CAPITOLA, CALIFORNIA

'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 the heroine of ''The Hidden Hand'', a novel by the popular author 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 its large, sandy beach. From the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, Capitola Village was well known for its annual downhill race, the Capitola Classic, a skateboard competition that drew world class skaters and made its name in skate history. The census-designated area of Aptos (located to the east) and the city of Santa Cruz (located to the west) border Capitola.

Contents

Geography and soils

Demographics

Miscellaneous facts

Line note references

External links

Geography and soils

Capitola is located at (36.976250, -121.954750).
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.
There have been a number of historic fuel releases to the soil in Capitola; among these the following locations have been identified by the County of Santa Cruz or the California Regional Water Quality Control Board: 819 Bay Avenue, 1649 41st Avenue, 2210 41st Avenue and 1700 41st Avenue. {Earth Metrics, 1989)

Demographics

'Capitola'
Population by year ^[1]

Year	Pop.
1950	1,848
1960	2,021
1970	5,080
1980	9,095
1990	10,171
2000	10,033

As of the census 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.

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.

Line note references

★ Earth Metrics Inc., "Phase One Environmental Site Assessment, Parcel 34-11-31, Capitola, California", Report 10226, October 4, 1989.

External links

★ City of Capitola

★ Santa Cruz County Conference & Visitors Council - Capitola Visitor Information

★ The domoic acid story [1]