El Cerrito, Contra Costa County, California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

El Cerrito is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 23,171 at the 2000 census.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Places 3 Celebrities 4 Demographics 5 Famous residents 6 External links

[edit] Geography

El Cerrito is located at 37°55′3″N, 122°18′18″W (37.917424, -122.305029)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 9.5 km² (3.7 mi²), all land.

El Cerrito is bordered by Albany and Kensington to the south, Richmond to the west, East Richmond Heights to the north, and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park to the east. In addition, El Cerrito is within 150 meters (500 ft) of Berkeley to the southeast.

El Cerrito is about 5 miles from the University of California Berkeley campus and it has 2 BART rapid transit stations: El Cerrito del Norte and El Cerrito Plaza.

[edit] Places

El Cerrito Plaza is the largest shopping center in the city; containing Trader Joe's, Albertsons, several restaurants, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks, Bed Bath & Beyond, Longs Drugs, Silver Screen movie rental and more. Peet's Coffee & Tea is located across the street from El Cerrito Plaza. The Cerrito Theater, a newly restored movie theater, opened in November 2006.

El Cerrito has an array of recreational parks. Most notable is Huber Park. It is located on Terrace Drive. Cerrito Vista Park, located on Moeser Lane and Pomona Avenue, is the home to the El Cerrito High School Baseball team.

The name El Cerrito is Spanish for "the little hill". It refers to Albany Hill, which is located just south-west of the city.

[edit] Celebrities

Creedence Clearwater Revival, including John Fogerty and Tom Fogerty, grew up in El Cerrito and played their last concert at El Cerrito High School. The Bay Area tenure of Metallica started out in El Cerrito. Drew Gooden, who plays forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, also went to El Cerrito High School. During his tenure, the basketball team went to and lost in the state basketball final.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 23,171 people, 10,208 households, and 5,971 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,451.1/km² (6,356.5/mi²). There were 10,462 housing units at an average density of 1,106.7/km² (2,870.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 57.79% White, 8.54% Black or African American, 0.50% Native American, 24.38% Asian, 0.25% Pacific Islander, 3.06% from other races, and 5.48% from two or more races. 7.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 10,208 households out of which 20.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.4% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.5% were non-families. 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the city the population was spread out with 15.9% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 25.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $57,253, and the median income for a family was $69,397. Males had a median income of $50,316 versus $40,866 for females. The per capita income for the city was $32,593. About 3.5% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.9% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Famous residents

• Les Blank, documentary filmmaker (b. 1935)

• Arhoolie records ( incorporated 1960)

[edit] External links

• City Web Site
• Community Web Site
• Real Estate Web Site
• Friends of Cerrito Theater Web Site

• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 37.917424° -122.305029°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA