Home > Ridgefield, Washington

1 History

Ridgefield was officially incorporated on August 26, 1909.

Ridgefield is the original home of U-Haul, and is home of the Ridgefield High School Spudders, as well as all-around awesome people like Lucas Perkins , Greg Gertsen , and Zack Stern . Despite these facts, Ridgefield remains a cultural void, and, not unrelatedly, a bastion of dyed-in-the-wool patriotic conservatism. Development in the area has been speedy recently. We now have a Subway! Great! Now we have worthless suburban sprawl too! Look at us!

Seriously, though. Don't come here if you want vibrant culture. But you should check out the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge , though, which is gorgeous. Make sure and check out Abrams Park as well, and say hello to Hank the groundskeeper if he's still around. The Old Liberty Theater adds a touch of class, and the sandwiches at Zebrun's are top-notch. The Sportsmens' Pub is an old standby, and the new Post Office is pretty spiffy. A new high school is on the way as well, but I'm not sure if I trust older voters to approve all of the necessary funding. Time will tell on that one.

2 Geography

Ridgefield is located at 45°48'55" North, 122°43'40" West (45.815309, -122.727846) ¹.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.2 km² (5.1 mi²). 13.2 km² (5.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.20% is water.

3 Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there are 2,147 people, 739 households, and 557 families residing in the city. The population density is 162.5/km² (420.8/mi²). There are 777 housing units at an average density of 58.8/km² (152.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 95.16% White, 0.28% African American, 1.12% Native American, 0.70% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other racesThe United States Census Bureau uses the federal government's definitions of race when performing a census. These definitions have and may change between each census. The racial categories are officially described as follows:¹ The categories represent a s, and 2.47% from two or more races. 1.77% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

As you can see, Ridgefield is about as white as they come, but not unwelcoming. I've always found the atmosphere much more open and tolerant than one would expect given these statistics and the location.

There are 739 households out of which 43.8% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.6% are married couplesMarriage is a relationship that plays a key role in the definition of many families. Precise definitions vary historically and between and within cultures, but it has been an important concept as a socially sanctioned bond between people who (usually) are living together, 11.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 24.6% are non-families. 18.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.82 and the average family size is 3.18.

In the city the population is spread out with 29.8% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 94.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $46,012, and the median income for a family is $51,121. Males have a median income of $38,125 versus $27,426 for females. The per capita incomeThe per capita income for an area may be defined as the total personal income in an area, divided by the number of people in that area. A ranking of the top 10 countries, according to the 2004 CIA World Factbook (in US dollar) # Luxembourg $55,100 # Norwa for the city is $21,696. 6.3% of the population and 4.4% of families are below the poverty lineThe poverty line is the level of income below which one cannot afford to purchase all the resources one requires to live. People who have an income below the poverty line have no discretionary disposable income, by definition. The actual monetary value of. Out of the total population, 6.6% of those under the age of 18 and 9.0% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.