Current Land Uses and Trends Page 5

1.8 Economic Trends and Conditions

Settled in 1639 by Europeans as the eastern part of the town of Yarmouth, the area which is now the town of Dennis had already been the home of Native Americans for thousands of years. Living here was a clan or sub-tribe of the Wampanoag tribe of the Algonquin Nation, known as Nobscusetts, and the area was so-called. The Nobscusetts were not resistant to the newcomers.

The first English families to settle at Nobscusset were attracted to the mid-Cape area because of the large expanses of fresh and salt marsh. Their plan was to raise cattle to supply the needs of the large number of immigrants arriving from England, but their plans were thwarted by the English Civil War and a subsequent slow-down of immigration. Whale oil and bone brought substantial profit to the men of Nobscusset. The economy during this period was largely agricultural, with every family self-sufficient.

With the expansion of fishing and whaling, the population of the old town of Yarmouth had grown and the town was divided into two precincts in 1716. These two precincts related to the new parish boundaries for the Second Meeting House in Nobscusset. For the purpose of clarity, the following discussion will always refer to these precincts as “parish” given the direct relationship to the creation of the new meeting house. The area known as the East Parish is now Dennis.

During the American Revolution, the militia of East Yarmouth was called to duty many times, serving at Marshfield in 1775, Rhode Island in 1777 and Dartmouth and Falmouth in 1778. East Parish men also served in the Continental Army, reinforced Dorchester Heights, and served in guarding the coastline both at the Elizabeth Islands and on other shores of Cape Cod.

After the end of the Revolution, the Cape began to experience a period of expansion. Part of the economic boom was due to the new salt industry. Captain John “Sleepy” Sears of East Dennis built the first string of saltworks in Barnstable County on Quivet Neck in 1776. Soon salt making was the most lucrative business in all of Barnstable County. Industries in the 1700s and early 1800s included fishing, shipbuilding and trading. Wharves and piers to accommodate fishing and trading fleets were built along all of the coasts, including Bass River.

As both the East Parish and the West Parish prospered, the time came to consider each becoming an independent town. The East Parish of Yarmouth was incorporated as a separate town in 1793. The name DENNIS is said to have been suggested in honor of the first pastor of the East Parish, Josiah Dennis.

A new industry developed on the Cape as a result of a chance discovery made by a Dennis man. About 1817, Captain Henry Hall found that sand blown upon a wild cranberry bog greatly improved its productivity. Dennis was a leader in cranberry production for many years. By 1870 there were over 200 acres of bogs under cultivation in the town. Today there are less than 10.

Some of the fastest clipper ships in the world were built at the Shiverick Brothers Shipyard at Sesuit Creeks. The men of Dennis served as masters and crew of these magnificent vessels. As the town’s economy prospered, the population grew to an all-time high of 3,497 residents in 1855. The wave of economic prosperity was interrupted by the Civil War, in which more Dennis men died while in the country’s service than in any other war in history.

The end of the war heralded the end of the Golden Age of Sail and new ways of earning a living had to be found. Attempts were made to establish light manufacturing in Dennis, but were not very successful. The largest attempt was the construction of three-story building in West Dennis for the manufacture of shoes and boots.

The first large establishment designed to attract summer visitors was erected at the end of Nobscusset Road in Dennis in 1872. The Nobscusset House was the premier Dennis summer hotel before it closed in the 1930s. A wooden observation tower with a telescope was built on the top of Scargo Hill in 1874. The present stone tower has been in place since 1900 and remains a popular spot for visitors. Tourism prospered but could not replace the lost maritime industries. In 1900 the population had dropped to 2,335, and the census for 1915 showed only 1,536 year-round residents.

In the 1920s the town began to purchase “Beach Reservations” and provide bathhouse facilities and playgrounds in each of the villages with beaches. In 1927, summer business had grown to the point where Mr. Raymond Moore elected to build a summer theater in Dennis. The Cape Playhouse became a class attraction as did the cinema Moore built near it in 1930.

The Great Depression of the 1930s was actually beneficial as ERA and WPA projects brought cash to the town for the first time in years. The building of the bridges across the canal also improved the Cape’s position as a vacation destination. By the time of the outbreak of World War II, the population of Dennis had risen to 2,017.

After the war, the return to civilian manufacturing of automobiles and the extension of the Mid-Cape Highway to Dennis in 1955, contributed to the increased flow of tourists. With the expansion came growing pains in schools and other public services. In 1947 the town adopted regulations requiring that a sub-division plan be filed with the Planning Board before development began, but they had few tools to regulate such sub-divisions. The Planning Board repeatedly prepared zoning by-laws, which the town meeting repeatedly rejected. Spot zoning was initiated by petition at the annual town meeting of 1951. Under the first by-law, the minimum lot size in residential zones was 6,000 square feet.

The year-round population had grown to 3,322 by 1950, with many more summer residents than year-round. Motels came to the town in 1952 and as many as ten were built each year for the next twenty years, until a zoning by-law requiring 3 acres of land for multiple family dwellings brought a halt to motel construction.

The US Census Bureau County Business Patterns provides data on the  total number of employers, employees and total payroll data.  The following provides a time line comparison for Dennis for 1997, 2002 and 2007.

First the Total Number of Businesses in Dennis according to the U.S Census Bureau:

1.8.1 Total Number of Businesses in Dennis

1997	2002	2007
371	430	557

Businesses grew by 50% over the past decade, and 43% over the past five years.  The growth in businesses in Dennis over the past five years is significantly higher than it was during the first five years of the data collection decade (16% between 1997 and 2002).

1.8.2 The Total Number of People Employed In Dennis

1997	2002	2007
2,006	2,334	3,892

Employment grew faster than the number of businesses, with growth in employment in the Dennis market growing by 94% from 1997 to 2007.  This represents a strong growth for all businesses, new and old, as represented in the table below which illustrates that the number of employees per business establishment jumped from 5.4 employees to 7.0 employees for the decade, with all the growth really occurring in the last five years.

1.8.3 Employees Per Business Establishment

1997	2002	2007
5.4	5.4	7.0

1.8.4 Total Annual Payroll in Dennis

1997	2002	2007
$ 35,409,000	$ 55,478,000	$ 126,068,000

Payroll growth in Dennis was even stronger than employment growth, over the past decade total payroll grew by 256%, with most of this growth also occurring in the past five years (163% versus 57% for the first five years of the decade).

1.8.5 Payroll Per Employee in Dennis

1997	2002	2007
$ 17,652	$ 23,769	$ 32,392

Ultimately the growth in total payroll, which grew faster than total employment illustrates an increase in salaries for the workers of Dennis, with the average salary growing by 84% for the past decade. This income growth relates to a real growth in earnings of $8,484 as the Consumer Price Index increased by 35.5% over this time period.

As this data is collected once every five years, it provides more timely data than we might get from the United States Decennial Census, however, even it is time limited. It is possible that 2007 actually represented a drop-off in payroll when Internal Revenue Service Data is brought into the picture.

First, the data provided by the IRS (single filers and joint filers, thus it may not be an accurate measure of actual household income as married filing individually will show as two separate filings) illustrated income growth between 2001 and 2008. In the immediate region, Yarmouth serves the poorest populations. Dennis has been gaining ground on our wealthier neighbors to the east, and distancing itself from the income levels in Yarmouth during the decade according to the IRS. However, the income disparities persist. Dennisport continues to be the poorest village in the region, with an income that is only 85% of the next lowest income zip code. Dennisport incomes are also less than half the incomes found in East Dennis, the wealthiest village in the region in 2008.

1.8.6 2001 – 2008 IRS Income Data

Zip code	City or town	Number of returns, 2001	Average income, 2001	Number of returns, 2008	Average income, 2008	% change in avg. income, 2001-8
02638	Dennis	1,843	$53,097	1,804	$70,298	32.4
02639	Dennis (DennisPort)	1,736	$29,712	1,787	$36,542	23.0
02641	Dennis (East Dennis)	1,013	$63,206	856	$77,639	22.8
02660	Dennis (South Dennis)	2,948	$43,956	3,220	$48,428	10.2
02670	Dennis (West Dennis)	946	$48,894	882	$55,337	13.2
	Dennis Total	8,486	$45,876	8,549	$54,197	18.1
02631	Brewster	4,995	$50,134	5,179	$58,669	17.0
02645	Harwich	4,671	$43,479	5,012	$53,051	22.0
02646	Harwich (HarwichPort)	1,139	$54,903	1,133	$64,311	17.1
02671	Harwich (West Harwich)	621	$53,795	631	$58,063	7.9
	Harwich Total	6,702	$46,440	6,776	$55,400	19.3
02664	Yarmouth(South Yarmouth)	5,235	$41,690	5,288	$53,403	28.1
02673	Yarmouth(West Yarmouth)	4,332	$36,958	4,460	$42,360	14.6
02675	Yarmouth(YarmouthPort)	3,554	$61,430	3,653	$65,628	6.8
	YarmouthTotal	13,121	$45,475	13,401	$50,602	11.3

However, year to year data illustrates the beginning of a decline in average income. With a drop of 11.6% in reported income in Dennis between 2005 and 2006. In the same year Brewster reported income dropped 15.2%, Harwich by 13.8% and Yarmouth’s by 9.6%. Dennis and Yarmouth started from lower income levels, thus the lower percentage drops than in Harwich and Brewster.

Another, disturbing picture is the dichotomy in income reported with over 17% of those reporting income having income of less than $10,000. These households, 1,510 in Dennis, are earning below the area’s poverty level.

1.8.7 2005-2008 IRS Income Data

Zip code	City or town	Number of returns, 2005	Average income, 2005	Number of returns, 2008	Average income, 2008	% Below $10,000 income 2009
02638	Dennis	1,868	$62,916	1,804	$70,298	16.8%
02639	Dennis (Dennis Port)	1,740	$35,866	1,787	$36,542	21.7%
02641	Dennis (East Dennis)	908	$73,036	856	$77,639	13.4%
02660	Dennis (South Dennis)	3,128	$47,245	3,220	$48,428	17.0%
02670	Dennis (West Dennis)	892	$55,074	882	$55,337	18.0%
	Dennis Total	8,536	$51,916	8,549	$54,197	17.7%
02631	Brewster	4,989	$59,090	5,179	$58,669	18.7%
02645	Harwich	4,878	$49,276	5,012	$53,051	17.6%
02646	Harwich (Harwich Port)	1,104	$73,486	1,133	$64,311	17.1%
02671	Harwich (West Harwich)	629	$55,647	631	$58,063	16.0%
	Harwich Total	6,826	$53,888	6,776	$55,400	17.4%
02664	Yarmouth (South Yarmouth)	5,166	$46,354	5,288	$53,403	17.0%
02673	Yarmouth (West Yarmouth)	4,399	$41,506	4,460	$42,360	17.6%
02675	Yarmouth (Yarmouth Port)	3,492	$67,181	3,653	$65,628	15.4%
	Yarmouth Total	13,057	$50,291	13,401	$50,602	16.8%

The economic recession that has occurred since 2005 has led to an increase in the number of people in poverty, which is reflected in the number of people earning less than $10,000 in the IRS data above, and an actual relative decrease in income levels. As the first decade of the 2000’s came to a close the purchasing power of the average American was below where it was at the end of the previous decade.

State poverty data is provided below.  A comparison of 2000 Census and 2009 American Community Survey data is discussed later.

1.8.8 Poverty Data

	United States		Massachusetts
	2008	2007	2008	2007
All People	13.2%	12.5%	11.3%	11.2%
Under 18	19.0%	18.0%	17.1%	17.1%
School age children	17.4%	16.5%	18.1%	15.0%
65 and over	9.7%	9.7%	9.3%	10.3%

The American Community Survey (ACS) suggests that 7% of the Dennis population was below the poverty level in 2009, this is essentially the same as in 2000, the IRS data above suggests that this figure could be even worse. The ACS data also suggests that Dennis does not suffer as high a poverty rate as the state. However, poverty numbers do not relate the difference between regions. While a quick review of the table suggests that Massachusetts is doing better than the country in general, the cost of living in Massachusetts, especially Cape Cod, is higher than many areas of the country. As such, these percentages are quite misleading. The poverty line is not adjusted by regions. The national poverty line is $10,991 for an individual and $22,025 for a family of four.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that New England, California, Hawaii and Alaska have the highest costs of living. Our overall cost of living, in Massachusetts in 2008, was 27.6% higher than the national average. Housing costs were 78.9% higher. Cape Cod specific data is not available.

The cost of living index would suggest that the regional poverty level should be set at $14,024 for an individual and $28,104 for a family of four. These levels would vastly increase the poverty percentages in the state, and similarly in Dennis. It likely suggests that the state’s real poverty levels are as high as 14.4% for all people, 11.9% for those over 65 and 23.1% for school age children. In Dennis, 8.9% of all households would have been in poverty had regional adjustments been applied.

The ACS also suggests that 9.5% of those under age 18 were living in poverty in 2010, a drop from the percentage in 2000 of 10.4% However, as discussed earlier, the Census illustrates a tremendous drop in population under age 18. Cost of living, the economy and and the lack of quality jobs have driven many working class households off of the Cape.

A second issue with the poverty level is that it is significantly below the income level of those in need of affordable housing. Given poverty levels hover close to 10%, and this currently represents people earning less than $10,000, there is a far greater need for affordable housing than levels targeted in Chapter 40B.

Updated November 18, 2011