Albany, California

Coordinates: 37°53′13″N 122°17′52″W / 37.88694°N 122.29778°W / 37.88694; -122.29778
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Albany, California
City
View of Albany from Albany Hill
View of Albany from Albany Hill
FIPS code
06-00674
GNIS feature IDs1657902, 2409674
Websitewww.albanyca.org

Albany (

2020 census.[7]

History

Peralta family
in 1820.

In 1908, a group of local women protested the dumping of

Ocean View.[9] On a vote of 38 to 6[9] the city was renamed in honor of Albany, New York, the birthplace of the city's first mayor, Frank Roberts.[10]

Albany has a history of real estate discrimination, which made it difficult for non-white buyers to acquire property and build homes in Albany.[11][12][13]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.5 square miles (14 km2), of which 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2) is land and 3.7 square miles (9.6 km2) (67.28%) is water.

The principal shopping street in Albany is

San Pablo Avenue
, which travels from north to south.

Albany is located on the eastern shore of

El Cerrito and Richmond to the north. Albany's northern and southern borders are defined by two creeks, Codornices Creek on the south and Cerrito Creek on the north. Cerrito Creek takes its name from "El Cerrito de San Antonio", now known as Albany Hill. The hill's unusual location near the bay shore makes it a prominent landmark in the East Bay. The rest of the city is relatively flat by Bay Area standards, except for a small area near the base of the Berkeley Hills
.

Albany's waterfront has undergone significant man-made changes; the most prominent landform is now the

Eastshore State Park.[14][15][16]

University of California Berkeley, is located in Albany.[17]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
1910808—
19202,462204.7%
19308,569248.1%
194011,49334.1%
195017,59053.0%
196014,804−15.8%
197015,5615.1%
198015,130−2.8%
199016,3277.9%
200016,4440.7%
201018,53912.7%
202020,2719.3%
U.S. Decennial Census[18]

The

Latino
of any race were 1,891 persons (10.2%).

The Census reported that 18,454 people (99.5% of the population) lived in households, 74 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 11 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

There were 7,401 households, out of which 2,909 (39.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 3,801 (51.4%) were

families
(67.3% of all households); the average family size was 3.00.

The population was diverse in age, with 4,630 people (25.0%) under the age of 18, 1,006 people (5.4%) aged 18 to 24, 6,154 people (33.2%) aged 25 to 44, 4,902 people (26.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,847 people (10.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males.

There were 7,889 housing units at an average density of 1,443.5 per square mile (557.3/km2), of 7,401 which were occupied, of which 3,574 (48.3%) were owner-occupied, and 3,827 (51.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.2%. 9,070 people (48.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 9,384 people (50.6%) lived in rental housing units.

Through the early 1940's Albany "remained closed to African Americans."[20] The Black population of Albany in 1940 was 3 persons.[21] Between 1950 and 1960, the Black population of Albany fell 95% from 1778 to 75.[22]

Economy

The major retail and business areas in Albany are Solano Avenue, which is a pedestrian-oriented street lined with mainly small shops, restaurants, and services; San Pablo Avenue, which is more automobile-oriented; and an area near the Eastshore Freeway.

In 2006 voters approved of measure D which allows one medical cannabis dispensary in the town in addition to measure C to build a new emergency operations center with "sustainable features", an addition to the civic center of Albany.[23]

Albany is the site of Golden Gate Fields, the only horse racing track in the Bay Area.

Real estate prices have been rising steeply in recent years. The median price of a single family home and condo in Census 2000, June 2007, November 2009, July 2011, August 2013 and August 2014 were $334,800, $687,500, $610,000, $590,000, $625,750 and $820,050 respectively.[24]

Politics

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Albany has 11,344 registered voters. Of those, 7,489 (66%) are registered Democrats, 512 (4.5%) are registered Republicans, and 2,917 (25.7%) have declined to state a political party.[25]

In 1966, Albany was home to a John Birch Society bookstore known as the American Opinion Library. [26] On July 30 1968, the John Birch society Truth About Civil Turmoil committee hosted an event at the Albany Veterans Memorial Building which included a speech by a former klansman, Delmar Dennis.[27][28]

On the 26th day of March, 2024.the Albany City Council passed a resolution supporting an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. [29]

Top employers

According to Albany's 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[30] the top employers in the city were:

# Employer # of Employees
1 Albany Unified School District 383
2 Target 358
3 Agricultural Research Service 266
4 Golden Gate Fields 199
5 City of Albany 84
6
St. Mary's College High School
 70
7 Albany Subaru 56
8
Safeway
 45
9
California Orientation Center for the Blind
 45
10 Albany Bowl 43

Education

Albany Middle School, 2000

Albany High School is known as one of the best public schools of the San Francisco Bay Area for its academic excellence. The high school had a graduation rate of 92.1%, according to the 2009–10 School Accountability Report Card for the prior academic year.[31]

There are two private high schools in Albany: Tilden Preparatory School (formerly School for Independent Learners) on Solano Avenue and

St. Mary's College High School
, whose campus straddles the border with Berkeley, CA.

The University of California, Berkeley owns a large student housing complex in Albany, University Village, which is primarily used for family housing.

Arts, culture, and recreation

Midtown Albany

The Library of Congress designated the Solano Stroll as a "National Local Legacy" in 2001.[32]

Albany provides both the locale and the title for one of the best-known poems in

language poetry, by former long-time Albany resident, poet Ron Silliman
.

Albany is home to

Eastshore State Park which skirts the San Francisco Bay, and the Albany Bulb
.

Albany has a strong school music program. High school music groups, both instrumental and choral, have performed at the

Essentially Ellington festival at the Lincoln Center
in 2010. Albany was one of 15 schools accepted into the festival.

Albany Strollers & Rollers is a volunteer group dedicated to service and advocacy for bicycling and walking.[33]

Friends of Five Creeks is an all-volunteer group working hands-on for clean water and healthy watersheds.

The Albany Sauna is one of the oldest Finnish-style saunas open to the public in North America. Built in 1934 by Finnish-American Henry Walter Lundgren (a founding member of the Finnish Lodge in West Berkeley), the original furnace and rooms have been maintained to produce one of the most authentic sauna experiences outside of Finland.[34]

The Albany Community Center was designed by architect Robert Marquis and opened in 1994.[35] It houses the Albany Public Library on one side and the Community Center on the other, and is host to many different community events and cultural activities.

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ Resolution 2011-38
  2. ^ "California Cities by Incorporation Date". California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions. Archived from the original (Word) on November 3, 2014. Retrieved March 24, 2013.
  3. ^ "Senators". State of California. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  4. ^ "Members Assembly". State of California. Retrieved March 18, 2013.
  5. ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  6. ^ "Albany". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  7. ^ "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Albany city, California". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  8. ^ A Brief History of Early Albany Archived January 11, 2014, at the Wayback Machine, Albany City Chamber of Commerce, Accessed August 2, 2007.
  9. ^ a b "Albany City Chamber of Commerce". Archived from the original on April 4, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2007.
  10. ISBN 978-0-520-21271-8
    . Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  11. ^ Esper, Damin (July 17, 2013). "Okawachi leaves deep legacy in Albany". East Bay times. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  12. ISBN 9781467104470
    .
  13. ^ "Lot Auction to Be Held At Albany". Oakland Tribune. September 15, 1940. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  14. ^ "Albany Shuts Down Homeless Camp / Squatters leave site of future park". The San Francisco Chronicle. August 31, 1999.
  15. ^ Costantinou, Marianne (June 1, 1999). "Shak dwellers told to go". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  16. ^ "Albany Waterfront Topic Page". Albany Patch. April 21, 2011. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011.
  17. ^ "University Village Master Plan Archived August 10, 2014, at the Wayback Machine." University of California, Berkeley. June 2004. 1. Retrieved on October 2, 2011.
  18. ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
  19. ^ "2010 Census Interactive Population Search: CA - Albany city". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  20. ISBN 9780691124865
    .
  21. ^ "All 1940 United States Federal Census Results". Ancestry.com. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  22. ^ "City of Albany -- earliest to 1960 Census data".
  23. ^ Brenneman, Richard. "Anti-Mall Duo Win in Albany; Green Candidate Claims Richmond Victory". 10 November 2006. The Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  24. ^ DataQuick Real Estate Headlines and Statistics, Accessed October 14, 2014
  25. ^ "CA Secretary of State – Report of Registration – February 10, 2019" (PDF). ca.gov. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  26. ^ Cranston, Alan. "A Soiled Slip is Showing". Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  27. ^ Dennis, Delmar. "Inside the Ku Klux Klan for the FBI". Pacifica Radio Archives. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  28. ^ "Inside the Ku Klux Klan for the FBI". American Archive of Public Broadcasting.
  29. ^ https://www.albanyca.org/home/showpublisheddocument/55294/638470462688030000
  30. ^ City of Albany CAFR, p 167
  31. ^ "Albany High School Overview". Albany Patch. April 21, 2011. Archived from the original on May 28, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
  32. ^ a b Berkeley News, Chris Treadway, Berkeley Voice/West County Times, 9/12/2008, Solano Stroll A Local Institution, Accessed October 22, 2010
  33. ^ Albany Strollers & Rollers
  34. ^ Albany Sauna & Hot Tubs
  35. ^ Kitty Luce; Jessie Durant, eds. (2012). "Robert B. Marquis Collection, c. 1947, 1953-1994" (PDF). Online Archive of California. University of California, Berkeley. p. 4.
  36. ^ "Edith Frost » About". edithfrost.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2007. Retrieved January 11, 2022.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Albany (California).
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albany, California.
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