Darien jumped three spots, from seventh to fourth, in the November issue of Connecticut Magazine’s ratings of towns with population 15,000 to 25,000. The biggest reason? Crime. Or lack of crime rather.
 
In the magazine’s last rating in 2004, Darien was ranked seventh overall and 12th for crime out of the 30 towns in that population range. This time around, Darien jumped six spots in the crime category, the leading catalyst to its jump to fourth overall.

“It’s difficult to put a finger on (the better rating) because crime is cyclical, and it’s hard to compare Darien with similar towns like Wilton and New Canaan because they don’t have the transit (Post Road, train stations, Interstate 95) that we do,” Police Chief Duane Lovello said. “I’m very satisfied with the job of the police department and how safe the community is, you don’t have to push this police department to do their jobs.”

“This is an impressive improvement,” First Selectman Evonne Klein said. “It highlights what kind of a town this is. Darien is a vibrant town and we have so many engaged and talented citizens making a difference every day.”
Klein, who recently made the announcement to town employees at the annual Recognition Employee Luncheon knows there were a lot of people that contributed to the improvement.

“Darien Revitalization Inc. has given a big boost to the town and as we see our various town projects moving forward, it shows the improvements to the downtown and to overall town recreation,” she said. “There are many factors that contribute to this improvement, whether it’s staff and volunteer work, or a change in attitude among the community and the ability to keep moving the town forward.”

The magazine rates towns in five categories: education, economy, cost of living, crime and leisure/culture. Each town receives a ranking (1 to 30) for each category and the lowest total is deemed the most “livable.”

The crime rankings are based on major crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft) committed in 2002, 2003 and 2004 per 1,000 people. Darien had  2.53 major crimes per 1,000 people in that time frame.

Darien received 44 total points, just behind third place New Canaan’s 43 and second place Wilton’s 42. Ridgefield again claimed the top spot with 37 points. Darien surpassed Avon, which dropped from second to fifth; Simsbury, fifth to sixth; and Farmington, sixth to seventh.

Darien was ranked third in the education category (up from fourth), sixth in crime (up from 12th), fourth in leisure (up a half a spot from 4.5) and remained second and 29th in the economy and cost categories, respectively.

The magazine “collected all the data we could find in the areas that seem to be most important to most people: public schools, crime, cost of living, local economy and leisure and cultural outlets.” It also rated towns in three other classifications: populations more than 50,000, 25,000 to 50,000 and 10,000 to 15,000.

Greenwich was rated first in the more than 50,000 class, followed by Fairfield and Stamford; Westport was first in the 25,000 to 50,000 class with Glastonbury and New Milford coming in second and third, respectively; and Old Saybrook came out on top in the 10,000 to 15,000 class, followed by Weston in second and Granby and Orange, which tied for third.

Patricia Grandjean, a Connecticut Magazine reporter who worked on the story with fellow reporter Andrew Brady, said they first gathered information for towns with a population below 10,000 and then they worked on towns with populations over 10,000. The list of towns with populations under 10,000 will come out in March.

“This is something that was really concocted by the editor,” she said. “He was the one who determined what the actual points of calculations would be... based on what he thought we could quantify.”

The editor, Charles Monagan, said the publication has been putting out these stories every two years since 1992.

“I thought it was a rare opportunity to do something that includes every single town in Connecticut,” he said Tuesday afternoon.

“This is not intended to be a subjective analysis,” said Grandjean said, adding that it’s “really just a starting point” for people to turn to if they are moving within the state or from another state to Connecticut.

The other categories were based on several key factors. Education was based on five elements, including a number of sets of test scores and the percentage of 2005 high school graduates who went on to four-year colleges. Darien had an average SAT score (combination of verbal, math and writing) of 1767, which placed it second among the top 10 rated towns in its population range.

The economy category rated towns under a formula combining population, per capita income, unemployment rate, equalized mill rate (tax rate) and per capita aid to children. Darien had by far the highest library per capita with $152.99, significantly more than the number one ranked town for economy (New Canaan with $95.16), and the lowest equalized mill rate (7.30) and highest voter turnout (90.47 percent) of all the top 10 towns.

The cost of living category weighted most heavily the median price of a house or condominium purchased in 2005 and the first half of 2006. Darien was rated second to last (in front of New Canaan) with a median cost of $1,197,500. The two towns were the only ones of the 30 with median house costs more than $1 million.

The leisure and culture category included local library expenditures per capita and the number of theaters, museums, festivals, golf courses, local newspapers and state parks, among other things. Darien ranked fourth, behind Ridgefield, Farmington and Avon.

In a sidebar in the magazine entitled PIC points, Darien finished third among all cities and towns in the state with a ranking of 167, just behind New Canaan. PIC points take into account per capita income, equalized mill rate, adjusted equalized grand list per capita, and aid to children.

“It is an indicator of wealth and need — the number shows where the town ranks among all 169 cities and towns in the state; the greater the number, the less need in the community,” the magazine states.

“This is an impressive improvement for the town and we will continue to work hard as a town to move forward and improve,” Klein said. “We won’t be settling for fourth next time around.”

© Copyright 2006 by Hersam Acorn newspapers