Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara (/ˌsæntəˈklærə/) is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 116,468 as of the 2010 United States Census, making it the ninth-most populous city in the San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the southern coast of San Francisco Bay immediately west of San Jose and 45 miles (72 km) southeast of San Francisco, the city was founded in 1777 with the establishment of Mission Santa Clara de Asís, the eighth of 21 California missions. The city was later incorporated in 1852. The mission, the city, and the county are all named for Saint Clare of Assisi.[9]

This article is about the city in California. For the county it is located within, see Santa Clara County, California.
Not to be confused with Santa Clarita, California in Los Angeles County.

Santa Clara, California
City
City of Santa Clara
Clockwise: Mission Santa Clara de Asís; the Carmelite Monastery; Saint Claire Monument; Santa Clara University; Women's Club Adobe
Flag
Seal
Nickname(s): 
The Mission City
Location in Santa Clara County and the U.S. state of California
Santa Clara
Location in the United States
Santa Clara
Santa Clara (the United States)
Coordinates: 37°21′16″N 121°58′9″W
Country United States
State California
County Santa Clara
IncorporatedJuly 5, 1852[1]
Named forSaint Clare of Assisi
Government
 • TypeCouncil/Manager[2]
 • City Council[3]Mayor Lisa Gillmor
District 1: Kathy Watanabe
District 2: Raj Chahal
District 3: Karen Hardy
District 4: Kevin Park
District 5: Sudhanshu "Suds" Jain
District 6: Anthony Becker
 • City ManagerDeanna Santana[4]
 • City ClerkRod Diridon, Jr.
Area
 • Total18.28 sq mi (47.34 km2)
 • Land18.28 sq mi (47.34 km2)
 • Water0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2)  0%
Elevation72 ft (22 m)
Population
 • Total116,468
 • Estimate 
(2019)[8]
130,365
 • Rank3rd in Santa Clara County
45th in California
 • Density7,132.74/sq mi (2,753.93/km2)
Time zoneUTC−8 (Pacific)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP codes
95050, 95051, 95054
Area codes408/669
FIPS code06-69084
GNIS feature IDs1654953, 2411816
Websitesantaclaraca.gov

Santa Clara is located in the center of Silicon Valley and is home to the headquarters of several high-tech companies such as Intel. It is also home to Santa Clara University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of California, which was built around Mission Santa Clara de Asís.[10] Levi's Stadium, the home of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers, is located in the city. Santa Clara is bordered by San Jose on all sides, except for Sunnyvale to the west, and Cupertino to the west.

History
The 1847 Battle of Santa Clara, part of the Conquest of California.
Mission Santa Clara de Asís in 1849.
Mission Santa Clara de Asís

The first European to visit the valley was José Francisco Ortega in 1769. He found the area inhabited by Native Americans, whom the Spanish called the Costanos, "coast people", later known as the Ohlone. The Spanish began to colonize California with 21 missions and the Mission Santa Clara de Asis was founded in 1777.

Main Street, c. 1910

In 1846, the American flag was raised over Monterey and symbolized the transfer of the sovereignty of the California Republic over to the United States. In 1851, Santa Clara College was established on the grounds of the original Mission. In 1852, Santa Clara was incorporated as a town; it became state-chartered by 1862.

For the next century the economy centered on agriculture since orchards and vegetables were thriving in the fertile soil. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population had reached 5,000 and stayed about the same for many years.

In 1905, the first public high-altitude flights by humans were made over Santa Clara in gliders designed by John J. Montgomery. The semiconductor industry, which sprouted around 1960, changed the city and surrounding Valley of Heart's Delight; little of its agricultural past remains.

Santa Clara's first medical hospital was built in 1963. This structure, on Kiely Boulevard, was replaced in 2007 with the new Kaiser Permanente medical center located on Lawrence Expressway at Homestead Road.

Santa Clara was also home to a major mental health facility, Agnews State Hospital. According to the National Park Service, more than 100 persons were killed at this site in the 1906 earthquake. The site is the former home to Sun Microsystems and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Downtown Santa Clara: the 1963 City Council voted to knock down the 8 block grid of downtown area next to Santa Clara University bordered by Lafayette, Benton, Monroe, and Homestead (previously named Liberty in 1963) to receive federal funding from Urban Renewal in USA. In 2018 there is a parking lot and Franklin Mall on Washington St (2 blocks) with the one state historical building is, Santa Clara Post Office, apartment building, county courthouse, and strip mall.[11][12]

Geography

Santa Clara is drained by three seasonal creeks, all of which empty into the southern portion of San Francisco Bay; these creeks are San Tomas Aquino Creek, Saratoga Creek, and Calabazas Creek.

There are some significant biological resources within the city including habitat for the burrowing owl, a species of special concern in California due to reduction in habitat from urban development during the latter 20th century.[13] This owl uses burrows created by ground squirrels and prefers generally level grasslands and even disturbed areas. Coyotes have also become active in the area in recent years.[14]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city covers an area of 18.4 square miles (48 km2), all of it land.

Despite being located only 45 miles from San Francisco, Santa Clara's climate is rather distinct—particularly during the summer, when it is generally warm and sunny, as opposed to the foggy and cool conditions one normally finds in San Francisco. The average daily temperatures in July range from 82 °F (28 °C) to 53 °F (12 °C). Winters are mild, with the mean daily temperatures in January ranging from 58 °F (14 °C) to 38 °F (3 °C). Most of the annual rainfall comes in the winter months; the summer months are generally rainless.

Climate data for Santa Clara, California (Santa Clara University, 1893–1976)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °F (°C) 58
(14)		 62
(17)		 66
(19)		 70
(21)		 74
(23)		 79
(26)		 82
(28)		 82
(28)		 81
(27)		 76
(24)		 67
(19)		 59
(15)		 71
(22)
Average low °F (°C) 38
(3)		 41
(5)		 42
(6)		 44
(7)		 47
(8)		 50
(10)		 53
(12)		 52
(11)		 51
(11)		 47
(8)		 42
(6)		 39
(4)		 46
(8)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.03
(77)		 2.56
(65)		 2.30
(58)		 1.03
(26)		 .40
(10)		 .09
(2.3)		 .01
(0.25)		 .04
(1.0)		 .27
(6.9)		 .63
(16)		 1.47
(37)		 2.66
(68)		 14.49
(367.45)
Average precipitation days (≥ .01 in) 10 9 9 5 3 1 0 0 1 3 6 9 56
Source: Western Regional Climate Center[15]

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
18802,416—
18902,89119.7%
19003,65026.3%
19104,34819.1%
19205,22020.1%
19306,30220.7%
19406,6505.5%
195011,70276.0%
196058,880403.2%
197086,11846.3%
198087,7001.8%
199093,6136.7%
2000102,3619.3%
2010116,46813.8%
2019 (est.)130,365[8]11.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[16]

2010
A housing development

The 2010 United States Census[17] reported that Santa Clara had a population of 116,468. The population density was 6,327.3 people per square mile (2,443.0/km2). The ethnic makeup of Santa Clara was 52,359 (45.0%) White, 3,154 (2.7%) African American, 579 (0.5%) Native American, 43,889 (37.7%) Asian (13.6% Indian, 6.9% Chinese, 6.2% Filipino, 3.9% Vietnamese, 3.0% Korean, 1.5% Japanese), 651 (0.6%) Pacific Islander, 9,624 (8.3%) from other races, and 6,212 (5.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22,589 persons (19.4%); 14.6% of Santa Clara's population was of Mexican ancestry.

The Census reported that 113,272 people (97.3% of the population) lived in households, 2,860 (2.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 336 (0.3%) were institutionalized.

There were 43,021 households, out of which 14,477 (33.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 21,817 (50.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4,081 (9.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,038 (4.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,146 (5.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 312 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 10,906 households (25.4%) were made up of individuals, and 2,945 (6.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63. There were 27,936 families (64.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.18.

The age distribution of the population was as follows: 24,774 people (21.3%) were under the age of 18, 12,511 people (10.7%) aged 18 to 24, 41,876 people (36.0%) aged 25 to 44, 25,628 people (22.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 11,679 people (10.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.9 males.

There were 45,147 housing units at an average density of 2,452.7 per square mile (947.0/km2), of which 19,747 (45.9%) were owner-occupied, and 23,274 (54.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.6%. 53,694 people (46.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 59,578 people (51.2%) lived in rental housing units.

Demographic profile[18] 2010
Total Population116,468 – 100.0%
One Race110,256 – 94.7%
Not Hispanic or Latino93,879 – 80.6%
White alone42,026 – 36.1%
Black or African American alone2,929 – 2.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone240 – 0.2%
Asian alone43,531 – 37.4%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone604 – 0.5%
Some other race alone321 – 0.3%
Two or more races alone4,228 – 3.6%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)22,589 – 19.4%

2000

As of the census[19] of 2000, there were 102,361 people, 38,526 households, and 24,117 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,149.1/km2 (5,566.2/mi2). There were 39,630 housing units at an average density of 832.0/km2 (2,155.0/mi2). The ethnic makeup of the city was 55.59% White, 2.29% African American, 0.53% Native American, 29.27% Asian, 0.43% Pacific Islander, 6.94% from other races, and 4.95% from two or more races. 15.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 38,526 households, out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the city, the age distribution of the population showed 19.9% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 39.1% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.9 males.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $75,687, and the median income for a family was $98,977.[20] Males had a median income of $58,641 versus $43,131 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,755. About 4.5% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Economy
McAfee headquarters

Santa Clara owns and operates an electric utility called Silicon Valley Power. In 2005 Silicon Valley Power brought online the Donald Von Raesfeld (DVR) Power Plant. The new combined cycle gas turbine plant produces 147 megawatts of electricity for the city and its residents.[21] As a result, the going rate for electricity in Santa Clara is considerably cheaper than that offered by Northern California's dominant utility, Pacific Gas and Electric.

Advanced Micro Devices, Affymetrix, Agilent Technologies, Applied Materials, Arista Networks, Aruba, Atheros, Brillio, Chegg, Coherent, Extreme Networks, FileMaker, Global Foundries, Hortonworks, Infoblox, Intel, Intevac, Marvell, McAfee, Move inc, National Semiconductor, Nvidia, OmniVision, Ooyala, Palo Alto Networks, PMC-Sierra, Rovi, ServiceNow, Silicon Valley Bank, Synaptics, Trident Microsystems and Veritas Technologies are among the companies headquartered in Santa Clara. Namco Bandai Games's United States office is in Santa Clara.[22]

Top employers

According to the City's 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[23] the top employers in the city are:

# Employer # of Employees
1 Applied Materials 8,500
2 Intel 7,801
3 AMD 3,000
4 California's Great America 2,500
5 Avaya Inc. 2,000
6 Santa Clara University 2,000
7 City of Santa Clara 1,955
8 Kaiser Foundation Hospitals 1,459
9 Macy's 1,200
10 ON Semiconductor 1,100

Government
Park near the library
Gavin Newsom (D)
Kamala Harris (D)[24]
Dianne Feinstein (D)[24]
Ro Khanna (D)[24]
Bob Wieckowski (D)[25]
Alex Lee (D)[25]
  • Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
Ken Yeager of District 4
  • City Manager
Deanna Santana
  • City Council[3]
Lisa Gillmor (mayor)
  • District 1: Kathy Watanabe
  • District 2: Raj Chahal
  • District 3: Karen Hardy
  • District 4: Kevin Park
  • District 5: Sudhanshu "Suds" Jain
  • District 6: Anthony Becker

Transportation
Santa Clara Caltrain station

Santa Clara has two major train stations: the Santa Clara – Great America station and the Santa Clara station. Both stations are served by Amtrak's Capitol Corridor train and the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE); the latter is also served by Caltrain. There is also a light rail system operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), which also operates the city's buses.

Santa Clara is located adjacent to Mineta San Jose International Airport. Some other nearby major airports include San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport.

Education
Exterior
Interior view
Santa Clara City Library

Santa Clara Unified School District is the public school district that serves Santa Clara and small portions of Sunnyvale and North San Jose. The city is home to nineteen K–8, elementary, and high schools. Many of the schools are named for former farmers, ranchers, and other notable Santa Clara residents such as Bowers and Bracher elementary schools, Buchser Middle School, Wilcox High School, and Santa Clara High School. A small part of the city however is served by Cupertino High School and its feeder schools in the nearby town of its namesake.

Private elementary schools and high schools in Santa Clara include:

  • Granada Islamic School (Islamic school, grades K-11)[26]
  • Live Oak Academy (grades K-12)[27]
  • Saint Clare School (Catholic school, grades K-8)[28]
  • Saint Justin School (Catholic school, grades K-8)[29]
  • Saint Lawrence Elementary and Middle School (Catholic school, grades K-8)[30]
  • Santa Clara Christian School (Christian school, grades K-8)[31]
  • Sierra Elementary and High School (grades K-8)[32]
  • Stratford School (grades K-5)[33]

Jesuit college Santa Clara University, junior college Mission College, and Golden State Baptist College are among the city's higher education facilities.

The city is also home to the Santa Clara City Library.[34]

Sports

The Santa Clara Broncos are the Division I NCAA athletic programs of Santa Clara University. Santa Clara sponsors 19 different teams, most of which compete in the West Coast Conference. The red and white of the Santa Clara Broncos is featured on the flag of the city, as is the Mission which lies at the heart of the campus. Santa Clara has long benefited from support from the local community, and the Broncos have achieved a bevy of intercollegiate success, notably in Men's Basketball, Baseball, and both Men's and Women's soccer. Santa Clara's Leavey Center, Buck Shaw Stadium, and Stephen Schott Stadium are all noted as some of the finest facilities of their size on the West Coast. Santa Clara University and its athletic programs play heavily into the culture and history of Santa Clara.

Beginning in the 2014 National Football League season, the San Francisco 49ers play their home games at Levi's Stadium, which opened on July 17, 2014. The stadium hosted WWE's WrestleMania 31 on March 29, 2015 and Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016. The 49ers were founded by Tony Morabito, a Santa Clara University alumnus who chose the red and white of his alma mater for the football team. As a result, the return of the 49ers to Santa Clara is something of a homecoming.

The San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer no longer play their home games at Buck Shaw Stadium, located at Santa Clara University. At one point the entire team and management moved to Houston and formed the Houston Dynamo. Recently the Earthquakes have fielded a new team, with new management in the Silicon Valley. Both teams have been highly successful.

The George F. Haines International Swim Center is home and host to numerous local, regional, and international competitive swimming matches as well as the Santa Clara Aquamaids synchronized swimming team.

The Santa Clara Vanguard, a competitive marching music organization, has been headquartered in Santa Clara since its inception. The organization runs and operates a winter guard, an indoor percussion ensemble, and two drum and bugle corps, all of which compete across the country every year. All four ensembles have been very successful competitively, especially the two drum corps, one of which has won 6 Open Class titles and the other 7 World Class titles. The latter is the only drum corps that has made finals every year since the beginning of Drum Corps International.

Points of interest

Santa Clara is also home to California's Great America, an amusement park currently operated by Cedar Fair, L.P.. Nearby is the Santa Clara Convention Center, one of Silicon Valley's largest event and meeting venues. Santa Clara also offers several museums such as the Intel Museum, Triton Museum of Art, and the Harris – Lass historical house. Near the above-mentioned Mission College is the Our Lady of Peace Shrine notable for its thirty-two-foot tall statue which is viewable from Highway 101 in a manner similar to the statue of Junípero Serra in Hillsborough, California. The Mission City Center for Performing Arts is the city's venue for theatrical productions and entertainment.

The San Francisco 49ers NFL football team has its headquarters and practice facilities in Santa Clara. On Wednesday, November 8, 2006, the 49ers announced their intention to move the team to Santa Clara in time for the fall 2014 season, after negotiations failed with the city of San Francisco to build a new stadium.[35]

Levi's Stadium
The inside of Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers.
Main article: Levi's Stadium

In 2011, Santa Clara voters approved a plan to build a 68,500-seat stadium for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. The groundbreaking for the stadium, located 45 miles southeast of San Francisco, occurred on April 19, 2012.[36] The stadium is located between the Great America park (to the south) and the Convention Center. The official ribbon cutting took place on Thursday, July 17, 2014. The first professional sporting event hosted at the stadium was a Major League Soccer (MLS) match between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Seattle Sounders on August 2, 2014. The first professional football event hosted at the stadium was a pre-season game between the 49ers and the Denver Broncos, played on August 17, 2014.

The stadium hosted Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016, between the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers – the Broncos won the game 24–10.

The stadium has also hosted the 2017 Pac-12 Football Championship Game between USC and Stanford.

Sister cities

As of May 2015, Santa Clara has three sister cities:[37]

See also

References
  1. "California Cities by Incorporation Date". California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions. Archived from the original (Word) on November 3, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  2. "Government". City of Santa Clara. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
  3. "Councilmembers". City of Santa Clara. Retrieved January 23, 2015.
  4. "City Manager". City of Santa Clara. August 23, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  5. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  6. "Santa Clara". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved November 18, 2014.
  7. "Santa Clara (city) QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
  8. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  9. Gannett, Henry (1902). "The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States". Bulletin of the United States Geological Survey. U.S. Government Printing Office (197): 231. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
  10. "Santa Clara University Ethnobiographical Background." Santa Clara University. Retrieved on March 13, 2010.
  11. Santa Clara Journal micro film, Santa Clara, California Wednesday, January 2, 1963, First (Front) page, Article: Renewal Hits Homestretch, Vol 91 No. 9, Santa Clara City Public Library Archives in Santa Clara,CA
  12. Santa Clara City Urban Renewal: Home Movie Clips 1963–1966 Source By by Warburton, Austen; Warburton, Margot: VHS: 1 Tape of 1 Call Number: Video 979.473 S23 Case, Rights: Copyrighted. Rights are owned by Santa Clara City Library
  13. Environmental Impact Report for the Esperanca property, Santa Clara, California, Earth Metrics Inc., California State Clearinghouse (1990)
  14. "Coexisting with Coyotes in Santa Clara". The Silicon Valley Voice. November 8, 2019. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  15. Santa Clara University, California – Climate Summary. Wrcc.dri.edu. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  16. "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  17. "2010 Census Interactive Population Search: CA – Santa Clara city". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  18. "Demographic Profile Bay Area Census".
  19. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
  20. Bureau, U.S. Census. "American FactFinder – Results". Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
  21. Silicon Valley Power Dedicates Donald Von Raesfeld Power Plant on June 15, 2005, City of Santa Clara news release (2005)
  22. "Company Info." Namco Bandai. Retrieved on December 8, 2008.
  23. City of Santa Clara CAFR 2019
  24. "California's 17th Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  25. "Statewide Database". UC Regents. Archived from the original on February 1, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2014.
  26. "Granada Islamic". California School Directory. California Department of Education. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  27. "Live Oak Academy". California School Directory. California Department of Education. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  28. "St. Clare Elementary". California School Directory. California Department of Education. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  29. "St. Justin". California School Directory. California Department of Education. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  30. "St. Lawrence Elementary and Middle School". California School Directory. California Department of Education. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  31. "Santa Clara Christian". California School Directory. California Department of Education. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  32. "Sierra Elementary and High". California School Directory. California Department of Education. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  33. "Stratford School". California School Directory. California Department of Education. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  34. "Library." City of Santa Clara. Retrieved on December 7, 2009.
  35. Cote, John; Vega, Cecilia M.; Lagos, Marisa (November 9, 2006). "Niners to leave SF, move to Santa Clara". sfgate.com. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
  36. Video: 49ers' groundbreaking ceremony for Santa Clara stadium – San Jose Mercury News. Mercurynews.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
  37. "News : New Sister City". City of Santa Clara. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
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