One neighborhood experienced the greatest increase in overall population as well as its child population – Chickahominy. The neighborhood gained 585 new residents, 87% of whom were identified as Hispanic in the 2020 census.

Chickahominy, which sits near the city center in the western part of town, has long been a diverse area of ​​Greenwich, according to longtime resident David D’Andrea who helps run the Chickahominy Reunion Association.

“It’s strength, it’s diversity, it’s hard working people,” D’Andrea said. “They love their property, love Saint-Roch (church), love their families.

D’Andrea said he has witnessed six decades of change in the neighborhood, but during that time Chickahominy’s heart has remained the same.

“I see the same values ​​for education, for religion and for the family,” he said of the generations of families who have inhabited the region.

When he was growing up, D’Andrea said the neighborhood was mostly occupied by Italian families who used to work as stonemasons, building many of the town’s mansions and the local church. It is now made up of around 30% Hispanic residents, the second in Greenwich after Byram, with around 36% Hispanic residents.

The move to Greenwich of Spanish-speaking and Spanish-speaking families is driven largely by one desire: a good education for their children, said Hector Arzeno, an immigrant from South America and member of the Greenwich Representative Town Meeting.

“The reason they’re moving to Greenwich is because of the public school system, that’s clear. These families are looking for better opportunities for their children. It’s the same reason I moved to Greenwich, ”said Arzeno. “The public school system is consideration 1.”

Byram and Chickahominy

Overall, the city is now made up of about 13% of Hispanic ID residents, according to the 2020 census. Most of that population is concentrated in this southwest corner of the city, in Byram and Chickahominy. , which raises concerns about segregation.

“It has always been a problem in every city and certainly a part of it has touched Greenwich, but I think one way to combat that is to focus on that,” said first manager Fred Camillo of the distribution of population.

Some residents of both neighborhoods said they felt neglected in the past, but Camillo said the city has made efforts to improve the areas.

Camillo recently met with community leaders from Chickahominy to hear their ideas and interest in making improvements to their neighborhood.

“It’s a wonderful part of the city, and that’s why we are bringing more people together to make it something wonderful for old and new residents,” he said.

Arzeno said he met many Hispanic residents when he unsuccessfully ran for the state House of Representatives in 2020 and said he saw no obstacles in the city.

Greenwich is located at the center of Hispanic service workers, and many work in country clubs or landscaping companies in Westchester County, NY, or elsewhere in southern Connecticut, he said.

There is also a large contingent of high-income Latin American professionals who live in Greenwich, near New York City, said Arzeno, who has worked in finance for decades.

Arzeno said it seemed to him that most of Greenwich’s Spanish-speaking immigrants were from Guatemala, Mexico and Ecuador, with a smaller number coming from the Caribbean or other Central American countries. He noted that there were also local residents from Argentina, Chile and Colombia.

Like other immigrant groups, adults tend to stay in their own enclaves and ethnic communities, Arzeno said.

“I don’t see a problem with segregation. They (Hispanic immigrants) come together, but the children are integrated, the schools integrate them. It’s like any other model of immigration to the United States, ”said Arzeno.

He said high school appears to be inclusive for Hispanic students.

His five children all attended public schools in the city, he said. One of her daughters is currently enrolled in Greenwich High School and is co-chair of the Hispanic Society there. “Very inclusive,” he said.

Younger population

In addition to seeing the largest increase in population overall, Chickahominy also saw the largest increase in residents under the age of 18.

Hamilton Avenue School has reported twice as many Hispanic or Latino students as it did a decade ago, according to the school district’s profile with the Connecticut State Department of Education. The school now has 54% Hispanic or Latino students, while educators on Hamilton Avenue are just under 4% in that category, according to the profile.

Across town at Riverside School, the student body is 77% white, closer to the school district student body overall at around 70% white, according to the profile.

The community of Greenwich as a whole has not grown much over the past few decades. The city’s population only increased by 9,779 people from 1960 to 2020.

The neighborhoods of Glenville and Pemberwick, which share a census tract, experienced the second largest population increase in the past decade, gaining 426 new residents, according to census data.

Population growth in these neighborhoods may be linked to new housing, with Chickahominy and the Glenville / Pemberwick areas having gained just under 100 units combined in recent years.

Chickahominy also lends itself to new housing because it has zoned areas for condominiums and because it also allows multi-family homes. Additionally, Greenwich’s most recent public housing in 2018 and 2020 was built in Chickahominy.

“It’s a diverse community, but a very vibrant community,” said Mark Pruner, estate agent at Berkshire Hathaway in Greenwich.

In fact, it can be difficult to move into the neighborhood as residents who move to that area typically stay there, Pruner said.

“There is very little turnover at Chickahominy which is very different from the rest of Greenwich,” he said. “Chickahominy is one of the places where people pass houses from their parents to their children. “

Home values ​​in the neighborhood are the cheapest in all of Greenwich, with a median price of less than $ 1 million, according to Redfin.com. A house in the city’s wealthiest neighborhoods can fetch an average of $ 2 million, Pruner said.

Older families who bequeath their properties to their children have turned them into multi-family rentals, D’Andrea said. It’s that rental market, along with the new condominiums, that made Chickahominy – and Greenwich – accessible to more people, he said.

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