Villiers-le-Bel () is a commune in the French department of Val-d'Oise, in the northern suburbs of Paris.INSEE commune file It is located from the center of Paris.
History A tragedy occurred in the town in the early evening of March 25, 1818, when a cracked 6,000 pound (2721 kg) bell being removed from a belfry came crashing down, killing approximately 25 onlookers. Workers who remained hanging from the collapsed steeple were able to be rescued.Annual Register, 1818, p. 52 (Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, pubs., London, 1819)(9 June 1818). Foreign, The Reflector (Milledgeville, Georgia), p. 2 col. 3, near bottom(29 March 1818). France, Journal des débats, p. 1, col. 2 (in French)(31 March 1818). Paris, 31 mars, Journal de Paris, p.1 (seems to report that death toll was 19 and not 25)
The Hôtel de Ville was completed in 1906.
In the 1950s the commune had about 5,000 residents but it urbanized from 1950 to 1974. As of 2007 the commune had 26,000 people. () ""Nous avons grandi à la vitesse d'une ville nouvelle, souligne Jean-Louis Marsac (PS), premier adjoint au maire." and "Pour François Pupponi, maire (PS) de Sarcelles,[...] privait la commune de taxe professionnelle.""
In 2007 the mayor at the time, François Pupponi, stated that the city became a "social ghetto" suffered from planning errors made in the 1950s, as the community did not gain the businesses necessary to support the population. Jean-Louis Marsac, the first deputy mayor, stated that the commune grew without gaining the proper infrastructure.
2007 riots
On the night of 25 November 2007, gangs attacked a police station in Villiers-le-Bel, torched cars, and vandalized stores. The violence was prompted by the deaths of two adolescents after a crash between their motorbike and a police patrol car at an intersection. The disturbances spread to neighbouring towns on the night of 26 November. 82 police officers were injured, four of them seriously, by shotgun blasts.Report of disturbances in the French daily Le Figaro (in French)
Transport The Paris Métro, RER, serves through the Villiers-le-Bel - Gonesse - Arnouville station on Paris RER line D. However, this station is located in the neighboring commune of Arnouville-lès-Gonesse, from the town center of Villiers-le-Bel.
Population
Age distribution
41% of the commune's population was under the age of 25.
Economy Charles de Gaulle International Airport is the primary employer of the area. Within Villiers-le-Bel itself the largest employers were the Charles-Richet Hospital, the Flopak conditioning company, Gilson medical material company, and public services.
Education The commune has 30 educational institutions, including 11 preschools and 11 elementary schools along with four junior high schools and a vocational high school."Les écoles à Villiers-le-Bel ." Villiers-le-Bel. Retrieved on September 3, 2016. the commune does not have its own general high school/sixth-form college. Junior high schools include Collège Léon Blum, Collège Martin Luther King, and Collège Saint Exupéry along with the private Collège privé Saint Didier Lycée Mendès France (vocational high school) is in the commune Two nearby senior high schools are in Sarcelles, Lycée la tourelle and Lycée Jean Jacques Rousseau. Students attending general high school studies go to J. J. Rousseau.
Area universities:"Enseignement supérieur : Universités ." Villiers-le-Bel. Retrieved on September 3, 2016. Université de Cergy-Pontoise University of Paris 8 University of Paris 13
Neighboring communes Arnouville-lès-Gonesse Bouqueval Écouen Le Plessis-Gassot Gonesse Sarcelles
Personalities Alexandre Beljame (1842–1906), writer. Mickael Citony footballer Marie-Laure Delie footballer Gaël N’Lundulu footballer Yoann Salmier, footballer Kevin Vinetot footballer Lino rapper Mike Maignan footballer
See also Communes of the Val-d'Oise department Villiers-le-Bel series
References
External links
Association of Mayors of the Val d'Oise