Take a look at the graphic above from web designer Joseph Johansen. America is more densely populated today than ever before, and the first obvious signs of this new crowding includes buildings that are closer together, people present in larger numbers, and lines of cars on the road that just keep growing.
And if you like breathing room, sorry, it’s getting worse. The national population density estimated for 2016 is 92.9 people per square mile. That puts the U.S. (329 million of us) at 175th in the world. On average, we each get about 300,000 square feet of “my space.” That’s the average for the country at large. Nothing like that here in Ramapo, though.
Here are the numbers for persons per sq. mi. in the Town of Ramapo.
Remember, estimated national average for the U.S. in 2016 = 92.9 people / sq. mi.
All data based on the 2000 Census
A few things to note here:
All the locations are villages, except Hillcrest and Monsey, which are hamlets.
All the population densities far exceed the average for the country. The least, Hillburn, exceeds the national average by 465%, and the worst, Kaser, exceeds it by 25,425%. By comparison, Kaser comes pretty close to matching the urban density of New York City, which crams 28,056 people into its stacked buildings and crowded streets, or Brooklyn, which shoehorns 27,052 residents per square mile.
The villages of New Square and Kaser are the only two that have people per sq.mi numbers that are larger than the populations. That’s because the number of people squeezed into the space available is a relationship between how much land you have and how many people live there (population/land area = population density).
Finally, it’s important to note the disturbing reality that the population numbers used in the chart above for Ramapo are not up to date—they’re all from the 2000 census. The numbers are 16 years out of date, and the municipalities in Ramapo have been exploding not shrinking over that decade and a half.
Those familiar with the smoking ruins of the one-time Master Plan in Ramapo, torched by the Supervisor and his arsonist Town Board, might notice the correlation between the areas that provide the votes for the pyros-in-office and the most densely packed regions.
This does not look good for the future of quality of life in Ramapo.
Michael Castelluccio