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Livermore, California

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For the California wine region, see Livermore Valley AVA.
City of Livermore
City
Location of Livermore within Alameda County, California.
Location of Livermore within Alameda County, California.
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyAlameda
Established1869
IncorporatedApril 1, 1876[1]
Government
[6]
 • TypeCouncil-Manager
 • MayorJohn Marchand[2]
 • Vice MayorStewart Gary[2]
 • City ManagerMarc Roberts[3]
 • U. S. CongressKevin Mullin (D)[4]
 • State SenateSteve Glazer (D)[5]
Area
[7]
 • Total
25.176 sq mi (65.204 km2)
 • Land25.173 sq mi (65.198 km2)
 • Water0.003 sq mi (0.007 km2)  0.010%
Elevation
[8]
495 ft (151 m)
Population
 (2010)[9]
 • Total
80,968
 • Density3,216.5/sq mi (1,241.9/km2)
Time zoneUTC-8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP codes
94550-94551
Area code925
FIPS code06-41992
GNIS feature IDs277542, 2410848
Websitewww.cityoflivermore.net

Livermore (formerly Livermores, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham)[11] is a city in Alameda County. The estimated population as of 2011 was 82,039. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area.

Livermore was founded by William Mendenhall and named after Robert Livermore, his friend and a local rancher who settled in the area in the 1840s. Livermore is the home of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, for which the chemical element livermorium is named (and thus, placing the city's name in the periodic table).[12] Its south side is home to local vineyards. The city has also redeveloped its downtown district. The city is considered part of the Tri-Valley area, including Amador, Livermore and San Ramon Valleys.

Typical Livermore area landscape (Morgan Territory Regional Preserve near Livermore)

Geography

The Livermore Valley is located about 30 miles (48 km) east of and behind the first coastal range of mountains that surround the San Francisco Bay Area. The Livermore Valley has an east-west orientation with mountain passes on the west and east connecting the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley. The passes are used by railroads and highways to connect the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley. Livermore Valley is about 15 miles (24 km) long (east to west), 10 miles (16 km) wide (north to south), and surrounded by California coastal range mountains and foothills.

Watercourses draining the city of Livermore include Arroyo Mocho, Arroyo del Valle, Arroyo Seco and Arroyo Las Positas. The principal aquifer underlying the city is the Mocho Subbasin. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 25.2 square miles (65 km2), over 99% of it land. Several local seismic areas of activity lie near the city including the Greenville Fault and the Tesla Fault.

The soil is primarily gravel with excellent drainage. The gravel is used in several gravel extraction sites outside the city. The gravely soil and Mediterranean climate increases the flavor concentration in the grapes planted in the soil.

Climate

Wind turbines, part of the Altamont Pass Wind Farm near Livermore.

Livermore has a Mediterranean climate[13] with warm to hot, dry summers and mild to cool, wet winters (Köppen climate classification Csa). Summer (June–October) daytime temperatures average in the 75 °F (24 °C) to 85 °F (29 °C) range, but sometimes reach 100 °F (38 °C) and can occasionally approach 110 °F (43 °C). Summer nights, however, are normally much cooler, with lows in the 50 °F (10 °C) to 60 °F (16 °C) range. The valley's passes direct the normal west to east flow of air through the valley. Usually there is a strong evening wind in the summer that brings cool air off the Pacific Ocean into the Livermore valley as it heads towards the much hotter Central Valley. This wind is strong enough with an average summer wind speed of about 9 miles per hour (14 km/h) and predictable enough to make the Livermore hills covered with wind turbines mounted in Altamont pass. The period from June to September is extremely dry and is characterized by clear skies, but in late summer, subtropical moisture occasionally surges into the Livermore Valley, bringing high humidity, monsoon clouds, and, much less commonly, thunderstorms.

Nearly all of the 14.6 inches (370 mm) of annual Livermore rainfall comes in the September to May time period, but about 50% of the days are sunny during this period with no appreciable cloud cover. The peak rainy months are December to March. Most rainstorms are classified as 50% light rain, 32% moderate rain, 11% heavy rain and less than 6% thunder showers.[14] The coldest months are December and January, with a mean high of about 56 °F (13 °C) and a low of about 38 °F (3 °C) with some occasional frost possible on clear mornings. The temperature can drop to as low as 20 °F (−7 °C) to 25 °F (−4 °C) range on an exceptionally cold night. Snow is very rare, but light dustings do occur on the surrounding hills and occasionally in the valley.

The record high temperature is 115 °F (46 °C), recorded on September 3, 1950, and the record low temperature is 18 °F (−8 °C), recorded on January 5, 1961 and December 9, 1972.[15]

Climate data for Livermore, California (1903-2013)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) 57
(14) 		61
(16) 		65
(18) 		71
(22) 		76
(24) 		83
(28) 		89
(32) 		88
(31) 		86
(30) 		78
(26) 		66
(19) 		58
(14) 		73
(23)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) 37
(3) 		39
(4) 		41
(5) 		44
(7) 		48
(9) 		52
(11) 		54
(12) 		54
(12) 		53
(12) 		48
(9) 		41
(5) 		37
(3) 		46
(8)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 2.97
(75) 		2.47
(63) 		2.15
(55) 		1.00
(25) 		.44
(11) 		.11
(2.8) 		.02
(0.51) 		.04
(1.0) 		.22
(5.6) 		.67
(17) 		1.54
(39) 		2.56
(65) 		14.19
(359.91)
Average precipitation days (≥ .01 in) 10 9 9 6 3 1 0 0 1 3 7 9 58
Source: [16]

History and culture

History

Old fire station in downtown Livermore
A stagecoach, similar to those used in Livermore in the 1850s, in Livermore, California, February 2010

Before its incorporation in 1796 under the Franciscan Mission San Jose, located in what is now the southern part of Fremont, California, the Livermore area was home to some of the Ohlone (or Costanoan) native people. Each mission had two to three friars and a contingent of up to five soldiers to help keep order in the Mission and to help control the Indians. Like most Indians in California, the Indians in the vicinity of Mission San Jose were mostly coerced into joining the Mission San José (California) where they were taught Spanish, the Catholic religion, singing, construction, agricultural trades and herding--the Native Californian Indians originally had no agriculture and no domestic animals except dogs. Other Indian tribes were coerced into other adjacent Missions. The Mission Indians were restricted to the Mission grounds where they lived in sexually segregated "barracks" that they built themselves with Padre instruction. The population of all California Missions plunged steeply as new diseases ravaged the Mission Indian populations--they had almost no immunities to these "new to them" diseases and death rates over 50% were not uncommon.[17] The Livermore-Amador Valley after 1800 to about 1837 was primarily used as grazing land for some of the Mission San Jose's growing herds of mission cattle, sheep and horses. The herds grew wild with no fences and were culled about once a year for cow hides and tallow--essentially the only money making products produced in California then. The dead animals were left to rot or feed the California grizzly bears which then roamed California. The secularization and closure of the California missions, as demanded by the government of Mexico, from 1834 to 1837 transferred the land and property the Missions claimed on the California coast (about 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) per mission) to about 600 extensive Ranchos of California. After the Missions were dissolved, most of the surviving Indians went to work on the new ranchos raising crops and herding animals where they were given room and board, a few clothes and usually no pay for the work they did--the same as they had had while working in the Missions. Some Indians joined or re-joined some of the few surviving tribes.

The about 48,000 acres (19,000 ha) Rancho Las Positas grant, which includes most of Livermore, was made to rancher Robert Livermore and Jose Noriega in 1839.[18][19] Most land grants were given with little or no cost to the recipients. Robert Livermore (1799-1858)[20] was a British citizen who had jumped from a British merchant sailing ship stopping in Monterey, California, in 1822. He became a naturalized Mexican citizen who had converted to Catholicism in 1823 as was required for citizenship and legal residence. After working for a number of years as a majordomo (ranch foreman), Robert Livermore married on 5 May 1838 the widow Maria Josefa de Jesus Higuera (1815–1879), daughter of Jose Loreto Higuera grantee of Rancho Los Tularcitos, at the Mission San José. (The Livermore chapter of the Daughter's of the American Revolution is named the Josefa Higuera Livermore Chapter.[21]). Robert Livermore. after he got his rancho in 1839, was as interested in viticulture and horticulture as he was in cattle and horses despite the fact that about the only source of income was the sale of cow hides and tallow. (Read: Two Years Before the Mast[22] for a first hand description of California in the 1840s.) In the early 1840s he moved his family to the Livermore valley to his new rancho as the second non-Indian family to settle in the Livermore valley area and after building a home he was the first in the area in 1846 to direct the planting of vineyards and orchards of pears and olives. Typical of most early rancho dwellings the first building on his ranch was an adobe on Las Positas Creek near the western end of today's Las Positas Road. After the Americans took control of California in 1847 and gold was discovered in 1848 he started making money by selling California longhorn cattle to the thousands of hungry California gold rush miners who soon arrived. The non-Indian population exploded and cattle were suddenly worth much more than the $1.00-$3.00 their hides could bring. With his new wealth and with goods flooding into newly rich California, in 1849 Livermore bought a two-story "Around the Horn" disassembled house that had been shipped about 18,000 miles (29,000 km) on a sailing ship around Cape Horn from the east coast. Its believed to be the first wooden building in the Livermore tri-valley.

During the California Gold Rush, Livermore's ranch became a popular "first day" stopping point for prospectors and businessmen leaving San Francisco or San Jose and headed for Sacramento, California, and the Mother Lode gold country. Most horse traffic went by way of Altamont Pass just east of Livermore. Robert Livermore was a very accommodating host and welcomed nearly all that stopped by with lodging and meals.

Robert Livermore died in 1858 and was buried at Mission San Jose before the establishment of the town that bears his name. His ranch included much of the present-day city. The city of Livermore, named in honor of Robert Livermore, was established in 1869 by William Mendenhall,[23] who had first met Robert Livermore while marching through the valley with John C. Fremont's California Battalion in 1846 as they were recruited to occupy the surrendering Californio towns captured by the U.S. Navy's Pacific Squadron.

California became the 31st state in 1850 when California's non-Indian population jumped from about 8,000 in 1846 to about 120,000 in 1850 as shown in a corrected 1850 U.S. California Census.[24] California had enough population and enough wealth in 1850 that they by-passed the territorial status of most other states and were allowed to more or less choose their own (large) boundaries.

The Livermore Ranch post office, in Robert Livermore's home, operated from 1851 to 1853.[11] The first significant settlement of Livermore was Laddsville, on what's now Junction Avenue, which grew up around the hotel established by Alphonso Ladd in 1864. The official U.S. post office in Livermore opened in 1869.[11] The original Western Pacific Railroad Company in 1869 built its railroad connection from Oakland, California, to Sacramento, California, over the nearby Altamont Pass in the east and Niles Canyon on the west with a stop in Livermore on land donated by William M. Mendenhall. This made Livermore a "railroad"[25] town and greatly accelerated town growth. The population of Livermore in 1869, before the railroad arrived, is thought to have been about 75[26] By 1870 the Western Pacific had been absorbed by the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first transcontinental railroad. Central Pacific was later acquired by the Southern Pacific Railroad and then the Union Pacific Railroad which owns the tracks through town today, although these are primarily the tracks of the "second" Western Pacific Railroad that was founded in 1903 and absorbed into the UP in 1983.

Private grade schools were operating in Livermore from the 1860s on. The Livermore Collegiate Institute was founded in 1870 and the Union high school (later called Livermore High) in 1896 graduated its first class of students. Petroleum was discovered near Livermore and become a valuable asset. Extensive coal deposits were mined near Corral Hollow by the Livermore Coal Company. In September 1871 Laddsville mostly burned down and the people rebuilt their homes and businesses nearer the railroad in what is now downtown Livermore. Until 1875 the townspeople enjoyed bull fights in a small bullring on many Sundays and on other occasions a captured grizzly bear might be pitted against a longhorn bull. Apparently, roping a grizzly was thought then to be a great sport. As the town grew there were a fire company, churches, a bank and a library that were formed by 1876. Livermore was officially incorporated by the state as a city on April 15, 1876. During Livermore's early years, it was also quite well known for large hotels that graced the downtown street corners, before new buildings replaced them. Livermore after the 1880s is also notable for the Wente Vineyards, Concannon Vineyard, Cresta Blanca Winery and Livermore's many other wineries. Since it has a Mediterranean climate, gravely soil, warm days and cool nights it was a good location to grow wine grapes. By 1880 the extensive winter wheat and hay crop lands were being replaced by vineyards. Extensive chromite deposits were found and exploited for a time. In 1885 the Remillard Brick Company was producing an extensive line of bricks and employing over 100 men. A telephone line connected Livermore to Arroyo Valley by 1886 and electric lights were introduced by 1889. By 1890 Livermore had over 20 miles (32 km) of streets.[27] Livermore originally had a Boot Hill called the Old Knoll Cemetery.[28]

In 1909 the Livermore Carnegie Library and Park opened after taking advantage of a Carnegie Library grant donated by Andrew Carnegie. As the city grew and larger libraries were needed other libraries were built and the original site was converted into a historic center[29] and park.

In 1942, the U. S. government bought 692 acres (280 ha) of ranch land, bounded by Vasco and Greenville roads and East Avenue, and built the Livermore Naval Air Station. The primary mission of the base was to train Navy pilots. This facility operated until it was decommissioned in 1946 after the end of World War II. On 5 January 1951, the Bureau of Yards and Docks, U.S. Navy, formally transferred the former NAS Livermore in its entirety to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) for use by the University of California's Radiation Laboratory. In 1952, the government established Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), named after famous physicist Ernest O. Lawrence, as the site of a second laboratory for the study of nuclear energy like the research being done at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The laboratory was run by the University of California. Edward Teller was a co-founder of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and was both its director and associate director for many years.[30] In 1956, the California campus of Sandia National Laboratories opened up across East Avenue from LLNL. Both LLNL and Sandia are technically on U.S. government property just outside the city's jurisdiction limits but with employment at LLNL at about 6,800 and Sandia/California at about 1,150 they are Livermore's largest employers.

For pictures of early Livermore, check the Livermore Heritage Guild[31] photo site[32]

Culture

The Livermore Hindu Temple
First Presbyterian Church of Livermore's chapel
Livermore's Farmer's Market at Carnegie Park downtown

Livermore's culture retains some vestiges of the farming, wine growing and ranching traditions that have existed in the valley since the time of Robert Livermore, but now largely reflects a suburban population. Early in June since 1918 Livermore has hosted the Livermore Rodeo,[33] called the "World's Fastest Rodeo," that claims it has more riders per hour than any other event of its type. There are several wine tasting tours of the many Livermore area wineries that occur periodically throughout the summer.

This culture was documented in the photoessay Suburbia in 1973 by then native photographer Bill Owens, with the photos shown in numerous exhibits.[34] Livermore has a strong blue-collar element, as well as many professionals who work at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other work sites in the high tech industries within the Bay Area. Recent housing development has included the addition of hundreds of million dollar homes set among the southside's vineyards as well as a multi-million dollar renovation of the downtown area. The downtown renovations included office buildings, the Livermore Cinemas, the Bankhead Theatre[35] and a multistory parking structure for the new businesses, Railway station, Bankhead Theatre, restaurants, etc.. At the Livermore Civic Center off S. Livermore Ave there is a state-of-the-art library (with a controversial front mosaic[36] by Maria Alquilar) that opened in 2004.

Livermore has a municipal Las Positas Golf Course, Springtown 9 hole Golf Course as well as the 18 hole Poppy Ridge Golf and the 18 hole Wente Vineyards Course near the city.[37] It has a regional municipal airport (LVK)[38] accessible to business jets which serves the whole tri-valley area. Each summer Livermore has a farmer's market which bring farm fresh produce directly to the consumer.

In 2010, proposed projects included extension of BART high-speed rail system to Livermore with an underground downtown station and a regional performing arts center between Livermore Avenue and L Street.[39]

Arts organizations supported by the city include the Livermore-Amador Symphony, Del Valle Fine Arts, producer of classical music events, and in the valley at large, the Valley Concert Chorale, Livermore Valley Opera, the Valley Dance Theatre, a classical ballet company and the Livermore Art Association, many world class artists are represented.

There are over fifty different places to worship in Livermore.[40]

Camp Wonder opened its first summer camp for children with special medical needs in Livermore in 2001.

One of the largest districts in Livermore is Springtown, the northeast area of the city north of Interstate 580. Originally conceived as a retirement community in the early 1960s, Springtown has many of the city's hotels and a public golf course.

The downtown area or central district has two movie theaters, a community theater, and space for open air concerts. The North Livermore district is north of the Union Pacific Railroad that cuts through downtown. The South Livermore district, which includes a lot of unincorporated land, has over 40 wineries.

Livermore Government

Livermore City Budget
FY 2013-14[41]
General Fund Operating Budget $ 76,472,540
All Other Funds Operating Budget $123,213,745
Sub-total Operating Budgets $199,686,285
Capital Improvement Program $ 44,907,470
---------------------------------------------- ---------------
Total All Funds Budget $244,593,755

Livermore is run by a Council–manager government with a four member City Council[42] elected for four years plus a two year elected mayor and a “professional” City Manager. The council meets at 7 p.m. the second and fourth Mondays of each month at Council Chambers, 3575 Pacific Ave., Livermore. Twice a month they hear citizen input and presumably relay this information to the City manager who actually runs the city day to day. John Marchand (Mayor), Stewart Gary (Vice Mayor), Doug Horner, Laureen Turner and Bob Woerner are the present city council members. The Mayor is paid $1,400 per month and the other council members are paid $980 per month. In addition they are eligible for a $90 per month cell phone allotment and health care benefits up to a maximum of $2,119/month plus other city paid insurance and retirement contributions to CaLPERS or PARS ARS of which the city pays 18% or 1.3% of their salary respectively.

The City Manager, Marc Roberts, was nominally hired by the city council for a five year term and can, in principle, be fired by them if needed. Marc Roberts is paid a salary of $196,320/year with about $64,500/year medical, insurance and retirement benefits paid by the city. The City Manager has a staff of five to assist him.

The City Attorney, John Pomidor is hired by the city council and generally handles all legal matters for the city, from traffic tickets to civil lawsuits to acting as a general counsel, giving legal advice for city departments. Pomidor is paid a salary of $186,593 /year with medical, insurance and retirement benefits of about $62,600 per year paid by the city. The City attorney has a staff of 7.5 FTE to assist him.

Unions and Bargaining units representing the 451 Livermore City Employees[43]

  • Livermore Management Group
  • Municipal Employees' Agency for Negotiation (MEAN)
  • Police Management
  • Police Officers Association
  • Livermore-Pleasanton Firefighters (IAFF)

Nearly all have their own Union agreements and retirement systems which in general cost at least city paid: $7,500 per year for health benefits,life and AD&D insurance, short and long term disability Insurance, 1.45% medicare, 18.1% of salary contribution for retirement benefits which can be used at age 55 at a rate of 2.7% times years of service time salary or 3.0% times years of service times salary at age 50 for police officers, 100% of health insurance paid after retirement with 25 or more years of service, tuition and 75% text book reimbursement, uniform allowance, 80–192 hours of vacation per year, 12 paid holidays per year, etc.[44]

Livermore Police Department

The Livermore Police Department, or the LPD,[45] was established in 1876, at that time the only law enforcement agency in the San Francisco Bay Area besides the San Francisco Police Department. The Livermore Police Department has 135 members including 83 sworn officers and 45 nonsworn full-time personnel who operate on a $25 million budget each year. The police department has two divisions: operations and support. The current chief of police is Michael Harris. In July 2008, the LPD opened its first substation in New Downtown Livermore, known as the Central Station or Downtown Office. The main police station is located in the City Hall center at 1052 S. Livermore Ave. The Livermore Police Department Dispatch Center employs 18 public safety dispatchers with one supervising public safety dispatcher that are on duty 24/7 to handle 911 emergency calls.

Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department

Main article: Livermore Pleasanton Fire Department

The Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department provides fire and advanced life support services to the cities of Livermore and Pleasanton. It serves an estimated population of 150,000 (Including 78,000 in Livermore, and 71,000 in Pleasanton) over 44 square miles (114 km2) (23 square miles (60 km2) in Livermore, and 21 square miles (54 km2) in Pleasanton) with an operating budget of $28,000,000. In 2008 the LPFD responded to approximately 11,000 calls for service. The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 1974 represents its 112 members.

Livermore Schools

Public Schools

The government run public schools in Livermore are part of the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD) with headquarters at 685 East Jack London Blvd. Public schools in Livermore are fully unionized by the Livermore Education Association[46] and Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021[47] Since California is a closed union shop state where all public (state and local financed) schools that are unionized (nearly all) have a monopoly labor agreement which all employees must contribute to whether they join it or not. Like most public schools the parents have very little ability to choose their children's school, once they have bought a house in a given neighborhood, unless they are Title 1 "underprivileged" students. Vouchers or charter schools which would give the parents the ability to choose their children's school are vigorously opposed (successfully for the most part) by the various teachers and support unions.

The District has 11 elementary (K-5 and K-8) schools, 3 middle (6-8) schools, 2 comprehensive high schools and 3 alternative high schools. As of the 2012-2013 school year, the public school superintendent is Kelly Bowers who was hired by the elected school board in 2010. Kelly Bowers is paid $217,987 per year with a benefits, retirement and insurance package of at least another $50,000 per year.[48]

The five members of the Board of Education are elected to alternating four year terms by the voters of the community. Each December, the board reorganizes itself by selecting a board president and clerk of the board. The president of the board (2013) is Bill Dunlop. Anne White is the clerk of the board, while Chuck Rogge, Kate Runyon and Thomas McLaughlin are board members. They hold regular public meetings on the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m. in the School Board Room at 685 East Jack London Blvd.

The schools have about 13,089 students ADA with a staff of about 1,200, which includes 629 teachers. More than 500 other personnel are in administration including principals and secretaries or support personnel such as cooks, bus drivers and custodial staff.

Various sites show the latest API scores for each school. Some also show the average education level of the parents in each school's neighborhood.[49] The higher the parents' average education level, the higher the average API scores.

Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District
(LVJUSD) Budget[50]
Local Funding $65,083,000
State Funding $59,266,000
Federal Funding $10,958,000
---------------------------------------------- ---------------
Total District Funding $135,307,000
  • Elementary Schools
  1. Altamont Creek[51]
  2. Arroyo Seco, a K–5[52]
  3. Emma C. Smith Elementary[53]
  4. Leo R. Croce (K-5)[54]
  5. Jackson Avenue Elementary[55]
  6. Marylin Avenue Elementary School[56]
  7. Rancho Las Positas Elementary[57]
  8. Sunset Elementary[58]
  • K-8
  1. Joe Michell K-8 School[59]
  2. Junction Avenue K-8 School[60]
  • Middle
  1. Christensen Middle School[61]
  2. East Avenue Middle School[62]
  3. William Mendenhall Middle School[63]
  • High Schools
  1. Livermore High School, established in 1891 as California's first union high school[64]
  2. Granada High School, Livermore's second high school[65]
  • Alternative Schools Accountability Model (ASAM) Schools
  1. Del Valle and Phoenix Continuation High Schools, two schools sharing one building since 2004[66]
  2. Vineyard High School, an alternative independent study school[67]
  • Adult Education
  1. Livermore Adult School 1401 Almont Ave Livermore, Ca[68]

Other schools

  • Pre-Scools and Day Care

Livermore has about 30 preshcools and day care centers.[69][70]

  • Charter schools

There are two charter schools in Livermore, one K-8 and one high school, both operated by the Tri-Valley Learning Corporation, a local 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization formed by the parents and teachers who founded the two charter schools. Like nearly all charters the unions don't like them—they are not unionized.

  • Livermore Valley Charter School (LVCS) - a K-8 public school[71]
  • Livermore Valley Charter Preparatory (LVCP) - a high school

Private schools

  • Our Savior Lutheran School (OSLS)[72]
  • St. Michael's Elementary and Middle Catholic School[73]
  • Valley Montessori[74]

Colleges and universities

The Hertz Foundation for scholarships is based in Livermore.

Livermore Parks and LARPD

The Livermore Area Recreation and Park District (LARPD) is a special independent, (non-profit 501(c) organization), park district that was created by the vote of the public in 1947 and runs the parks and other facilities in the city of Livermore and most of the unincorporated areas of eastern Alameda county. LARPD operates 42 facilities,[77] including neighborhood, special use, community and regional parks and sport fields, a family campground at South Lake Tahoe, the Ravenswood Historic Site, The Barn, the Veterans Building, the Carnegie Building, the Bothwell Recreation Center and the new Robert Livermore Community Center. LARPD runs the May Nissen Community Park and Swim Center[78] at 685 Rincon Ave and is open to swimmers with a $0.25 admission price from mid-June through end of August—closed Sundays. May Nissan Park includes a tot lot, group picnic area, barbecue pits, picnic tables, preschool, basketball court, restrooms, horseshoe pits, softball areas, tennis courts, 2 swimming pools, and a dog park.

Brushy Peak Regional Preserve, located near Livermore, is jointly operated by the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District and the East Bay Regional Park District.

The extensive gravel deposits around Livermore have led to extensive gravel extraction that is still on-going. Shadow Cliffs Park along Stanley Blvd west of Livermore is a popular 266 acres (108 ha) park that includes a 80 acres (32 ha) lake in an old Kaiser Industries gravel pit and is used extensively today for swimming, boating, and fishing.[79][80]

Del Valle Regional Park, 10 miles (16 km) south of Livermore, is centered around a lake 5 miles (8.0 km) miles long with all kinds of water-oriented recreation. Parking/Entrance Fee is $6 per vehicle and $4 more per trailered boat. The park opens at 6 AM in the summer and 7 AM in the winter. It has approximately 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of oak-covered hills that can be used for hiking, horseback riding, and nature study. The lake is used by sailboats, sailboards and fishing boats as well as recreational swimmers. Del Valle Park has the eastern gateway to the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, 28 miles (45 km)miles of scenic back country trail. The Del Valle Family Campground has 150 sites, 21 of them with water and sewage, and electrical hook-ups. Picnicking sites are available.[81]

LARPD operates parks and facilities of 1,842 acres (745 ha), with 1,432 acres (580 ha) open space. It runs an extensive selection of classes on a wide variety of subjects. LARPD has its own, five-person Board of Directors[82] that is elected by the citizens to staggered four year terms and meets at 7 p.m. on the second and last Wednesday of each month inside the Cresta Blanca Ballroom at the Robert Livermore Community Center, 4444 East Ave. They are paid $100/meeting with a maximum of $500/month. The General Manager of LARPD is Timothy Barry—selected by the board and paid $137,160/yr plus unspecified benefits including Alameda County retirement plan (ACERA) with 29.13% of LARPD salary contribution rate to a well paid retirement plan.[83] In addition, there are 13 paid holidays, vacation, sick leave, medical, dental, life insurance, etc. adding about $55,000/yr in benefits to the General Manager's salary.[84][85] The organization and facilities are extensive[86] and LARPD hires many part-time workers (up to about 430 at peak times) from Park Rangers to referees in its extensive programs and classes with a permanent staff of about 63.[87][88] The 2012-2013 operating budget of LARPD is $16,393,564 plus a capital budget of $3,870,971. Their source of operating income is property taxes, user fees, charges and grants. Unfortunately, the state has cut down on their share of property taxes as the state re-allocate more to itself and their never ending fiscal crisis's. LARPD serves an area that encompasses about 115,000 people.

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1880855—
18901,39162.7%
19001,4937.3%
19102,03036.0%
19201,916−5.6%
19303,11962.8%
19402,885−7.5%
19504,36451.3%
196016,058268.0%
197037,703134.8%
198048,34928.2%
199056,74117.4%
200073,34529.3%
201080,96810.4%
2011 (est.)82,0391.3%
State Census data [77]
2011 estimate

U.S. 2010 Census

Demographic profile
2010 Census[89]
Total Population 80,968 100.0%
One Race 76,635 94.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone 251 0.3%
Native Hawaiian & Other Pacific Islander alone 231 0.3%
Black or African American alone 1,562 1.9%
White alone 52,397 64.7%
Asian alone 6,643 8.2%
Some other race alone 202 0.2%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 16,920 20.9%

The 2010 United States Census[90] reported that Livermore had a population of 80,968. The population density was 3,216.1 people per square mile (1,241.8/km²). The census reported that (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 389 (0.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 121 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

According to the latest census information, Livermore is the third wealthiest midsize (between 65,000 and 249,999 people) city in the nation. In 2005, the median household income in Livermore was $96,632, which ranked it the third highest income midsize city, just behind number two Newport Beach, CA ($97,428) and Livermore's top-ranked western neighbor, Pleasanton, CA ($101,022).[91]

There were 29,134 households, out of which 11,238 (38.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 17,058 (58.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,834 (9.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,407 (4.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,584 (5.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 206 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. The population age profile was spread out with 20,636 people (25.5%) under the age of 18, 6,176 people (7.6%) aged 18 to 24, 22,530 people (27.8%) aged 25 to 44, 23,284 people (28.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 8,342 people (10.3%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.3 years. For every 100 females there were 98.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.9 males. Of 5,997 households (20.6%) were made up of individuals and 2,099 (7.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76. There were 21,299 families (73.1% of all households); the average family size was 3.19. There were 30,342 housing units at an average density of 1,205.2 per square mile (465.3/km²), of which 20,399 (70.0%) were owner-occupied, and 8,735 (30.0%) were occupied by renters.

The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.8%. 56,967 people (70.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 23,491 people (29.0%) lived in rental housing units.

Politics

Livermore has 48,709 registered voters with 33.4% Republicans, 39.6% Democrats, and 18.5% Decline to State voters. Moderate candidates are normally elected.[92]

In the state legislature, Livermore is in the 7th Senate District, represented by Democrat Steve Glazer,[5] and in the 16th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Rebecca Bauer-Kahan.[10]

Federally, Livermore is in California's 15th congressional district, represented by Democrat Kevin Mullin.[4]

World's longest lasting light bulb

Main article: Centennial Light

The city is noted for one world record. A 110+ year old 4-watt light bulb, called the Centennial Light, housed in the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department main station, is still burning. It glows dimly, but still functions as a light bulb.[93] The Guinness Book of World Records, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and General Electric have concluded that the bulb has been burning continuously since 1901 with the exception of power failures and three times it was disconnected for moves to new stations. The light bulb was manufactured by the Shelby Electric Company and was hand blown with a carbon filament.

Industry

File:LLNL Aerial View.jpg
Aerial view of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Laboratories

The Livermore area is the home of two DOE National Laboratories. The laboratories are known worldwide, and attract significant attention both for their scientific research and for their major roles in developing the United States nuclear arsenal.

Main article: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The largest employer in Livermore is the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), a federally funded research and development center funded by the Department of Energy which is operated by a limited liability consortium named Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS), a joint venture company of Bechtel National, the University of California, BWX Technologies, URS, and Battelle. The lab is the location of the IBM Sequoia supercomputer. The lab was the co-discoverers of new superheavy elements 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, and 118. The chemical element with atomic number 116, previously known as ununhexium, was given the name livermorium, after the laboratory, in 2012.

Main article: National Ignition Facility

LLNL is the location of the world's most powerful laser, the National Ignition Facility (NIF), a project designed to create the first sustained, controlled nuclear fusion reaction, which would generate fusion power, a potential energy source.

Main article: Sandia National Laboratories

Livermore is also the California site of Sandia National Laboratories, which is operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed-Martin owned Company.

i-GATE

The two National Laboratories, along with other stakeholders, including the University of California, Berkeley, UC Davis, and regional cities, partnered to create the i-GATE (Innovation for Green Advanced Transportation Excellence) National Energy Systems Technology (NEST) Incubator. The 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) i-GATE NEST campus was created to stimulate large-scale, high-tech business development around the two labs. Initial focus of the campus will be solar energy, fuel cells, biofuels, LED lighting, and other related technologies.[94][95]

Wine

Main article: Livermore Valley AVA

One of California’s oldest wine regions, the Livermore Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) played a pivotal role in shaping California’s wine industry. In the 1840s, California pioneers looking for outstanding vineyard sites began planting grapes in the region. Robert Livermore planted the first commercial vines in the 1840s. After California joined the union as the 32nd state in 1850, pioneer winemakers C. H. Wente, a first-generation immigrant from Germany,[96] (founder of Wente Vineyards), James Concannon, a first generation Irishman,[97] (founder of Concannon Vineyard), and Charles Wetmore, a Portland Maine born American and pioneer of California,[98] (founder of Cresta Blanca Winery) recognized the area’s winegrowing potential and bought land, planted grapes and founded their wineries in the 1880s.[99] Charles Wetmore went to France in 1878 when he was appointed a delegate for the California Viticultural Association to the Paris Exposition. Charles was able in 1882 to obtain Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscat de Bordelais cuttings from one of the most prestigious vineyards in France, Chateau Yquem. These superior strains helped revitalize the California wine industry. In 1889 Charles won the grand prize for his first pressing (1884) in the 1889 Paris Exposition. Charles shared these cuttings with other growers including C. H. Wente who used the Chateau Yquem grape cuttings to eventually produce their Chateau Wente wine.

Today, most of Livermore's over forty wineries are represented by the The Wine Group that has administrative offices just outside of Livermore, at the Concannon Vineyard on Tesla Road.

Top employers

The top employers in the city of Livermore are:[100]

# Employer # of Employees
1 Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD) 1200+
2 Kaiser Foundation Hospitals 787
3 US Foods 640
4 Comcast 596
5 City of Livermore[101] 451
6 Livermore Area Recreation Park District (LARPD)[102] 450 (60 full-time)
7 Activant 307
8 Harris Rebar 273
9 Topcon 255
10 Costco 244
11 Lam Research‡ 232
12 Target 223
13 Wal-Mart 223

Livermore's largest employers, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with about 6,800 employees and Sandia National Laboratory with 1,150 employees are U.S. government owned facilities located just outside the city and are not included.

Transportation

A sign on the I-580 freeway in Livermore.

Interstate 580 is Livermore's primary east-west six lane freeway. I-580 that passes the outskirts of Livermore before it heads east through the Altamont Pass to the Central Valley and Interstate-5. I-580 and I-5 are the main route of San Francisco Bay area and Los Angeles, California truck shipping traffic. Interstate 680, lies about 10 miles (16 km) west of Livermore. Highway 84 heads southwest from I-580 to Fremont. Vasco Road, an unnumbered highway that is maintained by Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, connects Livermore to Brentwood, California and the Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta area.

Livermore Municipal Airport (LVK)[104] is located three miles northwest of Livermore and is a Division of the Public Works Department and is owned and operated by the City of Livermore. They are the main airport in the Livermore tri-valley area. Approximately 600 aircraft are based on Livermore Airport, which has over 150,000 annual aircraft landings and take-offs and sells over 650,000 gallons of aviation fuel each year. The Airport serves private, business, and corporate tenants and customers. The airport covers about 650-acre airport near the Water Reclamation Plant and the Las Positas Golf Course. The main lighted runway is 5,250 ft long and the second runway, unlighted, built in 1985, is 2,700 ft long and is used mainly for training.[105] There is a 2,400 sq ft Terminal building and about 400 aircraft storage hangar units as well as a large corporate-style hangar building containing about 20,000 sq ft of space. The airfield is accessible 24 hours a day and is attended by city employees during the hours listed under “Airport Services". The manned Air Traffic Control Tower is operated by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees daily from 7:00 A.M. until 9:00 P.M. There is an open airshow which is held annually on the first Saturday of October from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM showing vintage World War-II aircraft and other displays.

The WHEELS bus system operates in Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, California and the surrounding unincorporated areas of Alameda County. It has connections to Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Stations located in Dublin and Pleasanton. For details on routes, times, schedules see:[106]

Livermore has two stations for the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE), a commuter train which runs from Stockton to San Jose area. One station is at Vasco Road, and the other in downtown Livermore at its Transit Center. The Transit center has a free multistory parking garage and connections to the WHEELS bus system.

There is a petition drive to bring the Bay Area Rapid Transit system to Livermore.The group that started the petition was founded by the former mayor of Dublin, Linda Jeffery Sailors, who was successful in extending BART to Dublin/Pleasanton, currently the closest station to Livermore.[107] If BART does come to Livermore, the system would connect to the ACE Train.

Media

Radio station KKIQ is licensed in Livermore and broadcasts in the Tri-City area.

Landmarks

Livermore has five landmarks listed on the National Register of Historic Places: the Bank of Italy Building, the Hagemann Ranch Historic District, the D. J. Murphy House, the Livermore Carnegie Library and Park and Ravenswood Historic Site.

Notable people

Sister cities

Livermore has four sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:[108]

References

  1. ^ "California Cities by Incorporation Date" (Word). California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "City Council". City of Livermore. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  3. ^ "City Manager's Office". City of Livermore. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  4. ^ a b "California's 15th Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Senators". State of California. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  6. ^ "City Government". City of Livermore Official Web Site. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  7. ^ U.S. Census
  8. ^ "City of Livermore". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  9. ^ [1]
  10. ^ a b "Members Assembly". State of California. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  11. ^ a b c Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 655. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
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  13. ^ Average Livermore weather [3] accessed 20 Apr 2013
  14. ^ Livermore rainfall probabilities [4] accessed 20 Apr 2013
  15. ^ http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ca8353
  16. ^ http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/cliMAIN.pl?ca4997
  17. ^ Mission Indian life[5] accessed 15 Jul 2013
  18. ^ Map of Rancho Los Positas [6] accessed 28 Mar 2013
  19. ^ There is conflicting information as to the size of Livermore and Noreiga's grant. The 1884 California surveyors report lists 8,880 acres as being approved--this is probably what the Livermore family ended up with of their original grant when it was finally patented 1872. The rancho map (circa 1840?) seems to show a larger grant than 8,880 acres. [7] accessed 28 Mar 2013
  20. ^ Robert Livermore Picture [8] accessed 28 Mar 2013
  21. ^ Josefa Higuera Livermore Chapter[9] accessed 15 Jul 2013
  22. ^ Two Years Before the Mast free eBook [10] accessed 25 Mar 2013
  23. ^ William Mendenhall [11] accessed 28 Mar 2013
  24. ^ “Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789–1945”; The California U.S. Census of 1850 showed 92,597 residents. To this should be added residents from San Francisco, (the largest city in the state) Santa Clara, and Contra Costa counties whose censuses were burned up or lost and not included in the totals. Newspaper accounts in 1850 (Alta Californian) gives the population of San Francisco at 21,000; The special California state Census of 1852 finds 6,158 residents of Santa Clara county and 2,786 residents of Contra Costa County. The corrected California U.S. 1850 Census is over 120,000. See: U.S. Seventh Census 1850: California [12] Accessed 14 April 2011
  25. ^ CPRR railroad history [13] access 28 Mar 2013
  26. ^ Baker, Joseph Eugene; Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume 1;p.441;[14]
  27. ^ Baker, Joseph Eugene; Past and present of Alameda County, California, Volume 1;p.442;[15]
  28. ^ http://www.daffodil.org/ncds/dafvistas.htm
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  30. ^ Livermore Naval Air Station Website. Accessed July 2, 2011
  31. ^ Livermore Heritage Guild [17] accessed 3 Apr 2013
  32. ^ Livermore Heritage Guild photo site [18] accessed 3 Apr 2013
  33. ^ Livermore Rodeo
  34. ^ suburbia by bill owens
  35. ^ Bankhead Theatre [19] accessed 28 Mar 2013
  36. ^ "Miami Muralist Embroiled In Mosaic Misspelling Mess". WPLG. 2004-10-07. Retrieved 2007-04-20.
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  39. ^ Hunt, Tim (August 2, 2010). "Tim Hunt: Forget high-speed rail; government needs to pitch in for BART to Livermore". The Oakland Tribune.
  40. ^ Places to Worship [22] accessed 28 Mar 2013
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  42. ^ Livermore City Council [24] accessed 6 Apr 2013
  43. ^ Livermore Unions [25] accessed 6 Apr 2013
  44. ^ Livermore benefits [26] accessed 6 Apr 2013
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  46. ^ Livermore LEA agreement (125 pages) [28] accessed 14 Apr 2013
  47. ^ Livermore SEIU agreement (79 Pages) [29] accessed 14 Apr 2013
  48. ^ Teacher and superintendent salaries (on p. 11 of pdf document)[30] accessed 23 Apr 2013
  49. ^ Livermore School Rankings, API, parental education level [31] accessed 28 Apr 2013
  50. ^ Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District Budget
    For reasons unknown the published school district budgets are usually either incomplete,
    cryptic, years out of date or omit significant income.
    Teach ade gives a much more complete breakdown of something approaching a "real" budget.[32] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  51. ^ Altamont Creek Elementary [33] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  52. ^ Arroyo Seco Elementary [34] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  53. ^ Emma C. Smith Elementary [35] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  54. ^ Leo R. Croce (K-5)[36] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  55. ^ Jackson Avenue Elementary [37] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  56. ^ Marylin Avenue Elementary School [38] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  57. ^ Rancho Las Positas Elementary [39] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  58. ^ Sunset Elementary [40] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  59. ^ Joe Michell [41] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  60. ^ Junction Avenue K-8 [42] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  61. ^ Andrew N. Christensen Middle [43] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  62. ^ East Avenue Middle [44] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  63. ^ William Mendenhall Middle [45] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  64. ^ Livermore High School [46] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  65. ^ Granada High [47] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  66. ^ Del Valle and Phoenix [48] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  67. ^ Vineyard Alternative High School [49] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  68. ^ Livermore Adult School [50] accessed 21 Apr 2013
  69. ^ Livermoe preshcools and day care centers [51] accessed 23 Apr 2013
  70. ^ Livermoe preshcools and day care centers Yelp [52] accessed 23 Apr 2013
  71. ^ Livermore Valley Charter School [53] accessed 23 Apr 2013
  72. ^ Our Savior Lutheran School [54] accessed 23 Apr 2013
  73. ^ St. Michael's Elementary and Middle Catholic School [55] accessed 23 Apr 2013
  74. ^ Valley Montessori [56] accessed 23 Apr 2013
  75. ^ Las Positas College [57] accessed 23 Apr 2013
  76. ^ University of Phoenix accessed 23 Apr 2013
  77. ^ LARPD activities 2013 [58] accessed 6 Apr 2013
  78. ^ May Nissen Swim Center [59] accessed 6 Apr 2013
  79. ^ Shadow Cliffs Park [60] accessed 23 Apr 2013
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  81. ^ Del Valle Regional Park [62] accessed 24 Apr 2013
  82. ^ LARPD Board of Directors [63] Accessed 6 Apr 2013
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  87. ^ LARPD Municipal Service Review
  88. ^ LARPD salary schedules
  89. ^ Demographic Profile Bay Area Census http://www.bayareacensus.ca.gov
  90. ^ Template:USCensus-2010CA
  91. ^ Livermore income rank
  92. ^ Political affiliation
  93. ^ Little lightbulb burns 110 years | The Manila Bulletin Newspaper Online
  94. ^ "Campus an incubator for innovation", Jeanine Benca, (Hayward) Daily Review, July 8, 2011
  95. ^ California selects Livermore Valley’s i-GATE as state innovation hub – Sandia Labs News Releases
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  97. ^ Concannon family [69] accessed 25 Mar 2013
  98. ^ Charles Wetmore [70] accessed 25 Mar 2013
  99. ^ Wineries, Wine Tasting, Dining, Tours, Weddings & More! | Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association
  100. ^ City of Livermore CAFR
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  103. ^ FormFactor SmartMatrix 100XP Delivers Extended Performance for Next Generation DRAM Testing
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  106. ^ WHEELS [75] accessed 5 Apr 2013
  107. ^ "LivermoreBART.org". Retrieved 2007-04-20.
  108. ^ Livermore sister cities [76] Accessed 6 Apr 2013
  • Livermore (2002), a film by Rachel Raney and David Murray
  • Suburbia, photoessay by Owens, Bill, (1972), ISBN 1-881270-40-8
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