El Granada is a village and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

(CDP) in the

coast The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...

al area of northern San Mateo County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States. The population was 5,481 at the 2020 census. The village is named for the city of

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

, Spain.

Geography

El Granada is located at (37.503766, -122.473230), on the less densely populated

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

side of San Mateo County, approximately south of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

and north of

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz ( Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a po ...

. Neighboring towns include Montara and

Moss Beach Moss Beach is a coastal census-designated place in San Mateo County, California, with a year 2020 census population of 3,214. Located in Moss Beach are the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, a marine sanctuary; the Half Moon Bay Airport, the historic ...

to the north and Half Moon Bay to the south. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land.

Demographics

2010

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

reported that El Granada had a population of 5,467. The population density was . The racial makeup of El Granada was 4,608 (84.3%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 45 (0.8%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 38 (0.7%) Native American, 190 (3.5%) Asian, 5 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 336 (6.1%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 245 (4.5%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 813 persons (14.9%). The Census reported that 5,453 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 14 (0.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized. There were 2,098 households, out of which 660 (31.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,245 (59.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 163 (7.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 69 (3.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 132 (6.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 33 (1.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 420 households (20.0%) were made up of individuals, and 124 (5.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60. There were 1,477 families (70.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.00. The population was spread out, with 1,199 people (21.9%) under the age of 18, 314 people (5.7%) aged 18 to 24, 1,269 people (23.2%) aged 25 to 44, 2,106 people (38.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 579 people (10.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males. There were 2,198 housing units at an average density of , of which 1,592 (75.9%) were owner-occupied, and 506 (24.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.0%. 4,205 people (76.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,248 people (22.8%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 5,724 people, 2,028 households, and 1,512 families residing in the CDP. The population density was . There were 2,097 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP in 2010 was 77.0% non-Hispanic

, 0.6% non-Hispanic

, 0.3% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 0.1%

, 0.3% from

, and 3.3% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 14.9% of the population. There were 2,028 households, out of which 39.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 8.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 17.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.18. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.8% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 29.1% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.8 males. The median income for a household in the CDP was $91,979, and the median income for a family was $96,095. Males had a median income of $54,122 versus $48,065 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the CDP was $38,832. About 1.1% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those age 65 or over.

History

El Granada's unusual concentric-circular street layout was designed by the influential architect and city planner

Daniel Burnham Daniel Hudson Burnham (September 4, 1846 – June 1, 1912) was an American architect and urban designer. A proponent of the '' Beaux-Arts'' movement, he may have been, "the most successful power broker the American architectural profession has ...

. Burnham's other works included overseeing the design for the 1893

Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in Chicago and designing the 1902 Flatiron Building in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Burnham's plan was commissioned by the

Ocean Shore Railroad The Ocean Shore Railroad was a railroad built between San Francisco and Tunitas Glen, and Swanton and Santa Cruz that operated along the Pacific coastline from 1905 until 1921. The route was originally conceived to be a continuous line betwee ...

, which developed El Granada as a seaside resort for visitors who would use the railroad to travel between

and El Granada. The city was originally named "Granada" after the city in Spain but the Post Office mistakenly recorded the name as "El Granada" in 1909. Financial difficulties and the advent of the automobile caused the railroad to abandon the plan, and El Granada subsequently became a residential community.

Government

In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...

, El Granada is in , and in . Federally, El Granada is in .

Transportation

Primary road access is via State Route 1 (the Cabrillo Highway) from the north and south.

SamTrans SamTrans (stylized as samTrans; officially the San Mateo County Transit District) is a public transport agency in and around San Mateo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It provides bus service throughout San Mateo County and into porti ...

route and 117 provide service to El Granada with service from Linda Mar in Pacifica to Half Moon Bay.

References

External links

Coastsider, Coastal San Mateo County news site
{{authority control Populated coastal places in California Census-designated places in San Mateo County, California Census-designated places in California