CITY OF LOWELL

Northeastern part of Massachusetts, bordered by Dracut on the north, Tyngsborough on the northwest, Chelmsford on the southwest, and Tewksbury on the east. Lowell is 25 miles north of Boston; 45 miles north of Worcester; 100 miles south of Portland, Maine; and 229 miles from New York City.

 

City of Lowell's website

 

TOWN SERVICES:  

CITY CONTACTS (as of June 2004)

City Council (978) 970 – 4040
Armand Mercier - Mayor
Edward Caulfield
Rodney Elliott
Richard P. Howe
William Martin
Rita Mercier
Eillen M. Donoghue
Jim Milinazzo
Rithy Uong 

City Manager (978) 970 – 4000
John F. Cox 

City Clerk (978) 970 – 4160
Richard C. Johnson 

Assistant. City Manager, Division of Planning & Development (978) 970 – 4256
J. Matthew Coggins 

Assistant City Manager of City Operations.
T.J. McCarthy 

Chief Planner
Adam Baacke 

Planning Board: (978) 970-4252
George Zaharoolis - Chairman
Thomas Linnehan - ViceChairman
Kevin Broderick
Richard Lockhart
Joseph Clermont

Conservation Commission: (978) 970-4252
Louisa Varnum
Christopher Zacherer
Frank McCabe
David Desmarais
Charles Gill
James Breslauer
James Armstrong
John Zagarella

Public Works Department: (978) 970-3300
Edward Walsh - Commissioner

Public Water System:
The City is served 100% by public water. Drinking water source is the Merrimack River. The water treatment plant on Pawtucket Boulevard has design capacity of 30 million gallons per day; average daily usage is approximately 12 million gallons per day (FY 2004). In addition to Lowell, the water utility provides water to the towns of Dracut, Tewksbury, Tyngsborough, and Chelmsford.

Trash Collection:
The City has curbside trash collection and recycling. In FY99, the City collected approximately 45,000 tons of trash and 6,000 tons of recyclables. 

Sewer:
The City is served 100% by public sewer. Treatment is at Lowell Waste Water Utility Plant, which has average daily flow of approximately 27 million gallons per day and capacity to handle 32 million gallons per day. 

Library:
Lowell’s Pollard Memorial Library has FY2000 circulation of 193,609. The library is located at 401 Merrimack Street. 

Schools:
Lowell School Systems operates 16 elementary schools, 7 middle schools and one high school. 1999 – 2000 public school enrollment: 16,374 pupils. Lowell is also member community with the Greater Lowell Vocation Technical High School. 

Public Safety:
As of June 2004, 273 permanent officers staff Lowell Police Dept. The Fire Dept. roster totals 210 men and women.   

Chief of Police: Superintendent Edward Davis (978) 937-3200

Chief of Fire Department: Chief William Desrosiers (978) 458-4588

Rail:
Commuter rail service to North Station, Boston is available at Lowell Gallagher Terminal or at the newly renovated North Billerica Station (travel time 40 minutes). Freight rail service is available from the Springfield Terminal Railway, contact number: (978) 663 – 1073. 

Bus:
Lowell is a member of the Lowell Regional Transit Authority (LRTA). Fixed bus service is provided, and paratransit services, including medical trips to Boston, are available for the elderly and disabled through LRTA’s RoadRunner program.   

TAX RATE FY 2004: Residential - $13.97 per $1,000, Commercial- $29.17 per $1,000

Population Trends – LOWELL  (2000 U.S. Census) 
(Updated May 25, 2002)

1960	1970	1980	1990	2000	#Change 1990-2000	%Change 1990-2000
92,107	94,239	92,418	103,439	105,167	1,728	1.7%

 

Persons by Sex (2000 U.S. Census) 

Male	51,807
Female	53,360

 

Age Distribution (2000 U.S. Census) 

	Persons	%
Under 5	7,696	7.3%
5 – 14	16,206	15.5%
15 – 44	51,165	48.6%
45 – 64	18,787	17.8%
65 & over	11,313	10.8%

  

Race and Ethnicity (2000 U.S. Census) 

	Persons	%
White	72,145	68.6%
Black	4,423	4.2%
Am Indian, Eskimo or Aleut	256	0.2%
Asian or Pacific Islander	17,371	16.5%
Hispanic Origin	14,734	14.0%

 

Households (2000 U.S. Census) 

1980	1990	2000
32,691	37,091	37,887

 

Household Size (2000 U.S. Census) 

2.67 persons per household 

Poverty Status (2000 U.S. Census) 

Persons Below  Poverty Level:	Lowell	Mass.
	17,066	573,421
	16.8%	9.3%

 

Households by Type (2000 U.S. Census)                                   

	Households	%
Married Couple/ Family	15,202	40.1%
Female Householder	6,602	17.4%
Non-Family Household	13,905	36.7%

 

Income Distribution (2000 U.S. Census) 

	Households	%
Less than $ 10,000	4,858	12.8%
$ 10,000 - $ 14,999	2,733	7.2%
$ 15,000 - $ 24,999	2,708	11.2%
$ 25,000 - $ 34,999	4,900	12.9%
$ 35,000 - $ 49,999	6,519	17.2%
$ 50,000 - $ 74,999	7,743	20.4%
$ 75,000 - $ 99,999	3,587	9.4%
$ 100,000 - $ 149,999	2,259	5.9%
$ 150,000 - $199,999	512	1.3%
$ 200,000 or more	309	0.8%

 

Sources of Income (2000 U.S. Census) 

	# Of Households	Average Income
Wage & Salary	29,837	$50,626
Social Security	8,801	$9,491
Supplemental Security	3,129	$6,600
Public Assistance	2,194	$4,688
Retirement	4,874	$14,020

 

HOUSING CHARACTERISTICS 

Housing Units (2000 U.S. Census) 

1970	1980	1990	2000
31,487	34,883	40,302	39,468

 

Median Household Income (2000 U.S. Census) 

1970	1980	1990	2000
$10,787	$14,415	$33,401	$39,192

 

Median Home Sale Price (Banker & Tradesman) 

	1992	1994	1996	1998	2000
1 – Family	$85,000	$78,250	$85,000	$110,000	$140,000
Condo	$38,175	$27,800	$36,000	$58,000	$85,000
All Sales	$65,000	$47,000	$63,000	$92,950	$125,000

 

Housing Unit Permit Data 

1990	1992	1994	1996	1998	2000
35	72	53	27	144	92

 

Housing Breakdown by Occupancy (2000 U.S. Census) 

		% Of Total
TOTAL HOUSING UNITS	39,468	100%
Total Occupied Units	37,887	96.0%
Owner Occupied	16,309	43.0%
Renter Occupied	21,578	57.0%
Total Vacant	1,581	4.0%

 

LAND USE CLASSIFICATION (Mass. GIS 1991)

LOWELL LAND USE	ACREAGE	% OF TOTAL
Residential	4,453.37 Acres	47.9%
Commercial	500.67 Acres	5.4%
Industrial	735.82 Acres	7.9%
Agriculture	118.85 Acres	1.3%
Open Space/ Recreation	2,492.96 Acres	26.8%
Transportation/Mining/Waste	505.97 Acres	5.4%
Water	494.22 Acres	5.3%
TOTAL ACREAGE	9,301.85 Acres	100%

 

RECREATION 

Lowell Parks and Recreation Department
JFK Civic Center
50 Arcand Drive
Lowell, MA 01852 

Recreational Facilities 

Lowell Dracut Tyngsborough State Forest (1,040 Acres)
Non-motorized boating, cross country skiing, fresh water fishing, hiking, hunting, ice skating, nature observation, organized events, sight seeing, walking/jogging.  ATV and Snowmobiling are not permitted in the State Forest. 

Lowell Heritage State Park (118 Acres)
Bicycling, non-motorized boating, cross country skiing, fresh water fishing, fresh water swimming, hiking, horseback riding, ice skating, nature observation, organized events, picnicking, walking/jogging. 

University of Massachusetts at Lowell (103 Acres)
Assorted facilities 

Longmeadow Golf Club (62 Acres)
Golf 

Leblanc Park (60 Acres)
Camping, general play, hiking, organized events, picnicking, and pool swimming. 

Shedd Park (52 Acres)
Baseball/softball, basketball, bicycling, cross country skiing, football/soccer, general play, hiking, organized events, other team related activities, pool swimming, tennis, walking/jogging. 

Fort Hill Park (34 Acres)
Bicycling, cross country skiing, downhill skiing, hiking, picnicking, and walking/jogging

Boulevard Park (24 Acres)
Bicycling, non-motorized boating, camping, fresh water fishing, general play, hiking, ice-skating, organized events, picnicking, walking/jogging. 

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

Employment Base – 2000 

LABOR FORCE – 2000	51,078
# Residents Employed	49,403
# Residents Unemployed	1,675
Lowell Unemployment Rate	3.3%
NMCOG Region Unemployment Rate	2.5%
State Unemployment Rate	2.6%

 

Employment by Industry Sector – 2001 (Mass Division of Employment & Training ES - 202 Series)

Agriculture/Forestry/Fishing	61
Government	5,825
Construction	845
Manufacturing	5,799
TCPU	1,257
Trade	5,703
FIRE	1,770
Services	13,312
Total Employment/Lowell	34,572

TCPU = Transportation, Communication and Public Utilities
FIRE = Finance, Insurance and Real Estate
conf = Data suppressed due to confidentiality

Means Of Transportation To Work  - 2000 (Census Transportation Planning Package 2000)

Subject	1990 Census		2000 Census		Change 1990 to 2000
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Workers 16 years & over	44,917	100.0	46,764	100.0	1,847	4.1
Drove alone	32,767	73.0	34,494	73.8	1,727	5.3
Carpooled	7,298	16.2	7,324	15.7	35	0.5
Public transportation (including taxicab)	1,495	3.3	1,603	3.4	108	7.2
Bicycle or walked	2,406	5.4	2,282	4.9	-124	-5.2
Motorcycle or other means	487	1.1	470	1.0	-17	-3.5
Worked at home	473	1.1	591	1.3	118	24.9

  Travel Time To Work - 2000 (Census Transportation Planning Package 2000) 

Subject	1990 Census		2000 Census		Change 1990 to 2000
	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Workers who did not work at home	44,444	100.0	46,173	100.0	1,729	3.9
Less than 5 minutes	1,481	3.3	1,257	2.7	-224	-15.1
5 to 9 minutes	5,415	12.2	4,489	9.7	-926	-17.1
10 to 14 minutes	8,446	19.0	7,783	16.9	-663	-7.8
15 to 19 minutes	8,498	19.1	7,776	16.8	-722	-8.5
20 to 29 minutes	8,620	19.4	9,457	20.5	837	9.7
30 to 44 minutes	8,045	18.1	9,003	19.5	958	11.9
45 or more minutes	3,939	8.9	6,408	13.9	2,469	62.7
Mean travel time to work (minutes)	20.4	X	24.3	X	3.9	X

MEDIA:

Lowell Sun
15 Kearney Square, Lowell, (978) 458 – 7100 

Comcast Communications
12 Washer St, Lowell 

REGIONAL PLANNING AGENCY:  

Northern Middlesex Council of Governments
115 Thorndike Street, Lowell MA 01852
Robert W. Flynn, Executive Director
Phone: (978) 454 – 8021
Fax: (978) 454 – 8023