Lakeside, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lakeside is an unincorporated community in San Diego County, California, United States. The United States Census Bureau has divided Lakeside into two census-designated places (CDPs), Lakeside and Winter Gardens. The population of Lakeside was 39,331 at the 2000 census. This figure combines the population of the Lakeside CDP (19,560) and the Winter Gardens CDP (19,771).

1 History of Lakeside
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 News Coverage of Lakeside
5 External links

[edit] History of Lakeside

Lakeside began when the land that it is on was purchased by the El Cajon Valley Land Company. It started as a resort town, based around the automobile race course at Lindo Lake.

Though it has long held the title of a "cowboy town" due to the large percentage of ranches and horse ownership in the area, Lakeside has also been acclaimed for its almost "Mayberry" feel to it, says some longtime residents, and its famed Lakeside Rodeo, one of the last in the United States, that holds events once a year for about a week or so.

Other noticeable qualities about Lakeside is the residents' usual deep love and respect for the area, and the lack of growth in any economic sector, one of the more famous being the large, decades-long argument (both in court and elewhere) of building rights in once government-protected lands, and the (now largely non-existent) tension, and occasional violence, of White-to-Native American peoples, mostly those of the Barona Indian Reservation.

Most recently, the Barona tribe opened Barona Valley Ranch Resort and Casino, which is about 30 minutes away from San Diego. The legal gambling age at the property is 18. The spokesman is singer Kenny Rogers.

[edit] Geography

According to the USGS Lakeside is located at 32°51′26″N, 116°55′20″W (32.8572718 -116.9222488)^GR1. This is near the intersection of Maine Avenue and Woodside Avenue. This where most maps locate Lakeside and is in the area that most people consider "downtown" Lakeside.

According to the United States Census Bureau Lakeside is located at 32°50′58″N, 116°54′20″W (32.849533, -116.905420)^GR1. This is approximately three miles east-southeast of the USGS location and near the geographic center of the Lakeside CDP. The Lakeside CDP has a total area of 15.7 km² (6.1 mi²). 14.8 km² (5.7 mi²) of it is land and 0.9 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (5.62%) is water. When combined with the Winter Gardens CDP the total area is 27.3 km² (10.6 mi²).

[edit] Demographics

The United States Census Bureau has split Lakeside into two Census-Designated Places (CDPs). The statistics below cover only the Lakeside CDP. For the demographics of the complete community of Lakeside also see Winter Gardens, California.

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 19,560 people, 6,849 households, and 5,150 families residing in the Lakeside CDP. The population density was 1,320.3/km² (3,420.7/mi²). There were 7,047 housing units at an average density of 475.7/km² (1,232.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 89.83% White, 0.75% African American, 1.10% Native American, 1.27% Asian, 0.28% Pacific Islander, 3.28% from other races, and 3.49% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.52% of the population.

There were 6,849 households out of which 39.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.9% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 18.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 29.0% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.2 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $48,910, and the median income for a family was $55,336. Males had a median income of $41,258 versus $29,375 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $20,100. About 6.9% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] News Coverage of Lakeside

Lakeside was given a reputation of racism and intolerance by a news documentary filmed by KPBS.

This article has been cited as a source or otherwise recommended by the mainstream press. See Wikipedia:Wikipedia as a press source for details.

Racial issues, which some attribute to low-income housing and gang activity, are discussed in the KPBS documentary, "Culture Of Hate: Who Are We?". However, this documentary has been criticized heavily by many residents as unfairly stereotyping the community simply because the population is nearly 90% White. There have also been claims that much of the footage for the documentary was filmed outside of Lakeside.

Both the designation as a racist city and the KPBS documentary were met with disgust and uproar by that majority of Lakeside residents. The news crew filming the documentary actually had trouble finding students whose answers supported the intent of the crew to cast Lakeside in a bad light. Those students whose interviews were used admitted to exaggerating their stories so as to appear on television. The interviews with administrative officials from the local high school, El Capitan, were edited and rearranged so as to alter the meaning of answers and reports. Many complaints were lodged by those school officials interviewed, as well as by the schools students through the High School's student council. The Mayberry designation of Lakeside is much more in keeping with the rural, friendly, and peaceful town of Lakeside. Lakeside, much like any other city, has sections with old run-down apartments and lower income families. As evidenced by government figures, there is a direct correlation between violence and average income, yet only a small section of Lakeside was filmed and shown in the documentary, giving the effect that all residents of Lakeside lived in one bedroom apartments over 30 years old. The documentary, rather than uncovering and documenting bias and prejudice, was filmed with the purpose of broadcasting a racial prejudice and "culture of hate" that had to be created, rather than documented. Residents of Lakeside cite regret that the KPBS newscrew chose Lakeside as the location for such a creation.