Reedley, California

Reedley, California
Location in Fresno County and the state of California
Country	United States
State	California
Counties	Fresno
Government
• Mayor	Ray Soleno
• Mayor Pro Tempore	Steve Rapada
Area
• Total	4.5 sq mi (11.6 km2)
• Land	4.4 sq mi (11.4 km2)
• Water	0.1 sq mi (0.2 km2)
Population  (2000)
• Total	22,895
• Density	4,612.4/sq mi (1,789.3/km2)
Website	www.reedley.com

Reedley is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 22,895 at the 2000 census. Its chief economic source is agriculture, particularly fruit and vegetable cultivation. The city is dubbed as "The World's Fruit Basket". Reedley holds many festivals year round. The city of Reedley hosts an annual Reedley Fiesta in October, the Reedley Electrical Christmas Parade in December, the Reedley Street Faire in May, the Reedley Certified Farmers Market (Wednesday evening, summer), the Reedley Taste of the Town in September, and many other festivities to keep the residents and visitors busy and entertained. Reedley is situated along the Kings River and in the summer, many local residents and visitors drive to Cricket Hollow Park and Reedley Beach to enjoy what the Kings River has to offer.

Geography

According to the123 United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.6 km² (4.5 mi²). 11.4 km² (4.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (1.56%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 20,756 people, 5,761 households, and 4,643 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,813.1/km² (4,700.1/mi²). There were 5,972 housing units at an average density of 521.7/km² (1,352.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 51.76% White, 0.43% Black or African American, 1.21% Native American, 4.37% Asian, 1.86% Filipino 37.72% from other races, and 4.44% from two or more races. 65.59% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 5,761 households out of which 46.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.4% were non-families. 15.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.53 and the average family size was 3.87.

In the city the population was spread out with 32.1% under the age of 18, 12.2% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 105.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,682, and the median income for a family was $37,027. Males had a median income of $30,048 versus $25,495 for females. The per capita income for the city was $12,096. About 18.5% of families and 23.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.6% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.

Schools

The city of Reedley boasts many award-winning schools, although some schools struggled to meet the testing demands imposed starting in 2001 under the then governor Gray Davis. The Kings Canyon Unified School District (KCUSD) has 19 schools from kindergarten to grade 12, including alternative education and programs for adults.

KCUSD has two high schools that parents can choose to send their children to: Reedley High School and Orange Cove High School in Orange Cove and (in the fall of 2008) Dunlap High School in Dunlap.

Reedley High School is best-known for its 350 member marching band, unofficially referred to locally as the largest marching band west of the Mississippi. The school has many co-curricular and extra-curricular activities such as clubs, sports, hands-on career experiences, and music programs. The school's mascot is a Pirate. Reedley High School participates in sports as a Division II school in the CIF central section. The sports include:

	Fall	Winter	Spring
Boys	Cross Country	Basketball	Baseball
	Football	Soccer	Track & Field
	Water Polo	Wrestling	Golf
			Swimming & Diving
			Badminton
			Tennis
Girls	Cross Country	Basketball	Softball
	Volleyball	Soccer	Track & Field
	Golf		Badminton
	Tennis		Swimming & Diving
	Water Polo

The clubs range from ethnic clubs to hobby clubs. Reedley High school colors are Kelly Green and White.

Unlike many surrounding towns, Reedley has private school opportunities for K-12 students. St. La Salle School is a K-8 private catholic school run by the local diocese. Immanuel Schools (Immanuel Elementary School, Immanuel Jr. High School, Immanuel High School) have a K-5 campus in the historic Windsor School campus south of town, as well as a 7-12 campus in Reedley. Reedley College is a public community college with 5,878 students (2007). Reedley College focuses mainly on agriculture, health, and liberal arts, but also offers many other areas of emphasis and also contains many diverse clubs and societies. Their mascot is the Tiger. Reedley College won the state football championship in 2002. The college's school colors are white, black and orange.

Opera house

The building that houses the Opera House Theater was built in 1903, after a fire destroyed two blocks of downtown Reedley. The small theater languished, until being restored in 1986. This historic building houses the Reedley's River City Theatre Company. The City of Reedley acquired the building in 2002 and immediately opened the River City Theatre Company which produces stage plays. They have preformed such shows as Big River, The People VS. Mona, Pump Boys & Dinettes, The Odd Couple, Sunshine Boys, The Nerd, The Music Man, and some local original works written and directed by founder of the company Mark Norwood. Original shows include: Blossoms Up!, Blossoms Up!: Fiona's Revenge, Babes In Toyland: Barnabe's Story, Best Wishes, and Show Offs! which is a compilation show which includes songs and skits performed in past and future shows. Outside talent is brought in occasionally. River City Theatre Company produces plays year-round.

Fame in Reedley

-Mater from Disney Pixar's CARS was created when two men from Pixar visited Reedley and they found a run down old truck which led to the character Mater from CARS.

-The Wii chip was invented by a man who graduated from Reedley High School.

-Many authors have resided in Reedley or have even been born here.

-Some have worked with recording artists.

-Downtown Reedley was the site location for a movie, but in the movie, they made it look like an old western town.

-Famous composers have graduated from Reedley High School.

Notable Reedley-ites

Hideo Sasaki (Famous architect born and raised in Reedley)

Ed Kezirian (UCLA football coach attended Reedley College)

Ernestine Gilbreth Carey (Author of Cheaper By the Dozen lived in Reedley)

Interesting facts

-Reedley has one of the only boarding schools (Academy of the Sierras) in the United States that focuses on helping obese children while providing them with an education.

-The city of Reedley is probably the only city to reject California's first Wal-Mart SuperCenter.

Sister cities

-Tong Yeong, South Korea

-Tobu, Japan

External links

• Reedley.com Official City of Reedley Homepage
• Reedley411.com Local Business Resource Directory
• MyReedley.com Information Directory
• ReedleyDowntown.com Reedley Downtown Association
• KingsCanyonUnified.com School District Homepage
• ReedleyExponent.com Local Newspaper
• ReedleyHigh.com Reedley High School Pirates
• ReedleyCollege.edu Reedley College Tigers