Pleasant Hill, California

City of Pleasant Hill
City
City Hall
Location in Contra Costa County and the state of California
City of Pleasant Hill Location in the United States
Coordinates: 37°56′53″N 122°03′09″W / 37.94806°N 122.05250°W / 37.94806; -122.05250Coordinates: 37°56′53″N 122°03′09″W / 37.94806°N 122.05250°W / 37.94806; -122.05250
Country	United States
State	California
County	Contra Costa
Incorporated	November 14, 1961[1]
Government
• City Council	Mayor Sue Noack Vice Mayor Michael G. Harris Ken Carlson David E. Durant Timothy M. Flaherty [2]
• City Treasurer	Mark Celio[3]
• City Clerk	Paige Kremser Stenrud[4]
• State Leg.	Sen. Bill Dodd (D)[5] Asm. Tim Grayson (D)[6]
• U. S. Congress	Mark DeSaulnier (D)[7]
Area[8]
• Total	7.072 sq mi (18.315 km2)
• Land	7.072 sq mi (18.315 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)  0%
Elevation	52 ft (16 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	33,152
• Density	4,700/sq mi (1,800/km2)
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
• Summer (DST)	PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP code	94523
Area code(s)	925
FIPS code	06-57764
GNIS feature IDs	1659406, 2411439
Website	Official website

Pleasant Hill is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 33,152 at the 2010 census. It was incorporated in 1961. Pleasant Hill is the home of College Park High School, Diablo Valley College, John F Kennedy University, the Pleasant Hill Library and administration offices for the Contra Costa County Library system, and the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.1 square miles (18 km²). Pleasant Hill has a varied landscape with some valleys and rolling hills. In undisturbed wilderness, oak woodlands and mixed woods can be found. It is located in the central East San Francisco Bay.

Pleasant Hill's climate is a Mediterranean one having cool and wet winters and dry, warm summers. Winter tends to be in the fifties and sixties and summers reign in the high seventies to upper eighties occasionally reaching the low nineties. On very rare occasions the temperatures can get in the one hundred range during extreme heat waves. Freezing in winter is also rare, but it does happen. Occasionally, summer fog will roll in, but winter fog is very common.

Climate

This region experiences warm and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius) According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Pleasant Hill has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.^[9]

History and architecture

The first post office opened in 1948. The city incorporated in 1961.^[10]

The city hall of Pleasant Hill has won several awards in architectural design.

For most of its history, Pleasant Hill did not have a true downtown or Main Street. In 1991, the city began planning the redevelopment of the area around the intersection of Monument Boulevard and Contra Costa Boulevard. In July 2000, downtown Pleasant Hill finally opened, as a privately owned and operated outdoor shopping center designed to resemble a typical suburban Main Street.

On February 21, 1967, Century 21 Theaters opened its 895-seat dome theater, just east of I-680 between Monument Boulevard and Hookston Road. Visible from the freeway, the futuristic igloo-shaped cinema became an iconic landmark for the newly incorporated city.^[11] The theater was designed by prolific Bay Area architect Vincent G. Raney with a distinctive 50-foot-high domed ceiling and oversized curved screen. The theater was initially built to showcase the Cinerama widescreen process, which had been developed in the 1950s. The screen was later updated to standard flat-screen.^[12] In 1973, four additional single-screen auditoriums were added to the anterior of the building, and its name changed to Century 5 Theatres.^[13] Starting in 2003, CinéArts operated the theater, screening primarily independent and foreign films.

The theater's property owner, SyWest Development, closed the Dome on April 21, 2013. CinéArts screened Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey for its last night of operation. Sywest's proposal, that the theater be torn down to make way for a two-story, 73,000+ square-foot building to house a Dick's Sporting Goods, was passed by the Pleasant Hill city council. Two separate appeals against the city's decision were filed, one by a resident of Pleasant Hill, and one by Save the Pleasant Hill Dome (SPHD) organization.^[14] Both appeals were voted down by the city council, although Mayor Michael G. Harris and councilmember Ken Carlson voted for the appeal.^[15][16][17] SyWest had the Dome demolished on May 8, 2013, precluding any further court action.^[18][19][20]

Monument Boulevard was so named because of the Soldiers Memorial Monument originally in its proximity, erected on December 11, 1927. It depicts three white soldiers and one black soldier. It is 45 feet (14 metres) tall, is constructed of formed concrete, and weighs 150 tons. It was moved to its current Boyd Road and Contra Costa Boulevard location in 1954 to make way for upcoming highway construction.

Economy

Top employers

According to the City's 2013 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), as of 2009 the city's principal employers were:^[21]

#	Employer	# of Employees
1	Mount Diablo Unified School District	659
2	Contra Costa County Fire Protection	450
3	Safeway	255
4	Target	250
5	Yandell Truckaway	250
6	Nightingale of Contra Costa	200
7	John F. Kennedy University	185
8	Contra Costa County Office of Education	165
9	Hospice of the East Bay	150
10	Irvin Deutscher Family YMCA	150

Education

Primary and secondary schools

Public schools
Elementary schools

• Fair Oaks Elementary School
• Gregory Gardens Elementary School
• Pleasant Hill Elementary School
• Sequoia Elementary School
• Strandwood Elementary School
• Valhalla Elementary School

Middle schools

• Pleasant Hill Middle School
• Sequoia Middle School
• Valley View Middle School

High schools

• College Park High School

Private schools

• Christ the King Catholic School
• Pleasant Hill Adventist Academy

Colleges and universities

• Diablo Valley College
• John F. Kennedy University
• Paul Mitchell the School

Public libraries

The Pleasant Hill Library of the Contra Costa County Library is located in Pleasant Hill.^[22] The library system has its headquarters in Pleasant Hill.^[23]

Parks and recreation

Parks in Pleasant Hill are maintained and managed by the Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District. The district is a separate entity from the City of Pleasant Hill.

• Brookwood Park
• Chilpancingo Park
• Dinosaur Hill Park
• Paso Nogal Park
• Pleasant Hill Aquatic Park
• Pleasant Hill Education Center Pool
• Pleasant Hill Park
• Pleasant Oaks Park
• Rogers-Smith Park
• Soldiers Memorial Park

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1950	5,686		—
1960	23,844		319.3%
1970	24,610		3.2%
1980	25,547		3.8%
1990	31,585		23.6%
2000	32,837		4.0%
2010	33,152		1.0%
Est. 2015	34,810	[24]	5.0%
U.S. Decennial Census[25]

2010

The 2010 United States Census^[26] reported that Pleasant Hill had a population of 33,152. The population density was 4,688.1 people per square mile (1,810.1/km²). The racial makeup of Pleasant Hill was 24,846 (74.9%) White, 686 (2.1%) African American, 127 (0.4%) Native American, 4,516 (13.6%) Asian, 66 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 1,079 (3.3%) from other races, and 1,832 (5.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4,009 persons (12.1%).

The Census reported that 32,689 people (98.6 percent of the population) lived in households, 151 (0.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 312 (0.9%) were institutionalized.

There were 13,708 households, out of which 3,892 (28.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,329 (46.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,359 (9.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 597 (4.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 789 (5.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 152 (1.1%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,929 households (28.7%) were made up of individuals and 1,431 (10.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38. There were 8,285 families (60.4 percent of all households); the average family size was 2.96.

The population was spread out with 6,563 people (19.8%) under the age of 18, 3,180 people (9.6%) aged 18 to 24, 8,901 people (26.8%) aged 25 to 44, 9,902 people (29.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 4,606 people (13.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.7 years. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.0 males.

There were 14,321 housing units at an average density of 2,025.2 per square mile (781.9/km²), of which 8,470 (61.8%) were owner-occupied, and 5,238 (38.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3 percent; the rental vacancy rate was 5.1 percent. 21,253 people (64.1 percent of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 11,436 people (34.5%) lived in rental housing units.

Demographic profile[27] 2010 Total Population 33,152 – 100.0% One Race 31,320 – 94.5% Not Hispanic or Latino 29,143 – 87.9% White alone 22,498 – 67.9% Black or African American alone 656 – 2.0% American Indian and Alaska Native alone 68 – 0.2% Asian alone 4,447 – 13.4% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone 62 – 0.2% Some other race alone 46 – 0.1% Two or more races alone 1,366 – 4.1% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 4,009 – 12.1%

2000

As of the census^[28] of 2000, there were 32,837 people, 13,753 households, and 8,403 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,633.6 inhabitants per square mile (1,788.2/km²). There were 14,034 housing units at an average density of 1,980.3 per square mile (764.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 81.77 percent White, 1.53 percent Black or African American, 0.47 percent Native American, 9.43 percent Asian, 0.27 percent Pacific Islander, 2.32 percent from other races, and 4.19 percent from two or more races. 8.43 percent of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 13,753 households out of which 28.0 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4 percent were married couples living together, 9.1 percent had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.9 percent were non-families. 29.1 percent of all households were made up of individuals and 9.5 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.3 percent under the age of 18, 7.2 percent from 18 to 24, 32.4 percent from 25 to 44, 25.8 percent from 45 to 64, and 13.2 percent who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.8 males.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was US$80,737, and the median income for a family was $104,297.^[29] Males had a median income of $57,278 versus $42,013 for females. The per capita income for the city was $33,076. About 2.7% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.2% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Planning and environmental factors

Pleasant Hill utilized a system of environmental planning at a relatively early stage of its modern growth. Notably the city authorized a study of hillside development in the 1980s that included detailed mapping of biota, geotechnical hazards, sound levels and other environmental constraints. These studies were used to establish appropriate zoning and development densities for all the principal undeveloped hillside areas within the city.

The Gregory Gardens subdivision developed in 1950 required purchasers of new homes to accept a Covenant that restricted ownership to Caucasians (since then ruled unconstitutional).^[30] The Covenant also limited the structures that could be built, animals allowed on premises, and commercial activities.

Media

The city is served by the Community Focus Newspaper. Community Focus is an independent, monthly newspaper that focuses on local events and information.

The city of Pleasant Hill is also served by the daily newspaper, Contra Costa Times published by Bay Area News Group-East Bay (part of the Media News Group, Denver, Colorado).

The city is also served by Pleasant Hill Patch, a local news website covering community news and events. Patch Media is owned by AOL Inc. Claycord.com is the independent privately owned blog serving the greater Pleasant Hill metropolitan area

Sister Cities

Pleasant Hill, California has two sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International:

• Chilpancingo, Mexico
• Merzifon, Turkey

Notable people

• Mike Guasch: professional race car driver (IMSA)^[31]
• Leslie Smith: professional mixed martial artist
• Tim Scully: underground LSD chemist

References

External links

• Official website
• PHBA (Pleasant Hill Baseball Association)
• Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce website
• Pleasant Hill Interactive Community Guide
• Pleasant Hill Recreation & Park District website
• Profile of City & History
• Virtual Tour of Transit Village Construction Site
• "Pleasant Hill". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. 

	Martinez	Pacheco
			Concord
		Pleasant Hill
	Lafayette	Walnut Creek