Massachusetts

It is also one of the highest scoring states on advanced placement tests. Baltimore is a sister city of these municipalities:. It has one of the lowest high-school dropout rates in the nation and is tied with New Jersey for having the 2nd highest percentage of students who go on to college after high-school. See:Baltimore City Public School System. Massachusetts is known for having one of the best public school systems in the nation. List of Baltimore neighborhoods. Massachusetts also is home to well-known independent research institutions, including Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory. Out of the total population, 30.6% of those under the age of 18 and 18.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Music schools include Berklee and the New England Conservatory. 22.9% of the population and 18.8% of families are below the poverty line. Other notable Massachusetts colleges include Hampshire College and the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts). The per capita income for the city is $16,978. In addition to MIT, technology-oriented universities include Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and University of Massachusetts Lowell, which includes the former Lowell Institute of Technology ("Lowell Tech"). Males have a median income of $31,767 versus $26,832 for females. Massachusetts is home to one Ivy League university (Harvard) and four of the Seven Sisters (Mount Holyoke, Radcliffe College (now a research institute at Harvard), Smith, and Wellesley). The median income for a household in the city is $30,078, and the median income for a family is $35,438.

News & World Report, 10 of the nation's top-50 colleges and universities are located in Massachusetts: Amherst College, Boston College, Brandeis University, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Tufts University, Wellesley College and Williams College. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 82.9 males. According to U.S. For every 100 females there are 87.4 males. Massachusetts hosts more prominent colleges and universities than any other state in the U.S. The median age is 35 years. The population of metropolitan Boston surges noticeably during the school year due to the concentration of colleges and universities in the area (see list of colleges and universities in metropolitan Boston). In the city the population is spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who are 65 years of age or older.

Eight Boston-area institutions (Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis, Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Tufts, and UMass/Boston) call themselves "research universities;" they became, according to them, "engines of economic growth" following World War II, and currently contribute $7 billion annually to the local economy [3] (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2003/econimpact.html). The average household size is 2.42 and the average family size is 3.16. population, but is home to many of its most renowned preparatory schools, colleges, and universities[2] (http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ/state/) (see full list of colleges and universities in Massachusetts). 34.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. Massachusetts contains only 2.5% of the U.S. There are 257,996 households out of which 25.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.7% are married couples living together, 25.0% have a female householder with no husband present, and 43.0% are non-families. Massachusetts cities and towns of historical or cultural importance include. 1.70% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a total of 50 cities and 301 towns, grouped into 14 counties. The racial makeup of the city is 31.63% White, 64.34% Black or African American, 0.32% Native American, 1.53% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.67% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. See also: List of Massachusetts counties; List of cities in Massachusetts. There are 300,477 housing units at an average density of 1,435.8/km² (3,718.6/mi²). Barnstable and Dukes Counties have adopted modern county charters, enabling them to act as efficient regional governments. The population density is 3,111.5/km² (8,058.4/mi²). The governments of Bristol, Plymouth, and Norfolk Counties remain substantially unchanged. As of the census² of 2000, there are 651,154 people, 257,996 households, and 147,057 families residing in the city.

This law was later amended to abolish Hampshire County on January 1, 1999; Essex County on July 1 of that same year; and Berkshire County on July 1, 2000. Chapter 34B of the Massachusetts General Laws (http://www.state.ma.us/legis/laws/mgl/gl-34B-toc.htm) provides that other counties may also vote to abolish themselves, or to reorganize as a "regional council of governments", as Hampshire and Franklin Counties have done. in every census up to the 1980 census. The law abolishing Middlesex County also provided for the elimination of Hampden County and Worcester County on July 1, 1998. S. Later that year, the Franklin County Commission voted itself out of existence. It was among the top 10 cities in population in the U. The government of Middlesex County was officially abolished on July 11, 1997. In the 1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses of the United States of America, Baltimore was the second largest city in population.

Mismanagement of Middlesex County's public hospital in the mid 1990s left that county on the brink of insolvency, and in 1997 the legislature stepped in by assuming all assets and obligations of the county. The major highways serving the city are I-695 (the Baltimore Beltway), I-95, I-83 and I-70 (its eastern terminus is just beyond the city limits). The government of Nantucket County, which is geographically coterminous with the Town of Nantucket, is operated along similar lines- the town selectmen (executive branch) act as the county commissioners. Additionally, MARC commuter rail connects Washington, DC's Union Station with the city's two rail stations, Camden Station and Penn Station. Thus, residents of the other three Suffolk County communities do not have a voice on the county commission, but all the county expenses are paid by the city of Boston. Baltimore City has many bus routes, and a light rail and a subway system. The government of Suffolk County was substantially integrated with the city government of Boston more than one hundred years ago, to the extent that the members of the Boston city council are ex officio the Suffolk County Commissioners, and Boston's treasurer and auditor fulfill the same offices for the county. Public transit in Baltimore City is provided by the Maryland Transit Administration.

By the 1990s, most functions of county governments (including operation of courts and road maintenance) had been taken over by the state, and most county governments were seen as inefficient and outmoded. The city has a humid subtropical climate, moderated by the warming influence of the bay and nearby ocean, with hot summers, cool winters, and moderate precipitation. However, many residents also identify with neighborhoods, villages, or other districts of their towns. The total area is 12.240% water. Census Bureau, which in most data products considers towns to be minor civil divisions, equivalent to townships in other states (usually with much weaker forms of government). 209.3 km² (80.8 mi²) of it is land and 29.2 km² (11.3 mi²) of it is water. This complicates comparisons with other states, as most residents identify strongly with the town or city in which they reside, and not with the "populated places" as defined and used in the U.S. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 238.5 km² (92.1 mi²).

In contrast, the cities and towns of Massachusetts divide up all of the land between them and there are no "unincorporated" areas or population centers. Baltimore is in the north central part of the state of Maryland, on the Patapsco River, not far from the Chesapeake Bay. It is on the western edge of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, with low hills rising in the western part of the city. County governments have significant importance, particularly to those living outside towns, and often perform major functions such as operating airports. The headquarters of the Social Security Administration and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are located in Woodlawn, just outside the city limits. In contrast, the state is completely apportioned into counties. On November 2, 2004, Dixon won re-election in a two-way contest; Joan Floyd, a Green Party candidate, was the only challenger; the Republicans did not field a candidate. Between the towns are unincorporated areas, usually quite large, which do not belong to any town. Sheila Dixon is the current Council President.

In many states, a town is a compact incorporated area. The Baltimore City Council is now made up of 14 single member districts and one elected at-large Council President. Massachusetts municipalities are subject to a budgetary law known as "Proposition 2½", by which they may not increase expenditures by more than 2½% per annum without the approval of the voters in a plebiscite. A coalition of union and community groups, organized by ACORN, backed the effort. Massachusetts has a very limited home rule mechanism; in order to exercise jurisdiction outside of these bounds, a municipality must petition the General Court for special legislation giving it that authority. Grassroots pressure for reform, voiced as Question P, restructured the City Council in November of 2002, against the will of the Mayor, the Council President, and the majority of the Council. These cities are legally styled "the City Known as the Town of X". For a full list of mayors that served the city, see: List of Baltimore Mayors.

There are now a number of municipalities which are legally cities and thus have city councils, but retained the word "town" in their names, including Agawam, Methuen, Watertown, Weymouth, and Westfield. His ambition to run for Governor of Maryland is well known. This distinction dates to the 1820s; prior to that, all municipalities were governed by Town Meeting. Despite being a conservative Democrat in a city with a deep progressive history, O'Malley has maintained a high approval rating through both of his terms in office. Politically, the only difference between a town and a city is that a town is governed under the Town Meeting or Representative Town Meeting form of government, whereas a city has a city council (and may or may not have a mayor, a city manager, or both). The current Mayor of Baltimore is Martin O'Malley. Massachusetts law maintains a distinction between "cities" and "towns"; the largest town in population is Framingham. For most governmental purposes under Maryland law, Baltimore City is treated as a "county"-level entity.

Massachusetts shares with the six New England states, plus New York and New Jersey, a governmental structure known as the "New England town.". Baltimore is an independent city; in other words, not part of any county. The three largest Protestant denominations in Massachusetts are: Baptist (4% of total state population), Episcopalian (3%), Methodist & Congregationalist (tied 2%). Water levels rose some 20 feet in areas, flooding underground parking garages and displacing thousands of cubic yards of trash and debris. The religious affiliations of the people of Massachusetts are:. Many places were flooded including the sports center ESPN Zone, the Baltimore World Trade Center (The World Trade Center remained closed for approximately a month during cleanup efforts) and most of the Inner Harbor. The five largest ancestries in Massachusetts are Irish (22.5%), Italian (13.5%), English (11.4%), French (8%), German (5.9%). Also in 2003, Baltimore was affected by Hurricane Isabel from flooding as a result of tidal surge, affecting primarily the Fells Point community and the Inner Harbor and surrounding low areas.

Historically, the coast has been much more urban than Western Massachusetts, which is very rural, save for the cities of Springfield and Worcester. The City of Baltimore hopes to have it finished and opened by 2005 or 2006. The bulk of this population surrounds Greater Boston, with approximately 5,800,000 people, and the North and South Shores. The hotel is expected to be built near the Baltimore Convention Center. The population of Massachusetts is 6,433,422 (US Census, 2003). In 2003, the Baltimore Development Corporation announced that three hotel projects were being reviewed. See the list of Massachusetts places by per capita income. Three weeks later, manhole covers flew into the air as underground explosions along West Pratt Street followed due to residual explosive chemicals from the fire left in the sewers.

Other sectors vital to the Massachusetts economy include higher education, health care, financial services and tourism. The derailment sparked a chemical fire that raged for six days and virtually shut down the downtown area until the heat caused a water main to rupture, largely extinguishing the fire but also causing significant flooding in the streets above. Thanks largely to the Ocean Spray cooperative, Massachusetts is the second largest cranberry producing state in the union (after Wisconsin). A 60-car train derailment occurred in a tunnel in Baltimore on July 18, 2001. Its industrial outputs are machinery, electric equipment, scientific instruments, printing, and publishing. The concept has been highly successful, and numerous other American municipalities have since implemented the practice. Its agricultural outputs are seafood, nursery stock, dairy products, cranberries, and vegetables. On October 2, 1996, Baltimore became the first city in the United States to adopt 311 as a non-emergency "hot line" telephone number, in order to reserve the use of 911 for genuine emergencies.

Per capita personal income in 2003 was $39,504, 4^th in the nation. In 1992, the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball moved downtown to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and six years later the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League moved next door into the newly renamed M&T Bank Stadium, formerly known as PSINet Stadium until PSINet went bankrupt. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (http://www.bea.gov/) estimates that Massachusetts's total state product in 2003 was $297 billion. In 1979 the Baltimore Convention Center was opened and was subsequently renovated and expanded in 1996. Harborplace, a modern urban retail and restaurant complex, was opened on the waterfront in 1980, followed by the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland's largest tourist destination, in 1981. See the articles on same-sex marriage in the United States and same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. In recent years, efforts to redevelop the downtown area have led to a revitalization of the Inner Harbor. Following a November 2003 decision of the state's Supreme Court, Massachusetts became the first state to issue same-sex marriage licenses on May 17, 2004. Many movies such as Hairspray, scenes from 12 monkeys and the film Hardball were filmed there, in fact many scenes from the 1972 cult classic film Pink Flamingos were shot in the city's Waverly section (the film was made by John Waters, a Baltimore native). Additionally, television shows such as NBC's "Homicide: Life on the Street" and HBO's "The Wire" have also been filmed in the city.

When informed that the Democratic National Convention would be in Boston, House Majority Leader Dick Armey remarked, "If I were a Democrat, I suspect I'd feel a heck of a lot more comfortable in Boston than, say, America." While campaigning in the western part of the country, President Bush would often jab, "My opponent says he's in touch with the West, but sometimes I think he means Western Massachusetts." The stump speech that he used at many of his campaign stops included many such disparaging remarks directed at Massachusetts and New England in general. Baltimore has become a prime city for filming movies and television. During the 2004 Presidential Election, Massachusetts was the target of many GOP regionalist attacks along the campaign trail. The buildings were eventually demolished in 2001. During the Colonial period, Massachusetts was one of the leading states in the fight for independence. In 1955 Flag House Courts, public housing project made up of 3 12-story buildings was built. The liberal tendencies of Massachusetts extend throughout American history: in the 19th century, Massachusetts was a center of abolitionism, having been the first state to abolish slavery by law. Baltimore is also the location of Pimlico Race Course, the home of the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. The Preakness has been run since 1873.

Two of these governors, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift took office when their predecessors resigned to take other positions. Baltimore is the location of the Baltimore World Trade Center, the world's tallest equilateral five-sided building (the five-sided JPMorganChase Tower in Houston, Texas is taller, but has unequal sides). Although Republicans have held the governor's office continuously from 1991 to the present, many of these (especially William Weld, the first of the recent lineage of Republican governors) are considered among the most moderate or progressive Republicans in the nation. The Great Baltimore Fire on February 7, 1904 destroyed over 1,500 buildings in 30 hours. Congress. After the riot, Union troops occupied Baltimore and Maryland came under direct federal administration — in part, to prevent the state from seceding — until the end of the war in April 1865. state represented by one party in the U.S. Pro-Southern sentiment led to the Baltimore riot of 1861 when Union soldiers marched through the city.

It is the home of the Kennedy family of political fame, and routinely votes for the Democratic Party in federal elections. As of 2004, it is by far the largest U.S. Many, if not most, people in Baltimore at the time were sympathetic to the Confederacy. Massachusetts has a reputation as being a politically liberal state, and is often used as an archetype of liberalism in the U.S. During the Civil War, Maryland was officially part of the Union but kept slavery legal. The most populated part of western Massachusetts is the "Pioneer Valley", alongside the Connecticut River, which flows across Western Massachusetts from north to south. Baltimore became an independent city in 1851, being detached from Baltimore County at that time. Western Massachusetts is more rural and sparsely populated, especially in the Berkshires, the branch of the Appalachian Mountains which forms the western border of the state. The city is also the site of the first architectural monument honoring George Washington, a 178 foot doric column erected in 1829 and designed by Robert Mills, who later designed the Washington Monument in Washington D.C.

Most of the population of the Boston metropolitan area (approximately 5,800,000) does not live in the city; eastern Massachusetts on the whole is fairly densely populated and largely suburban. Baltimore's harbor is the location of Fort McHenry, which came under attack by British forces in the War of 1812 and whose defense inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," which furnishes the lyrics to the United States national anthem. Boston is the largest city, located at the inmost point of Massachusetts Bay, at the mouth of the Charles River, the longest river entirely within Massachusetts. The relatively shorter distance between Baltimore and the Caribbean colonies allowed swift transport and minimized the spoilage of flour. A few cities and towns on the Massachusetts–Rhode Island border are also adjacent to Narragansett Bay. The profit from sugar encouraged the maximum possible cultivation of cane and the importation of food. Massachusetts is known as the Bay State because of the several large bays that give its coastline its distinctive shape: Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod Bay on the state's east coast, and Buzzards Bay to the south. Baltimore grew swiftly in the mid-late 18th century as the granary for sugar producing colonies in the Caribbean.

The islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket lie to the south of Cape Cod. During the 17th century, various towns called "Baltimore" were founded as commercial ports at various locations on the upper Chesapeake Bay. The present city dates from July 30, 1729 and is named after Cęcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore who was the first Proprietary Governor of the Province of Maryland. At the southeastern corner of the state is a large, sandy, arm-shaped peninsula called Cape Cod. Because there is also a Baltimore County adjacent to (but not including) the city, it is sometimes referred to as Baltimore City when a clear distinction is desired. Massachusetts is bordered on the north by New Hampshire and Vermont, on the west by New York, on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. The city is a major part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area and a major U.S.seaport. Massachusetts is commonly referred to by residents both as "the state" and as "the Commonwealth." For example, on March 22, 2005, one Boston Globe story said that opponents of a proposal saw it as "burdening the state with more law schools than it needs," while another published the same day noted that "the Commonwealth faces difficult spending choices.". It is the largest city in Maryland, named after the founding proprietor of the Maryland Colony, Cęcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore.

In his "Life and Works", Adams wrote: "There is, however, a peculiar sense in which the words republic, commonwealth, popular state, are used by English and French writers, who mean by them a democracy, a government in one centre, and that centre a single assembly, chosen at stated periods by the people and invested with the whole sovereignty, the whole legislative, executive and judicial power to be included in a body or by committees as they shall think proper." Source: [1] (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm). As of July 1, 2002, the population is 638,614, and the population of the Baltimore-Washington Metroplex as of 2000 is 7.6 million, up from 6.7 million in 1990. In this draft, Part Two of the Constitution, under the heading "Frame of Government", states, "that the people...form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or state by the name of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts." The first draft of the Constitution, and all acts and resolves up to 1780, had used the name "State of Massachusetts Bay"; but since the adoption of the second draft of the Constitution the state has always been referred to as The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. state of Maryland. The name "Commonwealth" for Massachusetts can be traced to the second draft of the state Constitution, written by John Adams and accepted by the people in 1780. Baltimore is an independent city located in the U.S. There may have been some anti-monarchic sentiment informing the use of the word Commonwealth, which was also used to mean 'republic'. Frank Zappa.

In the era leading up to 1780, when the state Constitution was ratified, the word Commonwealth was the preferred term among political writers for a whole body of people constituting a nation or state. Montel Williams. federal government's use of the term "commonwealth" to refer to the status of certain insular areas such as Puerto Rico. John Waters. states that use the name "Commonwealth"; the others are Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Kentucky; this is distinct from the U.S. Johnny Unitas. It is one of four U.S. Anne Tyler.

Massachusetts is officially termed "the Commonwealth of Massachusetts" (rather than "State") by its constitution. Anne Truitt. Retrieved March 24, 2005)
* Celebrated only in Suffolk County (Boston, Chelsea, Revere, Winthrop). Tupac Shakur. Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts web page (http://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/cismaf/mf1a.htm). Pam Shriver. (Galvin, William F., (2005). Babe Ruth.

Whenever a holiday falls on a Sunday it is observed on the following Monday. Cal Ripken, Jr. Constitution, Amendments, Article CXX (November, 1990). Adrienne Rich. Mass. Edgar Allan Poe. 1. Jada Pinkett-Smith.