Mountainside encyclopedia topics

Geography

Mountainside is located at (40.680301, -74.356011).

The borough is bordered to the north by Summit, to the east by Springfield Township, to the south by Westfield, and to the west by Berkeley Heights and Scotch Plains.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 4.1 square miles (10.5 km²), of which, 4.0 square miles (10.4 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.74%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,602 people, 2,434 households, and 1,925 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,640.8 people per square mile (634.1/km²). There were 2,478 housing units at an average density of 615.8/sq mi (238.0/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 95.09% White, 0.94% African American, 0.09% Native American, 2.80% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.27% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.01% of the population.

There were 2,434 households out of which 29.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.9% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.9% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the borough the population was spread out with 21.1% under the age of 18, 3.8% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 24.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.1 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $97,195, and the median income for a family was $105,773. Males had a median income of $78,595 versus $52,667 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $47,474. About 2.0% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.9% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Mountainside Borough is governed by a Mayor-Council form of government as authorized through the Option Municipal Charter Law (commonly called the Faulkner Act). Enacted by the New Jersey Legislature in 1950 this form of local New Jersey government provides for the election of a Mayor for a term of four years and a Borough Council consisting of six members, elected for three-year terms each, with two seats coming up for election each year. Both the Mayor and Borough Council are elected at large, that is, to represent the entire community. Elections for all officials in Mountainside Borough are conducted on a partisan basis during the November General Election.

The Mayor of Mountainside is Robert F. Viglianti (term ends December 31, 2007). Members of the Mountainside Borough Council are Council President William R. Lane (term ends December 31, 2009), Glenn Mortimer (2010), Robert W. Messler (2009), Paul N. Mirabelli (2008), Keith C. Turner (2008) and Jeffrey R. Wass (2010).

Federal, state and county representation

Mountainside Borough is in the Seventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 21st Legislative District.

Education

The Mountainside School District serves public school students in Kindergarten through eighth grade. Schools in the district (with 2005-06 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are Beechwood School in grades K-2 (246 students) and Deerfield School for grades 3-8 (461 students).

Since Mountainside does not have its own high school, its public school students in grades nine through twelve attend Governor Livingston High School in nearby Berkeley Heights as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Berkeley Heights Public Schools.