LOCATION: Middlesex County, also known as the "Heart" of
New Jersey is located squarely in the center of New Jersey
and stretches from the Rahway River south to Mercer and
Monmouth Counties and form Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean
west to Somerset County. The county is 318 square miles in
size, has 25 municipalities which includes the City of New
Brunswick, the seat of Middlesex County Government and
includes extensive industrial, office, and residential
areas.
EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES: Serving approximately 100,000
primary and secondary school students are 175 public school,
five County vocational-technical Schools, and over 70
parochial and private schools. Middlesex County College, a
two year education center for academic and technical
training, was one of the first in the State. Graduate level
studies are available at Rutgers, The state University of
New Jersey. Located in Middlesex County are five main
Rutgers campuses; Rutgers College, Cook College, Douglas
College, Kilmer Campus, and the Busch Campus Home of New
Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry. Adjacent to Cook
College is the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, a
nationally recognized research center The Forrestal Campus
of Princeton University is located in Middlesex County, with
Princeton University's main campus nearby.
HOUSING AND POPULATION: Middlesex County has been one of
the fastest growing counties in the State, having an
estimated population increase between 1970 and 1990 of
87,967 persons. Preliminary population projections for 2000
are estimated at 745,000 while the population is projected
to increase to nearly 796,000 by the year 2010.
As
population grows so must housing as evidence by 45.7%
increase in housing units since 1970 including new homes and
apartments. As of 1990, the county estimates that it now has
250,174 housing units. This is an average of 784 units per
square miles. Firms relocating to Middlesex County bring
jobs and people and offer the progressive developer various
opportunities.
HEALTH
CARE: Middlesex County has five major hospitals with a
total bedspace of 1,900. They include John F. Kennedy
Medical Center, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital,
Raritan Bay Medical Center (Old Bridge), Raritan Bay Medical
Center (Perth Amboy), and St. Peter's University Hospital.
RECREATION: The Middlesex County Department of Parks and
Recreation operates 18 county parks encompassing 6,600
acres. Thirteen of these parks contain active recreational
facilities and five others are conservation areas or are
being held for future recreational development. The County
has acquired over 5,000 acres of open space through the Open
Space Trust Fund, and an active farmland preservation
program has preserved 3,400 acres. The Middlesex County
Improvement Authority operates three golfing facilities: The
36 hole Tamarack Golf Course in East Brunswick, the Meadows
at Middlesex in Plainsboro, and the Raritan Landing Golf
Course in Piscataway.
County
parks offer a wide range of excellent facilities, such as
East Jersey Olde Towne, a collection of restored,
reconstructed and replica buildings from the 18th and 19th
centuries in Johnson Park. Popular programs are also
featured, including "Plays-in-the-Park" series at the
Stephen J. Capestro Theater in Roosevelt Park. There are
also numerous private recreational complexes in the County,
including golf centers and courses.
Among the
historic sites that dot the county are the Cornelius Low
House, which is an outstanding example of Georgian
architecture and serves as the County museum, and the Edison
Memorial State Park built on the site of Thomas Alva
Edison's Menlo Park Library.
