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Broadway

Broadway

Broadway may mean:
- Broadway (New York City), a major street in Manhattan, New York City: the world's most famous Broadway.
- Broadway theatre, theatrical productions produced in one of forty professional New York theatres
- Broadway, Norfolk
- Broadway, Suffolk
- Broadway, Worcestershire
- Broadway is a neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey
- Broadway (software), a programming tool
- Broadway, Seattle, Washington, a street and business district on Seattle's Capitol Hill
- Broadway, Sydney, a street south of the city of Sydney, Australia
- Broadway Shopping Centre, Sydney, a shopping centre in Sydney, Australia
- Broadway is the main shopping street of Newmarket, New Zealand
- Broadway, a character in the Walt Disney animated series Gargoyles named after the street
- Broadway is a street in Mei Foo Sun Chuen, New Kowloon, Hong Kong
- Broadway (cinema) is a chain of cinemas in Hong Kong
- Broadway (chip) is the code name of a chip to be manufactured by IBM for Nintendo's next generation "Revolution" gaming console.
- A station on the Detroit People Mover
- Broadway, a nickname for the poker hand consisting of a straight from ten to ace.
- Broadway is an alternative spelling of Broadwey, a suburb of Weymouth, England
- Broadway (song), is a song and released as a single by American rock band Goo Goo Dolls There are also streets named Broadway in other cities not listed above. There is, for example, a street called Broadway in San Francisco, and another one in Baltimore.

Broadway (New York City)

:Broadway redirects here. For Broadway in the theatrical sense, see Broadway theatre. For other streets and topics with the name Broadway, see Broadway (disambiguation). Broadway (disambiguation) Broadway, as the name implies, is a wide avenue in New York City, and is the oldest north-south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to the first New Amsterdam settlement. The name Broadway is an English translation of the Dutch name, Breede weg. The street is famous as the pinnacle of the American theater industry. Broadway originated as an Indian trail developed carved into the Manhattan brush land called the Wickquasgeck Trail. This trail originally snaked through the swamps and rocks from southern to northern Manhattan. Upon the arrival of the Dutch, the trail soon became the main road through the island from New Amsterdam at the southern tip. The Dutch explorer and entrepreneur David de Vries gives the first mention of it in his journal for the year 1642 — "the Wickquasgeck Road over which the Indians passed daily". Broadway runs the length of Manhattan, being the only street running from almost the southern tip of the island, where it starts at Bowling Green, to the northern tip. South of Columbus Circle, it is a one-way street, with all vehicle traffic traveling southbound. It crosses the Harlem River as the Broadway Bridge and continues through the Bronx and into Westchester County. (There are other streets called "Broadway" in the city, one each in the New York City Boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. Short isolated stretches of streets use its name, such as East Broadway, West Broadway, and Old Broadway.) Broadway continues running through several Hudson River towns of Westchester County, before becoming the "New York-Albany Post Road", and running as far north as the state capital, Albany. Diagonally crossing the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 of Manhattan streets, its intersections with avenues have been marked by "squares" (some merely triangular slivers of open space) and induced some interesting architecture, such as the famous Flatiron Building. Flatiron Building The section of lower Broadway from its origin at Bowling Green to City Hall Park is the historical location for the city's ticker-tape parades, and is sometimes called the "Canyon of Heroes" during such events. West of Broadway as far as Canal Street was the city's fashionable residential area until ca 1825; landfill has more than tripled the area and the Hudson shore now lies far to the west, beyond TriBeCa and Battery Park City. Broadway marks the east boundary of Greenwich Village, passing Astor Place It is a short walk from there to New York University near Washington Square], which is at the foot of [[Fifth Avenue]]. [[Greenwich Village is an interesting place well suited for tourism. If one walks east from Astor Place past Third Avenue/Bowery, one walks to the East Village. Broadway starts going diagonally at 10th street in the Village, which it does until about 78th street. Six blocks north of Astor Place, at Union Square - 14th Street, Broadway continues its diagonal course across the island of Manhattan. At Union Square, Fourth Avenue ends and Park Avenue begins. 14th Street is recognized as a boundary between Downtown Manhattan and 'Midtown' Manhattan. At Madison Square, Broadway crosses Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street. At Herald Square Broadway crosses Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas). The original Macy's Department Store is located on the western corner of Herald Square; it is one of the largest department stores in the world, if not the single largest. One famous stretch near Times Square, where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue in midtown Manhattan, is the home of many Broadway theatres, housing an ever-changing array of commercial, large-scale plays, particularly musicals; this area of Manhattan is often called the Theater District. This part of Broadway, also known as the Great White Way, draws millions of tourists from around the world. Starring in a successful Broadway musical is considered by most singers, dancers, and actors as the ultimate success in their chosen profession, and many songs, stories, and musicals have themselves been based around the idea of such success. The annual Tony Awards recognize some of the most successful new shows and revivals each year. Since the late 1980s Times Square has emerged as a family tourist center for the New York area. Times Square is the location of The New York Times newspaper, published at offices on West 43rd Street off Broadway. At the southwest corner of Central Park, Broadway crosses Eighth Avenue at West 59th Street to form Columbus Circle, onetime home of a convention center and now home of a new shopping center. Further north, Broadway follows the old Bloomingdale Road as the main spine of the Upper West Side, passing the campus of Columbia University on Morningside Heights as it continues northwards. The university has a large open campus between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue with entrances on 116th Street. The Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center lies on Broadway near 166th, 167th, and 168th Streets in northern Manhattan (Washington Heights neighborhood). Broadway, in the Times Square area, is second only to Tokyo for it's lighted advertising, but first as the most recognized street filmed in the world.

Public transit

From south to north, the IRT Lexington Avenue Line which carries the 4, 5, and 6 trains, BMT Broadway Line which carries the N, Q, R, and W trains, IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line which carries the 1, 2, and 3 trains and IND Eighth Avenue Line which carries the A, B, C, and D trains. On the surface, MTA New York City Transit's M1, M4, M5, M6, M7, M10, M20, M100, M104, Bx7 and Bx20 bus services all use Broadway. The Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railroad and Broadway Surface Railroad streetcar lines used to use Broadway.

See also


- Grand Central Hotel
- Singer Building
- Trinity Church, New York
- Winter Garden Theatre
- Woolworth Building

External link


- [http://www.nnp.org/newvtour/regions/Manhattan/broadway.html History of Broadway] (and Manhattan) Category:Streets in Manhattan Category:Broadway ko:브로드웨이 ja:ブロードウェイ



Broadway theatre

::Note on spelling: While most Americans use "er" (as per American spelling conventions), the majority of venues, performers and trade groups for live theatre use "re." ---- Broadway theatre is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. Broadway theatre, or a Broadway show, refers to a performance (usually a play or musical) staged in one of the thirty-nine larger professional theatres located in New York City, with 500 seats or more, that appeal to the mass audience. Along with London's West End theatre, Broadway theatre is usually considered of the highest quality. West End theatre, 2003]] While the term "Broadway" comes from the street, Broadway, it is best described as a theatre district as not all Broadway theatres are located on this street. With roots in 1882, and expansions and new construction, by the turn of the century Broadway was the center of American theater and fast becoming the most important commercially in the world, enticing European stars such as Sarah Bernhardt. Some of the important early investors and developers of the Broadway theater district include Henry Abbey, A.L. Erlanger, Marcus Klaw, Florenz Ziegfeld, Rudolf Aronson, David Belasco, Charles Frohman, Daniel Frohman, Oscar Hammerstein, and the Shubert family. Today, the majority of Broadway theatres are located in the area called Midtown, in and around Times Square. Broadway theatres are usually run by a producing organization (e.g., Nederlander Organization, The Walt Disney Company, The Shubert Organization, etc.), or another theatre group (e.g., Manhattan Theatre Club, Lincoln Center Theater, et cetera). All Broadway shows are professionally produced and adhere to strict contracts for all artists involved (e.g., performers, directors, musicians, playwrights, stage managers, et cetera). Artistic trade unions such as Actors' Equity, commonly known simply as "Equity," and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers bargain for contracts guaranteeing minimum wages and other rights involved with the rehearsal and production process. On rare occasions, disputes over contracts can result in a group of artists' going on strike. In March 2003, musicians in the orchestra pit of Broadway musicals went on strike because producers wanted to reduce the minimum number of orchestra members required. More than a dozen Broadway musicals went dark for four days after the musicians' union walked out, and theaters lost millions of dollars in revenue. Broadway shows may run for a varying number of weeks, depending on ticket sales. Musicals tend to have longer runs than do stage plays. The longest running show in Broadway history was Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which closed in 2000 after running for 7,485 performances at the Winter Garden Theater. In addition to long runs in Broadway theatres, producers often copy the production with a new cast and crew for the Broadway Tour, which travels to theatres across the country. Both musicals and stage plays on Broadway and in their respective tours often rely on casting well-known performers in leading roles to draw larger audiences or bring in new audience members to the theatre. Actors from movies and television are frequently cast for the premieres of Broadway shows or are used to replace actors leaving a cast. Many performers, however, are still primarily "stage" actors, who spend more time on the stages of New York and will appear in television and screen roles as a secondary venue. Broadway shows and artists are honored every June when the Antoinette Perry Awards (Tony Awards) are given by the American Theatre Wing. The Tony is Broadway's highest theatre award. The importance of these awards has increased since their annual broadcast on television began. Celebrities are often chosen to host the show, like Hugh Jackman and Rosie O'Donnell, in addition to celebrity presenters. While some critics have felt that the show should focus on celebrating the stage, many others recognize the positive impact that famous faces lend to selling more tickets and bringing more people to the theatre. The performances from Broadway musicals on the telecast have also been cited as vital to the survival of many Broadway shows. Many theatre people, notably critic Frank Rich, dismiss the Tony awards as little more than a commercial for the limited world of Broadway, which after all can only support a maximum of two dozen shows a season, and constantly call for the awards to embrace off-Broadway theatre as well. Seeing a Broadway show is a common tourist activity in New York and a business that generates billions of dollars annually. The Tkts booth in Duffy Square, at Broadway and 47th Street, sells same-day tickets for many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows at half price. This service helps sell empty seats and makes seeing a show in New York more affordable. Many Broadway theatres also offer special student rates, same-day "rush" tickets, or standing-room tickets to help ensure that more people have the opportunity to see Broadways shows. Some theatregoers prefer the more experimental, challenging, and intimate performances possible in smaller theatres, which are referred to as Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway (though some may be physically located on or near Broadway). The classification of theatres is governed by language in Actors' Equity contracts. To be eligible for a Tony, a production must be in a house with 500 seats or more, which pretty much defines the Broadway Theatre. Some theatres (by adding or subtracting seats) can convert from Off-Broadway to Broadway and vice versa.

List of Broadway theaters


- If no show is currently running, the play listed is the next show planned (marked with a
- ).
- If the next show planned is not announced, the play listed is the last one that closed (marked with a #).

See also


- List of Broadway musicals
- Dramatists Guild
- List of notable musical theatre productions
- Musical theater
- West End theatre

External links


- [http://broadwayworld.com/broadwaytheatermap.cfm Map of Broadway shows]
- [http://www.ibdb.com/default.asp Internet Broadway Database (IBDB)]
- [http://www.americantheatrewing.org/ American Theatre Wing]
- [http://www.broadway.org/ The League of American Theatres and Producers, Inc.]
- [http://www.tcg.org/ Theatre Communications Group]
- [http://www.actorsequity.org Actor's Equity Association]
- [http://www.dramatistsguild.com The Dramatists Guild of America]
- [http://ssdc.org Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers]
- [http://www.afm.org American Federation of Musicians]
- [http://www.costumedesignersguild.com/ Costume Designers Guild]
- [http://www.broadwayarchive.com/ Broadway Theatre Archive]
- [http://webcdi.com/theater/theatre.php Theater or Theatre?]
- [http://www.encoretickets.com/app/Theater_Tickets.asp Broadway Tickets] Category:Broadway

Broadway, Worcestershire

Broadway is a small Cotswold village in Worcestershire, England. Often referred to as the 'Jewel of the Cotswolds', Broadway village lies beneath Fish Hill on the western Cotswold escarpment. The 'broad way' is the wide grass-fringed main street, centred around The Green, which is lined with red chestnut trees and honey-coloured Cotswold limestone buildings, many dating from the 16th century. Originally a busy stagecoach stop on the route from Worcester to London, Broadway became home to artists and writers including Elgar, John Singer Sargent, J.M. Barrie, Vaughan Williams, and William Morris. Today, Broadway is a centre for arts and antiques and serves as a natural base from which to explore the Cotswolds or see the horse-racing during the busy Cheltenham Gold Cup week. Tourism is important — the village is well-served with hotels, including the famous Lygon Arms, bed and breakfast lodges, old pubs including the Swan Pub, shops, art galleries, antique shops, restaurants and tea rooms. Local attractions include Broadway Tower (Broadway Country Park), Chipping Campden, Snowshill village, Snowshill Manor (owned by the National Trust), horse riding and, for the many ramblers, the Cotswold Way. Although Broadway has a station and a Station Road, it is no longer served by national rail services. The nearest stations are Evesham and Moreton-in-Marsh, on the main line train service running between Hereford and London Paddington station and on the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester. Further local information can be found at the village's web site, [http://www.broadwayvillage.org.uk broadwayvillage.org.uk] Category:Towns in Worcestershire

Newark, New Jersey

: For other places with this name, see Newark (disambiguation). Newark, nicknamed The Brick City, is the largest city in New Jersey, United States, and the county seat of urban Essex County. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 273,546. The Census Bureau's 2004 estimate is that the city has grown to a population of 280,451. Located approximately five miles (8 km) west of Manhattan, its location near the Atlantic Ocean on Newark Bay has helped make its port facility, Port Newark, the major container shipping port for New York Harbor. It is the home of Newark Liberty International Airport (formerly Newark International Airport) which was the first major airport to serve the New York metropolitan area.

History

New York metropolitan area Newark was founded in 1666 by Connecticut Puritans led by Robert Treat, making it the third-oldest major city in the United States, after Boston and New York, though it is not the third-oldest settlement. Newark is the city's third name; previously, it was called Pasaic Town and New Milford. The name comes from Newark-on-Trent, a town in England from where some of the original settlers arrived.

Colonial era

Newark was a relatively large town in the colonial era, known for its good beer, ciders, and tanned leather goods. In religion, it stayed loyal to old Puritan ways longer than the communities of New England, and was very receptive to the Great Awakening. When the seminaries at Yale and Harvard showed disdain for Great Awakening evangelicalism, several Newark ministers led by Aaron Burr (father of Vice President Aaron Burr) founded the College of New Jersey, later to be known as Princeton, in neighboring Elizabeth.

Industrial era to World War II

Newark's rapid growth began in the early 1800s, much of it due to a Massachusetts transplant named Seth Boyden. Boyden came to Newark in 1815, and immediately began a torrent of improvements to leather manufacture, culminating in the process for making patent leather. Boyden's genius would eventually allow Newark to manufacture almost 90% of the nation's leather by 1870, bringing in $8.6 million to the city in that year alone. In 1824, Boyden, bored with leather, found a way to produce malleable iron. Newark also prospered by the construction of the Morris Canal in 1831. The canal connected Newark with the New Jersey hinterland, at that time a major iron and farm area. Railroads also arrived in 1834 and 1835. A flourishing shipping business resulted, and Newark became the area's industrial center. In 1826, Newark's population stood at 8,017, ten times the 1776 number.(Newark, John T. Cunningham, Chap. 11, Chap. 18) The middle 19th century saw continued growth and diversification of Newark's industrial base. The first commercially successful plastic — Celluloid — was produced in a factory on Mechanic Street by John Wesley Hyatt. Hyatt's Celluloid found its way into Newark-made carriages, billiard balls, and dentures. Edward Weston perfected in Newark a process for zinc electroplating, as well as a superior arc lamp. Newark's Military Park had the first public electric lamps anywhere in the United States. Before moving to Menlo Park, Thomas Edison himself made Newark home in the early 1870s. He invented the stock ticker in the Brick City.(Ibid, Chap. 18, pg 181) In the late 19th century, its industry was further developed, especially through the efforts of such men as Seth Boyden and J. W. Hyatt. The Irish and the Germans emigrated to the city; the Germans established their own newspapers, which the other ethnic groups have emulated. However, tensions existed between the “native stock” and the newer groups. stock ticker In the middle 19th century, Newark added insurance to its repertoire of businesses; Mutual Benefit was founded in the city in 1845 and Prudential in 1873. Prudential, or "the Pru" as generations of Newarkers knew it, was founded by another transplanted New Englander, John Fairfield Dryden, who found a niche catering to the middle and lower classes. Today, Newark sells more insurance than any city except Hartford.(Ibid, Chap. 19, pg 186) In 1880, Newark's population stood at 136,508; in 1890 at 181,830; in 1900 at 246,070; and in 1910 at 347,000, a jump of 200,000 in three decades.(Cunningham, 201) As Newark's population approached a half million in the 1920s, the city's potential seemed limitless. It was said in 1927:"Great is Newark's vitality. It is the red blood in its veins – this basic strength that is going to carry it over whatever hurdles it may encounter, enable it to recover from whatever losses it may suffer and battle its way to still higher achievement industrially and financially, making it eventually perhaps the greatest industrial center in the world"(pop figures from Newark, pg 201; quotation from Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabgrass Frontier, 275). Newark was bustling in the early to mid-20th century. Market and Broad Streets served as a center of retail commerce for the region anchored by four flourishing department stores like Hahne & Company, L. Bamberger and Company, L.S. Plaut and Company, and Kresge's (later known as K-Mart). "Broad Street today is the Mecca of visitors as it has been through all its long history," Newark merchants boasted, "they come in hundreds of thousands now when once they came in hundreds."(Newark, pg. 195) K-Mart In 1922, Newark had 63 live theaters, 46 movie theaters, and an active nightlife. Dutch Schultz was killed in 1935 at the local Palace Bar. Billie Holiday frequently stayed at the Coleman Hotel. By some measures, the intersection of Market and Broad Streets — known as the "Four Corners" — was the busiest intersection in the United States, in terms of cars using it. In 1915, Public Service counted over 280,000 pedestrian crossings in one thirteen-hour period. Eleven years later, on October 26, 1926, a State Motor Vehicle Department check at the Four Corners counted 2,644 trolleys, 4,098 buses, 2657 taxis, 3474 commercial vehicles, and 23,571 automobiles. Traffic in Newark was so heavy that the city converted the old bed of the Morris Canal into the Newark City Subway, making Newark one of the only cities in the country to have an underground system. New skyscrapers were being built every year, the two tallest being the 40-story Art Deco National Newark Building and the Lefcourt-Newark Building. In 1948, just after World War II, Newark hit its peak population of just under 450,000. The population also grew as immigrants from South and Eastern Europe settled here. Newark witnessed distinctive neighborhoods including a large Jewish community concentrated along Prince Street. According to legend, the Texas-born artist Robert Rauschenberg accidentally left his bus in Newark and spent a week there before he realized it wasn't New York City.

Post-World War II era

Problems existed underneath the industrial hum. In 1930, a city commissioner had told a local booster club, the Optimists: :Newark is not like the city of old. The old, quiet residential community is a thing of the past, and in its place has come a city teeming with activity. With the change has come something unfortunate—the large number of outstanding citizens who used to live within the community's boundaries has dwindled. Many of them have moved to the suburbs and their home interests are there.(Jackson, 277) Most New Jerseyans attributed Newark's demise to post-World War II phenomena—the 1967 riots, the construction of the New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 280 and Interstate 78, decentralization of manufacturing, the G.I. Bill, and the general pro-suburban fiscal order—but Newark's relative decline actually began long before that. The city budget fell from $58 million in 1938 to only $45 million in 1944, despite the wartime boom and an increase in the tax rate from $4.61 to $5.30. Even in 1944, before anyone predicted the rise of the Sun Belt or the G.I. Bill, planners saw problems on Newark's horizon. Some attribute Newark's downfall to building so many housing projects. However, Newark's housing was always a matter of concern. The 1944 city-commissioned study showed that 31% of all Newark dwelling units were below standards of health, and only 17% of Newark's units were owner-occupied. Vast sections of Newark were wooden tenements, and at least 5,000 units failed to meet any thresholds of being a decent place to live. Bad housing predated government intervention in the housing market.(Newark, Chap. 27) One theory postulated by Kenneth T. Jackson and others is that Newark, having a situation where a poor center was surrounded by middle-class outlying areas, only did well when it was able to annex middle-class suburbs. When municipal annexation broke down, urban problems developed since the middle-class edge was now divorced from the poor center. In 1900, Newark's mayor had confidently thought out loud, "East Orange, Vailsburg, Harrison, Kearny, and Belleville would be desirable acquisitions. By an exercise of discretion we can enlarge the city from decade to decade without unnecessarily taxing the property within our limits, which has already paid the cost of public improvements." Only Vailsburg would ever be added.(Crabgrass Frontier, pg 277) Although numerous problems predated World War II, Newark was hamstrung by a number of trends in the post-WWII era. The Federal Housing Administration redlined virtually all of Newark, preferring to back up mortgages in the white suburbs. Manufacturers set up in lower wage environments and could receive bigger tax deductions for building an entirely new factory in outlying areas than for rehabilitating an old factory in a city. Billed as transportation improvements, I-280, the New Jersey Turnpike, and I-78 harmed Newark as well. They directly hurt the city by tearing the fabric of the neighborhoods they went though, and indirectly hurt the city because the new infrastructure allowed middle class people to commute into the city. Despite its problems, Newark did try in the postwar era. Prudential and Mutual Benefit were successfully enticed to stay and build new offices. Rutgers University-Newark and Seton Hall University expanded their Newark presences, with the former building a brand-new campus on a 23 acre (93,000 m²) urban renewal site. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey made Newark the first container port in the nation and turned swamps in the south of the city into one of the ten busiest airports in the United States. Even though it was not the sole cause of Newark's tragedy, the city made some serious mistakes with public housing and urban renewal. Across several administrations, the city leaders of Newark saw the federal government's offer to pay for 100% of the costs of housing projects as a blessing. While other cities were skeptical about putting so many poor and socially dysfunctional individuals together and thus were cautious in building housing projects, Newark avidly pursued federal dollars. Eventually, Newark would have a higher percentage of its residents in public housing than any other American city. The Italian First Ward was one of the hardest hit by urban renewal. A 46-acre (186,000 m²) tract, labelled a slum because it was so dense, was torn down for multi-story Le Corbusier-style high rises, to be known as the Christopher Columbus Homes. The tract had contained 8th Avenue, the commercial heart of the neighborhood. Fifteen small-scale blocks were reduced to three "superblocks." "As one First Warder put it, 'those projects killed the Ward. It was over after that.' Another First Warder, commenting on the project's size, put it even more bluntly: 'They built monsters down there.'" The Columbus Homes, never in harmony with the rest of the neighborhood, were abandoned in the 1970s, and was torn down in 1994.(Immerso, "Newark's Little Italy: the Vanished First Ward.") As pesticides and mechanization reduced the need for cheap labor in the South, five million blacks migrated to northern cities between 1940 and the 1970s. From 1950 to 1960, while Newark saw its overall population drop from 438,000 to 408,000, it gained 65,000 non-whites. By 1966, Newark had a black majority, a faster turnover than most other northern cities had experienced. Evaluating the riots of 1967, Newark educator Nathan Wright, Jr. said "no typical American city has as yet experienced such a precipitous change from a white to a black majority." The misfortune of the Great Migration and Puerto Rican immigration was that Southern blacks and Puerto Ricans were moving to Newark to be industrial workers just as the industrial jobs were drying up. Newark blacks left poverty in the South to find poverty in the North. During the 1950s alone, Newark's white population decreased from 363,000 to 266,000. From 1960 to 1967, its white population fell a further 46,000. Though white flight changed the complexion of Newark residents, white flight did not change the complexion of political and economic power in the city. In 1967, out of a police force of 1400, only 150 members were black, mostly in subordinate positions. The whiteness and brutality of the police force led it to be seen as an occupying force rather than a protective entity. Since Newark's blacks lived in neighborhoods that had been white only two decades earlier, nearly all of their apartments and stores were white-owned as well. In 1967 when 70% of Newark's students were black, Mayor Hugh Addonizio refused to appoint a black secretary to the Board of Education. Mayor Addonizio offered, without consulting any residents of the neighborhood to be affected, to condemn and raze for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey 150 acres (607,000 m²) of a densely populated black neighborhood in the central ward. UMDNJ had wanted to settle in suburban Madison.

1967 riots

Madison The poverty and lack of political power contributed to a growing radicalization of Newark's black population. On July 12, 1967, a black taxi driver named John Smith was arrested and brutally beaten by police for illegally passing a double-parked police car and then resisting arrest. A crowd gathered outside the police station where he was detained. Due to miscommunication the crowd believed Smith had died in custody (actually he had been transported to hospital via a back entrance). This sparked scuffles between blacks and police in the fourth ward, but damage for the night was only $2,500. However, following television news broadcasts on July 13, new and larger riots took place. Twenty-six people were killed, 1,500 wounded, 1,600 arrested, and $10 million in property was destroyed. More than a thousand businesses were torched or looted, including 167 groceries, with most never to reopen. Newark's reputation suffered dramatically. Tens of thousands of whites moved out. Middle class areas like Weequahic went from middle class white to poor black seemingly overnight. It was said "wherever American cities are going, Newark will get there first."

Post-riots

Weequahic] Newark saw a continued decline in the 1970s and 1980s. Whites continued to move out of the city. Middle class blacks followed suit, and certain pockets of the city developed as domains of poverty and social isolation. Whenever the media of New York needed to find some example of urban despair, they traveled to Newark. In American Pastoral, a novel by Newark-born author Philip Roth, the protagonist Swede Levov says: :[Newark] used to be the city where they manufactured everything, now it's the car theft capital of the world ... there was a factory where somebody was making something on every side street. Now there's a liquor store on every street — a liquor store, a pizza stand, and a seedy storefront church. Everything else is in ruins or boarded up. In January 1975, an article in Harper's Magazine ranked the fifty largest American cities in twenty-four categories, ranging from park space to crime. Newark was one of the five worst in nineteen out of twenty-four categories, and the very worst in nine. Only 70% of Newarkers even owned a telephone. The city ranked second worst, St. Louis, was much farther from Newark than the cities in the top five were from each other. The article concluded: :The city of Newark stands without serious challenge as the worst [city] of all. It ranked among the worst cities in no fewer than nineteen of twenty-four categories, and it was dead last in nine of them... Newark is a city that desperately needs help.(Harper's, January 1975) Newark did have several achievements in the two and a half decades after the riots. In 1968, the New Community Corporation was founded and was one of the most successful community building organizations in the nation. In 1987, the NCC would own and manage 2,265 low-income housing units. Newark's downtown also saw growth in the post-riot decades. Less than two weeks after the riots, Prudential announced plans to underwrite a $24 million office complex near Penn Station — dubbed "Gateway." The Gateway today hosts thousands of white-collar workers, though few live in Newark. The buildings themselves were not designed with consideration for pedestrians. Before the riots, there had been an issue over whether the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey would be built in the suburbs or Newark. The riots and Newark's undeniable desperation made definite that the medical school would be in Newark. However, instead of being built on 167 acres (676,000 m²), the medical school would be built on just 60, part of which was already city owned. In politics, Kenneth A. Gibson was elected as one of the first African-American mayors in the nation in 1970. The 1970s were a time of battles between Gibson and the shrinking white population. In North Newark, Anthony "Tough Tony" Imperiale represented the white backlash. Imperiale initially won fame by organizing the defense of the North Ward during the riots, and had an unsuccessful run at the mayorship. Gibson admitted that "Newark may be the most decayed and financially crippled city in the nation." The higher taxes may have been necessary to pay for services like schools and sanitation, but they did nothing for Newark's economic base; the CEO of Ballantine's Brewery even asserted that Newark's $1 million annual tax bill was the cause of the company's bankruptcy.(Newark, 339)

Today

1970 Sharpe James was elected as Newark's mayor in 1986. James had been a tireless promoter of the city in the media and in the New Jersey Senate, but he is criticized for his high salary (over $200,000 a year) and the corruption that he tolerated. James was also criticized by opponents of the new New Jersey Devils arena — they say that $200 million is far too much for a city as poor and small as Newark to pay for a one-sport venue. The New Jersey Performing Arts Center opened in the downtown area in 1997; in a few years it has brought 1.6 million people to Newark who might never have visited. NJPAC is known for its acoustics and the diversity of entertainment, from "Itzhak Perlman to 'N Sync, Lauryn Hill to the Vienna Boys' Choir, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater." In the 1990s, Newark benefitted from the soaring national economy, its proximity to Manhattan, and from huge increases in state aid for education. The city successfully attracted several high-tech concerns with its state of the art fiber optic network. Since 2000, Newark has actually gained population, its first increase since the 1940s. In 2004, its crime rate decreased 56%, though murders remain stubbornly high.

Geography

2004 Located at 40° 44' 14" north and 74° 10' 55" west, Newark is 24.14 square miles (63 km²) in area. It has the smallest land area among 100 most populous cities in the U.S. The city's altitude ranges from 0 to 273.4 feet (83 m) above sea level, with the average being 55 feet (17 m). Newark is essentially a large basin sloping towards the Passaic River, with a few valleys formed by meandering streams. Historically, Newark's high places have been its wealthier neighborhoods. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the wealthy congregated on the ridges of Forest Hill, High Street, and Weequahic. Until the 20th century, the marshes on Newark Bay were difficult to develop. The marshes were essentially wilderness, with a few dumps, warehouses, and cemeteries on their edges. In the 19th century Newarkers mourned that a fifth of their city could not be used. However, in the 20th century the growing Newark airport benefitted enormously from having such a reservoir of open land.

Neighborhoods

Newark is New Jersey's largest and second-most diverse city, after neighboring Jersey City. Its neighborhoods are populated with people from various backgrounds, including African-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Italians, Jews, Subsaharan Africans, and various Latinos such as Brazilians, Ecuadorians, and Haitians. Newark also has the largest Portuguese population of any American city.

The North Ward

Newark's North Ward is the ridge to the east of Branch Brook Park. The still-wealthy Forest Hill, Newark, New Jersey is in the North Ward, as are heavily Latino areas west of [http://www.newarkhistory.com/mtprospectave.html Mt. Prospect Avenue].

The Central Ward

The Central Ward is a poor, mostly black, area. In the 19th century it was inhabited by Germans. The German inhabitants were later replaced by Jews, who were then replaced by blacks. Newark built many public housing projects on superblocks in the Central Ward in the 19th century; the area's streets are hence no longer arranged in a grid.

The West Ward

The West Ward comprises the middle-class, quasi-suburban neighborhoods of Roseville and Vailsburg. Vailsburg is largely black, while Roseville is white and Latino.

The South Ward

The South Ward comprises poor areas and the middle-class Weequahic district. It was the last part of Newark to be developed. At the southern end of the ward is Weequahic Park.

The East Ward

The East Ward is the heavily Portuguese Ironbound neighborhood. Much of Newark's industry was located here in the 19th century; the area was then poorer than the rest of the city. Today, due to the enterprise of its immigrant population, the Ironbound is wealthier than the rest of Newark.

Demographics

Ironbound As of the census of 2000, there are 273,546 people, recent census projections show that the population has increased to around 280,000. The population density is 11,400/mile² (4,400/km²), or 21,000/mile² (8,100 km²) once airport, railroad, and seaport lands are excluded, the second-highest in the nation. The racial makeup of the city is 26.52% White or Euro-American, 53.46% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 1.19% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 14.05% from other races, and 4.36% from two or more races. 29.47% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There is a significant Portuguese-speaking community, made up by Brazilian and Portuguese ethnicities, concentrated mainly at the Ironbound district. There are 91,382 households out of which 35.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.0% are married couples living together, 29.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 32.2% are non-families. 26.6% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.8% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.85 and the average family size is 3.43. In the city the population is spread out with 27.9% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 31 years. For every 100 females there are 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.1 males. The median income for a household in the city is $26,913, and the median income for a family is $30,781. Males have a median income of $29,748 versus $25,734 for females. The per capita income for the city is $13,009. 28.4% of the population and 25.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 36.6% of those under the age of 18 and 24.1% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Government

Local government

Effective as of July 1, 1954, the voters of the city of Newark, by a referendum held on November 3, 1953 and acting pursuant to the Optional Municipal Charter Law (commonly known as the Faulkner Act), adopted the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) Plan C as the form of local government. Pursuant to this Plan, 9 council members are elected on a nonpartisan basis at the regular municipal election or at the general election for terms of 4 years: one council member from each of 5 wards and 4 council members on an at-large basis. The mayor is also elected for a term of 4 years. The Mayor of Newark is Sharpe James. The only Civil Rights veteran still serving as Mayor in America, Sharpe James became Newark's longest-serving mayor when he was re-elected for an unprecedented fifth term in 2002, a year after being named New Jersey Conference of Mayors Mayor of the Year. First elected mayor of Newark on May 13, 1986, James was sworn into office on July 1 of that year. He was the first Newark mayor to run unopposed when he sought re-election in 1990 and handily won re-election in 1994, 1998, and 2002. The Municipal Council exercises the legislative power of city government. It enacts by ordinance, resolution or motion the local laws which govern the people of the city, and is responsible for approval of the municipal budget, establishment of financial controls, and setting of salaries of elected officials and top appointed administrators. It may reduce or increase appropriations requested by the Mayor. By these methods the Council decides "what" the city will do about any particular matter, and then the Mayor and cabinet members decide "how" to do it. The Municipal Council also renders advice and consent on the Mayor's appointments and policy programs, and may investigate, when necessary, any branch of municipal government. The Council also authorizes a continuing audit by an outside firm, of all city financial transactions. As established by ordinance, regular public meetings of the Municipal Council are held on the first Wednesday of each month at 1:00 p.m., and the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the Municipal Council Chamber in City Hall. Exceptions are made for national or religious holidays. During July and August only one meeting is held each month. A special meeting of the Municipal Council may be called by the President or a majority of its members or by the Mayor whenever an emergency requires immediate action. Members of Newark's Municipal Council are:
- Donald Bradley - Council President and Council Member, South Ward
- Augusto Amador - Council Member, East Ward
- Charles A. Bell - Council Member, Central Ward
- Mamie Bridgeforth - Council Member, West Ward
- Hector M. Corchado - Council Member, North Ward
- Gayle H. Chaneyfield-Jenkins - Council Member-At-Large
- Luis Quintana - Council Member-At-Large
- Donald Kofi Tucker - Council Member-At-Large. Tucker died on October 17, 2005, having served 31 continuous years on the Council.
- Bessie Walker - Council Member-At-Large

Federal, state and county representation

Newark is in both the Tenth and Thirteenth Congressional Districts and is part of New Jersey's 27th, 28th and 29th Legislative Districts.

Economy

Newark has over 300 types of businesses. These include 1,800 retail, 540 wholesale establishments, eight major bank headquarters (including those of New Jersey's three largest banks), and twelve savings and loan association headquarters. Deposits in Newark-based banks are over $20 billion. Newark is the third-largest insurance center in United States, after New York City and Hartford. Prudential Insurance and Mutual Benefit Companies originated in Newark. The former, the largest insurance company in the world, is still headquartered in Newark. Though Newark is not the industrial colossus of the past, the city does have a considerable amount of industry. The southern portion of the Ironbound, also known as the Industrial Meadowlands, has seen many factories built since World War II, including a large brewery.

Education

Newark is the home of Rutgers University-Newark, the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Seton Hall University's School of Law, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (Newark Campus), and Essex County College. Most of Newark's academic institutions are located in the city's University Heights district. Rutgers-Newark and NJIT are in the midst of major expansion programs, including plans to purchase, and sometimes raze, surrounding buildings, as well as revitalize current campuses. With more students' requesting to live on campus, the universities have plans to build and expand several dormitories. Such overcrowding is contributing to the revitalization of nearby apartments. Nearby restaurants primarily serve college students. Well lit, frequently policed walks have been organized by the colleges to encourage students to venture downtown.

Culture

University Heights hub. The station was designed by McKim, Mead, and White]] Downtown Newark is not laid out on a grid, giving the downtown area character. There are several notable Beaux-Arts buildings, such as the Veterans' Administration building, the Newark Museum, the Newark Public Library, and the Cass Gilbert-designed Essex County Courthouse. Notable Art Deco buildings include several 1920s era skyscrapers, such as 1180 Raymond Boulevard, the intact Newark Penn Station, and Arts High School. Gothic architecture can be found at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart by Branch Brook Park, which is one of the largest gothic cathedrals in the United States. It is rumoured to have as much stained glass as the Cathedral of Chartres. Newark also has two public sculpture works by Gutzon Borglum — Wars of America in Military Park and Seated Lincoln in front of the Essex County Courthouse. The Newark Museum has a first class American art collection, and its Tibetan collection is considered one of the best in the world. Through January 2006 the Newark Museum is displayinf Dominican baseball art and African clothing. The city is also home to the New Jersey Historical Society, which has rotating exhibits on New Jersey and Newark. The Newark Public Library also produces a series of historical exhibits. Also through January 2006, the Newark Public Library is exhibiting the New Jersey photography of Harry Dorer. Newark Public Library In February 2004, plans were announced for a new Smithsonian-affiliated Museum of African-American Music to be built in the city's Lincoln Park neighborhood. The museum will be dedicated to black musical styles, from gospel to rap. The new museum will incorporate the facade of the old South Park Presbyterian Church, where Abraham Lincoln once spoke. Groundbreaking is planned for winter 2006 with the grandopening scheduled for 2007. Plans were formalized in November 2004 for a New Jersey Jewish Museum at Temple Ahavas Shalom in the Broadway neighborhood, the last synagogue in Newark. The museum will memorialize the Jewish community of Newark, which once numbered 60,000 and had fifty shuls. The new arena for the New Jersey Devils is under construction. Newark recently established a minor league baseball team, the revived Newark Bears. The city has produced more influential rap artists than one would expect from a city of Newark's size. Queen Latifah, The Fugees, Naughty by Nature, Artifacts and Redman all came from Newark or neighboring East Orange and South Orange, as did several lesser known hip-hop artists such as Jaheim, Faith Evans, and Joe. Additionally, Ice T was born in Newark, but later moved to Los Angeles. Also, from 1947 until the mid-1990s, Herman Lubinsky's influential jazz label, Savoy Records, was located at 58 Market Street in downtown Newark. Pioneer radio station WOR AM was originally licensed to and broadcast from the Bamberger's Department Store in Newark.

Famous people born or raised in Newark


- Actor Jason Alexander (birth name Jason Scott Greenspan), Seinfeld co-star
- Film director Brian De Palma was born and lives in Newark.
- World famous singer Whitney Houston
- Rapper Redman, whose raps about Newark include "Welcome 2 Da Bricks" on his Doc's Da Name 2000 album.
- Actress/rapper Queen Latifah (Dana Owens)
- Novelist Philip Roth grew up in Newark's Weequahic neighborhood, and his Pulitzer-prize winning novel American Pastoral as well as some of his other books are set in Newark.
- Jazz composer/player Wayne Shorter
- World famous singer/songwriter Paul Simon
- Basketball Star Shaq was born in Columbus Hospital.
- Actor J.D. Williams, from HBO television shows The Wire and Oz.
- Author Stephen Crane, most notably from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets and The Red Badge of Courage.
- Jazz singer Sarah Vaughan
- Lead singer Gerard Way and bassist Mikey Way of the punk rock band My Chemical Romance were both born in Newark but later moved to Belleville, New Jersey

References


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External links


- [http://www.ci.newark.nj.us/ The City of Newark, New Jersey]
- [http://www.gonewark.com/ Go Newark] - Guide to news, culture, history, and leisure activities in and around Newark.
- [http://www.gonewark.com/atWork/CityMaps/documents/city_map2003_FP.pdf Map of Newark]
- [http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2005/streetfight/special_overview.html "Newark: A Brief History"] on PBS website
- [http://www.newarkhistory.com Newarkology Website]
- [http://www.oldnewark.com/ Old Newark]
- [http://www.jerseyhistory.org/ New Jersey Historical Society]
- [http://www.nycsubway.org/nyc/newark/ Newark City Subway] - Overview and history of the subway.
- [http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger The Star-Ledger (Newark news)]
- [http://www.njpac.org/ New Jersey Performing Arts Center]
- [http://www.npl.org/ Newark Public Library]
- [http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/34/3451000.html US Census Bureau - Newark - QuickFacts] Category:Cities in New Jersey Category:Essex County, New Jersey Category:Faulkner Act Category:New York metropolitan area ja:ニューアーク (ニュージャージー州)

Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington

Capitol Hill is the most densely populated neighborhood in Seattle, Washington. It is the center of gay life in Seattle and also a center of its counterculture, while also home to some of the city's grandest mansions. The origin of the neighborhood's name is disputed. According to one story, James A. Moore, the real estate developer who platted much of the area, named it thus in the hope that the Washington government would move to Seattle from Olympia. According to another, Moore named it after the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, his wife's hometown. It is thought by the editors of [http://www.historylink.org HistoryLink] that the true story is a combination of the two. Prior to Moore's naming it so in 1901, Capitol Hill was known as Broadway Hill.

Geography

It is bounded by Interstate 5 to the west, beyond which are Downtown, Cascade, and Eastlake; by Washington State Route 520 and Interlaken Park to the north, beyond which is Montlake; by E. Pike and E. Madison Streets to the south, beyond which are First Hill and the Central District; and by 23rd and 24th Avenues E. to the east, beyond which is Madison Valley. Its main thoroughfares are Lakeview Boulevard E.; Bellevue, 10th, 12th, 15th, and 19th Avenues E.; and Broadway (north- and southbound) and E. Pine, E. Pike, E. John, E. Thomas, and E. Aloha Streets and E. Olive Way (east- and westbound). Of these streets, large portions of Pike, Pine, Broadway, 15th and, to a slightly lesser extent, Olive, are lined almost continuously with streetfront businesses. The highest point on Capitol Hill, at 444.5 feet above sea level, is in Volunteer Park, adjacent to the water tower. Capitol Hill is also responsible for half of Seattle's 12 steepest street grades: 21% on E. Roy Street between 25th and 26th Avenues E. (western slope), 19% on E. Boston Street between Harvard Avenue E. and Broadway E. (western slope) and on E. Ward Street between 25th and 26th Avenues E. (eastern slope), and 18% on E. Highland Drive between 24th and 25th Avenues E. (eastern slope), on E. Lee Street between 24th and 25th Avenues E. (eastern slope), and on E. Roy Street between Melrose and Bellevue Avenues E. (western slope).

Ambience

Since about 1980, Capitol Hill has had a reputation as the center of gay life in Seattle, although it has never been as exclusively gay as The Castro in San Francisco or Davie Village in Vancouver, British Columbia. It also has a reputation as the heart of "hip" Seattle, and was the neighborhood most closely associated with the grunge scene, although most of the best-known music venues of that era were actually located slightly outside the neighborhood. Most of the Hill's major thoroughfares are dotted with coffeehouses, taverns and bars, as well as numerous retail stores, boutiques, and (along E. Pike and E. Pine Streets) a few art galleries. Residences cover the gamut from modest motel-like studio apartment buildings to some of the city's grandest and most venerable mansions, with the two extremes sometimes cheek-by-jowl. The neighborhood figures prominently in nightlife and entertainment, with many bars hosting live music and with numerous fringe theaters. Capitol Hill is also home to two of the city's best-known movie theaters, both of them architectural conversions of private meeting halls: the Harvard Exit, in the former home of the Women's Century Club (converted in the early 1970s) and the Egyptian Theater, in a former Masonic lodge (converted in the mid-1980s). The Broadway Performance Hall, located on the campus of Seattle Central Community College, also hosts a variety of lectures, performances, and films.

Landmarks and institutions


- Cal Anderson Park
- Cornish College of the Arts
- Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery
- Lake View Cemetery
- Roanoke Park
- St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral
- Seattle Asian Art Museum
- Seattle Central Community College
- Seattle Preparatory School
- Volunteer Park

Bars and Clubs


- The Bad Juju
- The Baltic Room
- Barça
- Boondocker's, Sundecker's, and Greenthumb's (defunct)
- Bus Stop
- Capitol Club
- Canterbury Ales and Eats
- C.C. Attle's
- Cha Cha lounge
- Chapel
- Chop Suey
- Clever Dunne's
- The Comet
- The Crescent
- The Cuff Complex
- The Elite
- Henry's Off Broadway (defunct)
- The Hopvine
- The Jade Pagoda
- Kincora's Irish Pub
- Linda's
- Lion O'Reilly's & BJ Monkeyshines(defunct)
- Madison Pub
- Man Ray
- Martin's off Madison
- Mercury
- Moe's (defunct)
- Neighbours
- Neumo's
- Purr
- R Place
- The Satellite
- Seattle Eagle
- Summit Public House
- Thumper's
- Tugs' Belmont (defunct)
- The Vogue
- The War Room
- Wild Rose

Coffeehouses

Besides the inevitable large Seattle-based chains—(Starbucks, Starbucks-owned SBC, and Tully's Coffee—Capitol Hill has been home to some of the city's most prominent locally owned coffeehouses. (The B&O, one of Seattle's oldest surviving coffeehouses, has morphed over the years into more of a restaurant.)
- Cause Celebre (defunct)
- Coffee Messiah
- Dilettante
- Ladro (local chain)
- Paradiso (defunct)
- Top Pot Doughnuts
- Victrola
- Vita (local chain)
- Vivace (2 locations, both on the Hill)

External links


- [http://seattlewiki.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill Capitol Hill] on SeattleWiki Category:Gay villages Category:Seattle neighborhoods

Broadway, Sydney

Broadway is both an urban locality and a road within the suburb of Ultimo, in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The road is historically important because it is one of the first roads built in the colonies, in 1794. It used to be called "George Street South" and then "George Street West", but after being widened in 1906 when the Central Railway Station was built, George Street west of Railway Square became known as "The Broadway". This name was subsequently shortened to just "Broadway". When travelling westward along Broadway the name changes into Parramatta Road at Victoria Park. Broadway can be said to link the University of Sydney with the University of Technology, Sydney. Broadway and Parramatta Road are part of the Great Western Highway. Broadway was also once home to the flagship building of department store chain Grace Brothers until 1995, operating for 90 years. Nowadays this site (which was visited by Queen Elizabeth II several times in her 1954 visit to Australia) contains the expanded Broadway Shopping Centre and the Hotel UniLodge Sydney.

External links

Category:Incomplete Sydney suburbs Category:Suburbs of Sydney Category:Sydney streets

Sydney

Sydney is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian state of New South Wales, as well as Australia's largest and oldest city (founded in 1788). With a metropolitan area population of 4.3 million and a population of approximately 146,297 people in the city proper (known as the "City of Sydney"), the Sydney metropolis is the largest financial, transport, trade and cultural centre in Australia. Sydney is a significant global and domestic tourist destination and is regularly declared to be one of the most beautiful and liveable cities in the world, admired for its harbour, beautiful coastline, warm and pleasant climate and cosmopolitan culture. Sydney significantly raised its global profile in recent years as the host city of the 2000 Olympics. It is also the host of the World Youth Day 2008. The city's name is pronounced . A resident of Sydney is popularly known as a "Sydneysider". Sydney is home to the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge which are both recognized worldwide.

Geography

Sydney Harbour Bridge Sydney Harbour Bridge towards the CBD skyline; the Opera House is visible in the background on the left]] Opera House Sydney is located in a coastal basin between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Blue Mountains to the west. The city features the largest natural harbour in the world, Port Jackson, and more than 70 harbour and ocean beaches, including the famous Bondi Beach. Sydney's urban area of 1,687 km² is similar to that of Greater London, although it has less than half of that city's population. The metropolitan area (Sydney Statistical Division) is 12,145 km², but much of this is national park and other unsettled land. The geographical coordinates of Sydney are 34 degrees south and 151 degrees east. Sydney occupies two geographical regions: the Cumberland Plain, a relatively flat or rolling region lying to the south and west of the harbour, and the Hornsby Plateau, a plateau north of the harbour, up to 200 m in elevation, dissected by forested valleys. The oldest parts of the city are located in the flat areas; the Hornsby Plateau, known as the North Shore, was slower to develop because of its hilly topography, and was mostly a quiet backwater until the Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, linking it to the rest of the city. Much of the North Shore is upper-middle class suburban in character, with high-rise business districts at Chatswood and North Sydney. Sydney's central business district (CBD) extends southwards for about 2 km from Sydney Cove, the point of the first European settlement. Densely concentrated skyscrapers and other buildings including beautiful sandstone buildings such as the Sydney Town Hall and Queen Victoria Building are interspersed by several parks such as Wynyard and Hyde Parks. The CBD is bounded on the east side by a chain of parkland that extends from Hyde Park through the Domain and Royal Botanic Gardens to Farm Cove on the harbour. The west side is bounded by Darling Harbour, a popular tourist precinct. Central Station marks the southern end of the CBD. George St is the Sydney CBD's main north-south thoroughfare. In the southern CBD, the streets run on a slightly angled grid pattern; in the older northern CBD, the routes are less logical, reflecting the ad-hoc development of bullock tracks in the early days of the city. (See the Sydney central business district article for more detail.) Sydney's streets tend to be narrower than those of other major Australian cities, reflecting this ad hoc development. Although the CBD dominated the city's business and cultural life in the early days, other business/cultural districts have developed in a radial pattern since World War II. As a result, the proportion of white-collar jobs located in the CBD declined from more than 60% at the end of World War II to less than 30% in 2004. The five most significant outer business districts are Parramatta in the central-west, Blacktown in the west, Liverpool in the southwest, Chatswood to the north, and Hurstville in the south. Although the city does not suffer from cyclones or significant earthquakes, the El Niño Southern Oscillation plays an important role in determining Sydney's weather patterns: drought and bushfire on the one hand, and storms and flooding on the other, associated with the opposite phases of the oscillation. Many areas of the city bordering bushland have experienced bushfires, notably in 1994 and 2002. The city is subject to infrequent severe hail storms and wind storms. In recent years, the city has faced water shortages. The levels in its main water storages, chief of which Warragamba Dam have fallen to such an extent that the state government has imposed a range of restrictions intended to reduce water consumption and is currently considering the introduction of a desalinated water plant.

History

Warragamba Dam The area surrounding Sydney Harbour (called Warrane by the aborigines) has been inhabited by Aboriginal tribes, notably the Eora and Cadigal, for at least 40,000 years. Although urbanisation has destroyed most evidence of these settlements (such as shell middens), there are still rock carvings in several locations. European interest arose with the sighting of Botany Bay (now a southern suburb of Sydney) in 1770 by Lieutenant James Cook. Under instruction from the British government, a convict settlement was founded by Arthur Phillip in 1788. Phillip founded the colony at Sydney Cove on Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour). He named it after the British Home Secretary, Thomas Townshend, Lord Sydney (Viscount Sydney from 1789), in recognition of Sydney's role in issuing the charter authorising Phillip to establish a colony. Prisoners were quickly set to work to build the settlement and by 1822 the town had banks, markets, well-established thoroughfares and an organised constabulary; by 1847, convicts accounted for only 3.2% of the population. After a slow start, the town grew rapidly, with ships arriving from Ireland and England with immigrants looking to start a new life in a new country. The first of several gold rushes was in 1851, since which time the port of Sydney has seen many waves of people from around the world. With industrialisation Sydney expanded rapidly, and by the early 20th century it had a population well in excess of one million. Throughout the 20th century Sydney continued to expand with various new waves of European and (later) Asian immigration, resulting in its highly cosmopolitan atmosphere of the present day. Indeed, Sydney has the second highest immigrant population of any major world city, with 45% of the population being either migrants or children of migrants.

Historical population

Asian The majority of Sydneysiders are of British and Irish background. More recent arrivals have included Italians, Greeks, Lebanese, South Africans, Indians, Sudanese, Turks, Macedonians, Croatians, Serbs, Chinese and Vietnamese.
- 1800: 2,540 inhabitants
- 1820: 12,000
- 1851: 39,000
- 1871: 205,800
- 1901: 487,900
- 1925: 1,039,000
- 2003: 4 million
- 2050: 6 million (projected)

Timeline of events


- 1788: First European settlement established
- 1852: Sydney incorporated as a city
- 1855: New South Wales's first railway line linking Sydney with Parramatta
- 1870: Intercolonial Exhibition (1870)
- 1879: Sydney International Exhibition (1879)
- 1883: Parramatta - Intercolonial Juvenile Industrial Exhibition (1883)
- 1901: Commonwealth of Australia proclaimed in Sydney on January 1
- c. 1903: Overtook Melbourne as Australia's largest city
- 1932: Sydney Harbour Bridge completed
- 1942: Sydney attacked by Japanese submarines
- 1973: Sydney Opera House completed
- 2000: 2000 Summer Olympics

Government and politics

There is no overall governing body for the Sydney metropolitan area. There is a directly elected Lord Mayor of Sydney and an elected council, but these are responsible only for the City of Sydney, which takes in the central business area and some adjoining inner suburbs. The Lord Mayor, however, is sometimes treated as a representative of the whole city. The rest of the metropolitan area is divided into municipalities (see list of regions below). As is common in major metropolitan areas of most Australian states, these municipalities all have elected councils and are responsible for a range of functions delegated to them by the New South Wales State Government. Most citywide government activities are controlled by the state government. These include public transport, main roads, traffic control, policing, education above preschool level, and planning of major infrastructure projects. Because a large fraction of New South Wales' population lives in Sydney, state governments have traditionally been reluctant to allow the development of citywide governmental bodies, which would tend to rival the state government. For this reason, Sydney has always been a focus for the politics of both State and Federal Parliaments. For example, the electoral boundary of the City of Sydney local council area (mayoralty) have been significantly altered by state governments on at least four occasions since 1945, with advantageous effect to the governing party in the New South Wales Parliament at the time. As of 2005, the councils of the City of Sydney and the City of South Sydney are merged.

Landmarks

City of South Sydney The city's most famous landmarks are Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House, both of which are located on Sydney Harbour. Sydney's principal river is the Parramatta River, which enters Sydney Harbour from the west. While the Harbour is famous for its racing yachts, the Boxing Day start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and 18ft skiffs, the river is used for dinghy sailing and rowing as well as recreational boating, racing small yachts, recreational fishing, and occasional Dragon Boat racing. Another famous landmark is the Sydney Tower (also known as Centrepoint Tower or the AMP Tower) which is the third tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere after Auckland's Sky Tower and the Gold Coast's Q1 Tower. Darling Harbour is also a popular tourist attraction. The Sydney Cricket Ground, which retains several beautiful 1920s-era grandstands, hosts several international cricket matches and the Sydney Swans Australian rules football team. The old adjacent showgrounds, for many years home to the Sydney Royal Easter Show, have been redeveloped as 20th Century Fox's large Sydney studios. Sydney Olympic Park, after holding a large proportion of the major events in the 2000 Olympic Games, now regularly hosts sporting and cultural events, especially at Telstra Stadium. Sydney is also known for the annual Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Sydney is home to the Australian Stock Exchange and the Reserve Bank of Australia. It also has 6 universities: the University of Sydney (USyd), the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Macquarie University (MaqU), the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), the University of Western Sydney (UWS), and two of the campuses of the Australian Catholic University (ACU).

Major Tourist attractions

Australian Catholic University Sydney is noted for its tourist attractions, including:
- Bondi Beach
- Chinatown, Sydney
- Chinese Garden
- Darling Harbour [http://www.darlingharbour.com/]
- Fox Studios Australia
- Hyde Park Barracks
- King Street Wharf
- New Year's fireworks
- Oceanworld, Manly.[http://www.sydneymate.com/travel_sydney_australia/Placesofinterest/ManlyOceanWorld/Manly_Ocean_World.htm]
- Powerhouse Museum, a museum of science and technology [http://www.phm.gov.au/]
- Sydney Aquarium, Darling Harbour. [http://www.sydneyaquarium.com.au/]
- Sydney Harbour, more correctly known as Port Jackson
- Sydney Harbour Bridge [http://www.bridgeclimb.com/]
- Sydney Mint
- Sydney Opera House
- Sydney Tower (aka Centrepoint Tower), CBD.[http://www.sydneyskytour.com.au/]
- Taronga Zoo, Mosman.[http://www.zoo.nsw.gov.au/]
- The Rocks The Rocks

Culture

The Rocks Sydney boasts a full roster of musical, theatrical and artistic activity through the year, from the formal - including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Theatre Company, the Sydney Dance Company, and the Archibald Prize - to festivals, including the Sydney Festival, a celebration of free performances throughout January. Many internationally known Australian rock bands have had their conception in Sydney, which include most notably The Easybeats, AC/DC, Midnight Oil and INXS. Sydney has also been the inspiration for a very large number of Australian indie rock and mainstream pop songs from The Executives' classic 1968 "Summer Hill Road", to Paul Kelly's many songs about Sydney including "From St.Kilda to Kings Cross" and "Sydney From A 727", to John Kennedy's Love Gone Wrong and songs like "King Street" and "Miracle in Marrickville" to The Mexican Spitfires "Sydney Town" and "Town Hall Steps" among many others. In fact in 2000 to coincide with the Sydney Olympic Games Sony Music released a compilation of 30 songs about Sydney called "Somewhere In Sydney" which featured the above mentioned artists as well as The Whitlams, Skyhooks, Cold Chisel, Roaring Jack and many others. See Songs about Sydney for a listing by suburb of songs about Sydney and environs. Sydney also has been home to many visual artists, from the lush pastoralism of Lloyd Rees's depictions of Sydney Harbour to Jeffrey Smart's portraits of bleak urban alienation. Sydney has four large and many smaller museums. The biggest are the Australian Museum (natural history and anthropology), Powerhouse Museum (science, technology and design), Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Sydney is also home to several large ethnic communities throughout the greater metropolitan area, and a significant gay community who host the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras along Oxford Street. To encourage sharing of cultural, trade and tourist links, the City of Sydney Council maintains sister city relations with the cities San Francisco, Nagoya, Wellington, Portsmouth, Guangzhou, and Florence.

Media

Sydney has two daily newspapers. The Sydney Morning Herald is a centrist-to-left-leaning broadsheet, and is generally regarded as a "serious" paper, with extensive coverage of domestic and international news, culture and business. It is also the oldest newspaper in Australia, having been published regularly since 1831. The Herald's competitor, The Daily Telegraph, is a Murdoch-owned tabloid. It leans to the right and is generally sensationalist in its coverage. Both papers have tabloid counterparts published on Sunday, The Sun-Herald and the Sunday Telegraph respectively. Recently, an afternoon/evening tabloid owned by Murdoch known as the MX was added to Sydney's list of free newspapers, released at 15:00 and distributed every weekday at CBD railway stations and newsagents. The three commercial television networks (Seven, Nine & Ten), as well as the government networks (ABC & SBS) each have a presence in Sydney. The ABC has a large headquarters and production facility in Ultimo. SBS have their studios at Artarmon. Foxtel and Optus both supply pay-TV over their cable services to most parts of the metropolitan area. Limited digital TV transmissions serve Sydney, including a program guide (Channel 4), ABC news, sport, and weather items (Channel 41), ChannelNSW: Government and Public Information (Channel 45), Australian Christian Channel (Channel 46), MacquarieBank TV (Channel 47), SportsTAB (Channel 48), Expo Home Shopping (Channel 49), and Federal parliamentary broadcasts (audio only). Many AM and FM government, commercial and community radio services broadcast in the Sydney area. The local ABC radio station is 702 ABC Sydney (formerly 2BL). The talkback radio genre is dominated by the perennial rivals 2GB and 2UE. Vega (radio network) is a new talk radio station on the FM band. Popular music stations include Triple M, 2Day FM and Nova 96.9. Triple J, 2SER and FBi Radio provide a more independent, local and alternative sound. There are also a number of community stations broadcasting to a particular language group or local area.

Sport

FBi Radio
- 9 teams in the National Rugby League
- Sydney Swans - Australian Rules Football ( AFL)
- Sydney FC - A-League Football
- 2 teams in the National Basketball League
- New South Wales Blues - First-class cricket
- Home of the New South Wales Waratahs - Super 14 Rugby union Team
- Sydney Blues - Australian Major League Baseball Sydney is arguably the major rugby league centre of the world. It is the headquarters of Australian Rugby League and home to 9 of the 15 National Rugby League teams. Sydney's most famous sports ground is the Sydney Cricket Ground, home to numerous sports being played for over a century, especially Cricket and Rugby. The Sydney Swans play their home game on the Sydney Cricket ground. Despite Rugby being the most dominant sport in Sydney, the Swam draw impressively large crows to their games. They had recent sucess in winning the 2005 AFL Grand Final. Sydney hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Transport

2000 Summer Olympics Sydney has a good mix of public and private transport, although in line with the "new world" (US, NZ, Canada, Australia), the car is predominent due to the city's sprawl, particularly in the west. Proper freeways were not built until the early 1980s, but since then the state government has embarked on an ambitious freeway building plan, most as tolled roads (motorways -- see below). Sydne