Big Flats, New York

Big Flats is a town in Chemung County, New York, USA, New York. The population was 7,224 at the 2000 census.

The Town of Big Flats is on the west border of the county, west of Elmira, New York. It is part of the 'Elmira, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area'.

History
The Town of Big Flats, which had formerly been called "Great Plains", was organized in 1822 from the Town of Elmira.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 45.1 square miles (116.7 km²), of which, 44.5 square miles (115.2 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.5 km²) of it (1.24%) is water.

The Chemung River flows through the south part of the town and forms part of the border. Sing Sing Creek flows through the town and is a tributary of the river. As might be expected given the history of the naming of the town, it consists of a broad expanse of relatively flat land, the axis of which lies generally northeast to southwest. It is a river valley, and the land has historically been very good for agriculture, including tobacco. Diligent searching will result in the finding of fossil seashells, and these shells are evidence in support of the conclusion that the land was anciently a sea bottom. Other evidence is found in the rock of the region, which is mostly shale. The western town line is the border of Steuben County, New York.

The Southern Tier Expressway (Interstate 86/New York State Route 17) passes through the town.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,224 people, 2,725 households, and 2,144 families residing in the town. The population density was 162.4 people per square mile (62.7/km²). There were 2,836 housing units at an average density of 63.7 per square mile (24.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.35% White, 1.18% Black or African American, 0.01% Native American, 1.52% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.15% from other races, and 0.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.66% of the population.

There were 2,725 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.5% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.3% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.65 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the town the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $53,435, and the median income for a family was $59,500. Males had a median income of $42,317 versus $28,327 for females. The per capita income for the town was $23,391. About 1.3% of families and 2.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.1% of those under age 18 and 1.7% of those age 65 or over.

Activities, Places to Go and Interesting Facts
Big Flats can be separated into two completely different sections from residential and commercial. In the residential area are many unique stores that have been running for quite some time such as Minier's, Tag's, Harnas, and the Dairy Barn. Harris Hill can also be found in the residential area of Big Flats which is considered the "Soaring Capital of the World" for its beautiful sailplane view of the vast fields, trees, rivers and other scenery.

After the Elmira-Corning Regional Airport (no Big Flats in its name), you will see the rapidly growing commercial district. The first shopping center is the Arnot Mall which now contains over 120 stores including Macy's, Sears, J C Penney, and a Regal 10 Movie theatre. Over the past two decades, many strip malls have formed including Consumer Square with about 40 stores including Dicks(moved to Horseheads), Staples, and Bed Bath and Beyond. Since 2005, two more strip malls have been created with the Big Flats Commons containing Best Buy, Target, and Panera Bread, while The Shops at Chambers, in the Town of Horseheads, focuses on upscale clothing. Restaurants are also well represented in the area with Dozens of big name chains filling the area like Applebee's, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Texas Roadhouse, TGI Friday's, and Chili's all in walking distance of each other. As of Wednesday, March 5, 2008, a Super Wal-Mart opened in Horseheads to replace the regular Wal-Mart in Big Flats, which closed Tuesday, March 4, 2008.

The area is a very popular shopping destination in the Southern tier, attracting people from over an hour away to the area. It is the only major shopping area until Ithaca and Binghamton, and attracts many shoppers from Northern Pennsylvania where very few shopping centers are available. Another reason Big Flats has grown in popularity is its close proximity to both the Corning Museum of Glass, a large tourist attraction, and the Watkins Glen International Racetrack, which is a popular road course used by both NASCAR and Indy racing.

Big Flats also enjoys a healthy spirit of volunteerism as evidenced in the Big Flats Historical Society and Little League Baseball organizations.

High school sports hold a special place in the heart of this town, as evidenced by local news coverage in 1993. Despite the emotionally charged defeat of the Philadelphia Phillies by the Toronto Blue Jays in six games (on a crushing walkoff home run by Joe Carter off of Mitch Williams (aka "the Wild Thing"), local sports coverage inexplicably led off with the results of the Horseheads Raiders football game.

Communities and location in Big Flats

 * Big Flats – The hamlet of Big Flats, located at the junction of the Southern Tier Expressway (NY-17) and NY-352. It is also a census designated place (CDP).
 * Elmira-Corning Regional Airport – An airport with scheduled air service northwest of Elmira.
 * Fisherville – A hamlet south of the airport and east of Big Flats village on Route 64.
 * Golden Glow Heights – A hamlet located by the south town line on the south bank of the Chemung River.
 * Harris Hill – A prominent hill south of the airport.
 * Harris Hill Gliderport – A small airport on Harris Hill used for glider operations.
 * Harris Hill Manor – A hamlet on the north bank of the Chemung River on NY-352.