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11
SECTION I.
SOCIAL CONDITIONS, HOSPITAL ACCOMMODATION
AND VITAL STATISTICS.
Croydon is largely a dormitory town, but is becoming increasingly
industrialised. The chief industries are iron foundries (bell
casting), engineering and building. The London Terminal Aerodrome
is within the County Borough boundary.
Croydon is an aggregation of townships, each of which shows
its own characteristics. Indifferent housing conditions are met
with in various districts, and there are individual streets in nearly
every ward in which the standard of house property is lower than
the average. Various miscellaneous industrial undertakings are
scattered throughout the Borough, not always in desirable situations.
There is at present no power to prohibit factories being
placed anywhere in areas which are not scheduled under Town
Planning. As Town Planning deals with immediate and future
development, it does not affect old-established areas, and the
proximity of factories to residential areas has caused complaints
from time to time.
The population is growing rapidly. The increase of population
revealed in the 1931 census was 21.8% on that for 1921. This was
the highest rate of increase for any town having a population of
over 100,000 at the 1921 census.
The 1931 Census gave a total enumerated population of 233,115.
The estimated population as at the middle of 1934 is 240,600. In
the 1931 Census returns 5.59 was the average number of rooms per
dwelling and 1.16 the average number of families in each dwelling,
which gives 1.27 rooms per person In 1931, 3.35% of the population
was living more than two persons per room, a decrease of
nearly 1% on the 1921 Census.
Water.
The water supply is drawn from deep wells in the chalk.
These wells are situated at Surrey Street, Stroud Green, Waddon,
Selhurst, and Addington. A portion of the northern side of the
Borough obtains water supplies from the Metropolitan Water
Board.