Ansonia, Conn.: A Small City With a Sense of History

Abstract

Taking a break recently from playtime with his 4-year-old daughter at the Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center, Mr. Santana said his parents moved to Ansonia when he was in the fifth grade. "The teachers are way more inclined to making sure a child understands," he said, "Rather than just passing them along." What You'll Find With roughly 19,000 residents packed into six square miles, Ansonia is a densely populated city northwest of New Haven that grew up around sprawling copper and brass manufacturing facilities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. About 60 percent of Ansonia homes are owner-occupied, according to information from the nonprofit organization DataHaven. "We actually have a dorm in Ansonia now where some of our players sleep." What You'll Pay As in many places these days, Ansonia's housing market is tight, with far fewer listings than usual. The Schools The Ansonia Public Schools district serves about 2,300 students in two elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. The Mead Elementary School and Prendergast Elementary School offer prekindergarten programs; students in sixth through eighth grades attend Ansonia Middle School. Part of an upper Main Street historic district on the National Register of Historic Places, the Italianate Ansonia Opera House is one of about a dozen brick commercial buildings erected in the late 19th century to accommodate the growing manufacturing city.