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.

 

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