Yuba City, California

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Yuba City
This sign can be seen heading east on highway 20 from colusa toward Yuba City at Township Road.  It marks the city's general planning boundary.
This sign can be seen heading east on highway 20 from colusa toward Yuba City at Township Road. It marks the city's general planning boundary.
Nickname: Prune Capital of the World
Location in Sutter County and the state of California
Location in Sutter County and the state of California
Coordinates: 39°8′5″N 121°37′34″W / 39.13472, -121.62611
Country United States
State California
County Sutter
Founded 1849
Incorporated January 23, 1908
Government
 - Type Council-Manager
 - Mayor John Miller
Area
 - City 13.887 sq mi (24.4 km²)
 - Land 9.4 sq mi (24.3 km²)
 - Water 0.1 sq mi (0.2 km²)
Elevation 59 ft (18 m)
Population (2006)
 - City 85,026
 - Density 3,924.4/sq mi (1,515.2/km²)
 - Urban 97,645 [1]
 - Metro 165,080
Time zone PST (UTC-8)
 - Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes 95991-95993 (P.O.Box 95992)
Area code(s) 530
FIPS code 06-86972
GNIS feature ID 1660222
Website: [2]

Yuba City is the county seat of Sutter County, California, United States. It is the principal city of the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Sutter County and Yuba County. The metro area's population is 165,080[3]. It is the 21st largest metropolitan area in California ranked behind Redding and Chico.

As of January 1, 2006, the city itself had an estimated total population of 62,083[4].

Contents

[edit] Geography

Yuba City is located at 39°8'5" North, 121°37'34" West (39.134792, -121.626201)[1]. The Feather River lies at the edge of Yuba city.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.4 square miles (24.4 km²), of which, 9.4 square miles (24.3 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it is water. The total area is 0.64% water.

The Yuba City area is 40 minutes north of Sacramento and is part of the Sacramento Valley. Sutter County is also home to the smallest mountain range in the world (the Sutter Buttes[5]). The area is sometimes called the "Feather River Valley" named for the river that divides Yuba City from its neighbor Marysville. An example is the minor league baseball team, the Feather River Mudcats of the Western Baseball League in the late 1990s.

[edit] Demographics

[edit] General

As of the census[2] of 2000, there are 36,758 people (60,507 as of 1/1/2006), 13,290 households, and 8,944 families residing in the city. The population density is 3,924.4 people per square mile (1,514.7/km²). There are 13,912 housing units at an average density of 1,485.3/sq mi (573.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 10.95% White, 2.82% African American, 1.75% Native American, 58.93% Indian American, 0.29% Pacific Islander, 14.37% from other races, and 4.89% from two or more races. 24.56% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. The European population in Yuba City is 0.5% Romanian, 0.7% Portugal, 1.6% Spaniards, 0.3% Italian, and 1.6% German.

There are 13,290 households out of which 36.7% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.6% are married couples living together, 14.3% have a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% are "non-families." 26.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 9.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.70 and the average family size is 3.28.

In the city the population is spread out with 29.0% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 95.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $32,858, and the median income for a family is $39,381. Males have a median income of $34,303 versus $23,410 for females. The per capita income for the city is $15,928. 18.1% of the population and 14.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 24.8% of those under the age of 18 and 9.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

[edit] Sikh parade

Yuba City is known for its sizeable Sikh community. The Punjabi population in the Yuba-Sutter Area has grown to be one of the largest in the United States and one of the largest Sikh populations outside of the Punjab state of India. Each year on the first Sunday of November, Sikhs from the United States, Canada, India, the United Kingdom and throughout the world attend the Sikh parade in Yuba City, which commemorates the receipt by Sikhs of their Holy scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, in 1708. The 4.5-mile-long parade features floats and a procession of parade participants. The 2005 parade, the 26th to be held, drew an estimated 56,000 Sikhs. The parade provides economic benefits to Punjabi culture sections of the city as well. The 2007 parade, the 28th annual Sikh parade, drew approximately 75,000 to 85,000 people of both Sikh and non- Sikh background. It is believed that the 2007 Sikh parade broke a record for having the most people attend the parade as compared to the previous Sikh parades.

[edit] Politics

In the state legislature Yuba City is located in the 4th Senate District, represented by Republican Sam Aanestad, and in the 2nd Assembly District, represented by Republican Doug LaMalfa. Federally, Yuba City is located in California's 2nd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +13

[edit] History

The Maidu people were settled in the region when they were first encountered by Spanish and Mexican scouting expeditions in the early 1800s. One version of the origin of the name "Yuba" is that during one of these expeditions, wild grapes were seen growing by a river, and so it was named "Uba", a variant spelling of the Spanish word uva (grape).

The Mexican government granted a large expanse of land which included the area in which Yuba City is situated to John Sutter, the same John Sutter upon whose land gold was subsequently discovered in 1848. He sold part of this tract to some enterprising men who wished to establish a town near the confluence of the Yuba River and the Feather River, tributaries of the Sacramento River, with an eye to developing a commercial center catering to the thousands of gold miners headed upstream to the gold fields. At the same time, another town was developing on the eastern bank of the Feather River, the beginnings of what later would become Marysville.

In December, 1955, a series of storms dropped torrential rain throughout northern California. The deluge caused all the rivers in the region to overflow their banks and to break through levees. The Christmas Eve levee break at Yuba City was particularly disastrous, with 37 people losing their lives, and heavy damage occurring in the downtown section. According to Dick Brandt, manager of the Yuba County airport in 1955, between 550 and 600 Sutter County residents were rescued from the floodwaters by helicopter.

On March 14, 1961, a B-52 Stratofortress carrying nuclear weapons, flying near Yuba City encountered a pressurization problem, and had to drop to a lower altitude. As such, more fuel than expected was used, and the aircraft ran out of fuel. It crashed before meeting with a tanker aircraft. The pilot gave the bailout command, and the crew egressed at 10,000 ft, except for the pilot, who ejected at 4,000 ft, while avoiding a populated area. The aircraft was destroyed. The weapons, two Mark 39 thermonuclear bombs (identified from declassified Department of Energy films and photographs) were destroyed on impact though no explosion took place, and there was no release of radioactive material as a result.[1]

[edit] Schools

Public schools are part of the Yuba City Unified School District[6].

  • River Valley High School
  • Faith Christian High School
  • Yuba City High School
  • Sutter Union High School
  • Albert Powell Continuation High School
  • Gray Avenue Middle School
  • Andros Karperos Middle School: It has an enrollment of approximately 1,200 students and has been running since the early to mid 1990s. It is often called simply AK and is within the Yuba City Unified School District.
  • Park Avenue Elementary School
  • King Avenue Elementary School
  • Tierra Buena Elementary School
  • Barry Elementary School
  • Butte Vista Elementary School
  • St Isidores School
  • Grace Christian School
  • Lincrest Elementary School
  • Lincoln Elementary School: It is located at the corner of Lincoln Road and Walton Avenue.
  • Bridge Street Elementary School: The principal is Frank Alverez, a former elementary school teacher. It is the oldest elementary school still open in Yuba City.
  • April Lane Elementary School
  • Central Gather Elementary School
  • Yuba City Charter School
  • Franklin Elementary School

[edit] Parks

Community parks:

  • Sam Brannan Park
  • Blackburn-Talley Sports Complex/Park
  • Gauche Park

Neighborhood parks:

  • Bogue Park
  • Greenwood Park
  • Happy Park
  • Hillcrest Park
  • Kingwood Park
  • Lloyd Park
  • Maple Park
  • Moore Park
  • Nakwhal Park
  • Northridge Park
  • Patriot Park
  • Regency Park
  • Shanghai Garden Park
  • Southside Park

Passive parks:

  • Clark-Ainsley Mini Park
  • Plumas Tower Plaza Mini Park
  • Veterans Memorial Park

Other recreational facilities:

  • April Lane School/Park
  • Geweke Field
  • City Hall
  • Senior Center
  • Feather River Levee Bike Trail

[edit] Notable residents and natives

[edit] Museums

[edit] Agriculture

The Yuba-Sutter area is not as developed a tourist location as the wine-producing counties to the southwest, but it has some of the best agricultural land in the United States, placed between the Sierra Nevada mountains to the east and the Coast Range to the west.

[edit] John Sutter

Yuba City's agricultural history dates back to the 1840s when John Sutter started a stock ranch that was later set on fire by vandals. However, since then people have continued to move to and cultivate crops due to the fertile soil and great climate. The ten leading crops in cultivation are rice, beans, tomatoes, melons, alfalfa, hay, tree crops of peaches, almonds, walnuts, and plums.

[edit] Sunsweet Inc. headquarters

Yuba City is home to the largest dried fruit processing plant in the world[7], Sunsweet Growers Incorporated, so it isn't surprising that beginning in 1988 Yuba City was home to the California Prune Festival. In 2001 the name was changed to the California Dried Plum Festival and in early 2003 directors announced the end of the festival's 15 year run in the Yuba-Sutter area. This was primarily due to rise in costs, difficulty in securing sponsors, and competition from other festivals.

[edit] Sister/twin cities

[edit] References

  1. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  2. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

[1] "Broken Arrow- The Declassified History of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Accidents" by Michael H. Maggelet and James C. Oskins ISBN 978-1-4357-0361-2

[edit] External links

[edit] Government agencies

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