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Modesto, California
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Modesto is the county seat of Stanislaus County, California. As of January 1, 2008 the estimated population is 209,936. Its population has boomed for the last decade, becoming the sixteenth largest city in the state and the sixth largest inland city in the state behind Stockton, Bakersfield, Riverside, Sacramento, and Fresno. The proximity to major business centers has turned the agriculturally based city into a bedroom community. Over twenty percent of the workforce travels outside of the county to their place of employment.
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Encyclopedia
Modesto is the county seat of Stanislaus County, California. As of January 1, 2008 the estimated population is 209,936. Its population has boomed for the last decade, becoming the sixteenth largest city in the state and the sixth largest inland city in the state behind Stockton, Bakersfield, Riverside, Sacramento, and Fresno. The proximity to major business centers has turned the agriculturally based city into a bedroom community. Over twenty percent of the workforce travels outside of the county to their place of employment. The area is plagued by some of the worst air quality in the nation, on occasion surpassing even that of Los Angeles. It is reported to have had the highest car theft per capita rate in the United States in 2005 and 2006. It dropped to fifth in 2007, but regained the top spot in 2008. In 2007, Modesto was named last in a list of best American cities in Cities Ranked & Rated, 2nd Edition and one of the top three most dangerous metropolitan areas in California by Morgan Quitno (it ranked second in 2006).
History
Modesto, originally a stop on the railroad connecting Sacramento to Los Angeles, was founded in 1870 and was to be named for William C. Ralston, financier of many projects in early California. However, he declined the suggestion and a Spanish-speaking railroad worker at the naming ceremony said that Ralston was "Muy modesto" (very modest). Thus, the town was named Modesto. It is unknown at this time if this story is mere folklore, or actual fact. The fact is no one seems to know for certain how Modesto got its name. The city was incorporated in 1884 in which it had over 1000 in 1880. By 1900 its population was over 4,500. For the next decades Modesto's population boomed to over 100,000 in 1980 and over 200,000 in 2001.
Modesto's official slogan is "Water Wealth Contentment Health," which is emblazoned on a large arch downtown that has been immortalized in many photographs. A contest was run in 1911 to determine the slogan. The original winning slogan was: "Nobody's got Modesto's goat". The second place entry was the final winner.
Sights
Modesto is known for the following tourist attractions and historical sites.
* McHenry Mansion Built by hand in the early 1880s by Robert McHenry, a local rancher and banker. The mansion is included on the National Register of Historic Places. Tours are given.
- McHenry Museum Across the street from the McHenry Mansion. Filled with tidbits from Modesto's history.
- George Lucas Plaza , American Graffiti inspired bronze statue made in the honor of Modesto filmmaker George Lucas, located at Five Points (the intersections of McHenry Avenue, "J" Street, 17th Street, Downey and Needham).
- , Center for performing arts recently opened and is located in downtown Modesto at 1000 "I" Street.
- Downtown Modesto is known for having a variety of restaurants and night life.
- Dating back to the 1920s, it was recently renovated and serves as a local performance arts center and as a theater specializing in independent and foreign films.
- John Thurman Field Home of the Modesto Nuts baseball team (single "A" affiliate of the Colorado Rockies MLB team).
Transportation
Modesto is served by one of the busiest rail corridors in the country. The Amtrak San Joaquins make ten daily stops on the route between Oakland and Bakersfield, and two stops daily on the route between Sacramento and Bakersfield.
Air
Modesto is served by the Modesto City-County Airport that lies east of California State Route 99 within the city limits. The airport serves the United Airlines and Skywest Airlines of San Francisco air service. The airport is used for manufacturing and the shipping industries throughout California and the United States.
Land
Interstate 5 and California State Route 99 provide major highway access to Modesto.
California State Route 132 links the city to Interstate 580, providing commuter access to highways into the Bay Area. California State Route 108 connects to Oakdale, California and east to the the foothills.
Public Transit
Three public transit systems serve Modesto: , , and the San Joaquin Regional Transit District along the northern edge of the city on McHenry Avenue. MAX is the local system with additional connections to the Altamont Commuter Express train station in Lathrop and the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. MAX also provides a paratransit "dial-a-ride" service which specifically caters to seniors and the disabled. It is open to the general public only during certain times . StaRT connects Modesto to the county's other populated centers.
The large industrial region south and east of the city is served by the Modesto and Empire Traction Railroad, a 5-mile (8-km) short line with a web of industry tracks and many customers.
At one time, the city was the operational center of the Tidewater Southern Railway, which had its mainline down the center of Ninth Street, a major north-south road. A law passed by the city kept electric wire over this section of street running long after the railroad converted to steam power. In 2000, the last trains ran down Ninth Street and now the railroad (owned by the Union Pacific Railroad since 1983) is severed through Modesto.
Water
Although the city is surrounded by the Tuolumne River and Stanislaus River, it has no operating port for oceangoing ships due to the depth of the rivers. Fortunately, rivers and lakes near Waterford are wide enough to be accessible for small boats and ferries. The nearest large operating port is the Port of Stockton, used for oceangoing ships that transport goods, particularly agricultural products, overseas.
Future Expansion of State Route 132
The city is planning to build an expressway that would expand State Route 132's expressway status from Interstate 580 to State Route 99. The proposed expressway would follow Kansas Avenue from the new freeway interchange on Highway 99 and would go straight out of the city. The city is also planning to add more ramps on the Central Modesto exit in SR 99 for less traffic downtown.
Industry
Modesto has a large agricultural industry which is based on the fertile farmland surrounding the city. Blue Diamond, an almond factory in Salida, is a major nut supplier. Modesto is also home the the second largest winery in the world, E&J Gallo Winery. The Gallo Glass Company, a company of Gallo Winery, is the largest wine bottle manufacturing company in the world. The company provides thousands of office and manufacturing jobs to Stanislaus County residents. The canneries downtown produce food which is usually shipped to Sacramento and Fresno for transfer to rail or ship. Ceres has a few cereal and snack factories in the area. Downtown there are several steelworking companies. In mid-2008, a number of road projects were being constructed, repaved or repaired, with an estimated total cost of nearly $120,000,000.
Planning and environmental
In the late 1980s Modesto embarked on an update to the city's General Plan pursuant to requirements of the State of California. The result was a comprehensive evaluation of alternative population and land use projections along with associated environmental impact analysis. Some of the environmental factors assessed were air quality, water quality, environmental noise, soil contamination and visual impacts.
Much of the soils in Modesto are classified as part of the Hanford series: (HbpA) fine sandy loam, moderately deep over silt. These soils are well-drained, moderately coarse textured soils derived from alluvium from granitic rock. The Hanford soils are important for the production of a wide variety of irrigated orchard, field, and truck crops.
Vicinity watercourses include the Stanislaus River, the Tuolumne River and Dry Creek empties into the Tuolumne River. Area groundwater, which is the principal source of water supply in the city (Stanislaus,1987), has been historically impaired in a fashion that is spatially variable. In various parts of the city and its perimeter the following water pollutants have occurred from time to time: nitrates, dibromochloroethane, volatile organics, salinity, total dissolved solids and other pesticides.(Torrey, 1989) Each of these contaminants is not present citywide.
Downtown Revitalization
Famous attractions downtown are:
- State Theater
- Gallo Center for the Arts which has never shown a profit since built.
- Brenden Theather
Entertainment and Culture
In the past 10 years, Modesto has hosted many music festivals such as SummerFest, the Downtown Summer Concert Series featuring Chris Isaak, Hootie and the Blowfish, The Doobie Brothers and Styx, and the most notable of all X-Fest.
X-Fest, deriving from its real name Xclamation Festival, is a 21 and over music festival in downtown Modesto. The original concept and creation of this festival derived from JCD Atmospheric Studios and Chris Ricci Presents, now fully owned by Chris Ricci Presents. Starting in 1999, X-Fest has evolved into a large outdoor event stretching 15 blocks and featuring the Worlds Largest Disco which covers four blocks on its own. In 2008 X-Fest featured 50 bands and a crowd of 15,000 people. Although some business owners and citizens of Modesto complain of its rowdy and often drunk Mardi Gras atmosphere, much of the profits end up in local non-profit charities.
Located in downtown Modesto is the locally iconic State Theater. One of the many hot spots for music acts and independent films.
Music and Performing Arts
Modesto is home to YES (youth entertainment stage) company, a nationally recongized program, with multiple age branches, its main program performs at Gallo center for the arts, the program was founded in 1992 by melanee wyatt.
Modesto is also home to Townsend Opera Players, founded by late performer Buck Townsend, and Modesto Performing Arts, as well as the Gallo Center for the Arts
Modesto was the home of the indie rock band Grandaddy.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 188,856 people, 64,959 households, and 46,640 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,277.3 people per square mile (2,037.4/kmē). There were 67,179 housing units at an average density of 1,877.2/sq mi (724.7/kmē). The racial makeup of the city was 69.58% White, 25.58% Hispanic or Latino, 3.97% African American, 1.24% Native American, 6.03% Asian, 0.50% Pacific Islander.
There were 64,959 households out of which 38.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.2% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.86 and the average family size was 3.36.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.1% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,394, and the median income for a family was $45,681. Males had a median income of $38,595 versus $26,989 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,797. About 12.2% of families and 15.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.9% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
In the state legislature Modesto is located in the 12th and 14th Senate district, represented by Republicans Jeff Denham and Dave Cogdill respectively, and in the 25th and 26th Assembly districts, represented by Republicans Tom Berryhill and Greg Aghazarian respectively. Federally, Modesto is located in California's 18th and 19th congressional districts, which have Cook PVIs of D +3 and R +10 respectively and are represented by Democrat Dennis Cardoza and Republican George Radanovich respectively.
Media
- The Modesto Bee daily newspaper now published in Sacramento.
- is a monthly newspaper (and website) that focuses on Modesto's developing cultural, music, and entertainment scene.
- is a quarterly journal that describes itself as "the valley's insurrectionary journal of class struggle."
Notable residents
- Carol Channing three-time Tony Award winning actress and singer.
- Jack Elam, 1919 to 2003, actor, epitome of the bad guy in films. Elam, once attended Modesto Junior College and had a brother who taught there for many years.
- Jim Fairchild of the bands Grandaddy and All Smiles.
- Tony Graziani Philadelphia Soul Quarterback and graduate of Thomas Downey High School.
- Chuck Hayes Kentucky Wildcat and Houston Rocket basketball player.
- Lester Hayes former American football player.
- Kirby Hensley founder of the Universal Life Church.
- Heath Pearce professional international soccer player in Europe.
- Ray Lankford St. Louis Cardinals outfielder and graduate of Grace M. Davis High School.
- Janet Leister, poet.
- George Lucas film director, producer, and screenwriter, graduate of Thomas Downey High School, and former student at Modesto Junior College.
- Frank Mancini, the award-winning band director at Modesto High School, founder of the Modesto Symphony Orchestra and the Stanislaus County Boys Band. Mancini Bowl in Graceada Park is named after him.
- James Marsters actor and graduate of Grace M. Davis High School.
- Boaz Myhill, Hull City goalkeeper.
- Jorge "The Show" Parra independent pro wrestler and actor
- Harve Presnell, actor. He was born in Modesto in 1933 and is a graduate of Modesto High School.
- Michael Porter, starting point guard for the Kentucky Wildcats
- Nestor John "Sandy" Sander, head of the group assigned to map the subsurface contours of what would become the largest oil field in the world, Ghawar.
- Chester Smith country music singer.
- Mark Spitz 9-time Olympic swimming gold medalist.
- Joel N. Ward, convicted conman.
- Ann Veneman 27th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
- Tisha Venturini , National Team: Member of the Gold Medal winning U.S. Women's National Team at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and played soccer from Grace M. Davis High School.
- Evin Agassi, Lengendary Assyrian singer and performer.
- Jeremy Renner, actor.
- Ernest Gallo & Julio Gallo, Winemakers, Philantrophists.
- Derrick Barry, Britney Spears impersonator, America's Got Talent (season 3) semi-finalist and graduate of Fred C. Beyer High School.
- Clinton Mort, Star Search (season 3) Spoke's Model semi-finalist and graduate of Fred C. Beyer High School.
Sister Cities
Modesto has five sister cities:
See also
Bibliography
- Stanislaus County General Plan, (1987)
- John Torrey, Paul Awosika et al., Expanded initial study, Boulder Creek subdivision, Stanislaus County, Earth Metrics, Report 7999: California State Clearinghouse, Sacramento, November, 1989.
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