Martinez

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.

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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