Information about the Greenwich community

Location

The Town of Greenwich was founded in 1640 and named for Greenwich, England. It encompasses 50.6 square miles and has 32 miles of shoreline on Long Island Sound. Situated 28 miles from Times Square, Greenwich is the first Connecticut town along the Boston Post Road (US1), the Merritt Parkway and the New England Thruway (I-95).

Greenwich offers a harmonious blending of bays, coves, rivers, lakes, hills, valleys and woods. The countryside gently rises back from its coastline in a series of ridges to 600 feet above sea level seven miles to the north. The town is roughly five miles wide, east to west; and ten miles deep, north to south.

Commuting and Transportation

Greenwich is ideally located outside of New York City.  Express service on the Metro North Railway averages 45 minutes to Grand Central Station at 42nd Street. There are over 90 trains in both directions each day.

There are several limousine services providing easy transportation directly to New York/New Jersey airports. JFK, LaGuardia, & Newark.  The adjacent Westchester County Airport is widely used by local executives and firms.

The Merritt Parkway, New England Thruway and Putnam Avenue (Post Road) are major highways traversing Greenwich in an east-west direction, while North Street, Lake Avenue, Round Hill Road and Stanwich Road are the major north-south thoroughfares. Via these roads, the major shopping areas of Westchester County and Stamford with their branches of major New York department stores are only a short drive. Also available is Public Transportation, such as bus service making stops on major streets, private limousine and chauffering services, as well as Greenwich Taxi service.

Hospitals

The modern, excellently equipped Greenwich Hospital has a capacity of 296 beds and 21 bassinets. The department of Emergency Medicine, open round-the-clock and staffed by full time physicians, administers care to 26,000 patients each year. An additional 12,000 patient visits are recorded yearly in the Outpatient Department, which has clinics representing all of the subspecialties in medicine. The hospital is a voluntary non-profit association and one of the most modern of its kind in the nation.

Chronic cases of older residents are cared for by the town-owned Nathaniel Witherell Hospital. Parsonage Cottage, also a Town facility, is for the well elderly.

Government and Taxes

The first town in the state to adopt a Representative Town Meeting form of government, Greenwich is divided into 12 districts with elected representatives in proportion to the number of registered voters in each district. The administrative functions are performed by a three man board of Selectmen and the heads of the town departments. A board of estimate and taxation serves as Greenwich's comptroller and its recommendations may be decreased but not increased by the Representative Town Meeting. Greenwich enjoys one of the lowest tax rates in the area. This may be ascribed to a long history of sound fiscal management, achieved without stinting on services. Greenwich folows a pay-as-you-go policy on spending, thus keeping the town relatively free of debt.

Utilities and Services

• Gas: Natural gas is distributed by the Connecticut Natural Gas Corp. Bottled gas is also readily available
• Power: Electricity is furnished by Northeast Utilities in all parts of town.
• Water: Greenwich enjoys an excellent supply of water distributed by the Connecticut American Water Company. Drilled wells are generally required in more rural areas.
• Sewage: A portion of the town is serviced by a modern sewage disposal plant. Other properties must have a Greenwich Health Department approved septic system.
• Refuse: Garbage collection is by contract between user and independent contractor. The Town Of Greenwich provides collection of recyclables, a recycling area and a garbage disposal area.