Pleasanton

Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is a suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 census. In 2005 and 2007, Pleasanton was ranked the wealthiest middle-sized city in the United States by the Census Bureau. It is home to the headquarters of Safeway, Workday, Ellie Mae, Roche Molecular Diagnostics, Blackhawk Network Holdings, and Veeva Systems. Other major employers include Kaiser Permanente, Oracle and Macy's. The town was once home to Phoebe Apperson Hearst, who lived in a 50-room mansion on a 2,000 acres (8.1 km²) estate. It was the backdrop for the film Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, starring Mary Pickford. The highest recorded temperature was 115 °F (46 °C) in 1950. The lowest recorded temperature in 1990 was 17 °C (8 °F) in 1990. The city has a Mediterranean climate, featuring hot, dry summers and mild to cool winters with occasional rainfall (Köppen climate classification Csa). It is located on the lands of the Rancho Valle de San José and Rancho Santa Rita Mexican land grants. In the 1860s Procopio, Narciso Bojorques and others took refuge there. On the east side of town on Stanley Blvd. near the Livermore border is Shadow Cliffs Regional Park, a lake that permits swimming, fishing, and boating.

History

An earlier settlement in the location was called Alisal. Alisal, nicknamed "The Most Desperate Town in the West", was a haunt and refuge of bandits and desperados in the era following the California Gold Rush. The town was once home to Phoebe Apperson Hearst, who lived in a 50-room mansion on a 2,000 acres (8.1 km²) estate, now the site of Castlewood Country Club. In 1917, Pleasanton was the backdrop for the film Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, starring Mary Pickford.Radum Plant was a sand and gravel plant opened in 1931 by Henry J. Kaiser Co., at Radum train station, one mile east of Pleasanton. Its name was chosen in the 1860s by John W. Kottinger, an Alameda County justice of the peace, after his friend, Union army cavalry Major General Alfred Pleasonton. A typographical error by a recording clerk in Washington, D.C., apparently led to the current spelling. The city's name was changed to Pleasanton in the 1880s after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the question of whether the name Pleasanton should be used for a city or a county. It is located on the lands of the Rancho Valle de San José.

Geography

Pleasanton is adjacent to Hayward, Livermore, and Dublin. The city has a Mediterranean climate, featuring hot, dry summers and mild to cool winters with occasional rainfall. The highest recorded temperature was 115 °F (46 °C) in 1950. Pleasanton lies along the route of the historic First transcontinental railroad. Much of Pleasanton is drained by the Arroyo Valle and Arroyos Mocho watercourses. The lowest recorded temperature in the city was 17 °F in 1990. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city's population to be 6,788. It is located at 24.3 square miles (63 km²), of which 24.1 square miles is land and 0.2 sq miles (0.52 km²) is water. It has a population of 6,078. It was the site of the World War II-era Battle of the Bulge, which killed thousands of people. The town is located on the California-Nevada border and was once part of the California Gold Rush. It also lies on the San Francisco Bay Area, which was once a major shipping hub. The area was once known as the Gold Coast, and is now known as San Francisco and San Francisco. It had a large concentration of gold mining before the advent of electricity in the mid-20th century. In the early 1900s, the town was known as "The Gold Coast" because of its proximity to the gold mines, which are still present today.

Demographics

The 2020 U.S. Census reported that Pleasanton had a population of 79,871. The racial makeup of Pleasanton was 47,058 (67.0%) White, 1,190 (1.7%) African American, 226 (0.3%) Native American, 16,322 (23.2%) Asian, 134 (0.2) Pacific Islander, 2,002 (2.8%) from other races, and 3,353 (4.8) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7,264 persons (10.3%). 69,829 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 320 (0,5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 26,053 housing units at an average density of 1,073.7 per square mile (414.6/km²), of which 25,245 were occupied, of which 17,891 (70.9%) were owner-occupied, and 7,354 (29.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9%; the rental vacancy rates was 4.1%. 51,839 people (73.8% of population) live in owner- occupied housing units and 17,990 people (25.6%) lived on rental housing units. The average household size was 2.77; the average family size was 3.20. The median age was 40.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males.

Economy

Pleasanton experienced a major economic boom starting in the early 1980s, largely associated with the development of a number of business parks. Despite an increase in office space vacancy rates in 2000-2004, economic development has remained strong through the middle of the decade. Oracle occupies two buildings of the former PeopleSoft campus, and is the fourth-largest employer in Pleasanton, behind Workday, Safeway and Kaiser Permanente. In retail operations, Pleasanton has one major regional mall (Stoneridge Shopping Center) and several other shopping centers. Besides the anchor tenants Macy's and JC Penney at Stoneridge, notable large stores elsewhere in the city include Home Depot, Wal-Mart, and Kohl's. According to City-Data.com, the median household income had risen to $121,622 by 2013, compared to a statewide median of $60,190. The median price of a detached single family home was $1,795,000 as of August 2021.According to the city, as of June 2022 the top fifteen employers in Pleasant on are:Headquartered in Pleasantan are:According to Zillow.com, the median home value in PleasantON was $ 1,500,415 as of September 2021. The top 15 companies with major operations in PleasantOn are: Hitachi High Technologies America, Inc., Cisco Systems, QASource, Sage Software (Accpac, etc.), CooperVision, Clorox, Fireside Bank (closed in 2012), Roche, BMC Software, Zoho Corporation, Applied Biosystems, EMC Corporation, Portrait Displays, Inc. and Broadcom.

Arts and culture

Pleasanton maintains regular events for the community. Every Saturday morning a farmers' market sets up on Angela, off Main Street. There are several parades during the year, commemorating Christmas, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day, as well as kicking off the beginning of the Alameda County Fair and soccer season. The Firehouse Arts Center, opened in 2010, features a 221-seat theater, the Harrington art gallery, and classrooms for art and drama. The Pleasanton Fairgrounds Racetrack was built in 1858, making it the oldest 1-mile (1.6 km) horse racing track in the United States. There is a 3,000 seat amphitheater, and a nine-hole golf course located within the track's infield. Hacienda del Pozo de Verona (The House of the Wellhead of Verona) was destroyed in a fire in 1969. The house was built by architect A. C. Schweinfurth for Phoebe Hearst in 1898. It is located at the intersection of First Street and Neal Street in the Tri-Valley area of Pleasanton. The city is home to the annual Alameda county Fair, held since 1912. It also hosts numerous trade shows and community events including but not limited to the Scottish Games which occur annually on Labor Day weekend. The fairgrounds are located on a 270-acre (110 ha) facility located in Pleasanton, and are home to a model train exhibit at the fairgrounds.

Government

Pleasanton operates under a councilmanager form of municipal government. The council consists of four elected at-large representatives and one directly elected mayor. The mayor and council members are limited to a maximum term of eight years. Pleasanton has 44,099 registered voters with 17,021 (39.2%) registered as Democrats, 11,338 (25.7) registered as Republicans, and 13,867 (31.4%) Decline to State voters. In the state legislature Pleasanton is in the 7th Senate District, represented by Democrat Steve Glazer, and the 16th Assembly District. Federally, Pleasanton is in California's 15th congressional district,represented by Democrat Eric Swalwell. The city manager is Gerry Beaudin and the mayor is Karla Brown (mayor). The councilors are each elected to a four-year term, while the mayor serves a two-yearterm. Starting in 2022, Council elections are divided into 4 different municipal districts. The vice mayor is appointed each calendar year by the mayor. For confidential support call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/. For support in the UK, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90, visit a local Samaritans branch or click here for details. For help in the U.S., call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-866-273 8255.

Education

The majority of Pleasanton is part of the Pleasanton Unified School District. A very small portion of the district is in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School district. Pleasanton has two comprehensive high schools, Amador Valley and Foothill. The district also has three middle schools, nine elementary schools, and an adult education program. It is ranked as one of the top 200 high schools in the nation by Niche, a website that ranks schools by their quality of education. The school district has been in existence since 1988, when it was formed from the unification of Dublin and Pleasanton. It also has a Continuation High School, which was opened in 2000. It was the first high school in the state to open a continuation high school. It has since added two more high schools and a middle school, as well as a high school and adult education center. The high school is located in the heart of the city, which has a population of about 3,000. The middle school has a total of 12 students, and the high school has 12 students. The elementary schools are in the middle school and high school, and have a combined enrollment of about 2,500. The adult program is in its third year, and has an enrollment of around 1,500 students. It began in 2007, when the school district opened a new middle school in Pleasanton, which is located on the edge of the town of Livermore, California. The community is home to a number of small businesses, many of which are based in the city.

Transportation

Pleasanton is situated at the crossroads of two major Interstate Highways, I-580 and I-680. Native American tribes used the precursor paths as major trading routes. The city is served by two stations on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) heavy rail system. The closest commercial airports are San Jose International Airport and Oakland International Airport, which can be reached directly through BART. The vast majority of international flights serving the region operate from San Francisco International Airport. The Wheels bus transit system is the primary provider of bus service in Pleasanton (with numerous routes in the city), and connects Pleasanton to Livermore and Dublin, along with the above three stations.Express routes from Pleasanton Station and Dublin/Pleasanton (B BART station) to San Ramon and Walnut Creek are provided by County Connection. Livermore Municipal Airport is primarily used for general aviation and charter flights; there is no regularly-scheduled commercial service. There is no scheduled commercial service at Oakland Airport. There are no scheduled scheduled commercial flights at San Jose Airport, but there are scheduled charter flights at Oakland and San Francisco. The majority of flights to and from San Jose are scheduled commercial. The nearest commercial airport to Pleasanton is San Francisco, which is accessible by BART or the Altamont Corridor Express. The only scheduled commercial airline to serve the city is American Airlines, which operates out of San Francisco's San Francisco Bay Area International Airport (SFO) and Oakland's O'Hare Airport.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Pleasanton, Alameda County, California = 35.8. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 32. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 20. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Pleasanton = 5.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 79,871 individuals with a median age of 39 age the population grows by 6.69% in Pleasanton, Alameda County, California population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 3,300 residents per square mile of area (1,300/km²). There are average 2.76 people per household in the 24,566 households with an average household income of $113,845 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 5.90% of the available work force and has dropped -5.07% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 23.96%. The number of physicians in Pleasanton per 100,000 population = 247.1.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Pleasanton = 14.5 inches and the annual snowfall = 0.1 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 58. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 264. 89 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 36.4 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 65, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Pleasanton, Alameda County, California which are owned by the occupant = 69.37%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 25 years with median home cost = $597,960 and home appreciation of -8.93%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $7.10 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,268 per student. There are 21.7 students for each teacher in the school, 7316 students for each Librarian and 519 students for each Counselor. 8.69% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 31.74% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 15.94% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).