The following is an article of INDIA New England [1] newspaper.

GLASTONBURY, Conn. – Connecticut's Indian population is on the rise.

The state's Indian population has nearly doubled in the past six years, from 23,662 residents in 2000 to 40,394 in 2006, according to the American Community Survey, an annual population estimate recently released by the U.S. Census Bureau.

This dramatic population influx is already being felt in almost every avenue of Connecticut's social, economic and civic sectors. These new residents are now contributing to the state's labor force in ever-growing numbers, starting new businesses and putting their children in Connecticut classrooms.

But one area where the influx is having a dramatic effect is in the local real estate market.

"The last three or four years, there has been a great demand for newer homes in good school districts," said Madhu Reddy, a real estate agent in Glastonbury.

Reddy is well aware of the rise in the Indian American population.

After first immigrating to Connecticut for a job in the IT sector 15 years ago, he recently became a real estate agent - in part because he foresaw the current wave of Indian immigration and realized that many of these new arrivals would eventually be in the market for homes of their own.

Reddy deals primarily with Indian American clients in the market for their first homes.

Interviews with Reddy and other area real estate agents note a similar trend: Many of the new arrivals come here at first for temporary work assignments - usually with plans of returning to India once these projects are completed.

Some, however, decide they want to stay, investing themselves in local communities, schools and real estate.

Even while renting, the new residents can play an important role in the local economy, filling vacancies and keeping up demand.

Nearly a third of the 310 units at Horizon Homes apartment complex in Naugatuck are filled with residents who identify themselves as Indian American, according to the building's management.

At The Park building in Hartford, Indians currently occupy close to 200 of the building's 270 units, according to building management.

A number of these recent Indian arrivals eventually purchase a home if they decide to stay, according to real estate agents.

"Most of my clients are first-time home buyers who came to Connecticut three or four years back. They are mostly in the market for $300,000 to $400,000 homes, built six to eight years ago, because they don't want to have to put a lot of work into them," said Reddy.

He says that most of his clients want homes in the Glastonbury, South Windsor, Farmington or Avon areas, because of their respected school districts, close proximity to Hartford and most major highways, and a large Indian community already in place in most of these towns.

Anita Kumar, a real estate agent with William Raveis Real Estate, agrees.

"A good school system is the biggest component that most Indian home buyers look for when they are in the market for a house," Kumar said. "They'd rather go with a smaller house in a good school district than a larger one in an area with a poorer school system."

Kumar says that most of her clients are young couples with small children, and that they are in the market for "large yards and white picket fences."

The growing Indian population is making its presence felt in other areas of life, too.

Indian restaurants and South Asian markets that stock native vegetables, imported spices, frozen foods and desserts, are sprouting up all over the area as well.

According to an INDIA New England survey, the state is home to 12 such markets, nine Hindu organizations, about 45 South Asian restaurants, and even a few Indian wedding planners.

Nonprofit community organizations serving Indian Americans, such as the Milan Cultural Association, a nonprofit group based in Glastonbury, are becoming more and more prevalent as well.

Mani Vijayasekar, the vice president of the Indian organization Milan, has lived with his family in the Glastonbury area for the past eight years.

Vijayasekar cites the town's quality school system, close commute to the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington where he works as an administrator, and the large Indian community already in place in the area as the primary reasons why he and his wife initially chose the town.

"A lot of our friends lived in Glastonbury, so we moved there ourselves," Vijayasekar said.

Milan's programs are designed to enrich the greater Connecticut community and bridge cultural gaps, but it offers social programs targeted specifically at the Indian population, such as Indian Center nights at the Glastonbury Community Center where newcomers and long-time Indian residents alike can share stories and delicacies and watch classic Bollywood movies.

"One of [Milan's] aims is to bring awareness to the local community that we have adopted Connecticut as our home, and you always want to take care of your home first,"

Vijayasekar said. "We want to give back what Connecticut has given us."

Source: INDIAnewEngland.com [2]

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