the aging Foxboro Stadium where they played. The team eventually agreed to another proposal that saw the construction of Gillette Stadium. With the Patriots no longer in the equation, the state instead decided to construct a smaller football stadium on the former United Technologies-owned airfield in East Hartford. Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field seats approximately 40,000 spectators and is home to the Connecticut Huskies football team.
Club | Sport | League | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
Hartford Wolf Pack | Ice Hockey | AHL | XL Center |
Hartford Yard Goats | Baseball | Eastern League | Dunkin' Donuts Park |
Hartford Athletic | Soccer | USL Championship | Dillon Stadium |
Greater Hartford is also home to the Travelers Championship golf tournament (formerly known as the Greater Hartford Open/Buick Championship).
Major shopping centers in the area include:
The Hartford Courant is the daily broadsheet newspaper serving the Greater Hartford area. Founded in 1764 as the Connecticut Courant, it is generally considered to be the oldest continually published newspaper in the United States. It is owned by Tribune Publishing.
From 1817 to 1976, the area was also served by another daily newspaper, the Hartford Times .
Greater Hartford and Greater New Haven form a single television market. This television market is served by the following broadcast television stations:
Highway transportation in Greater Hartford is primarily run by two mainline Interstates:
There were several plans to expand the highway system (with at least one plan calling for a full beltway). Various plans encountered resistance due to budgetary and environmental concerns. However, some highways were ultimately constructed, if only partially:
In the area, four major U.S. Routes serve the area's towns/cities:
Some state highways also serve as major expressways:
Public bus transportation is operated by the Hartford division of CTTransit. It provides service to 30 local routes and 12 express routes seven days a week throughout the metropolitan area. [36]
2015 saw the opening of the CTfastrak, a bus rapid transit system that runs from downtown New Britain to Hartford Union Station. The dedicated busway is over 9 miles long and stops at 10 stations. [37] [38] [39]
Bradley International Airport ( IATA : BDL, ICAO : KBDL, FAA LID : BDL) is located in the town of Windsor Locks, approximately 10 miles from Hartford. Bradley is the second-largest airport in New England (behind Logan International Airport), and was ranked the 55th busiest airport in the United States in 2008. [40] [41] Southwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, and US Airways account for more than half of the airport's passenger traffic. [42] [43] The Bradley Airport Connector provides highway access to the airport from Interstate 91.
Bradley is a dual-use civil/military airport, with the Bradley Air National Guard Base serving as the home of the Connecticut Air National Guard 103d Airlift Wing.
Hartford–Brainard Airport ( IATA : HFD, ICAO : KHFD, FAA LID : HFD) is a smaller reliever airport located in the southeastern section of Hartford. It is primarily used for general aviation purposes. [44]
Several Amtrak routes run through the metropolitan area, including the Northeast Regional , Vermonter , as well as a daily shuttle between New Haven and Springfield, Massachusetts.
The Hartford Line is a commuter rail service between New Haven, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts, using the Amtrak-owned New Haven–Springfield Line. CTrail-branded trains provide service along the corridor, and riders can use Hartford Line tickets to travel on board most Amtrak trains along the corridor at the same prices. The service launched on June 16, 2018.
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 census. Hartford is the most populous city in the Capitol Planning Region and the core city of the Greater Hartford metropolitan area.
Hartford County is a county located in the north central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. According to the 2020 census, the population was 899,498, making it the second-most populous county in Connecticut. Hartford County contains the city of Hartford, the state capital of Connecticut and the county's most populous city, with 121,054 residents at the 2020 census. Hartford County is included in the Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown metropolitan statistical area.
East Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 11,190 at the 2020 census. The town has five villages: Broad Brook, Melrose, Scantic, Warehouse Point and Windsorville.
Farmington is a town in Hartford County in the Farmington Valley area of central Connecticut in the United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population was 26,712 at the 2020 census. It sits 10 miles west of Hartford at the hub of major I-84 interchanges, 20 miles south of Bradley International Airport and two hours by car from New York City and Boston. It has been home to the world headquarters of several large corporations including Otis Elevator Company, United Technologies, and Carvel. The northwestern section of Farmington is a suburban neighborhood called Unionville.
Windsor is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, and was the first English settlement in the state. It lies on the northern border of Connecticut's capital, Hartford. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. The population of Windsor was 29,492 at the 2020 census.
Winsted is a census-designated place and an incorporated city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is part of the town of Winchester. The population of Winsted was 7,192 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 7,712 at the 2010 census. It comprises the majority of the town of Winchester's 10,224 population. Winsted is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region.
Hamden is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant". The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region. The population was 61,169 at the 2020 census.
Ellington is a town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. Ellington was incorporated in May 1786, from East Windsor. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 16,426.
New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Hartford. The city is part of the Capitol Planning Region. According to 2020 Census, the population of the city is 74,135.
Bradley International Airport is a public international airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, United States. Owned and operated by the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), it is the second-largest airport in New England.
Middletown is a city in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is 16 miles south of Hartford. Middletown is the largest city in the Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settlers as a town under its original Native American name, Mattabeseck, after the local Wangunk village of the same name. They were among many tribes along the Atlantic coast who spoke Algonquian languages. The colonists renamed the settlement in 1653.
Greater New Haven is the metropolitan area whose extent includes those towns in the U.S. state of Connecticut that share an economic, social, political, and historical focus on the city of New Haven. It occupies the south-central portion of the state, in a radius around New Haven.
Hartford–Brainard Airport is a towered public airport three miles (5 km) southeast of downtown Hartford, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the Connecticut Airport Authority. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a regional reliever airport facility.
The greater Hartford–Springfield area is an urban region and surrounding suburban areas that encompasses both north-central Connecticut and the southern Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts; its major city centers are Springfield, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut.
Stamford-Bridgeport-Norwalk is a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Connecticut. The area is located in Southwestern Connecticut. In its most conservative form, the area consists of the City of Bridgeport and five surrounding towns—Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford, and Trumbull. This definition of the Stamford area has a population of more than 305,000 and is within the Stamford -Bridgeport-Norwalk-Danbury metropolitan statistical area, which consists of all of Fairfield County, Connecticut. The estimated 2015 county population was 948,053. The area is numbered as part of the New York-Newark Combined Statistical Area NY-NJ-CT-PA by the United States Census Bureau.
CT Hartford is the largest division of Connecticut Transit, providing service on 43 local routes, 5 "flyer" limited stop routes and 18 express routes throughout 27 towns in Hartford County, including Bloomfield, East Hartford, Farmington, Glastonbury, Manchester, Middletown, Newington, New Britain, Rocky Hill, South Windsor, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor, in addition to Hartford. Service is provided seven days a week in the region, with routes centered on Hartford. The Hartford Division provides connections with local routes in Bristol and New Britain.
CT New Britain Division and CT Bristol Division is one division of Connecticut Transit that collectively provides local bus service to four towns in the Central Connecticut Region with connections to CT Transit Hartford Division in downtown New Britain, downtown Bristol, along the Berlin Turnpike, at UConn Health, at Tunxis Community College, CT Transit Waterbury Division and Middletown Area Transit in Cromwell. Service in both divisions operates daily along 13 routes.
The Springfield metropolitan area, also known as Greater Springfield, is a region that is socio-economically and culturally tied to the City of Springfield, Massachusetts. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget defines the Springfield, MA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as consisting of three counties in Western Massachusetts. As of April 1, 2020, the metropolitan area's population was estimated at 699,162, making it the 88th-largest metropolitan area in the United States.
The Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is an area consisting of two counties in New York's Hudson Valley, with the municipalities of Kiryas Joel, Poughkeepsie, and Newburgh as its principal cities. As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 679,221. The area was centered on the urban area of Poughkeepsie-Newburgh. Prior to July 2023, it was known as the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area; whereupon it was renamed to its current name, to reflect population changes among its largest municipalities.
The transportation system of Connecticut is a cooperation of complex systems of infrastructure. Trains and highways are the central pieces of the system.