SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA

'San Ramon' is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 44,722 as of January 1, 2000 .
San Ramon is a suburb of San Francisco, Silicon Valley, and Oakland. As the location of the headquarters of the company formerly known as Pacific Bell (later SBC, now AT&T), it is the home of Dilbert (Scott Adams worked there before creating the Dilbert comic strip). It is also home to the headquarters of Chevron Corporation, Advanta Energy Corporation, and 24-Hour Fitness.
On April 24, 2001, San Ramon was received the title Tree City USA

Contents

Geography

Demographics

Government

Economy

Education

History

Memorial Park

Culture

Nike Missile Sites

Parks and other interesting places to visit

See also

External links

Geography

San Ramon is located at (37.757350, -121.952138). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.0 km² (11.6 mi²). 30.0 km² (11.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.09% is water.
It is adjacent to Danville, California, and Dublin, California.
San Ramon can be described as lying in a valley, flanked by hills. Its borders (east to west) extend from Norris Canyon in the west to Mt. Diablo in the east.[
[1]

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 44,722 people, 16,944 households, and 12,148 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,491.1/km² (3,862.0/mi²). There were 17,552 housing units at an average density of 585.2/km² (1,515.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 76.82% White, 1.93% Black or African American, 0.36% Native American, 14.94% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 2.16% from other races, and 3.58% from two or more races. 7.24% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 16,944 households out of which 37.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.3% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.3% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 35.7% from 25 to 44, 26.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 97.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $95,856, and the median income for a family was $106,321. Males had a median income of $73,502 versus $50,107 for females. The per capita income for the city was $42,336. About 1.4% of families and 2.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.4% of those under age 18 and 4.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The City Council is the elected policy-making body for the City of San Ramon. It is comprised of four Councilmembers elected at-large who serve four-year overlapping terms and an elected Mayor who serves for a two-year term. The City Council serves as the Board of Directors for the San Ramon Redevelopment Agency and the San Ramon Public Financing Authority, and acts as Housing Commission for the San Ramon Housing Authority. The City Council appoints the City Manager and the City Attorney.
Until June 30, 2007, police services were provided under contract by the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department. On July 1, 2007, the city officially took over providing police services. Fire and EMS are provided by the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District.

Economy

The development of Bishop Ranch Business Park in 1982, transformed San Ramon into a significant regional employment center. With the development of major new employment centers, employees are attracted from such far away distances as Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties.
The Bishop Ranch Business Park consists of 580 acres of land with 5.9 million square feet of office space. The office park currently is home to approximately 200 companies including such Fortune 500 companies as AT&T (formerly SBC, Chevron, Toyota, and United Parcel Service. San Ramon is an expanding City and it is expected that over 16,000 jobs will be added within the next 15 years. This represents a 58% increase over the current 27,643 jobs in San Ramon.

Education

San Ramon has two primary high schools, California High School and Dougherty Valley High School which just opened for the 2007-2008 school year. Ironically, San Ramon Valley High School (SRVHS) is in the bordering city Danville due to the naming of the valley including San Ramon, Danville, and Alamo. Some of the newer housing developments have sent students to Monte Vista High School in Danville.
California High School (often abbreviated CHS, or Cal High), is bordered by the Iron Horse Trail, and the San Ramon Olympic Pool. The school is currently being completely rebuilt in phases due to aging and overcrowding. The first phase, which includes a new three story learning center, was opened during the 2006 - 2007 school year. Phase II will include: Elective building (9 classrooms), Counseling building, Career Technology building (Auto and Robotics will occupy this building), and demolition of the main building.
The EBAL (East Bay Athletic League) includes San Ramon Valley HS, Monte Vista HS, California HS, Livermore HS, Granada HS, Foothill HS, and Amador Valley HS.
Several new schools, including a new high school, are being constructed to support the new development in the Dougherty Valley. The Dougherty Valley High School opened August 27.
Some of the newest schools in San Ramon include Windemere Ranch Middle School, Hidden Hills Elementary School, Coyote Creek Elementary School and Quail Run Elementary School. Also, the Bollinger Canyon Elementary School has recently been rebuilt.

History

San Ramon was originally home to the Seunen Indians, Ohlone/Costanoans who lived adjacent to the valley creeks. After 1797, it was Mission San Jose grazing land; later it included Jose Maria Amador's 16,000 plus acre Rancho San Ramon.
San Ramon Creek was named after an Indian vaquero, Ramon, who tended mission sheep here. In an 1855 land title case, Don Amador explained that "San" was added to the creek's name to conform with Spanish custom.
American settlers first came to San Ramon in 1850 when Leo and Mary Jane Norris purchased 4,450 acres of land from Amador. Other early landowners were William Lynch, James Dougherty, and Major Samuel Russell. In 1852 Joel and Minerva Harlan bought land from Norris and built a house on what became the Alameda-Contra Costa County line in 1853.
Many of San Ramon's founding families are remembered today because their names grace various canyons, hills and streets. Some of these pioneers were Norris, Lynch, Harlan, McCamley, Crow, Bollinger, Meese, Glass, and Wiedemann. Both the Harlan home (1858) at 19251 San Ramon Valley Blvd. and the Wiedemann home (1865) near Norris Canyon still stand in their original locations. The Glass House (1877) has been moved to Forest Home Farms.
San Ramon had several names in the nineteenth century. It was called Brevensville (for blacksmith Eli Breven), Lynchville (for William Lynch) and Limerick (for the many Irish settlers). The first village developed at the intersection of today's Deerwood Road and San Ramon Valley Blvd. In 1873 when a permanent post office was finally established, it was called San Ramon.
During the 1860's the village became a hub of community activity. In 1864, a stage line established by Brown and Co. ran from San Ramon through the valley to Oakland. A church was dedicated in 1860, the general store was built in 1863 and students left their home-based classrooms to attend the San Ramon Grammar School beginning in 1867. Saloons, a jail, Chinese wash houses and blacksmith shops lined County Road No. 2 (later San Ramon Valley Blvd.)
With the arrival of the San Ramon Branch Line of the Southern Pacific in 1891, other changes took place. The name "San Ramon" permanently replaced references to "Limerick." Crops and passengers could travel in and out of the area, no matter what the weather. Until 1909, San Ramon was the terminus for the line and boasted a two-story depot, the engine house and a turnaround for the locomotive.
In 1895, attorney Thomas Bishop acquired 3,000 acres of Norris land (after a divorce case in which Bishop's law firm represented Margaret Norris). The Bishop Ranch raised cattle and sheep and was planted to hay, grain, diversified fruit crops and walnuts. Bishop Shropshire purebred sheep earned numerous awards. The Ranch was partially irrigated from an underground aquifer and at one point possessed the world's largest single orchard of Bartlett pears.
As with the entire Tri-Valley, agriculture was the basis for San Ramon economy until suburban development began. In 1966, the new Interstate 680 freeway was completed through San Ramon to Dublin.
The designation "San Ramon Village" first appeared in the 1970 census with a count of 4,084 people, part of a San Ramon Valley population of 25,899. Developers Ken Volk and Bob McClain built the first San Ramon suburban homes close to the county line. A special district, the Valley Community Services District (VCSD) provided the water, parks, sewer, fire protection and garbage collection for the new homes.
In 1970, Western Electric purchased 1,733 acres of the Bishop Ranch and proposed a "new town" complete with a variety of housing, green belts, stores and light industry, placed in the center of San Ramon. Eventually part of the land became new homes and, in 1978, 585 acres became today's Bishop Ranch Business Park, a premier modern office development.
Before San Ramon incorporated, homeowners groups such as the South San Ramon Homeowners and the Homeowners Association of Twin Creeks represented residents' interests before the county. They joined service clubs and others in providing a local voice as developments replaced orchards.
In 1983, San Ramon voters decided overwhelmingly to incorporate as a separate city and took control over development, police, parks and other services.
After years of talking, the city of san ramon agreed on building a new city center that would include two upscale department stores, restaraunts, an upscale hotel, movie theater, and apartment housing. It would also include new city offices and a new city hall. It would be located between Bollinger Canyon Road and Camino Ramon. the city council is hoping this will become a new downtown for the city. The total cost is $750 million, being paid by Sunset development. It is scheduled to open sometime in the next few years.

Memorial Park

Originally, this city park located on a hill overlook Bollinger Canyon Road and San Ramon Valley Blvd, was to be named Alta Mesa Park. During the construction of the park, the City Council voted to change the name to Memorial Park to honor Tom Burnett, a San Ramon resident and other victims from Flight 93 killed on September 11, 2001. A plaque was installed at the base of a lighted flagpole dedicated to those victims and the surrounding meadow is part of the city's memorial tree program dedicated to local residents who have perished. The park was dedicated on September 11, 2002.

Culture

San Ramon also hosts the annual Primo's Run For Education (5K and 1/2 marathon) at Iron Horse Middle school and the Art and Wind Festival every Memorial Day.

Nike Missile Sites

There are two retired Nike Missile sites in San Ramon[2]:
SF-25L Bollinger Canyon

N 37.81242°, W 122.04295°, elevation 1070 feet (326 m)

The first is on Bollinger Canyon Road near Las Trampas. A half mile south on Bollinger there are some Nike-era buildings being used as the Las Trampas park office.
1.1 miles (1.8 km) away is
SF-25C Rocky Ridge

N 37.81663°, W 122.06297°, elevation 1978 feet (603 m)

The IFC site is now covered with microwave relay towers.

Parks and other interesting places to visit

★ San Ramon Skatepark (located in central park)

★ Athan Downs Park

★ Bishop Ranch Open Space

★ Coyote Crossing Park

★ Crow Canyon Gardens

★ Forest Home Farms Historical Site

★ Iron Horse Regional trail

★ Las Trampas Regional Wilderness

★ Old Ranch Park

★ San Ramon Central Park

★ San Ramon Golf Course duck pond

★ AT&T goose pond (Bishop Ranch)

★ San Ramon Olympic Pool and Aquatic Center

★ Windy Hills Park

See also

★ Arroyo de la Laguna

★ Bishop Subbasin

★ Pacific Air Lines Flight 773

★ Tassajara Formation

★ South San Ramon Creek

External links

★ Official City of San Ramon Web Site

★ San Ramon Chamber of Commerce Web Site

★ Museum of the San Ramon Valley

★ San Ramon Historic Foundation

★ San Ramon Arts

★ San Ramon Observer

★ San Ramon Tribune