City, Contra Costa County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Code: 94553
County
seat, many government buildings. Extends from the Carquinez Strait to Taylor
Boulevard in Pleasant Hill. A mix of old town and new suburbs, industry and
some of the prettiest rural-suburban land in the county.
Population 36,663 but
the Martinez area takes in about 50,000. www.mccormacks.com
Served
by two school districts: Martinez Unified educates children in the downtown and
along Alhambra Valley Road and nearby neighborhoods. Mt. Diablo Unified
educates children in the Hidden Valley area and on both sides of Highway 4 on
the east side of the city. These are approximate boundaries. See Schools.
Martinez
Unified children attend Martinez Junior High and Alhambra High School. Mt.
Diablo children attend Hidden Valley Elementary in Martinez and Valley View Intermediate and College Park High, both in
Pleasant Hill.
In recent years, Martinez Unified has passed bonds and sold
surplus land to build a new elementary school and junior high and rebuild every
school in the town. In 2002, Alhambra High School opened a performing arts
center.
With the recession, the state has been raiding school districts and city governments to fund its operations. In response, many school districts, to maintain programs, have asked their voters to pass parcel taxes, which are hard to win because they require two-thirds approval.
Click for regional or detailed map
Martinez district in 2008 passed a tax of $50 per parcel. Mt. Diablo district in 2009 lost a vote on parcel tax and this and other factors may force the district to cut programs.
In
2002, the Mt. Diablo district passed a $250 million bond to renovate its
schools, upgrade them for high tech and science and build better facilities for
the disabled.
Martinez is noted for its oil refineries and spin-off industries. The refineries and
industries straddle Interstate 680 east of town and when motorists cross the
Benicia Bridge they see the stacks and cooling towers and oil tanks and large
tankers docked at Shell. From this, they conclude that Martinez is an
industrial town, coated with oil and grimed with smoke.
Just
not the case. All but a small part of the Martinez area is suburban
residential, and some of it — Alhambra Valley — opulent. Oil and
industry are not the main employers. www.mccormacks.com
Governments
and institutions are. Thousands work for sheriff’s department or county medical
center or courts or county agencies or Kaiser Clinic or the Veterans Clinic or
the college district, which is headquartered in Martinez, or the Highway
Patrol.
Shell
has been in Martinez since 1913 and for most of its existence it could do no
wrong, even when it did — spilled oil or blew up this unit or that.
Another refinery, Tesoro, is located about three miles east of the downtown and
not as much of a presence as Shell.
Both
refineries have modernized, installed pollution controls and become more
sensitive about environmental concerns. Shell has far fewer mishaps than it
used to. In recent years, Tesoro has had several “incidents,” as they say in
the oil game. Tesoro, under government pressure, is spending more to upgrade
its facilities and reduce emissions.
But
where there are human beings there will always be errors and where there are
refineries there will always be pollution.
Both
refineries try to endear themselves to the community by donating to local
causes and supporting town activities. Seems to work. Martinez and its
residents get along very nicely with their refineries and support industries.
To warn people when something goes whacko, a siren sounds. www.mccormacks.com
For
a different side of the Martinez area, drive Alhambra Valley Road and Reliez
Valley Road. Country estates, rolling hills, horse ranches, many homes with
views of Mt. Diablo. Briones Regional Park in back of the homes, watershed
lands and reservoirs to the west. Real country feeling. Wineries. Estate homes.
This
section blends into Lafayette and Walnut Creek. Another popular area for new
homes: the Morello Avenue section along Highway 4.
Martinez,
north of Highway 4, has some of the oldest housing in Central Contra Costa. Old
housing usually means cheap prices. But compared to many communities in Contra
Costa, Martinez is a good commute, which helps property values. And the housing
boom of the late 1990s-early 2000 elevated the prices of even the oldest
homes. For these reasons, some people in the downtown remodeled or improved their
homes.
Many hill homes in old Martinez have views of the Carquinez Strait. About Highway 4, the water views disappear and Mt. Diablo, located about 10 miles to the southeast, takes over as the pleasing site to behold.
In
2010, the state counted 14,975 units: 9,611 single homes, 2,245 single-family
attached, 3,095 multiples, 24 mobile homes. The census divided the housing
units 69 percent owner-occupied, 31 percent rentals.
Over
a dozen parks, many activities — fishing, boating, soccer, cycling and
jogging along the shore, baseball, movies, softball, hiking in the hills (great views of the Carquinez
Strait), football, swimming and more. Annual peddler’s fair. Boys and Girls
Club. Annual art exhibit. Opera in the Park. Farmers market. Regional park on
waterfront. Library. Martinez Museum, photos, memorabilia. Shell also has a
museum. Seniors center. Bocce is popular, reflecting the Italian roots of many
residents. Skateboard park. www.mccormacks.com
John
Muir, conservationist hero, lived in Martinez. His home is a national park.
Many
Martinez residents are active in conservation and through a citizens' fund
raise money to buy land in the hills above the town. Another 700 acres of open
space were acquired in 2004 between Martinez and Hercules. If you want to meet
the politically active and the enviros, they throw a dinner-fundraiser at the
Muir House every August.
Trail
system at waterfront was improved and more land returned to marsh. On summer
and spring evenings, many people hike the waterfront trails; on weekends, they
take to the Briones hills.
Eventually, two popular hiking trails, the Iron Horse and the Bay, will
intersect at the site.
Residents
divide the town into two sections: north or south of the Burlington-Santa Fe
trestle (or Highway 4). Old town, north of the trestle, exudes a faint charm
that appeals to people who want a little history in their lives. City has
installed decorative brick in Main Street sidewalks along with old-time street
lights. Restaurants, two dozen antique shops, bookstore.
From
whence he came — Joe Dimaggio.
Martinez, USA, from which his parents bundled him off to San Francisco. www.mccormacks.com
Martinez
has been trying for decades to revive its downtown and make it an exciting
shopping area. Constant arguments but the city seems to inching toward building
a few hundred apartments near the Amtrak station.
Highway 4 area booming with three
shopping centers, one with a movie complex. One center includes a Wal-Mart and
a Home Depot (home improvement.)
Entrances
to city have been spruced up with trees and planted median strips. Floods used
to afflict downtown but in recent years bridges and creek bed were widened and
this may reduce the problem but in the winter of 2005-2006 homes on Castro
Street flooded.
Two
freeways (Highway 4 and Interstate 680). Buses to BART stations at Concord.
Amtrak. Train station with public buses to Bay Area destinations.
The
station is one of Amtrak’s most popular and is used by many commuters. Highway
4 to Hercules was widened in 2001, making the commute to West Contra Costa
easier. A second bridge to Benicia was recently opened, easing the drive to the Sierras. www.mccormacks.com
Martinez enjoys high police visibility
— police, sheriff’s deputies, CHP officers.
Three homicides in 2008, one in 2007, zero between 2006 and 2002, one in 2001. Zero in 2000, 1999, two in 1998, zero in 1997,
three in 1996, two in 1995. Counts for previous years are 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 4,
2, 0. See Crime.
Martinez police officer shot to death in 2008. Suspect, also shot and killed, had been stalking his estranged wife and had just killed another woman, a cousin of his wife.
County administration building, a
13-story landmark, is to be torn down one of these days and rebuilt (with a lower
profile).
Breezes
from the Carquinez Strait. Weather balmy, even in summer. Fog in winter,
arrival of which is signaled by horns in Carquinez Strait. Trains sound their
horns. Musical city.
Chamber
of commerce (925) 228-2345.
• Carquinez Scenic Road west of town, a
favorite of hikers and bikers, has been taken over by the East Bay park
district. This will help with its maintenance.
• Efforts
to upgrade the city’s marina got a boost with a $3 million loan. The money was
used to rebuild the marina, rip out its rotten piers and launching dock and make the place more
presentable.
• The
waterfront is becoming more popular. An amphitheater has been built for summer
musicals. The reconstructed swamp,
barren for years, is full of plants, grasses and birds. The fishing crowd is
landing, from the shore, striped bass up to two feet. Many townspeople relax in
the evening by strolling the shore.
• Every year, from who knows where, a family of about 10 giant white pelicans put up for a few months at the waterfront, then depart. In winter, thousands of ducks, in long lines, lay off the shore. Birds that please visually — v. graceful in flight — but have worn out their welcome, the Canadian geese. Non-stop poopers.
• Grand
opera is tough to pull off, even for a big city, but in every year, thanks to volunteers and music lovers, Martinez manages to pull one off. www.mccormacks.com
Another music plus: Armando's, small night club in the downtown. Attracts some the top talent in the Bay Area.
• Rare for any California, Martinez has a dinner
theater: live plays, fast food. About six productions a year. City is
hoping the theater boosts fortunes of downtown.
• Martinez has about a dozen restaurants in its downtown, about half of them within a space of two blocks.
•
Pull a rabbit out of the hat. Done all the time in downtown Martinez,
which has a nightclub featuring amateur and professional magicians.
• For game fishing, mostly striped bass, most people head for the shore, or the Carquinez Strait (just off Martinez) or Suisun Bay (up the Delta). For fresh water fish, mainly trout, hunt out a small pond behind Hidden Valley Elementary School. Pond looks like a puddle but it is regularly stocked with trout. Great place to take the kids. Another good spot for kids: the Martinez pier.
• Highway Patrol station on east side of Martinez, near the junction of Highway 4 and Interstate 680. One of our researchers, who lives in Martinez, thinks that compared to other areas the CHP does a particularly good job on the local freeways. Translation: more speeding tickets. Slow down!
• The new bridge over the Carquinez Strait has a bike-pedestrian path, which is rare on Bay Area bridges. The path looks to the west, toward Crockett, but on the Benicia side it loops to a vista that opens to the east, the Delta and the mothball fleet.
• Bond passed in 2008 to rebuild the town swimming pool and renovate the library. Work to be done over next few years. Library holds a book sale every three months. $5 for a bag of books, your choice.
• In the idea stage, indoor sports in the old and empty warehouses and cannery near the train station.
City web
site: www.cityofmartinez.org
Martinez Unified School District: www.martinez.k12.ca.us
Chamber of commerce: www.martinezchamber.com
March 8, 2010