Greenwich Neighborhoods
Greenwich is a community of well-established neighborhoods from Byram, Belle Haven, Riverside and Old Greenwich on Long Island Sound to Glenville, the business district on Route 1 and Greenwich Ave., to the area north of the Merritt Parkway. The RTM (Representative Town Meeting) districts are organized on a neighborhood basis. A major component of the 2020 and now 2025 Needs Assessment is a focus on these neighborhoods to analyze census and other data at the neighborhood level.
Every 10 years the census executes changes to its geographical boundaries. As a result of this, we had to use Census Crosswalk Data from the National Geographical Information Systems to recreate the census geographies of 2019 for the 2023 data. This allowed us to stay consistent to the historical boundaries of neighborhoods identified in the last iteration of this assessment.
The US Census Bureau has established spatial boundaries for the entire country that reflect the differing demographics of the country at small geographical areas. Across the country there are 242,337 block groups, 2,718 in Connecticut and 52 in Greenwich. The boundaries for almost all of Greenwich’s 60 block groups in 2019 are completely within one RTM district. Belle Haven is one block group and in the NA2025 is defined as a separate neighborhood. The Pemberwick/ Glenville RTM district includes two neighborhoods that are organized as separate neighborhoods in the NA2025.
In a few cases, a block group was divided between two RTM districts and allocated to one. For example, as Figure 2 shows, block group 101.02 3 is in both Cos Cob and Havemeyer with the larger area in Havemeyer; thus, this block group was allocated to Havemeyer in the NA2025. For Block Group 102.01 2, the largest area is in North and a small portion in North Center; this block group was allocated to the North neighborhood in the NA2025.
In total, we have 13 neighborhoods, illustrated in Figure 1, based on town RTM districts and census block boundaries.
The Census Bureau has built block group spatial files for GIS analysis that were combined to create a GIS map of the 13 neighborhoods. For all 60 block groups assigned to the 13 neighborhoods, the American Community Survey data, and the US Census Bureau’s most recent data, was aggregated to the neighborhood level to explore and analyze variables important to the NA2025.
Asset Mapping
To understand what and where human services exist within Greenwich, the research team accessed United Way of Connecticut’s 2-1-1 program. United Way 211 is a comprehensive source of local social services from disaster assistance and crisis management to basic needs and curated service provider information. Visualizations were developed to map the location and details of services and providers.
Survey
The community survey was a key component of NA 2025. The survey was administered online and was designed to gather perspectives from people living and or working in the town on several issues affecting community wellbeing. Respondents were recruited through physical and digital media advertising, and emails to Greenwich United Way partners and contacts. The survey launched April 28, 2025 and data was collected over eight weeks. During the data collection period, over 900 residents and stakeholders provided responses to the survey. Their responses provided important insight into community issues and helped inform the analysis presented throughout this report.
Interviews and Policy Analysis
Each deep dive team conducted individual qualitative studies addressing the core issues examined in NA 2025. Collectively, 34 interviews were conducted using semi-structured protocols designed to allow inquiry to be shaped by each participant’s responses while maintaining alignment with the core elements of the assessment. The interviews provided a qualitative overview of community members’ varied perspectives on mental health, early childhood education, and housing priorities. They also created opportunities to engage with and document the perspectives of community leaders and residents across sectors, including local government, social services, education, and nonprofit organizations. Interviews typically lasted 30 to 45 minutes and most were completed during the summer and fall months through video conferencing.
In addition to interviews, qualitative information related to housing was gathered through a review of public meeting materials. Transcripts and supporting documents from Planning and Zoning and Affordable Housing Trust Fund meetings since 2022 were collected and coded thematically to identify recurring issues related to affordable housing development in the town. Together, these qualitative approaches provided a deeper understanding of community priorities, challenges, and opportunities across several key service areas.
Dashboard & Reporting
An important addition to NA2020 was an interactive data dashboard designed to visually display results and allow users to search and download specific information. Similarly, the 2025 report includes an interactive dashboard to visualize relevant data in a dynamic way. The dashboard will be updated on a periodic basis. Visit www.GreenwichUnitedWay.org to view the dashboard and full report.
