The one water shed event in the evolution of Burlington as a regional center of economic development was the construction of Route 128 in the early 1950’s.
In 1955, Business Week referred to 128 as the Magic semi circle. It was the first limited access circumferential highway in the United States.
The economic impact on the region in general can be seen by the number of companies drawn to the area. By 1958 there were 99 companies employing 17,000 workers, by 1973 there were over 1200.
The three keys to success in real estate are location, location and location. With the connection of Route 128 to the Northbound Route 3 to New Hampshire, Burlington suddenly became the major crossroads to the Northern kingdoms.
The town exploited this junction to its advantage by adding a couple of key ingredients which were water under pressure and zoning.
The leadership of the town envisioned that commercial development would occur along the highway and provided for and encouraged it by zoning the one thousand feet back from 128 on both sides as well as along route 3 north. This one decision is largely responsible for the concentration of business in one area while the rest of the town is essentially comprised of quiet neighborhoods.
These two items would change a largely rural farming community into a retail, office and manufacturing center within a roughly ten year period.
Once accomplished the zoning change attracted people who now are considered visionaries in the various real estate categories. In the early 60’s Hank Spaulding developed New England Executive Park which was one of the first suburban office parks developed in the entire country. It continues to be an important destination as it has changed hands a number of times and most recently was included in the Blackstone acquisition of Equity Office Properties which is one of the biggest deals ever in the country.
Roger Nordblom who created the Northwest Industrial Park over 50 years ago is still active in town and is once again in the center of innovation with the recent approval of the re-development of the park.
The Burlington Mall completed in the sixties has consistently been a top performing retail location on the east coast and several years ago was acquired by Simon Properties, another nationally known real estate holding company.
Dick Kelly, Bob Murray and Arthur Guiterrez are also examples of developers who have a long history of leading edge participation in the economic evolution of the community and are to this day still involved.
The over all magnitude of the economic impact can be measured in assessed value of the town as well as population growth.
In 1956 the assessed value of the town was just over 12 million dollars by 1985 it had reached 1.3 billion and today stands at 4.9 billion. If we account for inflation that is still quite an increase.
The population growth shows similar impacts. In the early fifties the population stood at approximately 5000 which grew to 13,000 in 1960 and to 22,000 by 1970. In 1966 the town was the youngest in the state with an average age of just 23 years old.
With this tremendous growth has come similar stress in the municipal areas which the town has managed to cope with over the years primarily because it has had sufficient financial resources from its tax base.
Significant infrastructure improvements have included the construction of a reservoir which enables the town to remain water independent as well as improvements in the water distribution and sewer systems.
The most significant impact however has been on the town’s adult residents and its children. The lightning speed at which the town’s industries have evolved has enabled our people and products to impact almost all areas of industry and technology through out the world.
Companies that have been residents of Burlington over the years have been involved in space exploration, microprocessors, photonics, robotics, micro computers, mini computers and main frames. Medicine and science, optics and wind power and most everything else you can think of.
The benefit of this has been felt through out the community with the level of expertise brought to the community by employees extending through all walks of life and the school system.
Altogether it has been quite a fascinating place to grow up in as well be an observer.
