Capitola, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Capitola is a city in Santa Cruz County, California on the coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 10,033 at the 2000 census. Founded as "Camp Capitola" by Samuel A. Hall in 1874, Capitola was named for a heroine in the popular novels of E.D.E.N. Southworth, favored by Hall's daughter Lulu. Capitola is known as the oldest beach resort on the west coast.

Capitola is a popular tourist town because of its trendy shops and restaurants on the shore directly connecting to a fishing wharf and a large, sandy beach. The census-designated area of Aptos and city of Santa Cruz are also located close to Capitola.

Beach at Capitola.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Miscellaneous facts
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Capitola is located at 36°58′35″N, 121°57′17″W (36.976250, -121.954750)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.4 km² (1.7 mi²). 4.2 km² (1.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (4.14%) is water.

Capitola sits on the northeast shore of Monterey Bay. Steep cliffs mark access to several popular beaches, including New Brighton Beach, or drop directly to the rocky shoreline of the Bay. Downtown Capitola sits in a depression among the cliffs so that the popular tourist and shopping area leads directly to Capitola Beach. Colorful houses and hotels line the slopes of the town leading back up to the higher clifftops.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 10,033 people, 4,692 households, and 2,280 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,406.1/km² (6,220.2/mi²). There were 5,309 housing units at an average density of 1,273.2/km² (3,291.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.84% White, 1.17% African American, 0.57% Native American, 4.00% Asian, 0.20% Pacific Islander, 5.53% from other races, and 4.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.63% of the population.

There were 4,692 households out of which 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.1% were married couples living together, 11.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.4% were non-families. 37.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.79.

In the city the population was spread out with 18.4% under the age of 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $46,048, and the median income for a family was $59,473. Males had a median income of $47,879 versus $35,444 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,609. About 2.0% of families and 7.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.8% of those under age 18 and 7.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Miscellaneous facts

In the summer of 1961 hundreds of birds attacked the town. Most of the birds were sooty shearwaters - a normally non aggressive species that rarely comes to shore. Alfred Hitchcock was a regular visitor to nearby Santa Cruz and read about this episode. He went on to direct a film - The Birds - based on the idea of hundreds of birds attacking humans. The reason for this attack remained unknown for over 25 years.

In 1987 in Prince Edward Island, over 100 people became ill after eating mussels, and three died. The symptoms of this intoxication were previously unknown and included short term memory loss in 25 of the cases. After some investigative work the cause was discovered to be domoic acid; an agent that has coincidentally been used as a treatment for intestinal worms in Japan for many years.

Domoic acid is a molecular mimic of glutamic acid - a neurotransmitter. It can bind to glutamic acid receptors in the brain and stimulate them. In excess domoic acid can kill the cells. The source of the domoic acid was determined to be a widespread diatom, Pseudonitzschia pungens, which is a type of eukaryotic algae.

Since this outbreak occurred, shellfish and seafood have been monitored for the presence of domoic acid, and there have been no further outbreaks in the food supply.