Santa Clara, California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Santa Clara, California
City
City of Santa Clara
Clockwise: Mission Santa Clara de Asís; the Carmelite Monastery; Saint Claire Monument; Santa Clara University; Women's Club Adobe
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  The Mission City
Location in Santa Clara County and the U.S. state of California
Santa Clara, California Location in California Show map of California Santa Clara, California Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	California
County	Santa Clara
Incorporated	July 5, 1852
Named for	Saint Clare of Assisi
Government
• Type	Council/Manager
Area
• Total	18.28 sq mi (47.34 km2)
• Land	18.28 sq mi (47.34 km2)
Elevation	72 ft (22 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	127,647
• Rank	46th in California
• Density	6,982.9/sq mi (2,696.39/km2)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP codes	95050, 95051, 95054
Area codes	408/669
FIPS code	06-69084
GNIS feature IDs	1654953, 2411816

Santa Clara ( Spanish for "Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 as of the 2020 United States Census, making it the eighth-most populous city in the Bay Area. Located in the southern Bay Area, the city was founded by the Spanish in 1777 with the establishment of Mission Santa Clara de Asís under the leadership of Junípero Serra.

Santa Clara is located in the center of Silicon Valley and is home to the headquarters of companies such as Intel, Advanced Micro Devices, and Nvidia. It is also home to Santa Clara University, the oldest university in California, and Levi's Stadium, the home of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers. Santa Clara is bordered by San Jose on all sides, except for Sunnyvale and Cupertino to the west.

History

Santa Clara's Main Street, circa 1910.

The first European to visit the valley was José Francisco Ortega in 1769. He found the area inhabited by Native Americans, whom the Spanish called the Costanos, "coast people", later known as the Ohlone. The Spanish began to colonize California with 21 missions and the Mission Santa Clara de Asis was founded in 1777.

In 1846, the American flag was raised over Monterey and symbolized the transfer of the sovereignty of the California Republic over to the United States of America. In 1851, Santa Clara College was established on the grounds of the original Mission. In 1852, Santa Clara was incorporated as a town; it became state-chartered by 1862.

For the next century the economy centered on agriculture since orchards and vegetables were thriving in the fertile soil. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population had reached 5,000 and stayed about the same for many years.

In 1905, the first public high-altitude flights by humans were made over Santa Clara in gliders designed by John J. Montgomery. The semiconductor industry, which sprouted around 1960, changed the city and surrounding Valley of Heart's Delight; little of its agricultural past remains.

Santa Clara's first medical hospital was built in 1963. This structure, on Kiely Boulevard, was replaced in 2007 with the new Kaiser Permanente medical center located on Lawrence Expressway at Homestead Road.

Santa Clara was also home to a major mental health facility, Agnews State Hospital. According to the National Park Service, more than 100 persons were killed at this site in the 1906 earthquake. The site is the former home to Sun Microsystems and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

Santa Clara is drained by three seasonal creeks, all of which empty into the southern portion of San Francisco Bay; these creeks are San Tomas Aquino Creek, Saratoga Creek, and Calabazas Creek.

There are some significant biological resources within the city including habitat for the burrowing owl, a species of special concern in California due to reduction in habitat from urban development during the latter 20th century. This owl uses burrows created by ground squirrels and prefers generally level grasslands and even disturbed areas.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city covers an area of 18.4 square miles (48 km²), all of it land.

Despite being located only 45 miles from San Francisco, Santa Clara's climate is rather distinct—particularly during the summer, when it is generally warm and sunny, as opposed to the foggy and cool conditions one normally finds in San Francisco. The average daily temperatures in July range from 82 °F (28 °C) to 53 °F (12 °C). Winters are mild, with the mean daily temperatures in January ranging from 58 °F (14 °C) to 38 °F (3 °C). Most of the annual rainfall comes in the winter months; the summer months are generally rainless.

Demographics

2010

The Carmelite Convent of the Infant Jesus, built in 1917 in a Spanish Colonial Revival style

The 2010 United States Census reported that Santa Clara had a population of 116,468. The population density was 6,327.3 people per square mile (2,443.0/km²). The ethnic makeup of Santa Clara was 52,359 (45.0%) White, 3,154 (2.7%) African American, 579 (0.5%) Native American, 43,889 (37.7%) Asian (13.6% Indian, 6.9% Chinese, 6.2% Filipino, 3.9% Vietnamese, 3.0% Korean, 1.5% Japanese), 651 (0.6%) Pacific Islander, 9,624 (8.3%) from other races, and 6,212 (5.3%) from two or more races. There were 22,598 people (19.4%) who identified as Hispanic or Latino; 14.6% of Santa Clara's population was of Mexican ancestry.

The Census reported that 113,272 people (97.3% of the population) lived in households, 2,860 (2.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 336 (0.3%) were institutionalized.

There were 43,021 households, out of which 14,477 (33.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 21,817 (50.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4,081 (9.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,038 (4.7%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,146 (5.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 312 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 10,906 households (25.4%) were made up of individuals, and 2,945 (6.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63. There were 27,936 families (64.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.18.

The age distribution of the population was as follows: 24,774 people (21.3%) were under the age of 18, 12,511 people (10.7%) aged 18 to 24, 41,876 people (36.0%) aged 25 to 44, 25,628 people (22.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 11,679 people (10.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.9 males.

There were 45,147 housing units at an average density of 2,452.7 per square mile (947.0/km²), of which 19,747 (45.9%) were owner-occupied, and 23,274 (54.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.6%. 53,694 people (46.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 59,578 people (51.2%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

Mission Santa Clara de Asís

Mausoleums at Mission Cemetery

As of the census of 2000, there were 102,361 people, 38,526 households, and 24,117 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,149.1/km² (5,566.2/mi²). There were 39,630 housing units at an average density of 832.0/km² (2,155.0/mi²). The ethnic makeup of the city was 55.59% White, 2.29% African American, 0.53% Native American, 29.27% Asian, 0.43% Pacific Islander, 6.94% from other races, and 4.95% from two or more races. 15.99% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 38,526 households, out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.4% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the city, the age distribution of the population showed 19.9% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 39.1% from 25 to 44, 19.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.9 males.

According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $75,687, and the median income for a family was $98,977. Males had a median income of $58,641 versus $43,131 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,755. About 4.5% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.3% of those under age 18 and 8.2% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

Santa Clara station, served by Caltrain, ACE, and Amtrak

Santa Clara has two major train stations: the Santa Clara – Great America station and the Santa Clara station. Both stations are served by Amtrak's Capitol Corridor train and the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE); the latter is also served by Caltrain.

The city is served by the VTA light rail, which operates four stations: Reamwood station, Old Ironsides station, Great America station, and Lick Mill station.

Santa Clara is located adjacent to San Jose International Airport.

Points of interest

Santa Clara is also home to California's Great America, an amusement park currently operated by Cedar Fair, L.P.. Nearby is the Santa Clara Convention Center, one of Silicon Valley's largest event and meeting venues. Santa Clara also offers several museums such as the Intel Museum, Triton Museum of Art, and the Harris – Lass historical house. Near the above-mentioned Mission College is the Our Lady of Peace Shrine notable for its thirty-two foot tall statue which is viewable from Highway 101 in a manner similar to the statue of Junípero Serra in Hillsborough, California. The Mission City Center for Performing Arts is the city's venue for theatrical productions and entertainment.

The San Francisco 49ers NFL football team has its headquarters and practice facilities in Santa Clara. On Wednesday, November 8, 2006, the 49ers announced their intention to move the team to Santa Clara in time for the fall 2014 season, after negotiations failed with the city of San Francisco to build a new stadium.

Levi's Stadium

In 2011, Santa Clara voters approved a plan to build a 68,500-seat stadium for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. The groundbreaking for the stadium, located 45 miles southeast of San Francisco, occurred on April 19, 2012. The stadium is located between the Great America park (to the south) and the Convention Center. The official ribbon cutting took place on Thursday, July 17, 2014. The first professional sporting event hosted at the stadium was a Major League Soccer (MLS) match between the San Jose Earthquakes and the Seattle Sounders on August 2, 2014. The first professional football event hosted at the stadium was a pre-season game between the 49ers and the Denver Broncos, played on August 17, 2014.

The stadium hosted Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016, between Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers – the Broncos won the game 24-10.

Sister cities

As of May 2015^[update], Santa Clara has three sister cities:

• Coimbra, Portugal
• Izumo, Shimane, Japan
• Limerick, Ireland, since 2014

Economy

Intel headquarters

Palo Alto Networks headquarters

Citrix Systems headquarters

Santa Clara owns and operates an electric utility called Silicon Valley Power. In 2005 Silicon Valley Power brought online the Donald Von Raesfeld (DVR) Power Plant. The new combined cycle gas turbine plant produces 147 megawatts of electricity for the city and its residents. As a result, the going rate for electricity in Santa Clara is considerably cheaper than that offered by Northern California's dominant utility, Pacific Gas and Electric.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Affymetrix, Agilent Technologies, Applied Materials, Arista Networks, Aruba, Brillio, Chegg, Cloudera, Coherent, FileMaker, Hortonworks, Infoblox, Intel, Intevac, Marvell, McAfee, Move inc, National Semiconductor, Nvidia, OmniVision, Ooyala, Palo Alto Networks, Rovi, ServiceNow, Silicon Valley Bank, Trident Microsystems and Veritas Technologies are among the companies headquartered in Santa Clara. The United States office of Namco Bandai Games is in Santa Clara.

Top employers

According to the city's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Education

Santa Clara University, the oldest university in California

The Saint Clare School, the oldest private elementary school in California

Santa Clara Unified School District is the public school district that serves Santa Clara and small portions of Sunnyvale and North San Jose. The city is home to nineteen K–8, elementary, and high schools. Many of the schools are named for former farmers, ranchers, and other notable Santa Clara residents such as Bowers and Bracher elementary schools, Buchser Middle School, Wilcox High School, Santa Clara High School, and Mission Early College High School.

A small part of the city however is served by Cupertino High School and its feeder schools in the nearby town of its namesake.

Private schools in Santa Clara include the Saint Clare School (the oldest elementary school in California) and the Granada Islamic School (Islamic school, grades K-12)

Higher education

Colleges and universities in Santa Clara include Santa Clara University (private Jesuit university), Mission College (public community college), and Golden State Baptist College (private Baptist college).

Images for kids

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  Mission Santa Clara de Asís was founded by the Spanish in 1777.

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  The 1847 Battle of Santa Clara, fought between the Americans and the Californios, was one of the last battles of the Conquest of California.

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  Agnews Insane Asylum in 1910

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  Santa Clara University in 1933

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  Statue of Santa Clara de Asís in Civic Center Park

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  California's Great America

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  Levi's Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers

See also

In Spanish: Santa Clara (California) para niños