City, Contra Costa County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 94801, 94802, 94804, 94805, 94807, 94808, 94850
Located on
San Pablo Bay. Good mix of
housing, including upscale homes with views of Golden Gate. More homes going up
in its northern neighborhoods and through in-filling and replacements in its
downtown. Second-most populous city in the county, 103,577 residents. www.mccormacks.com
Constantly
in the news because of its problems — crime, low scores, money woes, and
according to critics, city-hall incompetence.
Problems
Richmond certainly has. Yet its population keeps increasing — up about
4,300 between 2000 and 2006.
Richmond has solid pluses and perhaps
its biggest problem, crime, is confined to several neighborhoods. Many parts of
the city are suburban safe.
Click for regional or detailed map
In 2005,
the school district passed its fourth bond, $400 million, bringing to about
$890 million the amount of money raised to renovate and rebuild just about
every school in the district. This is an unusually large amount of money and
reflects well on the west county's ambitions for its children.
Richmond
is only a few miles from Berkeley, Oakland and the Bay Bridge. Richmond has two freeways, Interstates
80 and 580. It has a bridge to San Rafael and Marin County. www.mccormacks.com
In the
1990s, Richmond opened the four-lane Richmond Parkway that runs from I-80 near
Hilltop Mall down to the San Rafael Bridge. Richmond has BART and Amtrak, bus
service, Burlington-Northern-Santa Fe (large yard) and Union Pacific, a UPS
terminal and a seaport.
All this
makes Richmond a good commute city and, for business, a good transit city.
By today's
standards, Richmond has a fair amount of “affordable” housing. The city was
built for blue collars and the middle class and, with the exception of homes by
the Bay, it has stayed true to the middle.
The city,
especially in its downtown, has many low-income residents living in homes and
apartments built more than 50 years ago.
In recent years, Richmond has been introducing modest homes and
apartments in this area, particularly near the BART station.
Richmond
has many jobs. The city is home to the Chevron refinery, which catches flak
over pollution but provides about 1,500 jobs and tax revenues. Hilltop, one of
the largest malls in the East Bay, is located in the northern sector. www.mccormacks.com
Richmond's
other firms or agencies include the Social Security center, Bio-Rad, the
California Dept. of Justice, the U.S. Postal Service, a Kaiser Medical Center
and the University of California. It has many industrial firms and several
office-research parks.
Education
by West Contra Costa Unified School District. Scores bounce all over, low,
middling, high. See Schools.
The bond
money will be used to renovate or rebuild schools and equip them for high tech,
the sciences and the performing arts. In 2004, when the school district found
itself short of money and having to cut programs, residents rallied and passed
another tax measure that saved most of the threatened programs.
Richmond
is a large city. It stretches from Albany-El Cerrito-Kensington to Pinole and
east to include most of the El Sobrante Valley. In the 1980s and 1990s, this
valley built thousands of modern tract homes, three to five bedrooms.
Modern
Richmond was born on Dec. 7, 1941, when the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor. Henry
Kaiser months earlier had won a contract to build tramp steamers for the
beleaguered British — Liberty ships. With the war, the U.S. poured millions
into the shipyards. www.mccormacks.com
Richmond
in 1940 had 23,642 residents. Many were employed by Standard Oil (Chevron's
predecessor), the town’s biggest industry, and crucial to the war.
Kaiser had
nobody to build ships. He dispatched recruiters throughout the South and lured
thousands to Richmond. Population zoomed to 100,000, ethnic mix became more
diverse.
After the
war, Richmond lost many of its war industries and faded, especially in the
downtown.
But when
the national economy took off and the freeways arrived and the suburbs galloped
in, Richmond jumped over its borders and annexed thousands of acres. Left
behind were thousands of poor people, many of them residing in and around old
downtown.
Much has
changed but school scores remain low in these sections, crime high. In 2005
homicides totaled 40. For previous years, 35, 38, 72, 18, 29, 31, 18, 30, 34,
26, 52, 52, 46, 61, 36, 38, 31, 16, 21, and 19, the FBI reports. See Crime. www.mccormacks.com
In 2006,
Richmond hired a new police chief and stepped up police patrols and purchased
more surveillance camera for hot spots. Community groups rallied for better
social programs. Murders for 2006 will probably exceed 2005. But the city may
be taking steps to bring them down.
Here's a
brief description of Richmond's neighborhoods:
The downtown and adjoining
neighborhoods. BART, Amtrak, the Social Security Processing Center, the city
hall complex, large library, a museum, an arts center, county courthouse,
clinics and government offices, Kaiser medical, and new housing.
The downtown has rundown
housing but also housing that looks good and has been well kept. In talking
about crime, it’s easy to indict an entire neighborhood or an entire people and
lump the good with the bad. But many law-abiding people live in the downtown.
•
Richmond flatlands near Interstate
80, north of Barrett, south of Potrero (Richmond annex) crime drops and
neighborhoods stabilize. Good place to shop for first-time home buyers. Swim
center at Kennedy High. www.mccormacks.com
•
Marina Bay, Brickyard Landing,
Point Richmond. Close to downtown, separated from the poor neighborhoods by an
industrial belt and by Interstate 580. Marina Bay, 385 acres, consists of
condos and single homes, two business parks and a marina. Middle to upscale.
Lovely views of Bay and San Francisco. Pt. Isabel Shoreline Park is one of the largest off-leash
parks in nation, 20 acres.
• Historic Point Richmond
is the city’s first neighborhood, with a main street laid out about the turn of
the century. Educated, politically savvy, liberal, the Point and its residents exercise
great influence. Several nice restaurants and sandwich shops, a library,
churches, tennis courts. Hiking trails. Shoreline park. Boating. Marina. Mostly
elderly retired, empty-nesters and young professionals. Money being raised to
reopen an historic indoor pool.
•
Richmond Hills, East Richmond. Hill
neighborhoods that border a regional park. Middle class. Great views.
•
El Sobrante Valley, east of
Interstate 80. About half the valley is unincorporated, the other half in
Richmond. Middle class. Well-kept
streets and lawns. Views from hills. Oriented somewhat to Central County job
market. Commuters take San Pablo Dam Road to Highway 24.
•
Hilltop. Site of mall, apartments,
condos, paired homes, light industry, offices. Penneys, Macys and Sears in
mall. Circuit City and large office supply store nearby. Movies. YMCA
gym-health facility. Barnes and Noble bookstore. Headquarters for Berlex
Biosciences. Private middle school. Wal-Mart is moving into the mall. www.mccormacks.com
• Point Pinole-Richmond Parkway.
Homes, apartments and businesses
now going up, many placed close to industrial buildings. Views of San Pablo Bay. Pt. Pinole Regional
Park is one of the loveliest in the Bay Area. Fishing pier.
•
North Richmond. Unincorporated
neighborhood west of San Pablo. High in crime for decades, it may be becoming
more peaceful. Highway Patrol has opened substation in neighborhood.
•
Oil-Chemical-Industrial-Warehouse
neighborhoods. Generally, the shoreline, from the southern border up to and
around the bridge, then up to about Point San Pablo. Skirts around Marina Bay
and Point Richmond. The biggest player, the Chevron refinery, parts of which
blow up from time to time (but not as often as in past). The refinery and
auxiliary businesses employ thousands, account for a good chunk of the city’s tax
income and support local charities and benevolent groups.
Museum, art center, boating, art center,
clubs, three regional parks, about 30 city parks, swimming, baseball, football,
basketball, lawn bowling, etc. Close to UC Berkeley and Contra Costa Community
College (San Pablo).
Erected in
2000, a monument to Rosie the Riveter, the women who built the ships and
staffed the industries that helped win World War II. After years of work, the
state and local groups have put together a parks-trail plan for the shore from
Albany to Pt. Isabel in Richmond. www.mccormacks.com
In the
1990s, Richmond increased its population by 13 percent, many people attracted
by low and middling rents and home prices.
The 2008
state tally showed 38,258 residences, of which single homes numbered 21,694,
single attached 2,931, multiples 13,512, mobile homes 121.
Two more
BART stations in nearby El Cerrito. Transit center (buses) near Hilltop.
Chamber of
commerce (510) 234-3512.
• Shakeup
at city hall. New city manager and finance manager. Mayor in 2006 lost bid for
re-election; new mayor represents the Green Party. Several years ago, Richmond had difficulty tracking its funding
and dollars. The new people promise to do a better job. Also new: the
superintendent for the school district. www.mccormacks.com
• In 2004,
Richmond residents upped their sales tax by a half cent to restore fire
protection and other services and reopen six community centers.
• In
planning: a new police station.
• Of all
the Bay cities, Richmond, with the help of local residents, private groups, and
the East Bay Regional Park District, has done the best job of securing land for
a Bay trail. The goal is to build a trail connecting all the cities of the Bay
Area.
• Marin
connection. In its home prices and rents, Marin has priced out the poor and
much of the middle class. When it has jobs to fill, Marin draws many from the
East Bay, particularly West Contra Costa. Some businesses leave Marin because
commercial space is lacking but they want to stay close to Marin. Richmond fits
the bill. The city has an enterprise zone that gives tax breaks to some
businesses.
• Hungry
for jobs and more tax revenues, the city council signed a contract with an
Indian tribe that is trying to build a casino on the north side. Many
disagreements. Deal far from done. www.mccormacks.com
• During
World War II, Richmond built 747 Liberty and Victory ships. The SS Red Oak
Victory was turned into a floating museum, moored in Richmond harbor.
• Kaiser
Permanente, the popular HMO health care system, traces its origins to Richmond
and the ship building years. The workers needed hospitals and medical care;
Kaiser opened a hospital and got a system going.
• In 2006,
city asked voters to approve a tax on businesses. Voters, by a margin of 58 to
42 percent, said no.
City web
site: www.ci.richmond.ca.us
