Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Bucks County is a located in the  of. As of 2000, the population was 597,635. A  estimate placed the population at 621,342, making it the fourth most populous county in Pennsylvania, after, , and  counties. The is. The suburban county is one of the five core counties in Pennsylvania that make up the, or Greater Philadelphia metropolitan area.

Founding
Bucks County was one of the three original counties in Pennsylvania. It was named by in 1682 after, , the county where he lived and his family originated from. Bucks is the abbreviation for Buckinghamshire, and both names are used interchangeably in England. Penn's home,, is located within Bucks County.

Place names in Bucks County derived from places in Buckinghamshire include Buckingham, Chalfont (named after ), and Solebury (spelled  in England). was the former of Buckinghamshire; Buckingham, PA, was the county seat of Bucks County from 1705-1726. in Buckinghamshire was the parish home of William Penn's first wife, and the location of the Jordans Quaker Meeting House, where Penn is buried.

Revolutionary War
In December 1776, Bucks County became the setting for Gen. and his troops as they prepared to cross the and storm  on Christmas Day. The attack caught the army by surprise and would represent a turning point in the. The town of and  were named to commemorate the event.

Law and Government
The executive government is run by a three-seat Board of Commissioners, one member of which serves as chairperson. Commissioners are elected through and serve four-year terms. In cases of vacancy, a panel of county judges appoints members to fill seats.

The current commissioners are James F. Cawley (R) (Chairman), Charles H. Martin (R) and Sandra A. Miller (D). The current terms expire at the end of 2007.

Geography
Bucks County lies in the southeastern edge of the state along the. Most of the land is typical of the region, with hills becoming more distinct further north. Unlike in the Southern Piedmont, soil in the Pennsylvania Piedmont has historically been fertile, giving Bucks County large areas of valuable farmland. With the decline of the farming industry, debate has arisen over how much of this should be preserved, and how much should be allotted for commercial and residential development.

The southern third of the county between and, often called Lower Bucks, resides in the , and is flat and near sea level, and the county's most populated and industrialized area.

The county shares most of its western border with, and also borders Philadelphia to the southwest, and and  Counties to the north. From north to south, it is linked to, , and  Counties in  by bridges.

and are the largest  of the  in Bucks County. Tohickon Creek empties into the river at Point Pleasant and Neshaminy at Bristol.

According to the, the county has a total area of 1,611 (622 ). 1,573 km² (607 sq mi) of it is land and 38 km² (15 sq mi) of it (2.37%) is water.

Adjacent counties

 * (northwest)
 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (east)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Industry and commerce
The boroughs of and  were prominent industrial centers along the  during. development accelerated in Lower Bucks in the 1950s with the opening of, the second such designed by.

Among Bucks' largest employers in the Twentieth Century were in, and the Vulcanized Rubber & Plastics and Robertson Tile companies in Morrisville. continues to operate several chemical plants around Bristol. operates a in  that is largely the receptacle of out-of-state waste in the USA (receiving nearly all of New York City's waste following the closure of Fresh Kills landfill in  40-miles away).

This industry, however, belies another important asset of the county: tourism. The county's northern regions are renowned for their natural scenery, farmland, colonial history, and proximity to major urban areas. Popular attractions in Bucks County include the shops and studios of, , , and Bucks County River Country. Southern Bucks is home to two important shopping centers, and, and , a family  based on the  television series.

Local publications include, Bucks County Town and Country Living, LifeStyle Magazine, Nouveau, and BUCKS Magazine.

Population growth
Growth began in the early nineteen fifties, when chose Bucks County for his second Levittown. Levitt bought hundreds of acres of woodlands and farmland, and constructed 17,000 homes and dozens of schools, parks, libraries, and shopping centers. At this time the population of Levittown swelled to almost 74,000 residents when the project ended. At the time only people who were white could buy a home. This rule however, was soon overturned. Other planned developments included and. This rapid sprawl continued till the mid-sixties.

In the 1970s, the second growth spurt began. This time developers took land in townships that were for the most part untouched. These included, , and. , office complexes, shopping centers, and sprawling parking lots continued to move more and more towards Upper Bucks, swallowing horse farms, sprawling forests, and wetlands. At this time the was constructed in Middletown, which would become the business nucleus of the county.

Growth has somewhat stabilized since 1990, with smaller increases and less development. However, the main reason for this is not emigration, but loss of land.Lower Bucks now lacks large parcels of land to develop. Smaller residential and commercial projects must now be constructed. However redevelopment is now a leading coalition in Lower Bucks. Many areas along the have surpluses of abandoned industry, so many municipalities have granted building rights to many luxury housing developers. Also, as the regions that began the suburban boom in Bucks, such as Levittown, begin to reach their 50th anniversaries, many commercial strips and other neglected structures are being torn down to be replaced with new shopping plazas and commercial chains. Also with rising property values, areas with older construction are beginning to have a "rebirth". At the same time, Central and Upper Bucks are still seeing rapid growth with many municipalities doubling their populations.

Fine and performing arts
Many artists and writers based in have called Bucks County home, settling mainly in the small stretch between Doylestown and  and along the. Notable residents have included, , , , , , , , , and. Bucks County is the home of writer/musician, painter Christopher Wajda and was also home to furniture designer. lived in, just across the river from Bucks County, used as the model for the setting of two novels, and is considered a Bucks County artist.

The county boasts many local companies, the most famous of which is the  in New Hope.

The, an online magazine that publishes in-depth reporting, works of literature, art, visual art, reviews, interviews, and columns by and about contemporary artists, photographers, and writers, is based out of Doylestown.

Popular culture
Alecia Moore, more commonly known as, was born in Doylestown as was motion picture writer and director,. Producer resides in Bucks County, as do two  contestants:, who was born in Atlanta, but moved to Bucks County; and , who was born in Ukraine and was from , in.

Film
's 2002 film , starring, was filmed and takes place in Bucks County. The town scenes, in particular, were filmed on State Street in, the drugstore scene was filmed at Burns' Pharmacy on Pennsylvania Avenue in. The house was built on the grounds of campus in. A stage set for some interior shots was created in a warehouse on State Road in. Shyamalan's film, , was shot in the section of. With the exception of the Pine Barrens footage, all of  was shot in Bucks County (though the name was changed). Also, a short scene from 's is based in.

Football

 * is a Bucks County native. He attended Central Bucks East High School.
 * Former and  star  resides in  and attended Pennsbury High School.

Little League
The county has a considerable history of producing baseball contenders. Since its inception in 1947, four of the seven Pennsylvania teams to compete in the in  have come from Bucks County: ,  ( and ), and. Two of these squads, Morrisville and Levittown (1960), went on to win the World Series title.

Horse racing

 * , formerly the home of contender, is in.

Pennsylvania State Parks
There are 5

Politics
As of November 2006, there are 413,098 registered voters in Bucks County.


 * : 163,158 (39.50%)
 * : 186,781 (45.21%)
 * Other Parties: 63,159 (15.29%)

Like Pennsylvania at large, Bucks County is regarded as a in major elections.

Bucks County was once a safeguard for the, and although politically the county has diversified, Republicans still control most of the offices at local levels of government. County Republicans tend to hold moderate positions on environmental and social issues while advocating fiscal restraint. While the GOP controls most offices locally, at the national level, voters have favored the presidential candidate in the last four elections.

Bucks County is represented in U.S. Congress by (map). While concerns about are on the rise, the 8th District remains one of the few districts in the United States that is almost fully made up by a single county. Since 2002, however, the 8th District has included small portions of neighboring and  counties.

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 597,635 people, 218,725 households, and 160,981 families residing in the county. The was 380/km² (984/sq mi). There were 225,498 housing units at an average density of 143/km² (371/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 90.01%, 4.08% or , 0.14% , 3.10% , 0.04% , 0.90% from , and 1.09% from two or more races. 3.16% of the population were or  of any race. 20.1% were of, 19.1% , 14.0% , 7.5% and 5.9%  ancestry according to.

There were 218,725 households out of which 35.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.20% were living together, 8.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.40% were non-families. 21.50% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.69 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.70% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 30.70% from 25 to 44, 24.30% from 45 to 64, and 12.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.40 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $59,727, and the median income for a family was $68,727. Males had a median income of $46,587 versus $31,984 for females. The for the county was $27,430. About 3.10% of families and 4.50% of the population were below the, including 4.80% of those under age 18 and 5.50% of those age 65 or over.

Like the rest of the Philadelphia region, Bucks County is experiencing a rapid increase of immigrants since the 2000 census. A 2005 population estimate of Bucks, showed that the and  populations have already doubled since 2000. ,, , and also saw significant increases.

Municipalities
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities:, , townships, and, in at most two cases,. The following boroughs and townships are located in Bucks County:

Census-designated places
s are geographical areas designated by the for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.

Colleges and universities




Public school districts
The Bucks County public schools listed above are served by a regional educational service agency called the Bucks County Intermediate Unit#22 located in the county seat of.
 * (also in Northampton County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Northampton County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Northampton County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Northampton County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)
 * (also in Montgomery County)

Community, junior and technical colleges

 * CHI Institute
 * CHI Institute
 * CHI Institute

Notable residents

 * , (1830-1880), born in Bucks County,
 * , (1892-1973), lived in, author and recipient
 * , (1936-1989), died in, activist
 * , (1901-1978), raised near, anthropologist
 * , (1907-1997), lived in Doylestown, author and recipient