Framingham

Framingham (/ˈ f r eɪ m ɪ ŋ h æ m / ( listen ) ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. Incorporated in 1700, it is within Middlesex County and the MetroWest subregion of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The city proper covers 25 square miles (65 km2) with a population of 72,362 in 2020,[2] making it the 14th most populous municipality in Massachusetts.[3] Residents voted in favor of adopting a charter to transition from a representative town meeting system to a mayor–council government in April 2017, and the municipality transitioned to city status on January 1, 2018.[4]

Framingham, sited on the ancient trail known as the Old Connecticut Path, was first settled by a European when John Stone settled on the west bank of the Sudbury River in 1647. Native American leader Tantamous lived in the Nobscot Hill area of Framingham prior to King Philip's War in 1676. In 1660, Thomas Danforth, an official of the Bay Colony, formerly of Framlingham, Suffolk, received a grant of land at "Danforth's Farms" and began to accumulate over 15,000 acres (100 km2). He strenuously resisted petitions for incorporation of the town, which was officially incorporated in 1700, following his death the previous year. Why the "L" was dropped from the new town's name is not known. The first church was organized in 1701, the first teacher was hired in 1706, and the first permanent schoolhouse was built in 1716.

On February 22, 1775, the British general Thomas Gage sent two officers and an enlisted man out of Boston to survey the route to Worcester, Massachusetts. In Framingham, those spies stopped at Buckminster's Tavern. They watched the town militia muster outside the building, impressed with the men's numbers but not their discipline. Though "the whole company" came into the tavern after their drill, the officers remained undetected and continued on their mission the next day.[5] Gage did not order a march along that route, instead ordering troops to Concord, Massachusetts, on April 18–19. Framingham sent two militia companies totaling about 130 men into the Battles of Lexington and Concord that followed; one of those men was wounded.[6]

In the years before the American Civil War, Framingham was an annual gathering-spot for members of the abolitionist movement. Each Independence Day from 1854 to 1865, the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society held a rally in a picnic area called Harmony Grove near what is now downtown Framingham. At the 1854 rally, William Lloyd Garrison burned copies of the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, judicial decisions enforcing it, and the United States Constitution. Other prominent abolitionists present that day included William Cooper Nell, Sojourner Truth, Wendell Phillips, Lucy Stone, and Henry David Thoreau.[7]

During the post-World War II baby boom, Framingham, like many other suburban areas, experienced a large increase in population and housing. Much of the housing constructed during that time consisted of split-level and ranch-style houses.

Framingham is known for the Framingham Heart Study, as well as for the Dennison Manufacturing Company, which was founded in 1844 as a jewelry and watch box manufacturing company by Aaron Lufkin Dennison, who became the pioneer of the American System of Watch Manufacturing at the nearby Waltham Watch Company. His brother Eliphalet Whorf Dennison developed the company into a sizable industrial complex which merged in 1990 into Avery Dennison, with headquarters in Pasadena, California, and active corporate offices in the town.

In 2000, Framingham celebrated its Tercentennial. Framingham soon rose to become the largest town in Massachusetts, commonly referred to by the people of Framingham as "The largest town in the country." Framingham had attempted to become a city on three prior occasions 1993, 1997, and 2013, all of which were rejected by the people of Framingham.[8] However, on January 1, 2018, Framingham became a city and Yvonne M. Spicer was inaugurated as its first mayor, thus becoming the first popularly elected African-American female mayor in Massachusetts.[9]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 26.4 square miles (68.5 km2). 25.1 square miles (65.1 km2) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2) of it (4.99%) is water.[10]

As of the census of 2010,[22] there were 68,318 people, 26,173 households, and 16,535 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,732.7 people per square mile (1,054.3/km2). There were 27,529 housing units, of which 1,356, or 4.9%, were vacant. The racial makeup of the city was 71.9% White, 5.8% Black, 0.3% Native American, 6.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 10.9% from some other race, and 4.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.4% of the population (4.7% Puerto Rican, 1.8% Guatemalan, 1.5% Salvadoran, 1.1% Dominican, 0.9% Mexican, 0.6% Colombian, 0.3% Peruvian). (Source: 2010 Census Quickfacts)

Of the 26,173 households, 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were headed by married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.8% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.0% were someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47, and the average family size was 3.03.[22]

As of 2010, 20.9% of the population were under the age of 18, 9.8% were from 18 to 24, 30.0% were from 25 to 44, 25.8% were from 45 to 64, and 13.6% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males.[23]

In 2017, the estimated median income for a household in the city was $84,050, and the median income for a family was $101,078. Male full-time workers had a median income of $61,659, versus $54,714 for females. The per capita income for the city was $38,917. About 7.5% of families and 11.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.7% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.[24]

Brazilian immigrants have a major presence in Framingham.[25][26][27][28] Since the 1980s, a large segment of the Brazilian population has come from the single city of Governador Valadares.[29]

Framingham's Home Rule Charter was approved by voters on April 4, 2017, and took effect on January 1, 2018.[30] On that date, Yvonne M. Spicer was inaugurated as Framingham's first mayor.

Elections are held in November of odd-numbered years, to elect a full-time mayor serving a four-year term, and an 11-member city council comprising nine district members serving two-year terms, and two at-large members serving four-year terms. The mayor replaced the Board of Selectmen as the chief executive, and the City Council replaced Representative Town Meeting as the legislative body. The Mayor and at-large-councilors are limited to a maximum of three consecutive terms in office and district councilors are limited to six consecutive terms in office.[31]

The School Committee has ten members: one elected from each of the nine districts, serving two-year terms, and the mayor, who serves as a tenth member and may only vote to break a tie.[31]

The Board of Library Trustees and the Board of Cemetery Trustees have also elected positions serving for four-year terms, with half the membership elected at alternating municipal elections.[31]

The Charter provides for an automatic review of the Charter five years after its adoption and periodically thereafter.[31]

The city maintains a police department.[32]

The Framingham School Department can trace its roots back to 1706 when the town hired its first schoolmaster, Deacon Joshua Hemenway. Although Framingham had its first schoolmaster, it did not get its own public school building until 1716. The first high school, the Framingham Academy, opened its doors in 1792; however, this school was eventually closed due to financing issues and the legality of the town providing funds for a private school. The first town-operated high school opened in 1852 and has been in operation continuously in numerous locations throughout the town.[33]

Framingham has 14 public schools which are part of the Framingham Public School District.[34] This includes Framingham High School, three middle schools (Walsh, Fuller, and Cameron), nine elementary schools (Barbieri, Brophy, Dunning, Hemenway, King, McCarthy, Potter Road, Stapleton, Woodrow Wilson), and the Blocks Pre-School.[34] The school district's main offices are located in the Fuller Administration Building on Flagg Drive[35] with additional offices at the King School on Water Street. The city also has a regional vocational high school[36] and one regional charter school.[37] Framingham is also home to several private schools, including Summit Montessori School, the Sudbury Valley School, one parochial school, one Jewish day school, and several specialty schools.

Since 1998, when Framingham began upgrading its schools, it has performed major renovations to Cameron, Wilson, McCarthy, and Framingham High School. Two public school buildings that were mothballed due to financial issues or population drops have been leased to the Metrowest Jewish Day School (at the former Juniper Hill Elementary) and Mass Bay Community College (at the former Farley Middle school). Several schools that were no longer being used were sold off, including Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Washington.

Framingham has three colleges, including Framingham State University and Massachusetts Bay Community College's Framingham Campus.

Framingham is approximately halfway between Worcester, the commercial center of Central Massachusetts, and Boston, New England's leading port and metropolitan area. Rail and highway facilities connect these major centers and other communities in the Greater Boston Metropolitan Area.[38]

The closest airport with scheduled international passenger traffic is Boston's Logan International Airport, 25 miles (40 km) from Framingham. Worcester Regional Airport, about 27 miles (43 km) away, began scheduled flights to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando in November 2013.

Framingham is served by one Interstate and four state highways:

Park and ride services:[45]

Framingham's economy is predominantly derived from retail and office complexes. There are scatterings of small manufacturing facilities and commercial services such as plumbing, mechanical and electrical expected to be found in communities of its size. Framingham has three major business districts within the city, The "Golden Triangle", Downtown/South Framingham, and West Framingham. Additionally, there are several smaller business hubs in the villages of Framingham Center, Saxonville, Nobscot, and along the Route 9 corridor.

The Golden Triangle was originally a three square mile district on the eastern side of Framingham, bordered by Worcester Rd. (Route 9), Cochituate Rd. (Route 30), and Speen Street in Natick. In 1993, the area began to expand beyond the borders of the triangle with construction of a BJ's Wholesale Club and a Super Stop & Shop just north of Route 30.[47] It now includes the original area plus parts of Old Connecticut Path., Concord St. (Route 126), and Speen St. north of Route 30. Because of the size and complexity of this area, Framingham and Natick cooperatively operate it as a single distinct district with similar zoning. The area is one of the largest shopping districts in New England.[citation needed ]

The area was formed with the construction of Shoppers World in 1951. Shoppers' World was a large open air shopping mall, the second in the US and the first east of the Mississippi River.[48] The mall drew many other retail construction projects to the area, including Marshalls (1961, rebuilt as Bed, Bath and Beyond 1997),[49] Caldor (1966, Rebuilt as Wal-Mart in 2002),[50] Bradlees (1960s, rebuilt as Kohl's in 2002),[51] the Route 30 Mall (1970),[52] an AMC Framingham 15, the Framingham Mall (1978, rebuilt 2000),[53] and Lowe's (formerly the Verizon Building, 2006).[54] Complementary developments in Natick include the Natick Mall (1966, rebuilt in 1991, expanded 2007 & renamed Natick Collection),[55] Sherwood Plaza (1960),[56] Cloverleaf Marketplace (1978),[57] and the Home Depot. In 1994, Shoppers' World was demolished and replaced with a strip mall named Shoppers World.[58] There are also seven hotels and two car dealerships located within the Triangle.

In addition to retail properties, there are large office developments in the area including several companies headquartered in the triangle; the world headquarters of TJX is at the junction of Route 30 and Speen St,[59] as is the main office of IDG and IDC.[60] The American Cancer Society has an office in Framingham.[61] A Carling Brewery began operations in 1956, ending in 1975. Their buildings later housed Prime Computer and Boston Scientific before demolition in 2018 for a new MathWorks facility.[62] Sealtest had a manufacturing facility in Framingham[63] which was used by Breyers from 1964 to 2011[64]

The downtown area is between Memorial Square, formed by the intersection of Concord St. and Union Ave., to the north, and its mirror intersection at the junction of Irving St. and Hollis St. on the south end. The area is bisected by Waverly St. (Route 135) and the MBTA Commuter Rail tracks. The anchoring structure of Downtown is the city hall, The Memorial Building.[65] From 2015 to 2016, the whole area underwent a multimillion-dollar reconstruction of the intersection of Union Ave. and Concord St. that replaced the traffic circle with a signal-controlled intersection. Additional lights were installed at the Irving St./Hollis St. intersection, while older signals in the area were upgraded. All sidewalks in the area were to be replaced, lighting upgraded, and new amenities such as seating and bicycle racks were also installed. The project was scheduled to begin in 2012 but has been delayed to 2014–2015.[66][67] Further delays pushed the project into 2015 due to needed electrical utility upgrades and replacement.[68]

South Framingham became the commercial center of the town with the advent of the railroad in the 1880s. It eventually came to house Dennison Manufacturing and the former General Motors Framingham Assembly plant, but the area underwent a financial downturn after the closure of these facilities during the late 1980s.[69] An influx of Hispanic and Brazilian immigrants helped to revitalize the district starting in the early 2000s. Along with Brazilian and Spanish oriented retail shops, there are restaurants, legal and financial services, the city offices and library, police headquarters, a performing arts center, and the local branch of the Social Security Administration. Several Asian and Indian stores and restaurants add to the rich ethnic flavor of the area, and many small businesses, restaurants and automotive-oriented shops line Waverly St. from Natick in east to Winter St. in the west.[70]

In 2006, the Fitts Market & Hemenway buildings façades underwent a restoration project; these newly renovated structures received a 2006 Massachusetts Historical Commission Preservation Award in the Restoration and Rehabilitation Category.[71] In addition, several retail and housing projects involving the Arcade Building and the former Dennison Building Complex are in the planning stages or under construction.[72][73]

The business section on the West Side of Framingham runs primarily along Route 9, starting at Temple St.; it is dominated by two large office/industrial parks: the Framingham Industrial Park on the north side of Route 9 and another park on the south side, both on the Framingham/Ashland/Southborough border. Bose, Staples and Applause have their world headquarters in these parks,[74] as does convenience store chain Cumberland Farms; in addition, Netezza, Genzyme, Capital One, CA Technologies, ITT Tech and the local paper, The MetroWest Daily News, all have major facilities there. Two of Framingham's seven major auto dealerships are also in West Framingham: Ford and Toyota/Scion.[75][76]

The large tracts of multi-story apartment and condominium complexes line both sides of Route 9 from Temple St. to the industrial parks. These buildings represent the majority of Framingham's multi-family dwellings, and along with the business complexes, helped create a large network of support services on the West Side: Framingham's second Super Stop & Shop supermarket,[77] dozens of restaurants and pubs, Sheraton Hotel & Conference Center[78] and Residence Inn by Marriott[79] hotels and a large day-care facility all are in the two-mile (3 km) section of Route 9 from Temple St. to Ashland.

The Framingham Centre Common Historic District is the city's physical and historic center. Formed at the junctions of Worcester Rd. (Route 9), Pleasant St. (Route 30), High St., Main St. and Edgell Rd.[80] the dominating presence is Framingham State University. The school has several thousand students, about one third of whom live on campus.[81] In the late 1960s, MassHighway replaced the intersection with an overpass, depressing Route 9 below the local roads, and destroying the south half of the old Center retail district. The remaining half houses several small stores, restaurants, realtors and legal offices. The old Boston and Worcester Street Railway depot, on the east side of the Center, was converted into a strip mall in the early 1980s and houses the Center Postal Station (01703) and several small stores.[82] The Center is rounded out by One and Two Edgell Rd. (two small retail/office buildings), the historic village hall,[83] the Jonathan Maynard Building (a former school converted to an office building which now houses most of the school district's administration), the Framingham History Center (formerly the Framingham Historical Society and Museum),[84] several banks, a Chinese restaurant, the American Medical Response paramedic station and McCarthy Office Building.

The village of Nobscot, at the intersection of Water St., Edmands Rd. and Edgell Rd. near Nobscot Hill, and the Pinefield/Saxonville villages, located where Concord St., Water St., and Central St. intersect,[85][86] are home to several small office buildings, strip malls and gas stations. in 2016, the town moved its satellite branch of the public library named for Christa McAuliffe from Saxonville to a new facility across from the Hemenway School in Nobscot. Saxonville is the home of the former Roxbury Carpet Company buildings, now an industrial park, and is one of the city's historical districts.

In addition the section of Route 9 from the Route 126 overpass to the Main St./Edgell Rd. beetleback in Framingham Center is heavily developed. Three car dealerships, Acura, Chevrolet and Hyundai, several strip malls of varying sizes, many small apartment complexes, several small office complexes and other small shops and restaurants make Route 9 the main commercial thoroughfare in Framingham.

Finally, there are several other small retail areas and facilities throughout the city, e.g. near Mt Wayte Ave. and Franklin St.; the intersection of Concord St. and Hartford St.; and along School St., near Hamilton St.

Framingham is served by MetroWest Medical Center (formerly Framingham Union Hospital, which also includes Leonard Morse Hospital campus in Natick)

The City of Framingham is served by:

Framingham has a public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channel and local origination television station called Access Framingham (formerly FPAC-TV),[96] that airs on Channel 9 Comcast, Channel 3 RCN and Channel 43 Verizon. Residents can create and produce their own television programs that reflect the personality of the community, and have them cablecast on the public-access television cable TV channels.

Framingham High School has a student-run television station, FHS-TV, that broadcasts locally; "Flyer News", its morning news program, has won 11 National High School Emmy Awards.

The City of Framingham operates the Government Channel shown on Comcast channel 99, RCN 13/HD613, and Verizon 42. The Government Channel operation provides programming sponsored by or for the City of Framingham. Commission meetings are cablecast live to inform residents and encourage participation in local government. Some of the programming provided, keeps residents abreast of road closings, construction updates, recycling efforts, public safety information, and special events in the community. The Government Channel is committed to making local government more accessible to all residents.

In the spring of 2016, the town of Framingham was one of the settings for the film Patriots Day about the Boston Marathon bombing, starring Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, J.K. Simmons, Michelle Monaghan, Alex Wolff, Melissa Benoist and a cameo appearance by former athlete David Ortiz.[102] In spring 2009, Framingham was also used for the film The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, and Tommy Lee Jones.[103]

Large parts of the film Don't Look Up, directed by Worcester, Massachusetts native Adam McKay and starring Academy Award winners Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep, were shot in Framingham.

Framingham features dozens of athletic fields and civic facilities spread throughout the city in schools and public parks.[104] Many of the recreational facilities were constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the New Deal.