Walnut Creek, California
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Looking east across Walnut Creek. In the background is Mount Diablo |
Walnut Creek is a city 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 64,297.
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.
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Downtown Walnut Creek, Main Street |
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 in
1871-
1872 are still present today.
On
October 21,
1914, the town and the surrounding area of 500 acres (2 km²), 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.
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Location of Walnut Creek, California |
Walnut Creek is located at (37.909956, -122.047373). 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
km² (19.9
mi²). 51.6 km² (19.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.05% is water.
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Canal trail near Walnut Creek 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 km²) 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.
As of the
census 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/km² (3,229.6/mi²). There were 31,425 housing units at an average density of 609.4/km² (1,578.5/mi²). 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.
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Northgate community, looking towards Mt. Diablo |
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.
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.
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Castle Rock Park*
Gardens at Heather Farm*
Mount Diablo*
Civic Park*
Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts*
Ruth Bancroft Garden*
Shadelands Museum*
Old Borges Ranch*
Broadway Plaza and Walnut Creek Downtown*
Lindsay Wildlife Museum*
Corey Duffel, professional skateboarder. born and raised in Walnut Creek.
*
Alice Greczyn, actress, was born in Walnut Creek.
*
Jeff Hunter, founder and head administrator of
TOTSE.
*
Randy Johnson, professional baseball player, was born in Walnut Creek.
*
Jason Newsted, former
bassist of the
heavy metal band
Metallica, currently lives in Walnut Creek.
*
Shoshannah Stern, actress, was born in Walnut Creek.
*
Christy Turlington, model, was born in Walnut Creek.
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City of Walnut Creek web page*
Wiki Travel page for Walnut Creek
