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Hercules, California

Hercules is a city in western Contra Costa County, California. Situated along the coast of San Pablo Bay, it is located in the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area, about 10 mi north of Berkeley, California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 26,016, according to the United States Census Bureau. The site of Hercules was first developed in 1881 as a manufacturing facility of the California Powder Works for the production of its patented dynamite formulation, Hercules powder. In 1882, the Hercules Powder Company was incorporated and assumed responsibility for the Hercules site. It was one of several explosive manufacturers that were active along the Pinole shoreline in the late 19th to the mid-20th century. The small company town that grew up near the facility subsequently became known as "Hercules", and was incorporated at the end of 1900. Starting in the 1970s, Hercules was heavily redeveloped as suburban bedroom community that lies along the I-80 corridor in Western Contra Costa County. It has a very ethnically diverse population.

Prehistory through the 20th century
Contra Costa County’s first inhabitants arrived in the area six to ten thousand years ago, including the Bay Miwok people and the Huichin Ohlone People; however there were no known significant settlements in the Hercules area.

The land that would become Hercules was part of a tract of land known as “Pinol y Cañada del Hambre” which was granted in 1823 to Ygnacio Martinez (for whom the city of Martinez, California was named) for his service as the commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco. This grant was reconfirmed in 1842 as Rancho El Pinole. In 1848, this area became part of the United States with the rest of California. Contra Costa County was created in 1850 as one of California's original 27 counties. The Central Pacific Railroad (later part of Southern Pacific) ran the first rail lines across Hercules’ waterfront in late 1878, as the main route for the Transcontinental Railroad was realigned via train ferry through the purpose-built town of Port Costa then to Richmond and Berkeley to connect at the Oakland Pier. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad came through the area around 1899.

The city's history was primarily shaped by the Hercules Powder Company, named after its main product “Hercules powder”, a specially patented (1874) formulation of dynamite, in turn named after the Roman hero. It began as the California Powder Works with locations in Golden Gate Park and Santa Cruz, California, but the expansion of San Francisco forced the company to find a more remote location for the dangerous process of manufacturing explosives. Hercules's isolated location at the time, plus its proximity to rail and water transportation along San Pablo Bay, made it an ideal choice. In 1879, the company, backed by DuPont and the Laflin & Rand Powder Company created the Hercules Powder Company which purchased land for a new plant that opened in 1881. On December 15, 1900, town management incorporated the City of Hercules as it felt that the County Board of Supervisors had become less supportive of the plant. A post office was established in 1914. On USGS maps the place designation Herpoco (for Hercules Powder Company) along the original Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway right-of-way (now BNSF), still remains.

Explosives manufacturing was indeed a hazardous industry in that era: in the first 38 years of operations in Hercules, 59 lives would be lost including 24 in a large explosion in February 1908. Later, further deadly explosions would plague the plant in 1944, 1948 and 1953. The Sherman Antitrust Act would force Dupont to spin the Hercules Powder Company off as an independent company in 1912.

The explosives manufactured at Hercules played a significant and decisive role in the United States Army's efforts to contain the fires started by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, as recounted by General Funston.

Between the 1890s and 1970s, Hercules was a company town of several hundred people. 36 buildings from this era still exist and were nominated to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Per this application, “Hercules was the area’s most desirable community to live in” with well-kept homes, a (male only) clubhouse, lighted tennis courts, and hospital. However, all residents were company employees. Although Chinese workers were a large component of the company workforce before the 1910s, they were excluded from residency in the town beyond dormitories provided for them.

By 1917, the Hercules plant had become the largest producer of TNT in the country. During both World Wars Hercules Powder Company, along with Giant Powder Works in neighboring Pinole, supplied the U.S. Navy with explosives through the Port Chicago Magazine (location of the infamous Port Chicago disaster in 1944) which became the now closed Concord Naval Weapons Station. By the 1940s, Hercules organized its own law enforcement department and longtime Hercules Powder Company employee William Darke was named sheriff, becoming its first officer.

After World War II the company began to diversify its production line and build an anhydrous ammonia plant, a base for fertilizer. Explosive manufacturing was discontinued in Hercules in 1964 (neighboring Giant Powder stopped its operations in 1960). In 1974, the cessation of explosives production allowed hundreds of acres of protective “buffer” land (separated by large stands of eucalyptus trees, many of which still stand) to be reused for other purposes. Starting in 1974, real estate development companies began to develop the land and Hercules began to transform into the bedroom community it is known as today. Eventually, the ammonia plant began to be outcompeted by foreign manufacturers, and this combined with labor issues, resulted in its permanent closure in 1976. Although Hercules Powder Company is now gone one legacy remains: a study has been made of upper layer soil contamination from prior emissions of the California Powder Works operations.

In 1966 the Pacific Refinery company started operation on the shores of Hercules and served as large employer until its closure in 1995. Its demise marked the end of 114 years of heavy industry in Hercules. The land the refinery was located on was redeveloped as the Victoria by the Bay subdivision in early 2000s. Biorad, a Fortune 500 biotech company established its headquarters in Hercules in the 1980s and continues to be the town's largest employer.

Starting in the 1970s Hercules created and has continuously updated its master plan to further its development. During the 1970s, Hercules was one of the first cities in the United States to develop a comprehensive Noise Element of the General Plan. This work included the production of noise contour maps for all major highways and arterial roads, as well as a citywide noise mitigation plan. Heavy development as a suburb continued through the 1980s through the present day.

The town's population grew rapidly in the last decades of the 20th century. Per United States Census Bureau data, what was sleepy town of 252 in 1970 grew nearly 24-fold into a town of 5,963 by 1980 which tripled again into a town of 16,829 by 1990. By 2000, the town began to level out to its current population of approximately 25,000.

Recent history and development

In 2000, the City of Hercules chartered an urban-design-based land use planning effort. This plan attempted to balance the preservation of the city's undeveloped land against continued suburban sprawl and to redevelop the city's formerly industrial waterfront. The resulting plan directs that Hercules be turned into a transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use town. Several new developments were started in that era based on the plan, including the Central Waterfront around the historic core of Hercules and Victoria by the Bay. However, the development of Hercules has not been without its challenges.

In a national story in 2006, Hercules strongly opposed Walmart's attempt to build a new supercenter store on 17 acre property overlooking San Pablo Bay as many residents deemed it incompatible with the waterfront redevelopment project, and it was unneeded due to the close proximity of two other Walmarts in Richmond and Vallejo. On May 23, 2006, the Hercules city council voted unanimously to use its power of eminent domain to prevent Wal-Mart from building the supercenter. In 2009, the city purchased the land back from Walmart.

In 2012, a state audit found that the City of Hercules had spent nearly $50 million on “questionable transactions” primarily centered on the city's redevelopment projects (the investigation focused on city manager Nelson Oliva who steered millions of city funds to himself and to a firm run by his relatives). Combined with the Great recession, this nearly bankrupted the city in the late 2000s. Later, new developments came in the market and the city repaired its financial condition.

Location and surroundings
Hercules is located at 38.01722°N, -122.28861°W, at the southeast shore of the San Pablo Bay. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.2 sqmi, of which, 6.2 sqmi is land and 12.0 sqmi (65.87%) is water.

Hercules is on the southeastern shores of San Pablo Bay, roughly 4 miles southwest of the Carquinez Bridge. By road, Hercules is roughly 12 miles north of Berkeley, California, 18 miles north of Oakland and 22 miles northeast of San Francisco. The shoreline at this location runs northeast to southwest. Refugio Creek runs through the middle of Hercules in a northwest direction and empties at the shoreline.

The town is bisected by Interstate 80 which runs parallel and roughly one mile inland from the coast. I-80 is the main highway between San Francisco and Sacramento and intersects California State Route 4 in the city limits. Major arterial roads include San Pablo Road which lies to the north of I-80 (this road is also Historic US 40, which was the predecessor to I-80) and Refugio Valley Road which runs in a northwest–southeast direction along Refugio Creek.

Cityscape

The city has a predominantly suburban character dominated by two story detached and attached homes and one story commercial buildings divided into various subdivisions along well landscaped roads. The waterfront, which has a planned rail/ferry station, is zoned for higher density transit oriented development with community retail, and a number of 3 to 5 story mixed-use developments have been constructed there since 2015. The portion inland of Highway 80, which extends 4 miles inland mainly gently rolling hills along Refugio Valley Road, is primarily suburbs built between the 1970s and 1980s. It includes neighborhoods known to the locals as “the Birds”, “the Trees and Flowers”, “the Gemstones”, “the Astronauts”, and “the Islands”, per the street naming conventions of each subdivision. The portion near the shoreline, somewhat flatter but still rolling terrain, was developed starting in the 1980s and has some of the town's newer developments including the Waterfront centered around the historic old town, Olympian Hills (which uses Greek mythical figures for its street naming convention), Hercules by the Bay, Village Park and Victoria by the Bay/New Pacific.

Climate
Hercules has a mild Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csb or "Warm-summer Mediterranean"), consistent with much of the northern San Francisco Bay Area. As Hercules is more inland, it is generally warmer than communities closer to the Golden Gate. Average rainfall is 23.35” concentrated from November to March. The average July high is 71 degrees and the average January low is 43 degrees.

Parks and recreation
Hercules has over 98 acres of parkland in six parks created as part of its master planning effort, the most central being Refugio Valley Park, and has over 950 additional acres of open space. Hercules is also close to several regional nature preserves including Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, Crockett Hills Regional Park, Carquinez Strait, Wildcat Canyon and Sobrante Ridge Botanic Regional Preserve. Franklin Canyon Golf Course is an 18-hole golf course at the east side of the city. The San Francisco Bay Trail runs right along Hercules' waterfront. The urban centers of Oakland and San Francisco are 18 and 22 miles away respectively. Wine Country (Napa and Sonoma) is roughly a half hour drive to the north.

Race and ethnicity
Hercules has a diverse population. Per 2015 Census data, the town's population is 45.5% Asian, 22% White, 18.9% Black, and 14.6% Hispanic. 32.0% of the population is foreign born.

Household income, education and occupations

Per 2014 US Census data, the median household income in the city was $101,018, and the median income for a family was $113,658, which would put much of Hercules’ population in the upper middle class or “mass affluent” categories. Males had a median income of $66,348 and females had a median income of $59,517. The per capita income for the city was $37,247. About 4.0% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.2% of persons under age 18 and 3.2% of those 65 or over. Per the same dataset, 42.7% of Hercules residents were college educated. 46.0% of residents were employed in management, business and arts occupations, 27.2% in sales and office occupations, and 14.3% in service occupations.

2010 US Census data
The 2010 United States Census reported that Hercules had a population of 24,060. The population density was 1,323.5 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Hercules was 5,302 (22.0%) White, 4,547 (18.9%) African American, 102 (0.4%) Native American, 10,956 (45.5%) Asian, 101 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 1,564 (6.5%) from other races, and 1,488 (6.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,508 persons (14.6%).

The Census reported that 24,005 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 17 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 38 (0.2%) were institutionalized.

There were 8,115 households, out of which 3,175 (39.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 4,675 (57.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,250 (15.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 371 (4.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 344 (4.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 66 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,482 households (18.3%) were made up of individuals, and 449 (5.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96. There were 6,296 families (77.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.38.

The population was spread out, with 5,481 people (22.8%) under the age of 18, 2,064 people (8.6%) aged 18 to 24, 6,512 people (27.1%) aged 25 to 44, 7,473 people (31.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,530 people (10.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.

There were 8,553 housing units at an average density of 470.5 /mi2, of which 8,115 were occupied, of which 6,450 (79.5%) were owner-occupied, and 1,665 (20.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.2%. 19,067 people (79.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 4,938 people (20.5%) lived in rental housing units.

2000 US Census data
As of the census of 2000, there were 19,488 people, 6,423 households, and 4,997 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,008.2 PD/sqmi. There were 6,546 housing units at an average density of 1,010.5 /mi2. The racial makeup of the city was 27.98% White, 18.78% African American, 0.25% Native American, 42.73% Asian, 0.46% Pacific Islander, 4.47% from other races, and 5.33% from two or more races. 10.81% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 6,423 households, out of which 41.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.8% were married couples living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.2% were non-families. 17.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.46.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.6% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $88,966, and the median income for a family was $93,294. Males had a median income of $50,672 versus $40,433 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,699. About 1.9% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.5% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

Overview
Hercules is primarily a suburban community, but is the headquarters of Bio-Rad, a Fortune 500 biotech company which as of 2017 had 7,800 employees worldwide and $2.1 billion in revenue. The company is located in the North Shore Business park which includes over 1.1 million square feet of industrial and R&D space. The community has an additional 210,000sf of retail and office space in three neighborhood shopping centers.

Top employers
According to the city's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top 10 employers in the city are:

Form
Hercules has a council-manager form of government where five elected city council members appoint a city manager who runs the City administration. In the early years of Hercules, the council members were nearly always officers of the Hercules Powder Company. The five council seats are at large and served in four-year staggered terms. Elections are held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which generally coincides with state and federal election days. In December, after any election the council selects from its own a Mayor and Vice Mayor which serve one-year terms. The City Council also appoint the city attorney, planning commissioners, community and library associations and others.

Crime
Hercules has a generally low crime rate. Based on 2014 FBI Data, Hercules had 1.12 violent crimes per 1,000 and 13.27 property crimes per thousand, lower than national and state averages. Between 2000 and 2010, the city had only five murders. Another source, using the same data, classified Hercules as the 35th safest city in California in 2016, and 60th in 2017.

Politics
In 2017, Hercules had 14,293 registered voters with 8,406 (58.8%) registered as Democrats, 1,743 (12.2%) registered as Republicans, and 3,703 (25.9%) decline to state voters.

Public schools
Hercules is served by two school districts: the West Contra Costa Unified School District and the John Swett Unified School District. The JSUSD serves the Foxboro area (east of Interstate 80 and north of State Route 4) and the WCCUSD serves the rest of the city.
 * Hercules Middle/High School serves as the main middle and high school in the city.
 * Hanna Ranch Elementary serves the Trees and Mandalay area.
 * Ohlone Elementary serves the Birds, Gems and the Hercules Avenue area.
 * Lupine Elementary serves the Trees and Flowers area.

Public libraries
The Contra Costa County Library System operates the Hercules Public Library.

Transportation
Hercules is at the intersection of I-80 and State Route 4. I-80 is an interstate that is the principal route between San Francisco and Sacramento. Highway 4 lead to I -680 which provide access to Concord, California, Walnut Creek, California and the Tri-Valley Area. Per 2015 Census Data, 90% of Hercules’ workforce commutes via automobile to work, the average commute time is 39 minutes.

Public transportation is available through the WestCat bus system. The operator provides local and school buses throughout Hercules and to the neighboring cities of Rodeo, Pinole, and Richmond among other areas. WestCat also offers express buses to the county seat at Martinez, the El Cerrito del Norte BART station and the San Francisco Transbay Terminal. Its major hub is Hercules Transit Center. This had been the proposed location of a future Bay Area Rapid Transit station in BART's 20-year plan, but Hercules Mayor John Delgado and city council declined BART's request to fund a study, precluding the possibility of a BART stop.

The closest international airports are Oakland International (29 miles) and San Francisco International Airport (35 miles). The closest general aviation facilities are Buchanan Field in Concord and Napa County Airport in Napa.

The Southern Pacific and the Burlington Northern railroads (formerly the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railway) have rail lines that pass through Hercules; however with the demise of industry Hercules no longer has a direct rail connection. However, a new Hercules station is planned that will provide a stop along the Capitol Corridor line, the first phases of which were constructed by 2018. An environmental study is underway for San Francisco Bay Ferry Service to provide service from the same station to San Francisco, which would take 42 minutes.

Sister city
Hercules's sister city is🇯🇵 Tsushima, Aichi Prefecture Japan.

Notable people

 * Willie McGee, former outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants
 * Claudell Washington, former outfielder for the MLB. Lived in Hercules during his year with the New York Mets and his first year with the Atlanta Braves.

title: Hercules, California


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Kensington, California

Kensington is an unincorporated community and census designated place located in the Berkeley Hills, in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area, in Contra Costa County, California. In the 20th century it was considered part of Berkeley, although it is across the county line. House numbers follow the pattern used in Berkeley, and Kensington shares two zip codes with the Berkeley Hills area.

The population was 5,077 at the 2010 census. Kensington’s community is mostly highly educated and affluent, and it contains only single family residential houses. It is among the safest and cleanest places in the United States, with one of the nation’s top public elementary schools. Many distinguished University of California, Berkeley professors, Nobel Prize laureates, and other notable San Francisco Bay Area professionals reside or have resided in Kensington, such as University of California, Berkeley’s theoretical physicist and professor of physics Robert Oppenheimer who was the Director of the Manhattan Project’s Project Y that developed the atomic bombs during World War II.

Law and government
Kensington is an unincorporated community of Contra Costa County that borders Alameda County. Unlike many unincorporated communities, Kensington has local jurisdiction over its police department, park services, refuse collection and fire department. These are governed by two elected boards. The five-member Kensington Police Protection and Community Services District (KPPCSD) Board oversees the police department, park services, and refuse collection. The five-member Kensington Fire District Board oversees the fire department and emergency medical services, of which the day-to-day function is outsourced to the fire department of El Cerrito, a neighboring city. The Kensington Municipal Advisory Board (KMAC) is a commission whose members are appointed by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors. KMAC is charged with land-use and development review and provides recommendations to the county planning and public works departments.

The sewer system is maintained by the Stege Sanitary District, which also includes the city of El Cerrito and the Richmond Annex area of Richmond. The East Bay Municipal Utility District supplies water and wastewater treatment services. AC Transit operates local transit service.

History

The area that is now Kensington was originally the territory of the Huchiun band of the Ohlone Indigenous people who occupied much of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The Pedro Fages mapping expedition passed through the area in 1772.

In 1823, the Republic of Mexico granted Rancho San Pablo, an extent of land lying north of Cerrito Creek and the Rancho San Antonio, including that portion of land that is now Kensington, to Francisco María Castro, a veteran of the Mexican Army and former alcalde of San José. In 1831 his youngest son, Victor Castro, inherited the southern portion of the rancho, including what is now Kensington.

In 1892, Anson Blake purchased a portion of Castro's land, most of which is now Kensington.

George Shima bought ten acres north of Cerrito Creek and east of the present day Arlington Avenue in about 1911, intending to build a home there. He hosted an annual community picnic on the property for some time.

Land development companies had bought most of the Kensington area by 1911, when it was first surveyed. The area was named "Kensington" that year by Robert Brousefield, a surveyor who had lived in the London district of South Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea at one time. The first subdivisions were Kensington Park and Berkeley Park west of Arlington Avenue, with most streets named for locations in England, and Berkeley Highlands, with most streets named for colleges and universities.

Farmers in Kensington resisted inclusion in the city of El Cerrito when it was incorporated in 1917, and local voters have rejected incorporation various times since then.

In the 1920s, the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) constructed an aqueduct through the Berkeley Hills to transport water from the San Pablo Reservoir to a still-active pumping facility in Kensington, located just above the Colusa Circle. Some of the water received by this facility is pumped up the hill to the Summit Reservoir located at the top of Spruce Street. The rest is pumped to other reservoirs serving the East Bay.

The population of Kensington was 226 in 1920, 1,423 in 1930, 3,355 in 1940, and reached a peak of 6,601 in 1950.

During World War II, J. Robert Oppenheimer lived at 10 Kenilworth Court where he held meetings of the American Communist Party, while simultaneously working on top secret atomic bomb work, and denying any involvement with such political groups. The house is often mistakenly described as being in Berkeley. Later in his life, Oppenheimer lived at 1 Eagle Hill, also in Kensington.

Until 1948, streetcar line #7 of the Key System ran to Kensington from Berkeley along Arlington Avenue, terminating in the small commercial area at Amherst Avenue. The streetcar was then replaced by an AC Transit bus route of the same number, which continues to run along Arlington Avenue. The streetcar service played an important role in the development of Kensington, and was fed by a network of mid-block pedestrian paths, most of which persist to this day. The pathways, which traverse Kensington, were offered for dedication for public use to the County of Contra Costa at the time the various subdivision maps were recorded. The County never accepted the offer of dedication, and accordingly, the ownership of the pathways has been in a state of uncertainty. Some of the pathways are used by the public regularly, and some have fallen into disuse, are overgrown with foliage, or have been absorbed into neighboring properties.

The late local historian Louis Stein Jr. lived and worked in Kensington, maintaining a pharmacy on the corner of Amherst and Arlington Avenue. For many years, he kept one of the East Bay's oldest horsecars in his yard—one that had probably seen service between Temescal, Oakland and the University of California in Berkeley. The horsecar is now at the Western Railway Museum.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.0 sqmi.

Kensington borders Berkeley and Albany to the south, El Cerrito to its west and north, and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park and Tilden Regional Park to the east.

Kensington is mostly single-family residential, with two small shopping districts. One of these is located on Arlington Avenue (at Amherst), the other centered on the Colusa Circle.

Demographics
Kensington's current demographics result from the historical trend of white flight. In the 1950s, many white residents of nearby Richmond, California moved to Kensington as the African American population of Richmond increased tenfold to meet the needs of its growing wartime and post-war industrial base.

2010
At the 2010 census 5,077 people, 2,199 households, and 1,417 families resided in the CDP. The population density was 5,361.1 PD/sqmi. There were 2,305 housing units at an average density of 2,409.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 78.1% White (74.8% non-Hispanic), 2.6% African American (2.5% non-Hispanic), 0.3% Native American, 12.0% Asian, 1.1% from other races, and 5.9% from two or more races. 5.2% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race.

The census reported that 100% of the population lived in households.

Of the 2,199 households 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 54.9% were opposite-sex married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 2.5% had a male householder with no wife present. 4.1% of households were unmarried opposite-sex partnerships and 2.0% were same-sex married couples or partnerships. 26.6% were one person and 12.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.76.

The age distribution was 18.4% under the age of 18, 3.2% aged 18 to 24, 20.9% aged 25 to 44, 35.2% aged 45 to 64, and 22.2% 65 or older. The median age was 49.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.7 males.

There were 2,305 housing units, of which 2,199 were occupied, of which 82.9% were owner-occupied and 17.1% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.0%. 83.8% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 16.2% lived in rental housing units.

2000
At the 2000 census there were 4,936 people, 2,192 households, and 1,372 families in the CDP. The population density was 4,301.9 PD/sqmi. There were 2,245 housing units at an average density of 1,956.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 81.77% White, 2.55% Black or African American, 0.24% Native American, 10.58% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.91% from other races, and 3.93% from two or more races. 3.48% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 2,192 households 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.5% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 26.7% of households were one person and 12.5% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.69.

The age distribution was 17.7% under the age of 18, 3.1% from 18 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 31.7% from 45 to 64, and 22.1% 65 or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.

The median household income was $93,247 and the median family income was $102,601. Males had a median income of $71,278 versus $55,347 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $55,275. About 1.7% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

The Kensington Branch Library of the Contra Costa County Library enjoys one of the highest circulation per capita rates of any Contra Costa County Library. Kensington Hilltop Elementary School serves to educate Kindergarten to 6th grade. Kensington is served by the West Contra Costa Unified School District. Children may also attend private schools in other nearby cities.

Religious institutions
There are two churches in Kensington, Arlington Community Church (United Church of Christ), completed and dedicated in 1948, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, which in 1961 moved from its original home in Berkeley to land in Kensington purchased from church member and architect Bernard Maybeck. There is also a Tibetan Buddhist meditation center and a Carmelite monastery adjacent to Blake Garden.

Points of interest

 * Blake Garden

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Kensington, California


text:
Knightsen, California

Knightsen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the CDP population was 1,568, up from 861 reported in the 2000 census.

History
Knightsen, California is a small unincorporated community of 1,568 residents and 1,500 horses in far eastern Contra Costa County, California in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area closest to Oakley, California. The community was founded by George W. Knight, and its name is a portmanteau of his last name and his wife (Christina Christensen). Knightsen has the oldest chapter of the 4-H Club in California. The community worries about urban sprawl from expanding development in neighboring Oakley. However, a significant portion of the community lies within the agricultural conservation zone in the Brentwood, California, general plan.

During the 1880s, settlers began moving in and planting the first almond trees in the area. A few dairies also sprang up. Other crops, such as apricots, grapes and alfalfa were also planted. Until the railroad was built, farmers shipped their produce via water, using Babbes Landing off Dutch Slough, near the north end of what is now Sellers Avenue.

Knightsen was founded in 1898, when the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (Santa Fe Railway) was planning to lay a track through the area to reach Stockton, California. According to local historian, Kathy Leighton, the railroad wanted to name the community Meganos, commemorating the nearby ranch owned by Doctor John Marsh. Local settlers wanted to keep the name Knightsen. Through correspondence with officials in Washington, D.C., a post office named Knightsen was established before the railroad was complete, and George Knight was named first postmaster in mid-1899. He immediately constructed the first retail store in Knightsen, a grocery, in which he could also locate the post office, which opened in 1900.

The first buildings in Knightsen were a station house, a railroad station and a pumping plant, all belonging to the Santa Fe. After Knight's grocery, came the Lyon Brothers asparagus plant, which could ship two to four carloads of asparagus per day during the harvest season. The railroad made shipping crops much easier. Soon, six dairies were shipping an average of 2500 USgal of milk per day. During the 1920s, Knightsen was one of the largest milk shipping points in California.

Voters approved forming the Knightsen Irrigation District in 1920 to provide water to 10000 acres of farmland. The cost of the project then was $650,000. Even before the project was completed, the district was absorbed by the East Contra Costa Water District. The change from dry farming to irrigation brought other notable changes. The Knightsen Farm Bureau was organized in 1918. It built a hall in 1922 that has since been used for school graduations, dances, weddings, political functions, school plays, holiday celebrations, church services, a safe haven for flood victims and an endless list of other events. John N. Kristich, a pipe manufacturer from King City, California decided to build a plant for manufacturing concrete pipe in Knightsen. His firm became one of the largest producers of concrete pipe in California during the 1920s.

Knightsen has remained primarily a farming community, growing such foods as almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc. It still contains a few U-pick vegetable/fruit stands. Knightsen now is home to many horse ranches. One report even indicated that the community housed nearly as many horses (1500) as people (1568).

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.5 sqmi, 99% of it land.

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Knightsen had a population of 1,568. The population density was 185.4 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Knightsen was 1,268 (80.9%) White, 14 (0.9%) African American, 8 (0.5%) Native American, 28 (1.8%) Asian, 3 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 162 (10.3%) from other races, and 85 (5.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 454 persons (29.0%).

The Census reported that 100% of the population lived in households.

There were 531 households, out of which 182 (34.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 330 (62.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 37 (7.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 33 (6.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 20 (3.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 6 (1.1%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 100 households (18.8%) were made up of individuals, and 31 (5.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.95. There were 400 families (75.3% of all households); the average family size was 3.34.

The population was spread out, with 383 people (24.4%) under the age of 18, 138 people (8.8%) aged 18 to 24, 328 people (20.9%) aged 25 to 44, 508 people (32.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 211 people (13.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 106.8 males.

There were 582 housing units at an average density of 68.8 /sqmi, of which 531 were occupied, of which 389 (73.3%) were owner-occupied, and 142 (26.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.1%. 1,176 people (75.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 392 people (25.0%) lived in rental housing units.

2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 861 people, 281 households, and 214 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 171.7 PD/sqmi. There were 289 housing units at an average density of 57.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 75.96% White, 0.12% Black or African American, 1.39% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.70% Pacific Islander, 12.54% from other races, and 9.06% from two or more races. 26.48% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 281 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.7% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.8% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.04 and the average family size was 3.42.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 27.4% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $58,929, and the median income for a family was $64,643. Males had a median income of $48,500 versus $32,708 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $22,191. About 7.3% of families and 8.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.3% of those under age 18 and 19.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable residents

 * Jeremy Newberry: NFL player.

title: Knightsen, California


text:
Lafayette, California

Lafayette (formerly La Fayette) is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. As of 2020, the city's population was 25,391. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, a French military officer of the American Revolutionary War.

History
Before the colonization of the region by Spain, Lafayette and its vicinity were inhabited by the Saclan tribe of the indigenous Bay Miwok. Ohlone also populated some of the areas along Lafayette Creek. The indigenous inhabitants' first contact with Europeans was in the late 18th century with the founding of Catholic missions in the region. These initial contacts developed into conflict, with years of armed struggle, including a battle on what is currently Lafayette soil in 1797 between the Saclan and the Spanish, and eventually resulting in the subjugation of the native population.

Most of what is currently Lafayette was given as a Mexican land grant, Rancho Acalanes to Candelario Valencia in 1834. The name Acalanes seems to have come from the name of a native village in the area, Ahala-n.

American settlement started with the arrival of Elam Brown from St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1846. He purchased Rancho Acalanes in 1848. The settlement continued to steadily grow due to its proximity to San Francisco; starting with Brown's group of 18 settlers, by the census in 1852, 76 people were listed as living in the area. Brown founded a mill in 1853.

One of the original settlers in Brown's party was Milo J. Hough. He built a hotel in 1853 near Plaza Park and in 1854 was named postmaster of the Acelanus post office, an alternate spelling of the original land grant, Acalanes. The post office was short-lived, closing the following year.

A school began in 1852 in a one-room schoolhouse, taught by a 25-year-old Kentucky migrant, Benjamin Shreve. By 1865 the school had expanded to 43 students in five classes, and so in 1868 a tax levy of $1,000 was used to build a new schoolhouse; school expanded from a five-month year to a nine-month year. In 1893, a new schoolhouse was built to accommodate the increasing number of students; this building still stands today.

On March 2, 1857, the LaFayette post office was established by the U.S. Postal Service. (The official document giving this exact date was supplied to the Lafayette Historical Society in 1993 by the Historical Division of the U.S. Postal Service.) Prior to 1857 the community that is now known as "Lafayette" actually had no official name but was sometimes called Dog Town, Brown's Corner, Brown's Mill, and (when Milo Hough was postmaster in 1854–1855) Alcalanus.

The name "LaFayette" came together with the community's first post office. In 1857 Benjamin Shreve, owner and manager of a roadside hotel-general store (which faced today's Lafayette Plaza), applied for a post office for the community, first requesting the name Centerville. When informed that a post office with that name already existed in California, Shreve suggested La Fayette, after the French general who became a hero of the American Revolution (probably not because his wife was a native of Lafayette, Indiana). The first LaFayette post office was established at 3535 Plaza Way and Shreve became the town's first permanent postmaster, holding the job for 30 years.

Spelling: On the original document from the U.S. Postal Service, dated March 2, 1857, the name “LaFayette” is unmistakably written as one word with a capital “F” in the middle. In 1864 the place name "Lafayette" first appeared on a map of the area, titled "Bancroft's Map of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona (copyrighted 1863. Scale: 24 miles to 1 inch). Yet research by Ruth Dyer, Lafayette historian, shows that the name of the post office and of the new town itself soon began to be written as two words, “La Fayette.” By 1890 it had changed to one word, "Lafayette," and so appeared in an official communication from the U.S. "Post Office Department" in Feb. 1899. Then by 1905 it was back to two words. Finally on March 31, 1932, the name of the post office was officially changed to Lafayette, which has remained unchanged to this day. Lafayette was the tenth post office established in Contra Costa County. (See Salley, History of California Post Offices).

In the early 1860s, Lafayette was briefly the site of a station for the Pony Express.

In the mid-1900s, Lafayette was transformed from an agricultural village into a commuter town, and was incorporated in 1968.

Geography
Lafayette is located at 37.88583°N, -122.11806°W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.4 sqmi. 15.2 sqmi of it is land and 0.2 sqmi of it (1.08%) is water.

The city is part of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and has its own station on the BART public transit system. Lafayette is situated between Walnut Creek, Moraga, and Orinda, and, together with the latter two towns, is considered locally as part of "Lamorinda".

Climate
Lafayette is separated from greater Berkeley and Oakland by the Berkeley Hills (and the Caldecott Tunnel running beneath), a geographical boundary within the East Bay which also represents interesting meteorological, cultural, and political distinctions. Like the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area, Lafayette has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa); however, the climate differences can be striking: during the summer, temperatures can soar beyond 100 F in Lafayette and its neighboring cities while the areas west of the hills and nearer to the bay remain up to 20 °F (11 °C) cooler. Summers are warm, dry and very sunny (although mornings can be foggy); winters are cool and damp, with occasional freezes. Most of the annual rainfall comes in the winter, although there are still plenty of clear days during that time. The record high temperature is 115 F, set in July 1972. The record low temperature is 19 F, set in December 1990. The region directly east of the hills is generally known for its more suburban or rural atmosphere, and features rolling, grassy hills which highlight a more peaceful and domestic aura. In the southwestern part of Lafayette, is the Lafayette Reservoir, and Briones Regional Park extends into the northern part of Lafayette. Lafayette's wildlife communities include mixed woods and oak woodlands.

Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Lafayette had a population of 23,893. The population density was 1,552.8 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Lafayette was 20,232 (84.7%) White, 166 (0.7%) African American, 66 (0.3%) Native American, 2,162 (9.0%) Asian, (2.1%) Pacific Islander, 240 (1.0%) from other races, and 1,000 (4.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1,388 persons (5.8%).

The Census reported that 23,794 people (99.6% of the population) lived in households, 38 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 61 (0.3%) were institutionalized.

There were 9,223 households, out of which 3,262 (35.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 5,871 (63.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 651 (7.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 273 (3.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 306 (3.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 75 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,916 households (20.8%) were made up of individuals, and 802 (8.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58. There were 6,795 families (73.7% of all households); the average family size was 3.01.

The population was spread out, with 5,956 people (24.9%) under the age of 18, 1,220 people (5.1%) aged 18 to 24, 4,676 people (19.6%) aged 25 to 44, 8,069 people (33.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 3,972 people (16.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.3 males.

There were 9,651 housing units at an average density of 627.2 /sqmi, of which 9,223 were occupied, of which 6,937 (75.2%) were owner-occupied, and 2,286 (24.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.7%. 19,025 people (79.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 4,769 people (20.0%) lived in rental housing units.

In 2016, the median household income in Lafayette was over $140,000.

Library
The Lafayette Library and Learning Center of the Contra Costa County Library is located in Lafayette. Oakmont Memorial Park is a cemetery in Lafayette. Oakwood serves as a country club/fitness center for Lamorindans.

Cross of Lafayette Memorial

In November 2006, area residents began placing crosses on a hill overlooking the Lafayette BART station and Highway 24 "to represent and memorialize the American soldiers who have died in the ongoing Iraqi war." As of January 2014, there are approximately 6,000 crosses in place, representing the US troops who have died in Iraq, and there is also a large sign displaying the total number of deaths. The memorial has generated public attention, media coverage and counter-protests due to its visibility from the commuter thoroughfare below. Also, since the creation of the memorial, there have been several incidents of vandalism. While some show support for the protest, other residents complain that it is disrespectful to the US military in Iraq and that it is an eyesore to the community. The memorial is on private property and modifications and trespassing without consent of the owners has been common.

Lafayette Park Theater
Another historical site found in Lafayette is the Park Theater, which first opened in 1941, and then ceased operations in 2005. The Park Theater was originally a movie theater located on an intersection where the La Fayette statue was built. It then showed its last movie before ceasing operations in 2005. Recently, however, efforts have been made to reopen the Park theater for viewing.

Government
As of February 10, 2021, Lafayette has 19,151 registered voters with 10,177 (53%) registered as Democrats, 3,813 (20%) registered as Republicans, and 4,298 (22%) decline to state voters.

Education
Most of Lafayette is in the Lafayette Elementary School District. A small portion is in the Orinda Union Elementary School District. All of Lafayette is in the Acalanes Union High School District.

Primary and secondary schools

 * Public
 * Lafayette Elementary School
 * Burton Valley Elementary
 * Happy Valley Elementary School
 * Springhill Elementary School
 * Stanley Middle School
 * Acalanes High School
 * Private
 * The Springstone School (middle and high school)
 * Contra Costa Jewish Day School
 * Chabad Hebrew School of Lamorinda
 * St. Perpetua School
 * The Meher Schools (preschool and elementary school)

Notable people
The following is a list of notable residents of Lafayette, past and present.

Past

 * Don Agrati, actor and musician, as Don Grady known for his roles in My Three Sons and The Mickey Mouse Club. Deceased.
 * Jon-Erik Beckjord, paranormal researcher and investigator, specialty was Bigfoot and related cryptids, such as the Yeti. Deceased.
 * Mona Beaumont, French-born American painter and printmaker.
 * T. Brian Callister, Lafayette native, physician, and nationally renowned health care quality and policy expert
 * Frank DeVol, composer, arranger, conductor, singer ("Teddy Bear's Picnic"), on TV's Fernwood 2 Night as Happy Kyne. Died in Lafayette.
 * Richard Ewell, former Confederate general who was a founder of Lafayette.
 * Andre Iguodala - Golden State Warriors basketball player, small forward.
 * Henry J. Kaiser, industrialist, owner of Kaiser Industries (based in Oakland comprising more than 100 companies), builder of Hoover Dam, Liberty Ships, creator of Kaiser Permanente health organization. Built and lived in elaborate estate in west Lafayette in the early 1950s.
 * Daniel E. Koshland Jr., biochemist and former chief editor of Science, lived and died in Lafayette.
 * Joe Montana, Hall of Fame football quarterback for San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.
 * Brent Mydland, musician, lived in Lafayette for a time before his death in 1990. buried at Oakmont Memorial Park in Lafayette.
 * Buster Posey, Major League Baseball catcher for the San Francisco Giants
 * Josh Reddick, Major League Baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics
 * Hideo Sasaki, American landscape architect.
 * Glenn T. Seaborg, University of California at Berkeley chemist and Nobel laureate (1951) prominent in the discovery of Plutonium (in 1941) and several transuranic elements. Element 106, Seaborgium, is named in his honor. Worked on Manhattan Project developing first atomic bombs. Died in 1999.
 * Emilio Segrè, an Italian physicist and Nobel laureate who discovered the elements technetium and astatine, and the antiproton, a sub-atomic antiparticle, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1959
 * Alexander Shulgin, chemist best known for discovery and use of hundreds of psychoactive compounds. Died June 2, 2014.
 * Charles Tickner, Olympic bronze medalist figure skater in the 1980 Winter Olympics

Present

 * Brandon Belt, professional baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays, formerly of the San Francisco Giants.
 * Frankie Beverly, singer and songwriter, known primarily for his recordings with the band Maze.
 * Cam, singer and songwriter, known for the song "Burning House."
 * Natalie Coughlin, gold medal-winning swimmer who represented United States at 2004 Olympics in Athens, 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and 2012 Olympics in London.
 * Pete Docter, animator, film director, screenwriter. Chief Creative Officer of Pixar.
 * Wayne Ferreira, South African tennis player.
 * Hans Florine, world record-holding speed climber.
 * Will Forte, actor, writer, and comedian best known for Saturday Night Live.
 * Justin Fox (born 1964), financial journalist, commentator, and writer
 * Brad Gillis, musician, guitarist for band Night Ranger.
 * Daniel Horowitz, prominent attorney who was frequent TV commentator during the trial of Scott Peterson for the murder of Laci Peterson
 * Brad Lackey, former professional motorcycle racer and 1982 Motocross World Champion
 * Mike Mesaros, bassist for band The Smithereens
 * Alanis Morissette A Canadian singer, songwriter, musician, and actress.
 * Jordan Poole - Professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards.
 * William Shurtleff, writer, researcher, bibliographer, historian, and popularizer of soyfoods
 * Kurtwood Smith, actor, known for his roles in RoboCop, That '70s Show, and 24.
 * James Van Hoften, two-time space shuttle astronaut.
 * Mark Yudof - 21st President of University of California

title: Lafayette, California


text:
Martinez, California

Martinez (Spanish: Martínez) is a city and the county seat of Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, the city's population was 37,287 at the 2020 census. The city is named after Californio ranchero Ygnacio Martínez, having been founded on his Rancho El Pinole. Martinez is known for its historic center and its waterfront.

History
The beautiful, lush Alhambra Valley was probably a seasonal foraging “pantry” for the stable population of the Karkines Indians. The Karkines are a part of the Ohlone (Costanoan) Indian group.

In 1824, the western side of Martinez, Alhambra Valley was included in the Rancho El Pinole Mexican land grant to Ygnacio Martínez. East of these lands was the Rancho Las Juntas, a grant made to Irish born William Welch in 1844; his land lay between the lands of Martinez and Pacheco.

In 1847, Dr. Robert Semple contracted to provide ferry service from Martinez to Benicia, which for many years was the only crossing on the Carquinez Strait. By 1849, Martínez served as a way station for the California Gold Rush. The town was laid out in 1849 by Col. William M. Smith and named for Martinez. It became the county seat in 1850, but could not incorporate at the time because it lacked the 200 registered voters required, and would not become a city until 1876.

Martinez was the home of naturalist John Muir from 1880 until his death in 1914. He was buried about a mile south of the building that is now the John Muir National Historic Site. Also nearby is the Vicente Martinez Adobe, built in 1849 by the son of Ygnacio Martinez.

The first post office opened in 1851.

In 1860, Martinez played a role in the Pony Express, where riders would take the ferry from Benicia (particularly if they missed the steamer in Sacramento).

The first oil refinery in the Martinez area was built in 1904 at Bull's Head Point, a then-unincorporated waterfront area two miles east of the downtown district. That area soon became known as Mococo, following the 1905 arrival of a smelting works, operated by the Mountain Copper Company (Mo Co Co). That first facility, operated by the Bull's Head Oil Company, was followed in 1908 by a test refinery built by the Pacific Coast Oil Company. Shortly thereafter, Pacific Coast became part of Standard Oil (now Chevron), and consolidated their oil refining operations in the Point Richmond, Hercules, Rodeo waterfront corridor some 12 mi to the west of Martinez.

In 1913, the Golden Eagle facility became the third oil refinery to be built in the area. It was located in the newly created company town of Avon, immediately to the East of Martinez. A fourth refinery, built by the Shell Oil Company on land adjacent to the Martinez City limits, went online in January 1916. The Shell Oil refining facility is still operational today (Currently owned by PBF Energy), maintaining the city's position as a significant petroleum processing center. The Golden Eagle Refinery (currently owned by Marathon Petroleum Company) was idled in April 2020 as a response to lower petroleum demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Folk etymology in Martinez claims the invention of the Martini cocktail and that it is named for the city.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.1 sqmi, of which 1.0 sqmi (7.64 percent) is covered by water.

The city is largely surrounded by water and regional open-space preserves. The Martinez–Benicia Bridge carries Highway 680 across the eastern end of the Carquinez Strait to Solano County. The city is a densely built downtown valley threaded by Alhambra Creek and north of Highway 4. Suburban areas stretch south of Highway 4 to join the neighboring city of Pleasant Hill. Unincorporated areas include the rural Alhambra Valley and the Franklin Canyon area.

The Martinez Regional Shoreline bounds the city to the north along the Carquinez Strait. Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline includes the Franklin Hills west of downtown, stretching west to the unincorporated community of Port Costa and the town of Crockett. Briones Regional Park borders the Alhambra Valley to the south. Waterbird Regional Preserve and the McNabney Marsh border the city and Highway 680 to the east. Martinez's location at the east end of the Carquinez Strait as it widens to Suisun Bay includes dramatic water views stretching to the Sierra range. From surrounding ridge tops views stretch to nearby Mount Diablo, Mount Saint Helena, Mount Tamalpais, and others. Martinez is one of the only two places in the Bay Area, the other being Golden Gate Bridge, where the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the San Francisco Bay Trail converge. The Bay Trail is a planned recreational corridor that, when complete, will encircle San Francisco and San Pablo bays with a continuous 400 mi network of bicycling and hiking trails. It will connect the shoreline of all nine Bay Area counties, link 47 cities, and cross the major toll bridges in the region, including the Benicia–Martinez Bridge. To date, approximately 240 mi of the alignment—over half the Bay Trail's ultimate length—have been completed. The Bay Area Ridge Trail ultimately will be a 500+ mile trail encircling the San Francisco Bay along the ridge tops, open to hikers, equestrians, mountain bicyclists, and outdoor enthusiasts of all types. So far, over 300 mi of trail have been dedicated for use. East Bay Regional Park District's Iron Horse Regional Trail will join the Bay Trail along the waterfront, and the Contra Costa Canal Trail threads through the city from Pleasant Hill to the south.

Climate
Martinez has a mild Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa/b). Summers are warm and dry, with some morning fog during sea breezes. The maritime influence is much less significant than in other parts of the Bay Area that are closer to the Pacific, which causes very high daytime averages compared to San Francisco and Oakland in summer. However, nights normally cool off significantly, which results in daytime highs around 87 F and nighttime lows of 55 F during July and August. Winters are wet and cool with occasional frost. The majority of the city is within a USDA hardiness zone of 9b.

Demographics

The 2020 United States Census reported that Martinez had a population of 38,290. The population density was 2,727.4 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Martinez was 27,603 (77.1%) White, 1,303 (3.6%) African American, 255 (0.7%) Native American, 2,876 (8.0%) Asian, 121 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 1,425 (4.0%) from other races, and 2,241 (6.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5,258 persons (14.7 percent).

The Census reported that 34,528 people (96.4 percent of the population) lived in households, 235 (0.7 percent) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1,061 (3.0 percent) were institutionalized.

There were 14,287 households, out of which 4,273 (29.9 percent) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,782 (47.5 percent) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,751 (12.3 percent) had a female householder with no husband present, 640 (4.5 percent) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 928 (6.5 percent) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 137 (1.0 percent) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,920 households (27.4 percent) were made up of individuals, and 1,078 (7.5 percent) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42. There were 9,173 families (64.2 percent of all households); the average family size was 2.95.

The age distribution of the population showed 7,329 people (20.5 percent) under the age of 18, 2,842 people (7.9 percent) aged 18 to 24, 9,193 people (25.7 percent) aged 25 to 44, 12,121 people (33.8 percent) aged 45 to 64, and 4,339 people (12.1 percent) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.

There were 14,976 housing units at an average density of 1,140.2 /sqmi, of which 14,287 were occupied, of which 9,619 (67.3 percent) were owner-occupied, and 4,668 (32.7 percent) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4 percent; the rental vacancy rate was 4.9 percent. 23,876 people (66.6 percent of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 10,652 people (29.7 percent) lived in rental housing units.

Top employers
According to the city's 2021 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Education
Covering most of Martinez, the Martinez Unified School District encompasses four elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and two alternative/independent study schools. Students in K-5 attend John Swett, John Muir, Las Juntas, or Morello Park Elementary School. Martinez Junior High School serves students in grades 6 through 8. St. Catherine of Siena is a private Catholic school that serves grades K-8. Alhambra High School serves as the district's comprehensive high school. As of 2006, the district's K-12 enrollment was 4,194.

Part of Martinez is served by the Mount Diablo Unified School District, whose Hidden Valley Elementary School is located in Martinez. St. Catherine of Siena School, a private Roman Catholic elementary school, also serves the Martinez community.

Libraries
The Martinez Library is part of the Contra Costa County Library and is located in Martinez. The Art Deco style building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in early 2008.

Media
Martinez and the surrounding area is served by several local newspapers, including the Martinez News-Gazette, the Martinez Tribune and the East Bay Times.

Martinez is also served by Martinez Patch, a local news website covering community news and events, and the local news and talk blog Claycord.com.

In December 2019, there was a flurry of reports from reliable sources including the Associated Press and the San Francisco Chronicle that the 161 year-old Martinez News-Gazette, one of the longest-running newspapers in California, may have to cease publication. But as of late May 2020, the threatened cessation did not materialize and the newspaper appears to have weathered that storm. The newspaper did cease publication of a print edition effective April 2, 2020, but this was characterized as a temporary measure arising from a lack of advertising revenue. This in turn arose as many local businesses were forced to suspended operations or even ceased to exist, when the area was under shelter in place regulations arising from the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The newspaper plans to resume a full print edition when the local shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted. The newspaper continued to operate its online news website presence during the pandemic restrictions.

Transportation
WestCAT provides service to the El Cerrito del Norte BART station. The County Connection is the primary local bus operator providing service throughout the area. Among its destinations are the Concord, Pleasant Hill, and Walnut Creek BART stations. The County Connection also provides paratransit service. Tri Delta Transit runs express service between Martinez and eastern Contra Costa County.

State Route 4 runs through Martinez westward to Hercules and eastward through Stockton and the Sierra Nevada to near the border of Nevada. Interstate 680 runs northward across the Benicia–Martinez Bridge toward Sacramento via Interstate 80 and southward toward San Jose.

Rail

 * Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, runs its California Zephyr daily in each direction through Martinez on its route between Emeryville (across the bay from San Francisco) and Chicago, also passing through Sacramento, Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Omaha.
 * Amtrak's Coast Starlight operates daily in each direction through Martinez between Seattle and Los Angeles.
 * Amtrak California operates its Capitol Corridor trains through Martinez station, providing service several times daily between San Jose to the west and Auburn to the east (via Sacramento).
 * Amtrak California also runs its San Joaquin trains through Martinez, providing service several times daily between Oakland to the west and Bakersfield at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley. Bus connections branch off both the San Joaquin and the Capitol Corridor, providing service as far as San Diego; Las Vegas and Sparks, Nevada; and Medford, Oregon.  One connection originates in Martinez and runs as far north as the Eureka area.
 * BART makes a stop called North Concord/Martinez station, although this station lies miles east of the Martinez city limits. The city was overlooked when the system was extended from Concord to Bay Point. However, BART's long-term plans include a new line extension running from Fremont and through the I-680 corridor and ending in Martinez.
 * The 1600 ft-long, 75 ft high steel "Muir Trestle" (aka "Alhambra Trestle") carries the freight operations of the BNSF Railway through Martinez parallel to California State Route 4 (John Muir Parkway).

Sister cities
According to Sister Cities International, Martinez is paired with:
 * Dunbar, Scotland, United Kingdom
 * 🇨🇳 Hanchuan, China
 * 🇮🇹 Milazzo and Stresa, Italy

Notable people

 * Maurice Benard, (b 1963) is an actor known for playing Sonny Corinthos on the ABC soap opera General Hospital.General Hospital
 * Jeff and Paulette Carpoff are convicted fraudsters and owners of DC Solar and the Martinez Clippers
 * Yau-Man Chan, (b 1952) is a Malaysian table tennis player, technology executive, and reality television participant.
 * Trevor Davis, (b 1993) is an American football wide receiver
 * Sara Del Rey, (b 1980) is an American professional wrestling trainer and retired professional wrestler,
 * Joe DiMaggio, (1914–1999), was a baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year Hall of fame career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees.
 * Vince DiMaggio, (1912–1986) was an All-Star Baseball center fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates
 * Ainjel Emme, (b 1978) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and recording engineer.
 * Robb Flynn, (b 1967) is a musician who is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band Machine Head
 * Mark Kozelek, (b 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer and occasional actor.
 * Ella Leffland, (b 1931)[1] is an American novelist and short story writer.
 * Tug McGraw, (1944–2004) was a professional baseball relief pitcher and father of singer Tim McGraw
 * Seanan McGuire, (b 1978) is a author
 * John Muir, (1838–1914), was a naturalist.
 * Richard Rodgers II, (b 1992) is an American football tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles
 * Sabato "Simon" Rodia,(1879 or 1886–1965) creator of giant folk art Watts Towers in Los Angeles
 * Victor Salva, (b 1958) is an American filmmaker.
 * J. Otto Seibold, (born 1960) is an American artist and children's book creator.
 * Robert Stephenson, (b 1993) is a professional baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies.
 * Norv Turner, (b 1952) is an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL)
 * Jeff Van Gundy, (b 1962) is an American commentator for ESPN and former basketball coach most famous for his time with the New York Knicks
 * Stan Van Gundy, (b 1959) is an American commentator for TNT and CBS and former basketball coach, taking Orlando Magic to the NBA Finals in 2009. He is the older brother of Jeff Van Gundy.
 * Travis Williams, (1946–1991) was an American football player for the Green Bay Packers

title: Martinez, California


text:
Moraga, California

Moraga is a town in Contra Costa County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The town is named in honor of Joaquín Moraga, member of the famed Californio family. As of 2020, Moraga had a total population of 16,870 people. Moraga is the home of Saint Mary's College of California.

History
The land now called Moraga was first inhabited by the Saklan Native Americans who belonged to the Bay Miwok language group.

Joaquin Moraga was the grandson of José Joaquín Moraga, builder of the Presidio of San Francisco and founder of the pueblo that grew into the city of San Jose. Joaquin's father Gabriel Moraga was also a soldier, and an early explorer who named many of the state's rivers, including the Sacramento and San Joaquin.

Moraga is located on the 1835 Mexican Land Grant Rancho Laguna de los Palos Colorados given to Joaquin Moraga and his cousin, Juan Bernal. Part of that grant was the property today known as Moraga Ranch. The Moraga Adobe has been preserved and is located in neighboring Orinda. Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School, a middle school in Moraga, bears his name.

In the first half of the 20th century, the line of the Sacramento Northern Railroad ran through Moraga; much of the old right-of-way is now part of the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail.

Moraga's first post office opened in 1886, and was closed in 1887; it reopened in 1915. In 1955, Moraga built a new post office. Saint Mary's College of California moved to Moraga in 1928. Moraga incorporated in 1974, when the communities of Moraga Town, Rheem, and Rheem Valley, united into one town.

In June 2017, Moraga declared a fiscal emergency, because a sinkhole in the downtown area and a failed bridge on Canyon Road were expected to cost $5 million to repair.

Geography
Moraga is located at 37°50'06" North, 122°07'47" West, at an elevation of 499 ft. It is located adjacent to the cities of Lafayette and Orinda, as well as the unincorporated community of Canyon. Other nearby cities include Walnut Creek, Oakland, San Francisco, Concord and Berkeley.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 9.4 sqmi, of which 9.4 sqmi is land and 0.09% is water. Moraga is in a valley, surrounded by rolling hills. Large sections of the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail pass through the town.

Climate
Moraga has a Mediterranean climate, with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters. In the summer, morning fog is a common occurrence, but it usually burns off by the late morning or early afternoon, giving way to clear skies the rest of the day. Most of the annual rainfall comes during the winter; snow is very rare, but occasional light dustings have been seen. Over the course of a year, the town averages 26 days of 90 °F or higher, 40 nights of 32 °F or lower, and 59 days with rain. In 2014, the southwestern US was plagued by a serious drought. Moraga was badly burdened, with high fire warnings.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Moraga had a population of 16,016. The population density was 1,696.3 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Moraga was 12,201 (76.2%) White, 277 (1.7%) African American, 31 (0.2%) Native American, 2,393 (14.9%) Asian, 25 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 281 (1.8%) from other races, and 808 (5.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1,123 persons (7.0%).

The Census reported that 14,293 people (89.2% of the population) lived in households, 1,545 (9.6%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 178 (1.1%) were institutionalized.

There were 5,570 households, out of which 1,945 (34.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 3,685 (66.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 418 (7.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 165 (3.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 121 (2.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 24 (0.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,073 households (19.3%) were made up of individuals, and 564 (10.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57. There were 4,268 families (76.6% of all households); the average family size was 2.95.

The population was spread out, with 3,474 people (21.7%) under the age of 18, 2,342 people (14.6%) aged 18 to 24, 2,193 people (13.7%) aged 25 to 44, 4,947 people (30.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 3,060 people (19.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.

There were 5,754 housing units at an average density of 609.4 /mi2, of which 4,673 (83.9%) were owner-occupied, and 897 (16.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.1%. 12,073 people (75.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,220 people (13.9%) lived in rental housing units.

Politics
As of February 10, 2019, Moraga has 11,024 voters with 4,737 (43%) registered Democrats, 2,766 (25.1%) registered Republicans and 3,105 (28.2%) independent voters.

Education
Moraga is home to the grade schools of Los Perales Elementary, Donald L. Rheem School, Camino Pablo School, and Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School; Campolindo High School; and Saint Mary's College of California, a private college. In 2011, Moraga was named a top city to live and learn in.

Primary and secondary schools
The majority of Moraga is in the Moraga School District. That district includes:
 * Camino Pablo Elementary School, grades K–5
 * Los Perales Elementary School, grades K–5
 * Donald L. Rheem Elementary School, grades K–5
 * Joaquin Moraga Intermediate School, grades 6–8

A small section of Moraga is in Orinda Union Elementary School District.

All of Moraga is in the Acalanes Union High School District. That district includes:
 * Campolindo High School, grades 9–12

The Saklan School (formerly known as Saklan Valley School and The Carden School of Moraga), a private elementary school founded in 1954, is also located in Moraga. It is a co-educational school with around 155 students from preschool to 8th grade. The school is accredited by the California Association of Independent Schools (a member of the National Association of Independent Schools), and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. It has a maximum class size of 16.

Moraga's only public high school is Campolindo High School, although some Moraga students choose to attend Miramonte High School, located just across the town border in Orinda. Both schools are part of the Acalanes Union High School District, which encompasses Moraga, Lafayette, Orinda, and parts of Walnut Creek.

Orion Academy is a private secondary school for students with conditions such as Asperger syndrome, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and nonverbal learning disorder.

Colleges and universities
Saint Mary's College of California is located just northeast of downtown Moraga; it is a Catholic university with 3,962 undergraduate and postgraduate students in the 2007–2008 school year. The college was originally located in San Francisco and then Oakland, but moved to Moraga in 1928.

Public libraries
The Moraga Library of the Contra Costa County Library is located along Saint Marys Road in Moraga.

Notable people

 * Conrad Bassett-Bouchard, North American Scrabble champion
 * Matt Biondi, Olympic gold medalist (swimming)
 * Corbin Burnes, Major League Baseball pitcher; attended St. Mary's college
 * Hans Florine, speed climber
 * Will Forte, actor, comedian and writer
 * George Harrison, 1960 Olympic gold medalist and world record holder (swimming)
 * Erika Henningsen, lead performer in Tony Award nominated musical, Mean Girls; voice of Charlie Morningstar in Hazbin Hotel on Amazon Prime Video
 * Daniel Levitin, best-selling author, cognitive neuroscientist, and musician
 * Patty Mills, NBA player, San Antonio Spurs, attended St. Mary's college
 * Aaron Poreda, Major League Baseball pitcher
 * Stephen Robinson, astronaut and professor
 * J.R. Rotem, Canadian-Israeli-American record producer
 * Kim Vandenberg, Olympic silver medalist (swimming)
 * Peter Varellas, Olympic silver medalist (water polo)
 * Matt Vasgersian, sportscaster for MLB Network; was raised in Moraga
 * Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Journalist, Author
 * Andrew Mayne, best-selling author, artificial intelligence researcher, television personality

title: Moraga, California


text:
Mountain View, Contra Costa County, California

Mountain View is a census designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 2,372 at the 2010 census.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.75 km$2$), all of it land.

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Mountain View had a population of 2,372. The population density was 8,182.2 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Mountain View was 1,896 (79.9%) White, 60 (2.5%) African American, 30 (1.3%) Native American, 70 (3.0%) Asian, 20 (0.8%) Pacific Islander, 155 (6.5%) from other races, and 141 (5.9%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 524 persons (22.1%).

The Census reported that 2,344 people (98.8% of the population) lived in households, 28 (1.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 939 households, out of which 295 (31.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 369 (39.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 138 (14.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 71 (7.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 89 (9.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 11 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 241 households (25.7%) were made up of individuals, and 44 (4.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50. There were 578 families (61.6% of all households); the average family size was 2.99.

The population was spread out, with 480 people (20.2%) under the age of 18, 253 people (10.7%) aged 18 to 24, 708 people (29.8%) aged 25 to 44, 749 people (31.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 182 people (7.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.1 males.

There were 1,013 housing units at an average density of 3,494.3 /sqmi, of which 939 were occupied, of which 572 (60.9%) were owner-occupied, and 367 (39.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.6%. 1,446 people (61.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 898 people (37.9%) lived in rental housing units.

2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,468 people, 959 households, and 589 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 8,729.1 PD/sqmi. There were 995 housing units at an average density of 3,519.2 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP was 84.00% White, 2.07% Black or African American, 1.30% Native American, 2.23% Asian, 0.28% Pacific Islander, 4.74% from other races, and 5.39% from two or more races. 14.51% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 959 households, out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.0% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% were non-families. 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.3% under the age of 18, 8.3% from 18 to 24, 37.0% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $51,986, and the median income for a family was $52,857. Males had a median income of $42,685 versus $34,583 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $26,071. About 5.4% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 13.6% of those age 65 or over.


text:
Oakley, California

Oakley is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is within the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. The population at the 2020 United States census was 43,357. Oakley was incorporated in 1999, making it the newest incorporated city in Contra Costa County.

Etymology
The name "oak" comes from the abundance of oak trees, while the suffix "-ley" comes from the Old English word for "field" or "meadow". The name Oakley is of Old English origin and its meaning is "meadow of oak trees". This aptly describes the area when first settled and to some extent even today. However, if not for the flip of a coin and cribbage board the community may have been named Dewey. City founder Randolph Marsh wanted to name the city Dewey, after Admiral Dewey, in honor of Dewey's success at Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War. His friend J.T. Whightman preferred the name "Oakley" because the terrain was largely meadows and oaks. To determine which name would prevail they battled it out over a game of cribbage. Marsh may have lost the game and the right to name the city but he ensured his immortality by choosing downtown street names whose first initials spelled "Marsh" — Main, Acme, Ruby, Star and Home.

Indigenous history
Archeologists have found prehistoric sites in the Oakley area. One substantial shell mound was discovered early in the 20th century near what is now the eastern edge of town. The Northwest Information Center of the California Historical Resources Information System monitors the archeological investigations undertaken in Oakley. Around three dozen such projects have been completed in the past 25 years, yielding only four prehistoric sites in the city. However, the information center believes there is a high possibility that other prehistoric sites remain within the city. To enable further archaeological excavation, the site referred to as Simon Mound was purchased by the Archaeological Conservancy after many of the ancient settlement places had already been destroyed by urban encroachment. Simone Mound has provided bones and fragments from burial sites starting around 1000 A.D. and is near a similar Conservancy preserve, the Hotchkiss Mound.

The first accounts of identifiable cultural community in the west delta are attributed to the Bay Miwoks, who occupied the region between 1100 and 1770 AD. The Bay Miwok people, usually called the Julpunes or Pulpunes by European explorers, were organized into "tribelets"—political units that included several fairly permanent villages and a set of seasonal campsites arrayed across a well-defined territory.

Spanish exploration
Incursions of the Spanish Empire into the Oakley area began in the 1770s. The first group to enter the present-day city limits was the De Anza expedition of 1775–76. However, after a failed attempt to find a route through the tule swamps to the Sierra, the De Anza expedition returned to Monterey. Subsequent expeditions by the Spanish did not result in colonization. Europeans settled in the Delta in the 19th century, but were killed by malaria and smallpox.

American period
Oakley's first post office was established in 1898.

Oakley became an incorporated city in 1999.

Geography and environment
According to reports provided by Money.com, Oakley experiences 21.16 in of annual rainfall with an average high temperature in July of 96.0 F and an average low temperature in January of 40.0 F. Oakley experiences 52% clear days throughout the year.

Oakley's western border is California State Route 160. The City of Antioch adjoins Oakley on the west, the city of Brentwood adjoins Oakley on the south, and Bethel Island lies to the east. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta forms the northern boundary. The southwestern skyline is dominated by Mt. Diablo.

Government
The City of Oakley is a general-law city, as opposed to a charter city, formed under state legislative statutes and governed by a body of laws in the state Constitution. Oakley operates under a council-manager form of government.

The Oakley City Council consists of five non-partisan council members elected by district. Oakley's city council members are considered part-time because, aside from being council members, they have full-time jobs. This part-time nature of the council opens up opportunities for ordinary citizens who are working in the private sector to participate.

At the first council meeting in December, the mayor is selected by a majority of the city council from among currently serving council members. At this time a vice mayor is also selected.

Politics
In 2017, Oakley had 19,906 registered voters with 9,921 (49.8%) registered as Democrats, 4,705 (23.6%) registered as Republicans, and 4,371 (22%) decline to state voters. Records show that 662 Oakley voters are registered Independents, with an additional 55 registered Green Party members.

Agriculture
Oakley has had vineyards since the late 1800s. Early Portuguese and Italian immigrants found the climate amenable and planted thousands of acres of vineyards.

Nearly 80 percent of Oakley's roughly 700 acre of vineyards are planted in Zinfandel. Oakley's grape harvest can conservatively be estimated at 2,000 tons. These grapes are distributed to a number of local wineries.

Transportation
The BNSF Railway runs through town from east to west. This line also carries Amtrak California's San Joaquin service. In March 2023 the decision was made to close the Amtrak Antioch–Pittsburg station and replace it with Oakley Station.

California State Route 4 used to run right through town from Antioch to Brentwood on Main Street. From 2000 to 2008 a Bypass was constructed from California State Route 160 to Marsh Creek Road south of Brentwood to extend the freeway from Antioch. Oakley relinquished Hwy 4 through downtown to the state in 2012, and is now connected through the Laurel Rd exit.

Oakley is part of the East Contra Costa Bicycle Plan, which has existing facilities in Oakley as well as plans for further expansion.

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Oakley had a population of 35,432. The population density was 2,193.2 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Oakley was 22,641 (63.9%) White, 2,582 (7.3%) African American, 314 (0.9%) Native American, 2,236 (6.3%) Asian, 142 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 4,998 (14.1%) from other races, and 2,519 (7.1%) from two or more races. There were 12,364 people (34.9%) of Hispanic or Latino ancestry, of any race.

The Census reported that 35,329 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 75 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 28 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

There were 10,727 households, out of which 5,479 (51.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,531 (60.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,412 (13.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 708 (6.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 747 (7.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 93 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,522 households (14.2%) were made up of individuals, and 515 (4.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.29. There were 8,651 families (80.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.62.

The population was spread out, with 10,808 people (30.5%) under the age of 18, 3,531 people (10.0%) aged 18 to 24, 10,149 people (28.6%) aged 25 to 44, 8,553 people (24.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,391 people (6.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.9 males.

There were 11,484 housing units at an average density of 710.8 /mi2, of which 10,727 were occupied, of which 8,163 (76.1%) were owner-occupied, and 2,564 (23.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.5%. 26,778 people (75.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 8,551 people (24.1%) lived in rental housing units.

1999
As of the census of 2000, there were 25,619 people, 7,832 households, and 6,461 families residing in the city. The population density was 796.4 /km2. There were 7,946 housing units at an average density of 247.0 /km2. The racial makeup of the city was 75.50% White, 3.42% Black or African American, 0.89% Native American, 2.86% Asian, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 10.58% from other races, and 6.46% from two or more races. 24.98% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 7,832 households, out of which 52.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.2% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.5% were non-families. 13.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.26 and the average family size was 3.56.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 34.5% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 34.5% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 5.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $65,589, and the median income for a family was $68,888. Males had a median income of $49,883 versus $34,659 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,895. 5.0% of the population and 2.8% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 4.7% of those under the age of 18 and 7.4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Education
The city is mainly served by the Oakley Union Elementary School District (K–8) and the Liberty Union High School District.

Elementary schools

 * Oakley Elementary School
 * Gehringer Elementary School
 * Laurel Elementary School
 * Vintage Parkway Elementary School
 * Iron House Elementary School
 * Orchard Park School (K–8, located in the Antioch Unified School District)
 * Almond Grove Elementary School
 * Summer Lake Elementary School (starting the 2019–20 academic year)

Middle schools

 * O'Hara Park Middle School
 * Delta Vista Middle School
 * Orchard Park School (K–8, located in the Antioch Unified School District)

High schools

 * Freedom High School

Public libraries
The Oakley branch of the Contra Costa County Library system is located in Oakley.

Notable people

 * Joe Mixon, Houston Texans running back, 2024 - former Cincinnati Bengals running back 2017–2023.
 * Nguyen Do, poet, editor, and translator, relocated from San Francisco to Oakley.
 * Lisa Joann Thompson, dancer, actress, choreographer, starred in In Living Color, Fame L.A. and Motown Live, lived in Oakley during her high school years.
 * Malik Izaak Taylor, known professionally as Phife Dawg (or simply Phife), was an American rapper and a member of the group A Tribe Called Quest, relocated from New York to Oakley.

title: Oakley, California