 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 3 4 5 6 ] Next Last |
Lower cost modern tract developments continue along the riverfront and into rural "East County" - new "bedroom" communities" to serve the now "edge cities". This results in some incredibly long and slow commutes for some county residents, as roadbuilding is (as usual) unable to keep pace with the development patterns. Some political control has been established to restrict the development somewhat, with "urban limit lines" now established, but yet to prove their long term effectiveness.
Other cities in the once heavily industrialized northwestern and western waterfront areas such as Richmond and Bay Point (formerly West Pittsburg) have fallen on harder times, with Richmond having difficulty balancing its school budget. This may be arguably attributed to a side effect of proposition 13: it applies also to large industrial and merchandising companies, which have seen their share of property taxes (the bulk of which is used to support local schools) decline severely. As housing prices have not kept pace with the more central and outlying regions, the school districts are having difficulty obtaining proper funding. A lack of the availability of the kind of community support available in the more prosperous regions also contributes to the problem, with higher income residents of some of these declining areas sending their children to private schooling, creating a self reenforcing decline in the public schools.
There are currently political fights over the potential redevelopment of the county seat ( Martinez), with long term residents and many elsewhere in the county concerned that it will loose its remaining small-town charm and utility in an effort to become more like the county's major recreational shopping center of Walnut Creek.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,078 km˛ (802 mi˛). 1,865 km˛ (720 mi˛) of it is land and 213 km˛ (82 mi˛) of it is water. The total area is 10.25% water.
It is bounded on the south and west by Alameda County, on the northwest San Francisco Bay, on the North by San Pablo Bay and Suisun Bays, and on the east by the San_Joaquin_River.
The most notable natural landmark in the county is Mount Diablo, at the northerly end of the Diablo Range.
As of the census 2 of 2000, there are 948,816 people, 344,129 households, and 242,266 families residing in the county. The population density is 509/km˛ (1,318/mi˛). There are 354,577 housing units at an average density of 190/km˛ (492/mi˛). The racial makeup of the county is 65.50% White, 9.36% Black or African American, 0.61% Native American, 10.96% Asian, 0.37% Pacific Islander, 8.06% from other races, and 5.13% from two or more races. 17.68% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 344,129 households out of which 35.40% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.50% are married couples living together, 11.50% have a female householder with no husband present, and 29.60% are non-families. 22.90% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.00% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.72 and the average family size is 3.23.
In the county the population is spread out with 26.50% under the age of 18, 7.70% from 18 to 24, 30.60% from 25 to 44, 23.90% from 45 to 64, and 11.30% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 95.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county is $63,675, and the median income for a family is $73,039. Males have a median income of $52,670 versus $38,630 for females. The per capita income for the county is $30,615. 7.60% of the population and 5.40% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 9.80% of those under the age of 18 and 6.00% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|