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family income in New Rochelle

 

The median household income in New Rochelle in 1990 was $43,482, as compared to $48,405 in Westchester County as a whole. The neighboring Town of Mamaroneck had a median household income of $77,926, more than double that of New Rochelle.

Although New Rochelle is a relatively wealthy community, it does not come close to the mean incomes of its neighboring towns and villages. In addition, as Jennifer Campion points out, the considerably different socioeconomic profile of New Rochelle's neighbors makes them unlikely to approve of any large development that might increase their traffic burden, or harm them in other ways. Her assessment helps clarify the aggressiveness with which Mamaroneck residents attacked the Ikea proposal, including the passage of a town law to "require developers to obtain Mamaroneck's approval for projects just outside its borders in nearby towns." As Campion explains,

"New Rochelle is surrounded by smaller, more affluent waterfront communities. These consist of Pelham Manor to the south, and Larchmont, Mamaroneck, and Rye to the north.

"The population of each of the surrounding communities is less than one-quarter of the population of New Rochelle and the mean household income is more than double. These municipalities are not faced with the same socioeconomic pressures that New Rochelle is experiencing. Therefore, they have very different concerns regarding development. They are not concerned with promoting growth, but protecting environment and quality of life in their communities. They view development as a threat to this, particularly large-scale development in a neighboring community which will have an impact without providing benefits to these communities."

Underscoring her point, Campion provides the following data from the 1990 United States Census:

POPULATION MEAN INCOME ($)
WESTCHESTER CO 874,866 69,264
LARCHMONT 6,181 117,048
MAMARONECK 11,231 115,022
NEW ROCHELLE 67,265 62,341
PELHAM MANOR 5,443 119,998
RYE 14,936 128,425

Income levels in the Redevelopment Area are substantially lower than citywide and countywide income levels. In 1990, the average per capita income in the Redevelopment Area ranged between $11,970 and $12,742, as compared to $23,745 in New Rochelle and $25,584 in Westchester County.