The City of White Plains, NY

Intro

White Plains City, despite being an inner suburb of New York City, is the commercial and administrative center of Westchester County, New York. This city is nicknamed The Birthplace of New York State and is situated in the south-central part of Westchester. Mamaroneck Avenue, its downtown area is also located more than 20 miles north of Midtown Manhattan.

Although the city’s total population was estimated to be 58,109 in the 2019 census, the City government claims that the daytime population of this suburban city is around 250,000.

History

During the Dutch settlement in Manhattan, the White Plains was used as farmland by the Weckquaeskeck tribe. Either because of its White balsam groves or the heavy mists that supposedly hovered over the swamplands near the Bronx River, the region became known as “the White Plains” to early traders.

After the Second World War ended, White Plains began to develop and became a retail location. This was because the branch stores of many famous department and specialty stores were being built in White Plains City’s downtown area. During the post-war building boom, large-scale stores, parkways, and expressways were built in White Plains enhancing its role as a retail location. Macy’s White Plains’ store built across from the City Hall in 1949 further enhanced White Plains’ position as a huge retail destination. And soon other prestigious stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, Alexander’s, Rogers Peet, Lord & Taylor, Wallachs, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, and other small and midsize stores relocated to the city.

From the 1950s, major corporations like PepsiCo, Nestle, IBM, Snapple, Hitachi USA, and General Foods also relocated their operations from New York City to White Plains and other suburban locations.

In the late 1960s, White Plains City developed a commercial, residential and mixed-use redevelopment urban renewal plan which resulted in the demolition of White Plains’ entire central business district. This certainly reduced commercial activities in the city for a while before things went back to normal and by 1980s, there were up to 50 Fortune 500 corporations in White Plains City. However, in the 1990s, many of them reduced their operations in White Plains or relocated due to corporate merging and downsizing.

The Arts Exchange Building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, also became home to numerous studios and offices with various artists, cultural organizations, and creative businesses from 1999 while serving as the headquarters of the Westchester Arts Council.

For a time in the 1990s, the White Plains had one of the highest office vacancy rates in the northeastern part of the US. This was caused by the closing down of many of the department and specialty stores downtown of the City. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a few changes were made to downtown White Plains altering its urban retail character. Many department and specialty stores relocated away from their former location and many of their buildings were retrofitted to leave room for small and mid-size businesses.

In the beginning of 2000, the city’s permanent population began to experience a growth spurt as apartment buildings and condominiums were constructed around the city. And since the city was 31 minutes by express train to Midtown Manhattan, many residents commuting to New York City for work chose to live there.

Geography

White Plains City has a population density of 2,457.2 inhabitants per square kilometer (5,820.3/m2) and a total land area of 25.3 square kilometers (9.77m2).

The city is 11km northwest of the Long Island Sound and 11km east of the Hudson River. The city is also bordered to the south by Scarsdale town, to the north and east by Harrison town, to the west by Greenburgh town and the north by North Castle town.

Climate

White Plains is a city whose climate is affected by all the four seasons. The city has a cold and wet winter, a warm and humid summer, and a relatively mild spring and fall with unstable and hard-to-predict temperatures. The city also has abundant precipitation which is, fortunately, evenly distributed throughout the year.

 The average January winter temperature is usually around 28.3 °F while the average July (Summer) temperature is 72.8 °F. Since climate and weather record-keeping in the city began, the highest temperature ever recorded in the Summer of White Plains is 102 °F on July 4, 1966, and July 6, 2010, while the lowest temperature was -10 °F on January 22, 1961, and February 11, 1979.

Neighborhoods

White Plains has a total of 35 neighborhoods. The popular neighborhoods include Old Mamaroneck Road, Soundview, Saxon Woods, Fisher Hill, Quinby Avenue, and East White Plains, among others.

Economy

Several companies contribute to the economy of White Plains City such as Nine West, the New York Power Authority, Dannon, Alliance Bernstein, Fifth Street Finance Corp., Acadia Realty Trust and AboveNet among others. White Plains is also the headquarters of Heineken USA and was once the headquarters of Prodigy till it moved to Texas. Large companies like Combe, Bunge, ITT, and Xylem are also based in White Plains contributing a significant amount to the city’s economy.

And due to its proximity to New York City, the White Plains is among the cities with the highest cost of living in the world by some measures. Regardless, its cost of living cannot be compared to the cost of living in New York City itself.

Demographics

The population of people living in White Plains as of the 2010 United States Census was 56,853. The racial makeup was also diverse with 48.9% White, 29.6% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Black, 6.3% Asian, 1.5% from 2 or more races, 0.1% Native American and less than 0.1% Pacific Islander. In that same year 2010, White Plains City was named one of the fastest-growing cities in the US by Business Week Magazine.

The median age was 38 years. The independent age group included 7.5% who were 18-24 years old, 32.5% who were 25-44 years old, and 23.6% who were 45-64 years old. The dependent age group was 21.2% under the age of 18 and 15.2% who were 65 and older. In the city, there were 89.8 males for every 100 females.

In 2000, the per capita income was $33,825. At that time, about 9.2% of families and 12.4% of the entire population were below the poverty line. And males had a median income of $47,742 and females $36,917. As of 2007, households’ median income and families in the city were $73,744 and $92,215.

Historic sites

Although it is just an inner suburb of New York City, the White Plains is a city that is rich in history and it even has quite a few sites that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They include the Jacob Purdy House, Elijah Miller House, White Plains Armory, White Plains Rural Cemetery, Mapleton, Bar Building, Presbyterian Rest for Convalescents, Good Counsel Complex, Soundview Manor, Leo Friedlander Studio and the Peoples National Bank and Trust Company Building among others.