Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey

Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, commonly called simply Parsippany, is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 53,238,  reflecting an increase of 2,589 (+5.1%) from the 50,649 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 2,171 (+4.5%) from the 48,478 counted in the 1990 Census.

The name Parsippany comes from the Lenape Native American word parsipanong, which means "the place where the river winds through the valley". Parsippany-Troy Hills is the most populous municipality in Morris County.

Parsippany-Troy Hills was incorporated as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 12, 1928, from portions of Hanover Township, based on the results of a referendum held on May 9, 1928.

In 2006, Parsippany-Troy Hills was recognized by Money magazine as the 17th-ranked of the Best Places to Live in the United States, the highest-ranked location in New Jersey. In 2008, it moved up to 13th position. Parsippany returned to Money Magazine's "Best Places" list in 2012, in the 15th position.

Geography
Parsippany-Troy Hills Township is located at 40.85964°N, -74.42335°W (40.859636,-74.423348). According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 25.394 square miles (65.771 km2), of which, 23.563 square miles (61.029 km2) of it is land and 1.831 square miles (4.742 km2) of it (7.21%) is water.

Climate
Parsippany-Troy Hills has a humid continental climate, with cold winters and very warm-to-hot summers. It is usually cooler than Manhattan at night and in the early morning. The record low temperature is -26 F, and the record high is 104 F.

Geology
Parsippany-Troy Hills lies in the Newark Piedmont Basin. Around 500 million years ago, a chain of volcanic islands crashed into proto North America, riding over the North American Plate and creating the New Jersey Highlands, which start in the western portion of the township. This strike also created land formations in the rest of eastern New Jersey. Around 450 million years ago, a small continent, long and thin, collided with North America, creating folding and faulting in western New Jersey and southern Appalachia.

The swamps and meadows of Parsippany was created when the North American Plate separated from the African Plate. An aborted rift system or half gruben was created. The land area lowered between the Ramapo Fault in western Parsippany and a fault west of Paterson. The Ramapo Fault goes though western part of the township.

The Wisconsin Glacier came into the area around 21,000 BC and left around 13,000 BC due to a warming in climate. As the glacier slowly melted, this created rivers, streams and lakes, leaving most of the township under Lake Passaic, which was the biggest lake in New Jersey at that time, stretching from the edge of the Ramapo Fault in western Parsippany eastward to almost Paterson.

The area was first tundra when the Wisconsin Glacier melted and then as the area warmed formed taiga/boreal forests, along with vast meadows. Slowly Lake Passaic drained and formed swamps in the township, such as Troy Meadows, and Lee Meadows on the old Alderney Farm tract are perfect examples. Due to the fact that there was lowlands next to highlands created a diversity of flora and fauna. Swamps and meadows next to oak forests created a diverse flora and fauna spectrum.

Early settlement
After the Wisconsin Glacier melted around 13,000 BC, half of Parsippany was filled with water as this was Lake Passaic. Around the area grasses grew as the area was tundra and then turned into a taiga/boreal forest as the area warmed. Paleo-Indians moved in small groups into the area around 12,500 years ago, attracted by the diversity of plant and animal life. Native Americans settled into the area several thousand years ago, dwelling in the highlands and along the Rockaway River and the Whippany River, where they hunted and fished for the various game that lived in the area and migrated through the area in autumn. Paintings in a rock cave were found in the late 1970s in western Parsippany in the highlands.

The settlement of Europeans occurred in the early 18th century. Before this the Native Americans had poor relations with the Dutch. Due to these poor relations the area was not settled. Relations with the Native Americans in the area improved after the territory came under control of the British after 1664, leading settlers to start moving into the area. The Parsippany area had flat land and fertile soil, and the water supply and game provided colonist a chance to start a life of good farming.

Locations in the township
Lake Hiawatha and Mount Tabor are neighborhoods located within the township with their own zip codes. In 2000, 55% of Parsippany residents had a 07054 ZIP code. In 2011, Parsippany residents could live in one of 12 ZIP codes. (In 2000, there was a 13th zip code within Parsippany, eliminated with changes at the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital.)

Census 2010
The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $85,760 (with a margin of error of +/- $2,882) and the median family income was $102,601 (+/- $4,650). Males had a median income of $67,109 (+/- $3,242) versus $50,415 (+/- $2,595) for females. The per capita income for the borough was $40,965 (+/- $1,434). About 1.8% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.5% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

Census 2000
As of the 2000 United States Census there were 50,649 people, 19,624 households, and 13,167 families residing in the township. The population density was 2,115.5 people per square mile (816.9/km²). There were 20,066 housing units at an average density of 838.1 per square mile (323.6/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 74.28% White, 3.11% African American, 0.12% Native American, 18.06% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 1.90% from other races, and 2.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.98% of the population.

There were 19,624 households out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.2% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 27.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the township the population was spread out with 21.0% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 25.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $68,133, and the median income for a family was $81,041. Males had a median income of $51,175 versus $38,641 for females. The per capita income for the township was $32,220. About 2.6% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Parsippany-Troy Hills has a large Indian American community, with 8.39% of Parsippany-Troy Hills' residents having identified themselves as being of Indian American ancestry in the 2000 Census, which was the eighth-highest of any municipality in New Jersey, for all places with 1,000 or more residents identifying their ancestry.

Local government
The township is governed under a Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) system of municipal government under the Faulkner Act (also known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law). The Mayor and Council are separately elected, with the Mayor, serving as the chief executive officer, and the Council serving in the capacity of a legislative body.

Some responsibilities of the Mayor include preparation of the budget, enforcement of the ordinances, supervision of municipal departments and property, execution of Council decisions, and oversight of other functions of the municipality. Some of the responsibilities of the Council include adopting ordinances, approval of contracts presented by the Mayor, scheduling times and places for council meetings and designation of the official newspapers of the municipality.

, the mayor of Parsippany-Troy Hills is James R. Barberio (R, term of office ends December 31, 2013). Parsippany-Troy Hills's Township Council consists of Council President Brian Stanton (R, 2015), Council Vice President Vincent Ferrara (R, 2013), Paul Carifi, Jr. (R, 2015), Jonathan Nelson (D, 2013) and Michael J. dePierro (R, 2015).

Barbiero unseated the incumbent Mayor Michael Luther by a margin of 8% in the 2009 election, in an election in which Republicans took hold of all of the township's elected offices.

In November 2012, Jonathan Nelson became the first Democrat elected to the Township Council in 26 years after upsetting Mayor James R. Barberio's candidate, Republican Judy Tiedemann.

Federal, state and county representation
Parsippany-Troy Hills Township is located in the 11th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 26th state legislative district.

Politics
As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 30,393 registered voters in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, of which 7,022 (23.1%) were registered as Democrats, 10,046 (33.1%) were registered as Republicans and 13,310 (43.8%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 15 voters registered to other parties.

In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 51.7% of the vote here (12,219 cast), ahead of Republican John McCain with 46.9% (11,091 votes) and other candidates with 1.0% (225 votes), among the 23,635 ballots cast by the township's 31,458 registered voters, for a turnout of 75.1%. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican George W. Bush received 51.8% of the vote here (11,433 ballots cast), outpolling Democrat John Kerry with 47.1% (10,397 votes) and other candidates with 0.6% (168 votes), among the 22,061 ballots cast by the township's 30,505 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 72.3.

In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Republican Chris Christie received 53.3% of the vote here (8,384 ballots cast), ahead of Democrat Jon Corzine with 36.8% (5,794 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 7.5% (1,176 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (114 votes), among the 15,742 ballots cast by the township's 30,870 registered voters, yielding a 51.0% turnout.

Fire protection
Parsippany Troy-Hills Township is protected by six different fire districts serving out of ten fire houses throughout the township. Each district operates as their own fire department with each having its own Chief and other line officers. Every district is 100% volunteer and are on call around the clock, with dispatching for all fire districts provided by the township police department.


 * District 1: Mount Tabor Fire Department (Mount Tabor / west side of town), founded in 1910.
 * District 2: Rainbow Lakes Fire Department (Rainbow Lakes section)
 * District 3: Lake Parsippany Fire Department (Lake Parsippany Section), founded in 1935.
 * District 4: Lake Hiawatha Fire Department (Lake Hiawatha Section), established in 1935.
 * District 5: Rockaway Neck Fire Department (East side of the township)
 * District 6: Parsippany Fire Association (Central part of the township)

Economy
Since 1967, the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been exclusively handcrafted by Tiffany & Co. in Parsippany each year for the winning team of the Super Bowl, as is the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy granted to the winner of the NBA Finals.

Corporate residents include Century 21 Real Estate, Curtiss-Wright, Wyndham Worldwide and PNY Technologies, a manufacturer of computer memory devices, are in Parsippany-Troy Hills.

The U.S. operations of Cadbury Adams, Reckitt Benckiser, Ricola and Safilo are located here.

Cendant Corporation moved its headquarters to Parsippany-Troy Hills in 2001; in 2006 Cendant separated into several different companies, including Avis Budget Group, parent company of Avis Rent a Car System and Budget Rent a Car.

Education
The Parsippany-Troy Hills School District serves students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Schools in the district (with 2010-11 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics ) are Eastlake Elementary School (Grades PreK-5; 328 students), Intervale Elementary School (K-5; 313), Knollwood Elementary School (K-5; 329), Lake Hiawatha Elementary School (PreK-5; 388), Lake Parsippany Elementary School (K-5; 320), Littleton Elementary School (K-5; 392), Mt. Tabor Elementary School (K-5; 425), Northvail Elementary School (K-5; 363), Rockaway Meadow Elementary School (PreK-5; 277) and Troy Hills Elementary School (K-5; 308) for elementary school; Brooklawn Middle School (863) and Central Middle School (793) for grades 6-8; and Parsippany High School (1,042) and Parsippany Hills High School (1,130) for grades 9-12.

Parsippany Christian School is a ministry of Parsippany Baptist Church. All Saints' Academy (a merger of Saint Christopher Parochial school and Saint Peter the Apostle School) and St. Elizabeth Nursery School are Catholic schools operated under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson.

Popular culture references

 * In the Seinfeld episode The Mom & Pop Store (originally aired on November 17, 1994), Jerry loses his shoes and finds out that they ended up at a garage sale in Parsippany.
 * In the The Karate Kid, Daniel's Uncle Louie is said to be from Parsippany.
 * In the movie The Ex Wesley (Lucian Maisel) states, "So during the school year I live with my mom in New Jersey. And I spend the summer here with my dad. But he's at work all the time, and all my friends live back in Parsippany, so it's pretty gay."

Sports
One of the soccer clubs in Parsippany is known as the Parsippany SC, which hosts teams in both the Super Y-League and the Super-20 League.

Parsippany-Troy East, one of Parsippany's two township Little League teams, competed in the 2012 Little League World Series, losing in the third round of play at South Williamsport, Pennsylvania to a team from Petaluma, California.

Transportation
Parsippany lies at the crossroads of many major roadways including Interstates 80, 280 and 287, U.S. Routes 46 and 202, New Jersey Routes 10 and 53, as well as County Route 511.

The Mount Tabor station offers train service on the New Jersey Transit Morristown Line, with service to and from Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan and Hoboken Terminal. New Jersey Transit provides bus service on the 79 to Newark, with local service on the MCM1, MCM2, MCM3, MCM10, 29, 967 routes.

China Airlines provides private bus service to John F. Kennedy International Airport from the Top Quality Food Market 828 Route 46 in Parsippany to feed its flight to Taipei, Taiwan.

Parsippany runs a two-route bus system known as Parsippany Transit that offers bus service free to all residents and operates six days a week.

Bus service to Manhattan is provided by Lakeland Bus Lines.

Notable people
Notable current and former residents of Parsippany-Troy Hills include:
 * Keith Ferris, artist/creator of the B-17 mural "Fortresses Under Fire," World War II wing, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
 * James Jean (born 1979), award winning artist and illustrator.
 * Jane Krakowski (born 1968), actress, best known for her roles on Ally McBeal and 30 Rock.
 * Robert Lazzarini (born 1965), sculptor, installation artist.
 * Johnnie Morant (born 1981), wide receiver for the Oakland Raiders (2004–2006).
 * Joe Orsulak (born 1962), major league baseball player.
 * Garrett Reisman (born 1968), NASA astronaut.
 * Angelo Savoldi (born 1914), former professional wrestler.
 * Herb Scherer (1929–2012), professional basketball player for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and New York Knicks.
 * Chris Singleton (born 1967), linebacker for the New England Patriots (1990–1992, 1993) and Miami Dolphins (1993, 1994–1996).