Laire

Laire is a commune in the French department Doubs in the Franche -Comté.

Geography

Laire is located at 380 m, about seven kilometers northwest of the city of Montbéliard (air line). The village is located north-west of the basin of Montbéliard and north of Doubstals, on a plateau on the western edge of the heights of the Grand Bois.

The area of ​​3.17 km ² municipal area includes a portion of the undulating countryside north of Doubstals. The western part of the area is occupied by the plateau of Laire, which is on average 390 m. It is mainly consisted of arable and meadow land. To the southeast, the municipality's area extends into the vast forest area of the Grand Bois ( up to 420 m ) in the 462 meters, the highest elevation of Laire is achieved. The whole area shows no surface watercourses, because the rainwater seeps into the karst underground.

Neighboring communities of Laire are Verlans and Tavey in the north, Vyans -le- Val in the east, Montbéliard and Raynans in the south and Aibre and Trémoins in the West.

History

The first mention of Laire was in 1231 under the name Layr. Since the Middle Ages Laire belonged to the territory of the Counts of Montbéliard. The Lords of Héricourt also had land in the municipality. With the annexation of the county of Montbeliard the village came in 1793 final in French hands. Today Laire is part of the municipal association Communauté de communes de la Vallée du Rupt.

Population

With 388 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) Laire is one of the small communities of the department of Doubs. Once the population has consistently had in the first half of the 20th century in the area of ​​85-115 persons, a striking population growth was recorded since the early 1970s. Since then, the population has tripled.

Economy and infrastructure

Laire was until well into the 20th century a predominantly by agriculture (crops, orchards and livestock ) and forestry embossed village. In addition, there are today some of the local small business enterprises. Meanwhile, the village has also changed into a residential community. Many workers are therefore commuters who do their work in the agglomeration Montbéliard.

The village is located off the major thoroughfares on a secondary road that leads from Héricourt to Sainte -Marie. The nearest links to the A36 motorway is located at a distance of about 14 km.