Walnut Creek, California
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Walnut Creek is a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland located in Contra Costa County, California, USA, in the
East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 64,296. It serves
as the commercial and entertainment hub for neighbouring towns of Pleasant Hill, Lafayette, Moraga, and Orinda.
History
Walnut Creek was first known as "The Corners," where two roads leading from Pacheco and Lafayette met. This Corner
is now known as the Mt. Diablo Boulevard and North Main Street intersection. The first settler of the area was William
Slusher, who built a dwelling on the bank of Walnut Creek, which was then known as "Nuts Creek" in 1849. Today, Walnut
Creek has been routed underneath downtown through a series of tunnels starting at the southwest end of Macy's and ending
just southwest of The Cantina Restaurant. Slusher's dwelling was built in the area of modern-day Liberty Bell Plaza.
Milo Hough of Lafayette built the hotel named "Walnut Creek House" in the corners in 1855. A blacksmith shop and a
store sprouted up, and a year later, Hiram Penniman (who built Shadelands Ranch) laid out the town site and realigned
today's Main Street.
In December 1862 a U.S. Post Office was established, around which the community was named "Walnut Creek." The downtown
street patterns laid out by pioneer Homer Shuey on a portion of one of his family's large cattle ranches in 1871-1872 are
still present today.
On October 21, 1914, the town and the surrounding area of 500 acres (2 km˛), were incorporated as the 8th city in
Contra Costa County, California. Politically, Walnut Creek used to be a Republican stronghold, but is increasingly leaning
Democratic.
Walnut Creek has recently undergone major development in its downtown area, which growing cities throughout the nation
have looked to as a model. Its city government remains in the black, and it has successfully attracted luxury retailers
while maintaining a degree of economic diversity.
Geography
Walnut Creek is located at
37°54'36?N, 122°2'51?W (37.909956, -122.047373)GR1. It is located in a
large valley (The Ygnacio Valley)below the western slopes of Mount Diablo.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 51.6 km˛ (19.9 mi˛). 51.6 km˛ (19.9 mi˛) of it
is land and 0.05% is water.
Open space
Walnut Creek owns more open space per capita than any other community in the state of California, except Palo Alto. In 1974,
Walnut Creek voters approved a $6.7 million bond measure that allowed the city to purchase 1,800 acres (7 km˛) of undeveloped
hillsides, ridge lines, and park sites. Walnut Creek owns parts of Lime Ridge Open Space, Shell Ridge Open Space, Acalanes Ridge
Open Space, and Sugarloaf Openspace. There is also open space in the retirement community, Rossmoor.
Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 64,296 people, 30,301 households, and 16,544 families
residing in the city. The population density was 1,246.9/km˛ (3,229.6/mi˛). There were 31,425 housing units at an average
density of 609.4/km˛ (1,578.5/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city was 83.89% White, 1.07% African American, 0.33% Native American,
9.36% Asian, 0.15% Pacific Islander, 1.96% from other races, and 3.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were
5.99% of the population.
There were 30,301 households out of which 20.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.7% were married couples
living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.4% were non-families. 38.0% of all households were
made up of individuals and 19.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09
and the average family size was 2.78.
In the city the population was spread out with 17.6% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from
45 to 64, and 25.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 85.8 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $63,238, and the median income for a family was $83,794. Males had a median
income of $66,482 versus $45,220 for females. The per capita income for the city was $39,875. About 1.7% of families and 3.7% of
the population were below the poverty line, including 3.1% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.
Culture
California Symphony
The California Symphony (notable for its commitment to the performance of music by American composers) has been based in Walnut
Creek since its inception in 1986.
Civic Arts Program
The city organises education in graphic arts, sculpture, pottery, and performance arts such as dancing for various age groups
is activly supported and encouraged by the Civic Arts Program
Clay Arts Guild
Clay Arts Guild (CAG)
is a non-profit volunteer organization supporting ceramics arts education under the Civic Arts Program of Walnut Creek, California.
The organization is notable for its long history in the region (established in 1964) and the numerous sculptors and potters who
have practiced, taught classes, and/or given masters seminars through its offices.
Activities supported by CAG include:
- Open studio monitoring for students enrolled in Civic Arts Classes
- Purchase of equipment for studio use
- Fundraising via direct sales of donated crafted goods and comission on sales of artist's goods
- Direct support of students through merit scholarships to Civic Arts Program classes
- Organization of master level seminars presented by inovative and famous artisans.
- All work produced using Civic Arts equipment can only be sold through CAG sales.
Dean Lesher Center
Several performance spaces (The Knight, Hoffman, and Lesher theatres) and the
Bedford Gallery are included in this
modern building.
Copyright (c) 2006 Matthew Tyndall Media.
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
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A copy of the license is included in the section entitled "GNU
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