Paramus is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough’s population was 26,342. A suburb of New York City, Paramus is located 15 to 20 miles (24 to 32 km) northwest of Midtown Manhattan and approximately 8 miles (13 km) west of Upper Manhattan. The Wall Street Journal characterized Paramus as “quintessentially suburban”.
Paramus was incorporated as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 2, 1922, and ratified by a referendum held on April 4, 1922, that passed by a vote of 238 to 10. Paramus was created from portions of Midland Township, which now exists as Rochelle Park. The name is usually said to be of Native American origin, derived from words meaning “land of the turkey” or meaning “pleasant stream.”
The borough is one of the largest shopping destinations in the country, generating over $5 billion in annual retail sales, more than any other ZIP Code in the United States. Despite this, Paramus has some of the most restrictive blue laws in the nation, banning nearly all white-collar and retail businesses from opening on Sundays except for gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores, and a limited number of other businesses.
Paramus became one of the “truck farming” areas that helped New Jersey earn its nickname as the “Garden State”. By 1940, Paramus’ population was just 4,000, with no town center and 94 retail establishments. Although the opening of the George Washington Bridge in 1931 and the widening of New Jersey Route 17 and New Jersey Route 4 (which intersect in southern Paramus), made the area accessible to millions, “it was not until the 1950s that massive development hit this section of northern New Jersey”.
During the 1950s and 1960s, Paramus, lacking any master plan until 1969, was redeveloped into two shopping corridors when its farmers and outside developers saw that shopping malls were more lucrative than produce farming. “It was a developer’s dream: flat cleared land adjacent to major arterials and accessible to a growing suburban population and the country’s largest city – with no planning restrictions”. New York had a state sales tax, but New Jersey had none, so with the opening of Manhattan department stores in the Bergen Mall (1957), the Garden State Plaza (1957) and Alexander’s (1961), Paramus became the “first stop outside New York City for shopping”. From 1948–58, the population of Paramus increased from 6,000 to 23,000, the number of retail establishments tripled from 111 to 319, and annual retail sales increased twenty-fold, from $5.5 million to $112 million. By the 1980s, when the population had increased slightly over 1960s levels, retail sales had climbed to $1 billion.
As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 26,342 people, 8,630 households, and 6,939 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,516.0 per square mile (971.4/km2). There were 8,915 housing units at an average density of 851.5 per square mile (328.8/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 72.29% (19,042) White, 1.42% (374) Black or African American, 0.11% (28) Native American, 22.28% (5,869) Asian, 0.05% (13) Pacific Islander, 1.39% (366) from other races, and 2.47% (650) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.26% (1,913) of the population. 6.9% of residents self-identified as being Korean-American, which makes it the largest ethnic minority group in the borough.
Source: Wikipedia
