| El Cerrito | |
|---|---|
| — City — | |
| City of El Cerrito, California | |
| Location in Contra Costa County and the state of California | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Contra Costa |
| Government | |
| • County Board | District 1: John Gioia |
| • Senate | Mark DeSaulnier (D) |
| • Assembly | Nancy Skinner (D) |
| • U. S. Congress | John Garamendi (D) |
| Area[1] | |
| • Total | 3.688 sq mi (9.551 km2) |
| • Land | 3.688 sq mi (9.551 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) 0% |
| Elevation | 69 ft (21 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 23,549 |
| • Density | 6,385.3/sq mi (2,465.6/km2) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC-7) |
| ZIP code | 94530 |
| Area code(s) | 510 |
| Website | www.el-cerrito.org |
El Cerrito is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 23,549 at the time of the 2010 census.
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El Cerrito was founded by refugees from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. They settled in what was then Don Víctor Castro's Rancho San Pablo, and adjacent to the ranch owned by the family of Luís María Peralta, the Rancho San Antonio.[2] A post office opened at the settlement in 1909 and the refugee camp became known as Rust, after William R. Rust, its first postmaster.[3][4] The village's residents did not care for the name and changed it to El Cerrito in 1916.[3] A year later, El Cerrito was incorporated as a village with 1,500 residents.[2] The name means "little hill" or knoll.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.7 square miles (9.6 km2), all of it land. The city is at an elevation of 69 feet (21 m).[4]
El Cerrito is located on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. The hilly areas of El Cerrito provide spectacular views of its famous neighbor and the Golden Gate Bridge. El Cerrito is located along Interstate 80, and nearby Interstate 580. The city is less than 30 miles from two major airports. El Cerrito is bordered by Albany and Kensington to the south, the Richmond annex to the west, East Richmond Heights to the north, and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park to the east. Local landmark Albany Hill is in Albany, just across the border with El Cerrito. (El Cerrito—Spanish, "the little hill" -- takes its name from Albany Hill.) The Hayward Fault runs through El Cerrito. In addition, El Cerrito is within 150 meters (500 ft) of Berkeley to the southeast.
El Cerrito is approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) from the University of California Berkeley campus and it has two BART (Bay Area rapid transit) stations: El Cerrito del Norte and El Cerrito Plaza.
| East Richmond Heights | ||||
| Richmond | Wildcat Canyon Regional Park | |||
| El Cerrito | ||||
| Albany | Kensington |
The city's primary transportation infrastructure consists of the El Cerrito Plaza and El Cerrito del Norte BART stations along with several local bus lines, operated by AC Transit, providing access to the surrounding area and the nearby cities of Albany, Berkeley and Richmond. In addition to this local service, El Cerrito is also served by AC Transit's trans-bay buses to the San Francisco Transbay Terminal, as well as its late night service from the del Norte station through Richmond, San Pablo, and Pinole, and one of the All Nighter routes, which follows the Richmond-Millbrae BART line. FAST, Golden Gate Transit, Vallejo Transit, Napa VINE, and WestCat provide feeder service between the del Norte staton and elsewhere in Contra Costa County and the North Bay.
San Pablo Avenue stretches the length of El Cerrito and is the primary commercial and retail corridor of the city. El Cerrito is best known for El Cerrito Plaza, a large automobile-oriented shopping center origially built as a regional mall in the 1950s, and for the Cerrito Theater, a restored two-screen movie theater that is known for offering beer, wine, and a full dining menu. The shopping center is surrounded by other commercial and retail businesses along San Pablo Avenue and Fairmount Avenue respectively, including fast food and an ACE Hardware store. The Guitar Center, also located on San Pablo Avenue, is well known among the Bay Area music scene.[5]
El Cerrito city parks include both recreation/sports parks as well as undeveloped nature areas. Most notable are the 80-acre (320,000 m2) Hillside Natural Area open space, Huber Park (Terrace Drive), Cerrito Vista Park (Moeser Lane and Pomona Avenue), and Arlington Park (Arlington Boulevard), Tassajara Park (Tassajara Avenue and Barrett Avenue), Poinsett Park (Poinsett Avenue), and the Canyon Trail Park and Art Center (Gatto Avenue). The City is home to a 2.6-mile (4.2 km) segment of the Ohlone Greenway (named after the Native American Ohlone people), a trail that runs the length of the City along the BART right-of-way and is popular with walkers, runners, and bicyclists.
The city is home to Playland-Not-At-The-Beach, a popular museum.
The 2010 United States Census[6] reported that El Cerrito had a population of 23,549. The population density was 1,836.1 people per square mile (708.9/km²). The racial makeup of El Cerrito was 3,542 (69.5%) White, 91 (1.8%) African American, 54 (1.1%) Native American, 95 (1.9%) Asian, 11 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 1,122 (22.0%) from other races, and 185 (3.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2,657 persons (52.1%).
The Census reported that 5,088 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 12 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 1,386 households, out of which 648 (46.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 937 (67.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 153 (11.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 97 (7.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 71 (5.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 13 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 126 households (9.1%) were made up of individuals and 50 (3.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.67. There were 1,187 families (85.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.82.
The population was spread out with 1,380 people (27.1%) under the age of 18, 548 people (10.7%) aged 18 to 24, 1,274 people (25.0%) aged 25 to 44, 1,387 people (27.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 511 people (10.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.7 years. For every 100 females there were 109.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.6 males.
There were 1,449 housing units at an average density of 521.7 per square mile (201.4/km²), of which 1,099 (79.3%) were owner-occupied, and 287 (20.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.0%. 3,991 people (78.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,097 people (21.5%) lived in rental housing units.
As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 23,171 people, 10,208 households, and 5,971 families residing in the city. The population density was 6,356.5 people per square mile (2,451.1/km²). There were 10,462 housing units at an average density of 2,870.1 per square mile (1,106.7/km²). 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 (these figures had risen to $77,650 and $97,488 respectively as of a 2007 estimate[8]). 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.
At home the percentages of the languages residents speak are English 70.47%, Spanish 6.26%, Chinese 5.96%, Japanese 2.70%, Mandarin 1.80%, Cantonese 1.57%, Persian 1.43%, Tagalog 1.30%, Korean 1.08%, French 0.90%, German 0.83%, Formosan 0.73%, Italian 0.66%, Vietnamese 0.57%, Urdu 0.50%, and 3.23% of people spoke some other language which represented less than 0.50% of the population.[9]
According to the City's 2009-2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report[10] the top employers in the city are:
Note: Data not available for ranking or total employees for each employer.
Nation's Giant Hamburgers is based in El Cerrito.
El Cerrito is in the West Contra Costa Unified School District, a multi-city district that operates three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school in the city:
El Cerrito is also home to private elementary and middle schools:
There is a branch of the Contra Costa County Library system in El Cerrito.[11]
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