A look at New Haven's Wooster Square

Many cities across America have their own "Little Italy" districts. These neighborhoods have experienced profound demographic changes as Italian-Americans migrated from the central city to the suburbs. While some are now mere memories in history, others remain alive as tourist districts, featuring Italian restaurants, bakeries and cafes. In New Haven that neighborhood is Wooster Square.

Wooster Street Arch

Italians first began moving to the area in the late 1800's, many hailing from Italy's Amalfi coast. The neighborhood was almost sacrificed to misguided urban renewal efforts in the 1950's and 60's by planners who saw more value in a highway versus a cohesive, walkable neighborhood. However city preservationists stepped in, and Wooster Square was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Demographics have changed somewhat since then. Yet the Italian flavor remains, and the neighborhood is one of the more stable residential areas in a somewhat downtrodden city.

Wooster Square is a popular destination for Italian food. On a chilly winter morning's visit, there was a substantial crown waiting to enter the storefront of Frank Pepe's Pizzeria. I doubt you'll find that kind of devotion or enthusiasm to grab a slice at your run of the mill pizza national chains like Papa Johns and Pizza Hut. That's what makes places like Wooster Square so special, something that malls and corporate franchises just can't duplicate. 

Frank Pepe's Pizzeria

 Statue of Christopher Columbus in Wooster Square Park

　

Arizona's Largest Ethnic Groups

Mexican-Americans are Arizona's largest ethnic group, making up over 1 in 4 residents in 2010. Also notable is the Native American influence in Arizona. Navajo, Apache, Pima, Tohono O'Odham, and Yaqui are all represented among the state's 50 largest ethnic groups. 

Rank	Ethnicity	2010 Arizona Population	As a Percent of Total Arizona Population
	Total Population	6,413,737	100.00%
1	Mexican	1,725,249	26.90%
2	German	967,796	15.09%
3	Irish	624,091	9.73%
4	English	578,244	9.02%
5	American	323,812	5.05%
6	Italian	277,269	4.32%
7	African-American*	210,958	3.29%
8	French, except Basque	161,685	2.52%
9	Polish	156,964	2.45%
10	Navajo	141,834	2.21%
11	Scottish	114,303	1.78%
12	Norwegian	112,883	1.76%
13	Swedish	102,907	1.60%
14	Dutch	94,942	1.48%
15	European	65,448	1.02%
16	Scotch-Irish	59,956	0.93%
17	Russian	58,566	0.91%
18	Danish	44,502	0.69%
19	Chinese, except Taiwanese	41,004	0.64%
20	Welsh	39,430	0.61%
21	Puerto Rican	34,808	0.54%
22	Filipino	32,393	0.51%
23	Hungarian	32,002	0.50%
24	French Canadian	31,980	0.50%
25	Asian Indian	29,882	0.47%
26	Czech	28,805	0.45%
27	Greek	26,668	0.42%
28	Apache	26,631	0.42%
29	Spaniard	23,588	0.37%
30	Vietnamese	23,028	0.36%
31	British	22,883	0.36%
32	Canadian	22,052	0.34%
33	Tohono O'Odham	20,054	0.31%
34	Swiss	18,375	0.29%
35	Pima	17,687	0.28%
36	Guatemalan	17,358	0.27%
37	Korean	16,685	0.26%
38	Spanish	16,598	0.26%
39	Austrian	15,061	0.23%
40	Scandinavian	14,698	0.23%
41	African	14,120	0.22%
42	Salvadoran	13,277	0.21%
43	Ukrainian	13,007	0.20%
44	Portuguese	12,828	0.20%
45	Cuban	12,331	0.19%
46	Finnish	12,259	0.19%
47	Slovak	11,536	0.18%
48	Yaqui	10,813	0.17%
49	Yugoslavian	9,342	0.15%
50	Japanese	8,998	0.14%

Source: US Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey

1 year estimates, tables: B02001, B02005, B02006, B02007, B03001, B03002, B04006

* African-American is derived as respondents selecting Black as racial group after removing African, West Indian, and Hispanic ethnicities.