Modesto, California

Modesto, California
City
File:Downtown Modesto.jpg
Nickname(s):  City of Water, Wealth, Contentment,and Health
Motto(s):  Water, Wealth, Contentment and Health; City Pride, City Wide
Location in Stanislaus County and the state of California
Country	United States
State	California
County	Stanislaus
Incorporated	1884
Government
• Mayor	Jim Ridenour
Area
• City	39.0 sq mi (93.1 km2)
• Land	35.8 sq mi (92.7 km2)
• Water	0.2 sq mi (0.4 km2)
Elevation	92 ft (28 m)
Population  ((January 1,2008))
• City	209,936
• Density	5,277.3/sq mi (2,037.4/km2)
• Metro	560,283
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	95350-95358
Area code	209
FIPS code	06-48354
GNIS feature ID	0277609
Website	http://www.modestogov.com/

"Modesto" redirects here. For other uses, see Modesto (disambiguation).

Modesto is the county seat of Stanislaus County (sixth largest in agricultural industries), in the U.S. state of California. The California Census Bureau of 2008 estimates Modesto's population has reached 209,936. Its population has boomed for the last decade, becoming the sixteenth in the state and sixth inland behind Stockton, Bakersfield, Riverside, Sacramento, and Fresno. This 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 the worst city in America 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.

The McHenry Mansion.

• 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).
• Gallo Center for the Arts , 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.
• The State Theatre 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

The location of the city is surpassed by a large extensive highway system. The city of Modesto is accessible only on the eastern and western parts of the county. Interstate 5 and California State Route 99 are the major highways that are the north and south road systems. Although, the city and county have been plauged by heavy smog covering the county which gets trapped by the sierra and diablo grande mountains even that of Los Angeles. California State Route 99 passes through the Modesto urban areas and Turlock areas.Interstate 5 surpasses Patterson and Newman which people from the San Francisco Bay Area come to live there turning the cities into bedroom communities. Since Interstate 5 and State Route 99 and not linked together ,overlaps and interchanges will probably never be connected from Patterson to Downtown Modesto along the Tuolumne River and then the overlap into the the area. Other highways such as California State Route 132 and California State Route 108 are the western transportation to the city from Interstate 580 to the city limits. California 108 transportates to Oakdale, Califorina and east to the the foothills. Therefore, the county is accessible anywhere in Northen California.

Public Transit

Three public transit systems serve Modesto: Modesto Area Express (MAX), Stanislaus Regional Transit (StaRT), 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 [2]. 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 width of the river that are not accessible. Fortunatley, rivers and lakes lie near Waterford are wide enough to be acessible for not oceangoing ships but for small boats and ferries. The nearest large operating port is the Port of Stockton that is used for oceangoing ships that transport goods from the San Francisco Bay Area or Foreign expenses. However, Modesto is only surrounded by small rivers not by deep ship water canals.

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 expressway would follow Kansas Ave. 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. A linking system from Interstate 5 to the California State Route 99 will probably never exist due to inept city and county planning. If it were to be built, overlaps would be constructed on Interstate 5 and State Route 99 such as Downtown Modesto and ramps into Crows Landing Road. This would make travel to and from the West Side of the county much faster. Unfortunantley, the project will probably never exist in the furture.

Industry

Modesto has one of the largest agicultrial industries which are based on the fertile farmland surrounding the city. Blue Diamond, an almond factory in Salida, is a major nut supplier. The canneries downtown produce food that are usually shipped out to as far as 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.

Entertainment and Culture

For much of the past 10 years, Modesto has come to host many music fests such as SummerFest, the Downtown Summer Concert Series featuring Chris Isaac, 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 Townsend Opera Players, founded by late performer Buck Townsend, and Modesto Performing Arts.

Gallo Center for the Arts

Activism

In recent years, Modesto has seen a growing number of activist movements. Groups working on homeless issues have led to the creation of an emergency homeless shelter [3]. The Environmentalist and anti-environmental racism work of Green Action has centered around opposing various companies like the Modesto Tallow Plant, and the Covanta Energy Corporation. Various individuals and groups have also worked on counter military recruitment in schools, a product of the No Child Left Behind Act, several Animal Rights demonstrations, and various other events/movements. These projects are often firsts for Modesto, in terms of organizing. The Modesto Peace/Life Center, established in 1971, is one of Modesto's longest-lived activist groups, promoting non-violence and a sustainable environment.

Recently, Modesto has seen an increase in Culture Jamming and Grafitti around the city in protest of the Iraq War and other humanitarian causes. Most prevalent among these are the 'Stop War' and 'Stop Hate' campaigns. Stop signs around the town are continually defaced to read, 'Stop War' or 'Stop Hate.' These have appeared in great numbers and as far as neighboring Riverbank, CA and stretching to the downtown area. There have been efforts to clean the signs, but the vandals are vigilant and often strike multiple signs repeatedly.

Demographics

Modesto Population by year
1880	1,693
1890	2,024
1900
1910	4,034
1920	9,241
1930	13,842
1940	16,830
1950	17,389
1960	36,585
1970	61,712
1980	106,963
1990	164,730
2000	188,856
2005	205,721
2008	209,936

As of the censusTemplate:GR 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/km²). There were 67,179 housing units at an average density of 1,877.2/sq mi (724.7/km²). 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.
• Modesto View is a monthly newspaper (and website) that focuses on Modesto's developing cultural, music, and entertainment scene.
• 209Vibe is a newspaper and website covering music and entertainment in Modesto as well as Stockton.

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.
• 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.
• 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 7-time Olympic swimming gold medalist.
• Joel N. Ward, convicted conman.
• Ann Veneman 27th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
• Tisha Venturinia, National Team: Member of the Gold Medal winning U.S. Women's National Team at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games and played soccer for Grace M. Davis High school.
• Evin Agassi, Lengendary Assyrian singer and performer.

Sister Cities

Modesto has five sister cities: Aguascalientes, Mexico; Khmelnitskiy, Ukraine; Kurume, Japan; Vernon, Canada; and Vijayawada, India.

See also

• The McHenry Mansion, a Historic landmark in Modesto.
• Modesto Area Express local bus transit agency.

References

[4] Historical photos of Modesto, CA

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.

External links

• Modesto Junior College
• The Modesto Bee, Daily Newspaper for Stanislaus County
• Official Modesto website
• Official Modesto Police website
• Historic Modesto
• Modesto Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Stanislaus PRIDE Center
• 209Vibe
• Modesto Art Museum