Richmond, CA
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Richmond is a city in western
Contra Costa County, California Contra Costa County (; ''Contra Costa'', Spanish for 'Opposite Coast') is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,165,927. Th ...
, United States. The city was incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a
city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
.East Shore and Suburban Railway Chronology
, '' El Cerrito Historical Society'', June 2007. Retrieved August 15, 2007.
Located in the
San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...
's
East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...
region, Richmond borders San Pablo, Albany, El Cerrito and Pinole in addition to the unincorporated communities of North Richmond, Hasford Heights,
Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, El Sobrante, Bayview-Montalvin Manor, Tara Hills, and East Richmond Heights, and for a short distance San Francisco on Red Rock Island in the
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
. Richmond is one of two cities, the other being San Rafael, that sits on the shores of both San Francisco Bay and
San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of the San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep wate ...
. Its population was 116,448 as of the 2020 United States census making it the second largest city in the United States named Richmond after
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
.


Etymology

The name "Richmond" predates incorporation of the city by more than fifty years.
Edmund Randolph Edmund Jennings Randolph (August 10, 1753 September 12, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, and the seventh Governor of Virginia. As a delegate from Virginia, he attended the Constitutional Convention and helped to cre ...
, originally from
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
, represented the city of San Francisco when California's first legislature met in San Jose in December 1849, and he became state assemblyman from San Francisco. Out of fondness for his hometown, Randolph persuaded a federal surveying party, surveying and mapping the San Francisco Bay, to place the names "Point Richmond" and "Richmond" on their 1854 geodetic coastal map. The map was used at the terminal selected by the
San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad The San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad was a California rail line between Stockton and Bakersfield constructed in the late 1890s and very shortly thereafter purchased by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad and became their Val ...
. By 1899 maps made by the railroad carried the name "Point Richmond Avenue", a county road that later became Barrett Avenue, a central street in Richmond. The
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...
purchased the railroad making their terminus at Richmond. The first post office opened in 1900, and the city of Richmond incorporated in 1905.


History

The
Ohlone The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...
were the first inhabitants of the Richmond area, settling an estimated 5,000 years ago. They spoke the
Chochenyo language Chochenyo (also called ''Chocheño'', ''Northern Ohlone'' and ''East Bay Costanoan'') is the spoken language of the Chochenyo people. Chochenyo is one of the Ohlone languages in the Utian family. Description and history Linguistically, Chochen ...
, and subsisted as
hunter-gatherer A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived Lifestyle, lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, esp ...
s and
harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
ers.


Origins

The site that would eventually become the city of Richmond was part of the
Rancho San Pablo Rancho San Pablo was a land grant in present-day Contra Costa County, California given in 1823 by Governor Luís Antonio Argüello to Francisco María Castro (1775–1831), a former soldier at the San Francisco Presidio and one-time ''alcalde' ...
land granted to Don Francisco María Castro, from which the nearby town of San Pablo inherited its name; the Point Richmond area was known originally as The Potrero and then renamed as Point Stevens in early charts of
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
. Point Richmond was an island, but industrial development and deliberate fill connected it to the mainland by the early 1900s. On July 4, 1900, the
Santa Fe Railroad The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at variou ...
's western terminus was established at Point Richmond with ferry connections from Ferry Point in the Brickyard Cove area to San Francisco. The Santa Fe railroad also built a major rail yard next to Point Richmond. It constructed a tunnel through the Potrero San Pablo ridge to run track from the yard to a ferry landing from which freight cars could be transshipped to San Francisco. Where this track crosses the main street in Point Richmond, there remain two of the last operational wigwag grade crossing signals in the United States, and the only surviving examples of the "upside-down" type. The wigwag is a type of railroad crossing signal that was phased out in the 1970s and '80s across the country. There was controversy in 2005 when the State Transportation Authority ordered the BNSF railroad company to upgrade the railroad crossing signals. A compromise was achieved that included installing new modern crossing gates, red lights and bells while not removing, but simply shutting off, the historic ones and preserving their functionality for special events.
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...
set up operations on land sold by Emily Tewksbury in 1901, including what is now the Chevron Richmond Refinery and tank farm, which Chevron still operates. There is a pier into San Francisco Bay south of Point Molate for oil tankers.


Early days

The city of Richmond was incorporated in 1905. Until the enactment of prohibition in 1919, the city had the largest
winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...
in the world; the small abandoned village of Winehaven remains fenced off along Western Drive in the Point Molate Area. Richmond was a small town at that time, with some industrial development centered on the waterfront based around the railroad and oil refineries. The
Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...
also established a major facility in Richmond in the early 20th century. The facility connected with both the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific and serviced their passenger coach equipment. The Pullman Company was a large employer of African American men, who worked mainly as
porters Porters may refer to: * Porters, Virginia, an unincorporated community in Virginia, United States * Porters, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community in Wisconsin, United States * Porters Ski Area, a ski resort in New Zealand * Porters (TV series), '' ...
on the Pullman cars. Many of them settled in the East Bay, from Richmond to Oakland, before World War II. From 1917 and throughout the 1920s, the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
was active in the city. In 1930 the
Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
opened the Richmond Assembly Plant, which later moved to Milpitas in 1956. The old Ford plant in Richmond has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988. In 2004 it was purchased by developer Eddie Orton, who converted it into an events center named Ford Point Building–The Craneway.


Wartime boomtown and shifting demographics

At the onset of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the four
Richmond Shipyards The four Richmond Shipyards, in the city of Richmond, California, United States, were run by Permanente Metals and part of the Kaiser Shipyards. In World War II, Richmond built more ships than any other shipyard, turning out as many as three ships ...
were built along Richmond's waterfront, employing thousands of workers, many migrating to Richmond from other parts of the country after being recruited. These new workers generally lived in housing constructed specifically for the wartime boom, scattered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including Richmond, Berkeley and Albany. Many of these new migrants were Black Americans from the South and to a lesser extent the Midwest who took jobs in heavy industry and transport as those industries expanded to meet the needs of the war economy, while increased numbers of women also joined the industrial workforce for the first time as large numbers of working-age men were drafted for the war effort. During the war, Richmond's population increased dramatically, rising from 23,000 in 1940 to 114,899 in 1942 and peaking at around 120,000 by 1945. A specially built rail line, the Shipyard Railway, transported workers to the shipyards. Kaiser's Richmond shipyards built 747
Victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...
and
Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...
s for the war effort, more than any other site in the U.S. The shipyards broke many records, including the completion of a Liberty ship in just five days. On average the yards built a new ship in 30 days. The medical system established for the shipyard workers at the Richmond Field Hospital eventually became today's
Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP) is an American integrated delivery system, integrated managed care consortium headquartered in Oakland, California. Founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield, Sidney R. Garfield, the ...
HMO In the United States, a health maintenance organization (HMO) is a medical insurance group that provides health services for a fixed annual fee. It is an organization that provides or arranges managed care for health insurance, self-funded heal ...
. The hospital remained in operation until 1993, when it was replaced by the Richmond Medical Center hospital, which has since expanded to a multi-building campus. Point Richmond was Richmond's original commercial hub, but a new downtown arose in the center of the city along Macdonald Avenue during the war. It was populated by department stores such as Kress, J.C. Penney,
Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...
,
Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...
, and Woolworth's. File:Richmondunderpass.jpg, An E&SR streetcar in the Macdonald Avenue subway in downtown Richmond, 1906 File:"4,000 Unit Housing Project Progress Photographs March 6,1943 to August 11, 1943, Looking down a street towards the... - NARA - 296755.tif, A 4,000-unit housing project was completed in Richmond during 1943. File:USNS General A.W. Greely (T-AP-141) at Thule, Greenland, on 19 July 1951 (NH 97108).jpg, , built in Richmond File:12-3-1 Permanente-Nos1-4-25.jpg, Aerial photo of Richmond Shipyards, 1944, view directed north: #3 (west, foreground); #2 (rectangular basin, east foreground); #4 (end of the channel, south bank); #1 (north of the channel bend). File:Wendy Welder Richmond Shipyards.jpg, A "Wendy the Welder" at the Kaiser
Richmond Shipyards The four Richmond Shipyards, in the city of Richmond, California, United States, were run by Permanente Metals and part of the Kaiser Shipyards. In World War II, Richmond built more ships than any other shipyard, turning out as many as three ships ...
, contributing to the
war effort War effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and civilian—towards the support of a military force, particular during a state of war. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...
File:Welders Alivia Scott, Hattie Carpenter, and Flossie Burtos await an opportunity to weld their first piece of steel - NARA - 535800.jpg, Richmond Shipyards welders prepare for a performance demonstration test


Post-war decline and rebound

When the war ended the shipyard workers were no longer needed, and a decades-long population decline ensued. The census listed 99,545 residents in 1950. By 1960 much of the temporary housing built for the shipyard workers was torn down, and the population dropped to about 71,800. Just before his April 1968
assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
,
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
had been working on plans for the
Poor People's Campaign The Poor People's Campaign, or Poor People's March on Washington, was a 1968 effort to gain economic justice for poor people in the United States. It was organized by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SC ...
, including a multi-city tour of the U.S. with a stop in Richmond. His son,
Martin Luther King III Martin Luther King III (born October 23, 1957) is an American human rights activist, philanthropist, and an advocate. The second child and eldest son of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, he served as the fourth ...
, completed the Poverty in America Tour in 2007, stopping in Richmond. Unrest in late June 1968, sparked by the police shooting of a 15-year-old boy, damaged businesses in downtown along Macdonald Avenue. Most notably, the Travalini Furniture Store was destroyed by fire, which was assumed to be the result of the violent protests, but according to Fraser Felter, who was a reporter for the ''Richmond Independent'', police sources told him the fire was set to avoid a debt instead by destroying store records. In the 1970s, the Hilltop area was developed in Richmond's northern suburbs, further depressing the downtown area as it drew retail clients and tenants away to the large indoor Hilltop Mall, which opened in 1976. The shopping mall, last named Hilltop Horizon, was opened under
Taubman Centers Taubman Centers, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The company invests in shopping centers, and is a subsidiary of Simon Property Group since 2020. History The company was founded in 19 ...
, and has been sold since then to GM Pension Trust (1998),
Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...
(2007),
Jones Lang LaSalle Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (JLL) is a global real estate services company, founded in the United Kingdom with offices in 80 countries. The company also provides investment management services worldwide, including services to institutional an ...
(2012), LBG Real Estate (2017), and
Prologis Prologis, Inc. is a real estate investment trust headquartered in San Francisco, California that invests in logistics facilities. The company was formed through the merger of AMB Property Corporation and Prologis in June 2011, which made Prologis ...
(2021), who announced plans to close and demolish the building, reusing the land for a mixed-use development including residential, retail, and logistics facilities. In the late 1990s the Richmond Parkway was built along Richmond's western industrial and northwestern parkland, connecting Interstates 80 and 580. Construction of the Parkway, which follows the alignment of SR 93 as proposed in 1958, started in 1990 and completed in 1996 at a cost of $193 million. However,
Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
issued a letter in 1998 saying it would not take over responsibility for the road unless it was brought up to expressway standards; as it was cost-prohibitive to convert it, the road remains the responsibility of the city and county. In 2006, the city celebrated its centennial. This coincided with the repaving and streetscaping project of
Macdonald Avenue Macdonald Avenue is the main east-to-west artery in Richmond, California.

Geography

Richmond is located at . According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (comprising 42.71%) is water. The city sits on of waterfront, more than any other city in the Bay Area. The city borders
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
to the southwest and
San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of the San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep wate ...
to the northwest, and includes Brooks Island and the Brother Islands entirely, and half of Red Rock Island. There are several cities and
unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
surrounding or bordering Richmond. To the south is the city of Albany which is in
Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. A ...
and the city of El Cerrito. The unincorporated communities of East Richmond Heights, Rollingwood, Hasford Heights, and El Sobrante lie to the east. North Richmond to the west and San Pablo to the east are almost entirely surrounded by Richmond's city limits. To the north, Richmond borders the city of Pinole and the unincorporated areas of Bayview, Montalvin Manor, Hilltop Green, Tara Hills. Richmond borders Alameda, San Francisco, and Marin counties in the Bay and Red Rock Island. The city is within the 94801, 94803, 94804, 94805, and 94806 ZIP Codes.City of Richmond Geographic Information System Viewer
. Retrieved August 1, 2007.


Climate

Richmond, like much of the coastal
East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...
, enjoys a very mild
Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
year round. The climate is slightly warmer than the coastal areas of San Francisco, the Peninsula, and Marin County; it is however more temperate than areas further inland. The average highs range from and the lows range from year round.Average Weather for Richmond, California
Weather.com.
Richmond usually enjoys an "
Indian summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or mor ...
", and September is, on average, the warmest month. January is on average the coldest month. The highest recorded temperature in Richmond was in September 1971 while the coldest was in December 1990. The rainy season begins in late October and ends in April, with some showers in May. Most of the rain occurs during stronger storms which occur between November and March and drop of rain per month. January and February are the rainiest months. Like most of the Bay Area, Richmond is made up of several
microclimate A microclimate (or micro-climate) is a local set of atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often slightly but sometimes substantially. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square m ...
s. Southern parts of the city and the ridges receive more
fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...
than northern areas. Summer temperatures are higher in inland areas, where the moderating influence of San Francisco Bay is lessened. The average wind speed is with stronger winds from March through August; the strongest winds are in June. The city also enjoys more than 80% sunshine seven months out of the year and ten months with 60% or more. December and January are the darkest months with about 45% average brightness. The city experiences virtually no snowfall, and brief hail annually.


Environment

Richmond is home to many species of animals.
Canada geese The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North ...
visit the city on their annual migrations.
Harbor seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...
s live on the Castro Rocks, and pigeons and
gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...
s populate the sidewalks and parking lots. Tadpoles and frogs can be found in the local creeks and vernal pools. Field mice and lizards are also found.
Heron Herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 75 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genus ''Botaurus'' are referred to as bi ...
s and
egret Egrets ( ) are herons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build ...
s nest in protected areas on Brooks Island.
Deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...
,
falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...
s,
raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...
s, ducks, foxes, owls, and
mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...
s live in Wildcat Canyon and
Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Point Pinole Regional Shoreline is a regional park on the shores of the San Pablo Bay, California (the northern arm of the San Francisco Bay), in the United States. It is approximately in area, and is operated by the East Bay Regional Park Dis ...
. A license is needed for fishing on the waterfront or city waters but not on the piers, where in addition to crabs,
sturgeon Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...
are plentiful.
Striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has ...
,
bat ray The bat ray (''Myliobatis californica'') is an eagle rayGill, T.N. (1865). "Note on the family of myliobatoids, and on a new species of ''Aetobatis''". ''Ann. Lyc. Nat. Hist. N. Y.'' 8, 135–138."Myliobatis californica". Integrated Taxonomic Info ...
s,
leopard shark The leopard shark (''Triakis semifasciata'') is a species of houndshark, in the family (biology), family Houndshark, Triakidae. It is found along the Pacific coast of North America, from the U.S. state of Oregon to Mazatlán in Mexico. Typically ...
s, surf
perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...
,
jacksmelt ''Atherinopsis californiensis'', the jack silverside or jacksmelt,Leo PinkasCalifornia Marine Fish Landings For 1972 and Designated Common Names of Certain Marine Organisms of California fish bulletin 161, Marine Resources Region, 1974 is a speci ...
, white croaker, and
flounder Flounders are a group of flatfish species. They are demersal fish, found at the bottom of oceans around the world; some species will also enter estuary, estuaries. Taxonomy The name "flounder" is used for several only distantly related speci ...
s are also found. Richmond is one of the few places where you can find the rare Olympia oyster on the West Coast, in the waters along the refinery's shoreline.
Rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...
have recently returned to San Pablo and Wildcat creeks.
Red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members of ...
s patrol the skies.
Monarch butterflies The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. ...
migrate through the city on their journey between Mexico and Canada. Wildcat Marsh has two ponds where Canada geese often rest, and is also the home of the endangered
salt marsh harvest mouse The salt-marsh harvest mouse (''Reithrodontomys raviventris''), also known as the red-bellied harvest mouse, is an endangered rodent endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area salt marshes in California. Taxonomy The two distinct subspecies are both ...
and
California clapper rail California () is a state in the Western United States that lies on the Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California to the sout ...
. Another endangered species in the city is the
Santa Cruz tarweed ''Holocarpha macradenia'', commonly known as the Santa Cruz tarplant, is an endangered plant endemic to Northern California.
which survives alongside Interstate 80. Wildcat Canyon also hosts falcons and vultures. Threatened black rails also live in the city's marshes. After a baby
gray whale The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of , a weight of up to and lives between ...
was beached on the Point Richmond shore in May 2007, its rotting corpse became bothersome to neighbors. Removal was delayed as various agencies argued over which would have to pay for it, at an eventual cost of $18,000. Richmond is also home to one of the last pristine moist grassland habitats in the entire Bay Area at the former Campus Bay
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
Field Station near Meeker Slough. Richmond residents, however, have limited access to other environmental benefits. Because of the refineries located in Richmond, air quality is particularly low, and residents are especially at risk of air-pollution-related health issues. In 2006, the city was sued by an environmental group for dumping raw
sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...
into the Bay. Councilmember Tom Butt was very vocal on the subject, accusing the city council of turning a blind eye to the problem.Sewage Leaks
, Richmond Councilman Tom Butt can't keep his mouth shut, bless him. Wikipedians poke at Dick Pombo's bio; and mystery fliers sully mayor's race, by Will Harper, ''
East Bay Express The ''East Bay Express'' is an Oakland-based weekly newspaper serving the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is distributed throughout Alameda County and parts of Contra Costa County every Wednesday. Th ...
'', March 1, 2006. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
A 60-acre, 10.5-megawatt solar farm was opened within the city in 2018. The farm sits on a former landfill owned by Chevron.


Crime

The city has in the past suffered from a high crime rate; at one point, the city council requested a declaration of a state of emergency and asked for the intervention of the Contra Costa County Sheriff and the
California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary jurisdiction, including patrol and Criminal investigation, investigations, over all California Controlled-access highw ...
. Murder, vehicle theft, and larceny rates remain high, although they tend to be concentrated in the Iron Triangle and adjacent unincorporated North Richmond, which is outside the jurisdiction of the Richmond Police Department. By 1991, the city's all-time high of 62 homicides, among a population of 98,000, was seven times the national average. The portion of these homicides that were drug- or gang-related increased from 5 percent to 55 percent between 1989 and 1991. Despite the city making extreme headway in crime reduction and prevention, Richmond received widespread attention in 2009 when a girl was gang raped at a homecoming dance at Richmond High School. In 2007, Richmond opened a program to prevent gun violence, the Office of Neighborhood Safety. The program collects information and analyzes public records to determine "the 50 people in Richmond most likely to shoot someone and to be shot themselves." It then offers selected individuals "a spot in a program that includes a stipend to turn their lives around". "Over an 18-month period, if the men demonstrate better behavior, ONS offers them up to $1,000 a month in cash, plus opportunities to travel beyond Richmond." In 2004, Richmond was ranked the 12th most dangerous city in America. Those rankings have changed, and Richmond is no longer ranked as a "most dangerous" city, in either California or the United States. This is in large part due to the efforts of Police Chief Chris Magnus, who established "community policing", which involves police officers engaging with affected high crime communities.


Disasters

Richmond lies in the volatile California region that has a potential for devastating earthquakes. Many buildings were damaged in the 1989
Loma Prieta earthquake On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately 10 mi (16 km) ...
. The city has also had at least one minor tornado. The Chevron Richmond Refinery had highly noted chemical leaks in the 1990s. The company has been fined thousands, and sometimes hundreds of thousands, of dollars. Richmond has a siren system consisting of 17 emergency warning sirens located across the city; they are tested on the first Wednesday of every month, at 11 am PST (12 pm PDT), and are usually used to warn of toxic chemical releases from the Chevron Richmond Refinery. In a July 26, 1993, industrial accident, a
General Chemical Tata Chemicals Limited is an Indian multinational corporation with interests in chemicals, crop protection and specialty chemistry products. The company is headquartered in Mumbai and has operations across India, Europe, North America and Afric ...
company rail tanker car containing
oleum Oleum (Latin ''oleum'', meaning oil), or fuming sulfuric acid, is a term referring to solutions of various compositions of sulfur trioxide in sulfuric acid, or sometimes more specifically to disulfuric acid (also known as pyrosulfuric acid). Ol ...
overheated and exploded in the General Chemical railyard. This resulted in a area contaminated with the poisonous gas, and led to 25,000 people landing in the hospital. The incident led to lawsuits, and has been referred to as a mini-
Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...
.


2007 San Francisco Bay Oil Spill

The city's shoreline and wildlife were seriously affected by the 2007 San Francisco Bay oil spill. Beaches and shoreline were closed, but later reopened.Oil Spill Information
, City of Richmond website. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
Keller Beach was closed to public access for swimmers.


2010 sinkhole

On April 15, 2010, a
sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...
roughly deep appeared at the intersection of El Portal Drive and Via Verdi. Although no one was hurt, a car fell into the sinkhole.Richmond Sinkhole Fix Could Cost $7.5 Million
, CBS Local News, April 28, 2010. Retrieved August 12, 2010.


2012 Chevron Refinery fire

On August 6, 2012, at around 6:15 PM, a large fire erupted at the Chevron refinery, sending plumes of toxic smoke into the surrounding area and resulting in nearly 15,000 people to seek medical treatment following the incident. Just minutes after the fire was reported, Contra Costa Health Services notified residents “
shelter in place Shelter-in-place (SIP; also known as a shelter-in-place warning, Specific Area Message Encoding, SAME code SPW) is the act of seeking safety within the building one already occupies, rather than emergency evacuation, evacuating the area or seeking ...
”; the local siren system was activated and several messages were issued through the
Emergency Alert System The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a Emergency population warning, national warning system in the United States designed to allow authorized officials to broadcast emergency alerts and warning messages to the public via Cable television, cable ...
. The fire was reported contained at around 10:40 PM.


Demographics


2020 census


2010

The 2010 United States census reported that Richmond had a population of 103,701. The population density was . The racial makeup of Richmond was 32,590 (31.4%)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 27,542 (26.6%)
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 662 (0.6%) Native American, 13,984 (13.5%) Asian (4.0%
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
, 3.5% Filipino, 1.6% Laotian, 1.2%
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
, 0.7%
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...
, 0.6%
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
, 0.4%
Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...
, 0.2%
Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...
, 0.1% Thai), 537 (0.5%)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 22,573 (21.8%) from other races, and 5,813 (5.6%) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 40,921 persons (39.5%). Among the Hispanic population, 27.3% were of
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
origin, 4.7%
Salvadoran Salvadorans (), also known as Salvadorians, are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvadoran diaspora, particularly in the United States, with smalle ...
, 1.7% Guatemalan, and 1.2%
Nicaraguan Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and ...
heritage. The census reported that 102,118 people (98.5% of the population) lived in households, 670 (0.6%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 913 (0.9%) were institutionalized. There were 36,093 households, out of which 13,487 (37.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 14,502 (40.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 6,931 (19.2%) had a female householder with no husband present, 2,585 (7.2%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,538 (7.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 427 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 9,546 households (26.4%) were made up of individuals, and 2,707 (7.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83. There were 24,018
families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...
(66.5% of all households); the average family size was 3.43. The age distribution of the population shows 25,800 people (24.9%) under the age of 18, 10,364 people (10.0%) aged 18 to 24, 30,846 people (29.7%) aged 25 to 44, 26,109 people (25.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 10,582 people (10.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.0 males. There were 39,328 housing units at an average density of , of which 36,093 were occupied, of which 18,659 (51.7%) were owner-occupied, and 17,434 (48.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.1%. 52,683 people (50.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 49,435 people (47.7%) lived in rented housing. The population of Richmond was 22% African-American as of 2015, while it was 44% African-American in 1990.


2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 99,216 people, 34,625 households, and 23,025 families in the city. The population density was . There were 36,044 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 36.06%
black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 21.36%
white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.64% Native American, 12.29% Asian, 0.50%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 13.86% from other races, and 5.27% from two or more races. 26.53% of the population were
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino, of any race. Of the 34,625 households, 33.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were married couples living together, 20.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.4% 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 3.44. In the city, the age distribution of the population shows 27.7% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 21.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.2 males. The median income for a household in the city was $44,210, and the median income for a family was $46,659. Males had a median income of $37,389 versus $34,204 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,788. About 13.4% of families and 16.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.1% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over. 75.4% of inhabitants over the age of 25 were high school graduates, while 22.4% had bachelor's degrees, and 8.3% had a graduate or professional degree. 7.7% of the population was unemployed and those who were employed took, on average, 34.3 minutes to commute to their place of work. 33.2% of the population aged 15 and over has never married, while 46.3% is currently wed. 11.1% have already divorced, 3.1% is currently separated, and 6.4% has been widowed. 20.6% of the population was born outside the U.S., of which 15.4% were born in Latin America and 8.7% in Asia. During the day the population shrinks by 6.2% due to commuting while 23.3% of the population works within the city limits. 20.5% of the jobs in the city are in the educational, health, and social service fields, while 10.9% are professional, scientific, management, administrative, and waste disposal, and 10.4% are in retail. 7.0% of Richmonders are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces compared with 10.9% nationally. 33.2% are foreign born while 12.4% are nationwide. 48.1% of men and 43.2% of women are married; 55.9 and 51% of Americans are respectively. Nearly half (46.7%) speak a language other than the English language at home. 65.3% are employed, even with the national average. The average household income is US$52,794; $6,552 higher than the national average. The average family makes 57,931 dollars while the average American household makes 55,832 dollars. The per capita income is 22,326 compared with 25,035 federally.Richmond Fact Sheet
, U.S. Census Bureau.
Among Richmond residents, 64.56% residents speak English, 23.13% speak Spanish, 2.11% speak
Tagalog Tagalog may refer to: Language * Tagalog language, a language spoken in the Philippines ** Old Tagalog, an archaic form of the language ** Batangas Tagalog, a dialect of the language * Tagalog script, the writing system historically used for Tagal ...
, 1.75% speak Chinese, 1.20% speak Miao–Mien, 1.12% speak Laotian, 0.72% speak
Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...
, 0.54% speak
Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...
, 0.51% speak French, 0.5% speak
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...
, 3.49% speak other languages, none of which represents more than half of one percent of the population.Richmond, California entry
, MLA Data Center. Retrieved October 21, 2007.


Economy

Many industries have been and are still sited in Richmond. It had a
dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...
and
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
works (the
Giant Powder Company The Giant Powder Company was an explosives manufacturing company which operated from the mid 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, located in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The Giant Powder Company was the first com ...
, closed in 1960, now the site of
Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Point Pinole Regional Shoreline is a regional park on the shores of the San Pablo Bay, California (the northern arm of the San Francisco Bay), in the United States. It is approximately in area, and is operated by the East Bay Regional Park Dis ...
), the last active
whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
station in the country at Point Molate (closed in 1971), and one of the world's largest
wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the cultivation and production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feat ...
( Winehaven), closed by
Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...
in 1919. During World War II, Richmond developed rapidly as a heavy industrial town, chiefly devoted to
shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...
. Its major activity now is as a
seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...
, with 26 million
ton Ton is any of several units of measure of mass, volume or force. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. As a unit of mass, ''ton'' can mean: * the '' long ton'', which is * the ''tonne'', also called the ''metric ...
s of goods shipped through Port Richmond in 1993, mostly oil and petroleum products. The seaport is also home to a major oil refinery operated by
Chevron Corporation Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation predominantly specializing in oil and gas. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened t ...
. The
Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government that administers Social Security (United ...
employs over 1,000 at its regional office and program service center in Downtown Richmond.
Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP) is an American integrated delivery system, integrated managed care consortium headquartered in Oakland, California. Founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield, Sidney R. Garfield, the ...
's Richmond Medical Center hospital in the Downtown Richmond is one of the largest employers in the city.


Retail

The Hilltop District includes
Prologis Hilltop Center Hilltop Mall is a defunct regional shopping center in the Hilltop neighborhood of Richmond, California. Hilltop was managed and co-owned by Prologis, Inc. The only anchor store left is Walmart. There are 3 vacant anchor stores that were once ...
and a 16-screen
Century Theatres Century Theatres is a movie theater chain that operates many multiplexes in the western United States, primarily in California, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. In its later years, it had expanded into the inter-mountain states, ...
alongside Hilltop Plaza Shopping Center. The 23rd Street business district has evolved into a predominantly Latino neighborhood over the last twenty years as have the storefronts.23rd Street Corridor Visioning and Form-Based Code: Charette Summary Report Richmond, California
. City of Richmond website. August 26, 2009. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
In the Downtown Richmond District the Richmond Shopping Center was built as part of the city's "''main street''" revitalization efforts. The
Macdonald 80 Shopping Center Macdonald 80 Shopping Center, or Macdonald 80, is a 200,000 sq. ft. (18,580m³) regional shopping mall in the North & East neighborhood

Redevelopment

The former Richmond Shipyard No. 2 and Inner Harbor were transformed starting in the late 1980s into a multiunit residential area, now known as Marina Bay. Starting in the early 2000s, the city began an aggressive redevelopment effort spurring exurban tract housing, condominiums, townhomes, a
transit village A transit village is a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use district or neighborhood oriented around the station of a high-quality transit system, such as rail or B.R.T. Often a civic square of public space abuts the train station, functioning as the ...
, and terraced hillside subdivisions. The city also created a
redevelopment agency A redevelopment agency (RDA) is a government body dedicated to urban renewal. Typically it is a municipal level city department focused on a particular district or corridor that has become neglected or blighted (a community redevelopment agency o ...
that refurbished
Macdonald Avenue Macdonald Avenue is the main east-to-west artery in Richmond, California.Richmond Greenway The Richmond Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle path in Richmond, California.rails-to-trails A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corridor with active railways, ligh ...
trail and urban farming project. Since 1996, new homes have increased in price by 32%, and there has been a 65.6% increase in the total amount of new dwellings built annually. Country Club Vista is a development surrounding the Richmond Country Club to the south and north. It includes suburban style tract houses with cul-de-sac courts and small yards. Seacliff, at Point Richmond, is a development of luxury waterfront homes built on a terraced hillside. San Marcos is a series of about ten condominium multistory buildings between The Shops at Hilltop and Country Club Vista. Richmond Transit Village has been constructed in the former west parking lot and an adjacent empty lot of the combined Richmond BART and Amtrak station. The development is part of the city's downtown revitalization efforts.


Richmond CARES

On September 11, 2013, the seven-member Richmond City Council, in a four-to-three vote, decided to pursue a scheme for using
eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...
to buy out mortgages. The vote was on "
etting Etting (; ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Ettinge'') is a commune in the Moselle department of the Grand Est administrative region in north-eastern France. The village belongs to the Pays de Bitche. See also * Communes of the Moselle department ...
up a Joint Powers Authority to bring more cities into the plan". However, at least five votes would be needed before any mortgage could actually be bought out.
North Las Vegas, Nevada North Las Vegas is a suburban city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, in the Las Vegas Valley. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 262,527, with an estimated population of 280,543 in 2022. The city was incorporated on May 1, 1946 ...
and California governments including El Monte
Fontana Fontana may refer to: Places Italy *Fontana Liri, comune in the Province of Frosinone *Fontanafredda, comune in the Province of Pordenone * Fontanarosa, comune in the Province of Avellino *Francavilla Fontana, comune in the Province of Brindisi ...
, the city of
Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
and
San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...
had considered such plans but decided not to pursue them. The vote made Richmond the first to accept the idea. The plan had been opposed by the vice-mayor and some members of the city council, who said it would "compromise" the city's finances. Critics of the plan noted that the company Mortgage Resolution Partners stood to potentially profit: it would receive $4,500 from the new lenders for each refinanced mortgage for arranging the financing to purchase the original loans and for handling all legal, administrative, and refinancing operations (an amount matching what lenders are compensated for under the Federal HARP loan modification program). Critics also questioned the inclusion of wealthy neighborhoods such as "the area near the Richmond Country Club". The Western Contra Costa Association of Realtors hired a public relations agency and sent mass mailings warning against the scheme; its advertising was "funded, in part, by more than $70,000 from the California Association of Realtors and the National Associations of Realtors."
Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...
and
Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with a significant global presence. The company operates in 35 countries and serves over 70 million customers worldwide. It is a systemically important fi ...
had sued, claiming the program was unconstitutional. " e National Housing Law Project, Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, Bay Area Legal Aid, the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, and the California Reinvestment Coalition" opposed the suit, calling the banks' request for an injunction against the city "discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act". Supporters of the plan include the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and Robert Hockett, a professor of law at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
.


Casinos

Many casinos have been proposed for the West Contra Costa area. Point Molate would have a casino, resort, and a luxury shopping mall. Sugar Bowl Casino proposed a casino, a steakhouse, and a buffet promoted by the Pomo Tribe's Scotts Valley Band near the border between North Richmond and the city of Richmond's Parchester Village, whose residents have lauded it as a boon to fighting crime by adding more of a police presence and creating jobs for shiftless youth, but residents from neighboring newly developed sub-divisions along the
Richmond Country Club The Richmond Golf Club (formerly known as Richmond Country Club) is a private social gathering place and sports facility for golf in the Hilltop, Richmond, California, Hilltop District of Richmond, California, United States. History The land ...
were fervently opposed based on potential losses to property values. Casino San Pablo has already been built in neighboring San Pablo, with 2,500 slots. The projects have been the subject of much civic debate; supporters contend that the often cash-strapped government would get a major new source of revenue, while opponents air their concerns over the ramifications, including an increase in already high crime rates, lowered property values, and worsening neighborhood quality of life. Point Molate is currently slated to either become a housing and conference center, a
casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
resort shopping area, or a large regional park. In 2010, the city approved the environmental review of the plan in which the tribe agreed to contain development of the casino to the footprint of the buildings on the former naval depot site. The lobbying and reports required by Richmond have cost the tribe $15 million. This approval won over the region's strict environmentalists and many council members. Later that year residents were given the opportunity to weigh in on the issue and voted on the non-binding measure U to determine their approval of the project. 58% of voters opposed the $1 billion project. Citing the people's opposition and the inability to negotiate several key points with the developer, the city council voted down the project in 2011. Councilman Nat Bates remained a proponent of the plan with its projected 17,000 jobs, while the remainder of the council was chagrined at the fact that there was no guarantee that the jobs would go to Richmonders. The city of San Pablo, whose lifeline is their card club,
Casino San Pablo Casino San Pablo is a Native American reservation with a gambling hall located in San Pablo, California.
, was elated. The Guideville Band of Pomo Indians was given the opportunity of 150 days to create a non-casino plan for the site such as alternatives in the environmental report for a convention center, conference center, hotel, spa, and housing.


Government

The Richmond city government operates under a council-manager system with seven members (including mayor and vice mayor) elected to alternating four-year terms. Politically, the city is a Democratic stronghold. By the early 1990s, not a single Republican remained on the council. The city council has four African Americans, four whites and two Latinos. The position of Mayor rotated between members of the Richmond City Council until 1981, when the office became an elected position. George D. Carroll, who was voted by the City Council to become Mayor on July 6, 1964, was described at the time as "the first Negro mayor in California and first in America with the exception of small, scattered all-Negro communities in the Deep South,". George Livingston Sr. was the first elected African American mayor. He served from 1985 to 1993. Rosemary Corbin served as the mayor from 1993 to 2001. The current mayor Eduardo Martinez was elected Mayor of Richmond in 2022, winning 39% of the vote. Prior to winning the mayoral election, he had served on the Richmond City Council since 2014. Martinez, a former primary school teacher, is Richmond's first Latino mayor and a vocal critic of Chevron. Years of political domination by the local firefighters union subsided after an
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
corruption investigation. In the early 2000s
Gayle McLaughlin Gayle McLaughlin (born 1952) is an American politician from Richmond, California. She was first elected to the Richmond City Council in 2004 when she was a member of the Green Party of California. She won two consecutive four-year terms as the ...
was the first Green elected to the council, with the support of the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA), a coalition of liberal Democrats, progressive independents, and Greens. In November 2006, McLaughlin was elected mayor, defeating incumbent first-term Mayor
Irma Anderson Irma Louise Anderson ( Husbands; January 18, 1931 – January 28, 2024) was an American politician who was the elected mayor of the city of Richmond, California, serving between 2001 and 2006. She ran for re-election as the incumbent Democrat in ...
. During McLaughlin's mayoralty (2007–2015), Richmond was the nation's largest city with a
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
mayor. In 2006, the city implemented a computer program that it had ordered from a German firm that provides the city with statistical interactive maps. These maps cover such areas as signage locations, streets, crime hot-spots, and zoning information. In 2007 the city won a contest in which its previously substandard website was upgraded and improved to make it more modern and functional. The prize includes two years of free webmastering. Mayor McLaughlin and Councilperson Butt opposed Chevron's Renewal Project that would replace their 1950s era Hydrogen Manufacturing plant with a newer more efficient plant and would increase pollution by using dirtier, thicker, but cheaper crude oil. The city of Richmond has eight community centers which are located within city parks. Many of the city's community centers were closed in the early 2000s following budget miscalculations and financial difficulties. In the 2006 city elections many candidates ran on platforms promising to reopen these community centers, most of which had been closed due to budget cuts. That election also featured a city sales tax increase, Measure Q, which failed. There are 53 voting precincts in Richmond. Richmond has formerly been home to black culture and activist movements, most notably the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
. Richmond became the first city in the United States to pass a resolution for a ceasefire in the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
on October 25, 2023, eighteen days after the outbreak of hostilities.


Cannabis

The city has eight
cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...
dispensaries, and although the city has passed legislation approving them and has legalized their presence, city management does not accept their legality. In fact, the city had sued to close them. It is trying to enforce an injunction that would suspend their operating licenses. Although the city council has passed an ordinance permitting the dispensaries, city management refuses to cooperate with the spirit of the law because it has yet to take effect. The question remains whether the clubs will be closed before the law allowing them to open takes effect. In 2019 the city approved "Power Plant Park" a marijuana farm consisting of 45 greenhouses on 18 acres north of North Richmond near
Breuner Marsh The Dotson Family Marsh, formerly Breuner Marsh, is a 238-acre (96 ha)California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's o ...
, as of February 10, 2019, Richmond has 52,364 registered voters. Of those, 33,166 (63.3%) are registered Democrats, 2,979 (5.7%) are registered
Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
, 14,108 (26.9%) have declined to state a political party, and 4.1% are registered members of a third party.


Education

The public schools in all portions of Richmond are administered by the
West Contra Costa Unified School District The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD; formerly known as Richmond School District) is the school district for western Contra Costa County, California. It is based in Richmond, California. In addition to Richmond, the district ...
, formerly the Richmond Unified School District. There are also many private schools, mostly Catholic schools under the authority of the Diocese of Oakland. The city has four high schools:
De Anza High School De Anza High School is a secondary school located in Richmond, California, United States, named after Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza. It is part of the West Contra Costa Unified School District and serves northeast Richmond, the unincorpo ...
,
Salesian College Preparatory Salesian College Preparatory (formerly Salesian High School and Salesian House of Studies) is a private, Roman Catholic, co-educational, college-preparatory high school in Richmond, California, United States. Established in 1927, it is part of th ...
, Richmond High School, and Kennedy High School. In addition, there are four charter high schools,
Making Waves Academy Making Waves Academy is a charter school located in Richmond, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, ...
, Aspire Richmond California College Preparatory Academy, Leadership Public Schools: Richmond and West County Community High School, although West County Community High School was shut down in 2012. In 2012, Richmond Charter Academy, part of the
Amethod Public Schools Amethod Public Schools (formerly Oakland Charter Academy Inc., doing business as Oakland Charter Academies) is a nonprofit charter school system with headquarters in Oakland, California.Contra Costa Community College District serves all of Contra Costa County, and Richmonders who decide to attend a community college typically go to
Contra Costa College Contra Costa College is a public community college in San Pablo, California, United States. It is the west campus of the Contra Costa Community College District. It is part of the California community colleges system, one of the three college s ...
, located in the neighboring city of San Pablo. 79.8% of Richmonders have a high school diploma or equivalent, compared with 84.2% nationally. But 27.1% have a bachelor's degree compared with a statistically similar 27.2% nationally. Since an exit exam requirement was implemented for California high schools, the
CAHSEE The California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) was an examination created by the California Department of Education, that was previously mandated to administer in public high schools statewide in order to graduate. The examination was suspe ...
, some Richmond high school students have been protesting against it. Some students sued the district in an attempt to eliminate the requirement. In July 2007, a compromise was reached in which the district would provide two additional years of educational assistance for the purposes of passing the exam. That year, only 28% of Richmond High School students had passed the CAHSEE, a prerequisite for graduating.


Obesity

All Richmond schools have banned junk food, such as candy, soda,
Twinkies The Twinkie is an American snack cake, described on its packaging as "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling". It was formerly made and distributed by Interstate Bakeries, Hostess Brands. The brand is currently owned by Hostess Brands, Hostess ...
, pizza, and other similar items in attempt to curb
childhood obesity Childhood obesity is a condition where excess adipose tissue, body fat negatively affects a child's health or well-being. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on Body mass index, BMI. ...
and change children's eating habits. It has been speculated that this was done preemptively, because some believe the state will soon mandate such restrictions. Despite these efforts, soda consumption in Richmond schools has not diminished. Furthermore, the current 32% of Richmond children who are obese will increase the current 24% adult obesity rate to 42% according to the Contra Costa County Health Services. This led the city council to approve a referendum on a 1 cent per ounce tax on beverages with a high sugar content for the 2012 elections, a first in the nation. The measure was opposed by councilmembers Corky Boozé and
Nat Bates Nathaniel Bates is a former mayor and eight-term city councilman of Richmond, California in addition to being a former professional baseball player in the Canadian League in his earlier years. History He arrived in Richmond in 1942 by train fr ...
, who stated that he knew "many obese people that are perfectly healthy" and that it was "elitist" and "targeted black" people respectively. Members Jovanka Beckles and Jeff Ritterman – the latter a cardiologist – expressed horror at the obesity rate. Beckles chastized the other black members (Bates and Boozé) for not supporting the measure, as she found that the epidemic most affected people of color like themselves. The revenues would have been used to counter obesity through health and fitness campaigns and expenditures. The referendum was defeated by voters in the November 2012 election.


Attractions and landmarks

The city of Richmond has dozens of parks, national historic parks, and 10 sites listed under the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
.


Point Richmond

Point Richmond, a neighborhood in Richmond, is known for its small-town appearance. ''The Point'', as it is known by locals, offers owner-operated stores, coffee shops, historic benches, and streetlights. The Masquers Playhouse is a performing arts center that offers shows and productions year round. Hotel Mac is one of the oldest buildings in the area and has classic early 20th century architecture, like many other buildings in the area. There is also
The Plunge The Richmond Municipal Natatorium, commonly known as The Plunge or The Richmond Plunge, is a historic swim center in the Point Richmond neighborhood of Richmond, California. It was closed in August 2001 for seismic retrofitting and reopened in ...
, a natatorium which had been closed due to seismic safety issues but was re-opened in August 2010 after the retrofitting was completed. The city expressed a desire to demolish the building at one point, but this was halted by the actions of a neighborhood preservation campaign which continues its mission to "''Save the Plunge!''". The
Richmond–San Rafael Bridge The Richmond–San Rafael Bridge (officially renamed the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge in 1981) is the northernmost of the east–west crossings of California's San Francisco Bay, carrying Interstate 580 from Richmond on the east to San R ...
extends across San Pablo Bay, entering Richmond just to the north of Point Richmond. The bridge is the origin of the term ''rollercoaster span'', due to its curves, bumps, and appearance, which have also earned the bridge the nickname of ''the rollercoaster bridge''. It was completed in 1957, and connects Contra Costa County with
Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...
. Automobiles are charged a $6 toll in the westbound (towards Marin) direction only. The Richmond Chevron Refinery occupies most of the land north of Point Richmond and the eastern end of the bridge. Some areas of this northern section are protected and publicly accessible, including Point Molate Beach Park, a park on the western coast of Richmond along Western Drive. It was originally a Chinese shrimp camp in the 1870s. On the northern end, near Point San Pablo, there is a yacht harbor that accommodates hundreds of private boats.


Brickyard Cove

The Ferry Point Tunnel is one of the oldest tunnels in California, connecting Point Richmond with Brickyard Cove to the south. Built in 1899, this structure still gives access to many attractions and neighborhoods in Brickyard Cove. The tunnel goes to the Golden State Railroad Museum, the USS ''Red Oak Victory'', and many beaches and parks, and to Ferry Point where an abandoned ferry-rail pier stands with a historic ferry slip still standing, though somewhat damaged by fire. It can be viewed from an adjacent fishing pier. The Santa Fe Railroad established ferry service to San Francisco in 1900 and later built a station that operated as the western terminus for the railroad from 1903 to 1992. It has now been transformed into a museum to exemplify the feel of the terminal in that era. The Golden State Railroad Museum is a complex series of model railroad layouts in a museum in the Brickyard Cove area of Point Richmond. A visitor can operate trains of various eras, and there are miniature freight and passenger terminals, trestles, tunnels, and meticulously detailed town and city scenes, many of which are copied from real life scenes of the 1950s. Keller Beach is one of the city's beaches, located at Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline, a park in Brickyard Cove. It offers picnicking, sunbathing, wading, and swimming. The beach is overlooked by vehicles exiting the Brickyard Cove drive, Ferry Point tunnel and houses on the steep cliffs above. The beach, as with most of the cove, offers spectacular panoramic bay views of the Oakland hills, bridges, the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate.


Southern waterfront / Shipyards

Further east, the is a restored World War II
Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engin ...
, the 558th ship made in Richmond. It is moored in the former Richmond Shipyard No. 3.
Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...
and Victory ships built in Richmond transported troops and supplies during World War II. East across the Harbor/Santa Fe Channel, the
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park is a United States national historical park National Historic Site (NHS) and National Historical Park (NHP) are designations for officially recognized areas of nationally hi ...
is in Richmond, and commemorates women's shipbuilding and support for the war effort in the 1940s. The visitor's center is in a small utility building next to the former Ford Assembly Plant. Regular ferry service is provided to San Francisco from the
Richmond Ferry Terminal Richmond Ferry Terminal (historically Ellis Landing) is a ferry terminal located in the Marina Bay neighborhood of Richmond, California. It provides daily commuter service to San Francisco. History The terminal is located at Ford Point on the ...
via
San Francisco Bay Ferry San Francisco Bay Ferry is a public transit passenger ferry service in the San Francisco Bay, administered by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) and operated under contract by the privately owned Blue and ...
. This area is connected by the
San Francisco Bay Trail The San Francisco Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that when finished will allow continuous travel around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. As of 2020, of the trail have been completed. When finished, the trail will be over of pa ...
to several city parks along the waterfront, including Lucretia Edwards Shoreline Park, Marina Bay Park and the Rosie the Riveter Memorial, Barbara and Jay Vincent Park, and Shimada Friendship Park. The Bay Trail continues past these parks further southeast to
Point Isabel Regional Shoreline Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, California, is operated by East Bay Regional Park District, and is a multi-use park for joggers, windsurfers, kayakers, photographers, picnickers, and people walking dogs. It has access for pedestrian ...
and beyond to parks in El Cerrito, Albany, and Berkeley.


Civic Center

During World War II the city sprawled and its population increased dramatically. This led city leaders to construct the Richmond Civic Center, with buildings completed between 1949 and 1957. This center houses the city hall, a small convention center, library, hall of justice, police headquarters, and arts center. Architectural Forum magazine called the new Memorial Civic Center: "a milestone in U.S. civic design: it is the first modern Civic Center built in any American city: and it is one of the most comprehensive centers constructed anywhere in the world." The Richmond Public Library, the only public library independent of the Contra Costa County Public Libraries system, lies in the heart of the civic center. It houses over 204,686 books, 4,014 audio materials, 5,277 video materials, and 491 serial subscriptions.


Offshore

East Brother Light Station on East Brother Island (one of the Brother Islands) is host to an exclusive
bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...
. It is only accessible by private boat. Visitors come and stay for the day and picnic for free or they may pay for a room. The Brooks Island Regional Preserve is on an island south of the Shipyards.


Others

The city is also home to a radio controlled model airplane airport,
Breuner Airfield The Dotson Family Marsh, formerly Breuner Marsh, is a 238-acre (96 ha)Breuner Marsh The Dotson Family Marsh, formerly Breuner Marsh, is a 238-acre (96 ha)Rolling Hills Memorial Park and St. Joseph Cemetery.


Leisure and culture

Several
regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...
s administered by the
East Bay Regional Park District The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a Special-purpose district, special district operating in Alameda County, California, Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay (California), East Bay area of the San Fra ...
lie within the city, including the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline and the
Point Pinole Regional Shoreline Point Pinole Regional Shoreline is a regional park on the shores of the San Pablo Bay, California (the northern arm of the San Francisco Bay), in the United States. It is approximately in area, and is operated by the East Bay Regional Park Dis ...
. They are linked by the
San Francisco Bay Trail The San Francisco Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that when finished will allow continuous travel around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. As of 2020, of the trail have been completed. When finished, the trail will be over of pa ...
. Part of the former shipyard is now a marina. The
Richmond Art Center Richmond Art Center is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit arts organization based in Richmond, California, founded in 1936. History In 1936, Richmond-resident Hazel Salmi began teaching classes under the Emergency Education Program (EEP) of the ...
, founded by
Hazel Salmi Hazel Gowan Salmi (November 11, 1893 – April 22, 1986) was an American visual artist, educator, and arts administrator. She was a painter, as well as the founder and director of the Richmond Art Center. She lived in Point Richmond, California ...
in 1936, is one of the oldest continually operating non-profit art centers on the entire West Coast of the United States. Its programming includes exhibitions, adult and youth education, and community initiatives. The center currently provides some of the only visual arts education programming in the city of Richmond, relying primarily on public donations and private grants as its means of support. There is also the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Hilltop Multiplex, or Masquers Theaters in Point Richmond. The
Richmond Progressive Alliance The Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) is a progressive political group in Richmond and western Contra Costa County, California, United States. RPA formed in 2003 by local progressives. RPA is an umbrella organization for progressives and lef ...
and California Green Party are active political parties in Richmond. The
House Rabbit Society House Rabbit Society (HRS) is a non-profit organization based in Richmond, California, United States (US), that rescues and adopts rabbits and educates the community with its curriculum on rabbit care. HRS promotes responsible rabbit guardianshi ...
has its national headquarters in Richmond.


Art

Richmond is home to the National Institute of Art and Disabilities Art Center, also known locally as the
NIAD Art Center NIAD Art Center (Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization for artists with developmental and physical disabilities, founded in 1982 and based in Richmond, California, Richmond, Contra Costa County, ...
. NIAD is a non-profit organization hosting over sixty client artists weekly. NIAD's client artists' work can be seen at NIAD's on-site gallery, the Florence Ludins-Katz Gallery. NIAD has a gift shop. Th

is a contemporary visual arts center, with a gallery and art classes in the heart of Richmond. A showcase for emerging and established artists, the Richmond Art Center hosts the annual ''"The Art of Living Black''", art show which is a showcase of the artwork of Bay Area Black Artists. ''"Featuring over 50 local artists, the works include fine arts and crafts, paintings, sculpture, photography, prints, masks, stained glass, quilts, textile art, ceramics, jewelry and dolls."'' The beauty, the pain, the power and the eye of these black artists touch the soul deeply. Founded in 1936 by local artist Hazel Salmi, the Richmond Art Center is a Bay Area cultural institution. In addition
East Bay Center for the Performing Arts
has maintained its roots in the Richmond community since 1968. The Center engages youth and young adults in imagining and creating new worlds for themselves and new visions for their communities through the inspiration and discipline of rigorous training in world performance traditions. The
Hyphy The term hyphy ( ) is an Oakland, California, slang meaning "hyperactive". More specifically, it is an adjective describing the hip-hop music and the culture associated with the Oakland area. The term was first coined by rapper Keak da Snea ...
subculture and subgenre of rap music originated in Richmond and surrounding cities. From 1996 to 2002 a "
geekfest Geekfest is the name of a series of free party, free, all-ages concerts organized by California indie label S.P.A.M. Records, S.P.A.M Records during the 1990s. The first Geekfest was held in June 1996 on the shoreline at Point Molate in Richmond, C ...
" was held on the beach in Point Molate every few weeks or monthly by S.P.A.M. Records. The festival was a community service for under-21-year-olds.


Religion

There are dozens of houses of worship for various religions in the city, and some which are not represented in the city can be found nearby. Christian denominational churches include the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses; Word of Faith church; St. Peters C.M.E.; Kingdom Land Baptist Church; Grace Baptist Church; Grace Lutheran Church; Grace Lao Lutheran Church; Temple Baptist Church; Unity Church of Richmond; Holy Trinity Episcopal Church; First Mexican Baptist Church; Holy Mission Christian Center; St. David Catholic Church, Greater New Bethel Apostolic Ministries, formerly New Bethel Church of God in Christ, founded by Bishop A.D. Bradley in 1945; Faith Temple C.O.G.I.C., and Faith Tabernacle A.O.H. Church Of God; and the Largest Church in Richmond, Hilltop Community Church which is Assemblies of God. There is also a large Laotian Buddhist temple that serves as a community center for the Lao community of the East Bay. There is a synagogue in the Hilltop Green District.


Parks and recreation

The city has of parkland, which constitutes 1.5% of the city's land territory. The
Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park is a United States national historical park located in Richmond, California, near San Francisco. The park preserves and interprets the legacy of the United States home front d ...
was established in 2000, encompassing the former Kaiser shipyards and other wartime industrial sites in Richmond. The park is a memorial to the six million women who labored on the home front, symbolized by the mythical figure "Rosie the Riveter". Richmond was selected for the park because it has many intact buildings that were constructed for 56 wartime industries. Its four shipyards produced an amazing 747 large ships and set production records. The home front changed Richmond from a predominantly rural community of 23,600 residents to a diverse population of over 100,000 people within a year. Industries operated around the clock and public housing, schools, day care centers, health care and merchants mobilized to support the new workforce that arrived on the city's doorstep. Fortunately, Richmond's turbulent and productive home front years were well chronicled and photographed. The National Park Service provides interpretive services and operates a Visitor Center in a former utility building next to the Ford Assembly Building. Richmond also has number of local parks and two large regional parks are under the authority of the East Bay Regional Parks District, a consortium of most of the Parks and Recreation lands and facilities of Alameda and Contra Costa County.
Wildcat Canyon Regional Park Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is a East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) park bordering the city of Richmond in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It includes a portion of Wildcat Canyon as well as a portion of the ...
is the city's largest park at . The park once housed a dance hall and roller rink and has distinctive stonework throughout, which was the rationale for its placement on the National Register of Historic Places. It features San Pablo Creek, trails, forests, horseback riding, picnic areas, and a play structure for children, as well as horses for rent and mountain biking trails. High school students practice cross-country in the park. It is situated in the eastern Richmond hills and stretches into Berkeley's
Tilden Regional Park Charles Lee Tilden Regional Park, also known as Tilden Park or Tilden, [], is a regional park in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. It is between the Berkeley Hills and San Pablo R ...
in Alameda County. The park has diverse animal and plant life including great horned owls, opossums, king snakes, rubber boas, turkey vultures and many others.
Point Isabel Regional Shoreline Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, California, is operated by East Bay Regional Park District, and is a multi-use park for joggers, windsurfers, kayakers, photographers, picnickers, and people walking dogs. It has access for pedestrian ...
is the largest off-leash dog park in the United States. The
Richmond Greenway The Richmond Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle path in Richmond, California.natatorium A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as a ...
dating back to 1926 and which reopened August 14, 2010. The pool is located in the
Point Richmond Point Richmond, also sometimes referred to locally as The Point, is a neighborhood in Richmond, California, United States, near the eastern end of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, between Interstate 580 and the San Francisco Bay. History Or ...
neighborhood.


Celebrations and conferences

The city has annual
Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the End of slavery in the United States, ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's n ...
and
Cinco de Mayo Cinco de Mayo (; ) is an annual celebration held on May 5 to celebrate Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza. Zaragoza died months after the battle from an illness, ho ...
celebrations. The Cinco de Mayo celebrations sponsored by the 23rd Street Merchant's Association attracts thousands and closes the entire length of the roadway. The Richmond Police Department, Fire Brigade, United States Marine Corps and other organizations participate in the parade. This is in addition to a fireworks show at Marina Bay celebrating the
July 4 Events Pre-1600 * 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans. * 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and procla ...
and a Silly Parade, an event where people march down the street and generally act "weird" and silly. The city also participates in various
Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally through earthday.org (formerly Earth Day Network) includin ...
activities. The city hosts an annual and a physical activity and nutrition forum to discuss health in the community, it has been running since 2006. In 2010 the city began celebrating the Richmond Native American Pow-Wow in Nicholl Park, in 2012 this included area politicians and members of over 50 tribes from throughout the country.


Media


Newspapers

There are two African American weekly newspapers, one general interest online publication, and one multimedia news project that cover Richmond exclusively. The Richmond Post and Richmond Globe publish print and online editions. RichmondConfidential.org, which is run by the
UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism The UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism is a graduate professional school on the campus of University of California, Berkeley. It is designed to produce journalists with a two-year Master of Journalism (MJ) degree. It also offers a minor i ...
, is a general interest online-only news publication serving the city of Richmond. Richmond Pulse is a youth-led print and online publication which focuses on community health. The
West County Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East B ...
, run by
Media News Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 assorted othe ...
, covers greater Contra Costa County.


Television

A local cable TV station, KCRT-TV, mainly plays historical archives but also airs
government-access television In the United States, government-access television (GATV) is a type of specialty television channel created by government entities (generally local governments) and broadcast over cable TV systems or, in some cases, over-the-air broadcast t ...
(GATV), city council meetings and music videos.


Radio

KKSF (AM) KKSF (910 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Oakland, California and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and has an all-news radio format, with programming from the co-owned Black Informa ...
transmits from towers at Point Isabel.


Infrastructure


Port of Richmond

The Port of Richmond, located in along the city's southern coast beside the Richmond Inner Harbor, handles the third-largest shipping tonnage in California annually, a total of 19 million short tons. It ranks number one for ports of the San Francisco Bay for vehicles and liquid bulk. In addition to these commodities, the port can also handle dry-bulk, break-bulk, and containers. Seven of the terminals are city-owned, in addition to five dry docks, while there are 11 privately owned terminals. The port is served by a rail network operated by four major rail companies.


Roadways


Highways and expressways

*
Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
cuts through the eastern and northeastern portions of the city, through a mostly residential area, connecting to Pinole, Hercules and then on to Vallejo via the
Carquinez Bridge The Carquinez Bridge is a pair of parallel bridges spanning the Carquinez Strait at the northeastern end of San Francisco Bay. They form the part of Interstate 80 between Crockett and Vallejo, California, United States. The name Carquinez B ...
in the eastbound direction, and through Albany,
Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...
, Emeryville and eventually terminating in San Francisco via the Bay Bridge in the westbound direction. The weekday westbound morning commute on I-80 through Richmond lies within the most congested stretch of freeway in the Bay Area, according to
Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
, and has been ranked as such since 2001. * Interstate 580 curves along the southern waterside of Richmond and merges into I-80 in Albany in the southern
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
/San Francisco direction while slicing through mixed medium and heavy industries and homes through Point Richmond and onto the
Richmond–San Rafael Bridge The Richmond–San Rafael Bridge (officially renamed the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge in 1981) is the northernmost of the east–west crossings of California's San Francisco Bay, carrying Interstate 580 from Richmond on the east to San R ...
over the
San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of the San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep wate ...
segment of the
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...
into San Rafael and
Marin County Marin County ( ) is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...
. * The Richmond Parkway, built between the early 1990s and early 2000s, connects I-580 in the Point Richmond area in the southwest to the Hilltop Area and I-80, and runs along the city's heavily industrial western side and through the unincorporated area of North Richmond. It has been proposed that it be upgraded to a state highway and be redesignated: State Route 93 and transferred to the authority of Caltrans. * San Pablo Avenue ( State Route 123) runs through Richmond and San Pablo to Pinole, Hercules and to its terminus in Crockett, and south through El Cerrito, Albany, Emeryville, and Berkeley, until it runs into
Frank Ogawa Plaza Frank H. Ogawa Plaza is a public square located in Downtown Oakland. Location and elements Frank H. Ogawa Plaza is located where San Pablo Avenue converges with Broadway and 14th Street. The west side of the plaza is the site of Oakland City ...
in
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
.


Major trunk streets

*
Macdonald Avenue Macdonald Avenue is the main east-to-west artery in Richmond, California.North & East neighborhood. In 2010, it was repaved and refitted with new lampposts, street furniture, business façades, landscaping and trees. *
Cutting Boulevard Cutting Boulevard is a major east–west arterial trunk road in the city of Richmond, California. History It is named after Henry Cutting, the founder of the Port of Richmond. It begins in the historic neighborhood of Point Richmond, Richmond, ...
parallels Macdonald Avenue to the south, traveling from Point Richmond to Arlington Ave. near the top of the hills. It is a busy commercial and commute route. In 1990, a major improvement program was designed by the city also involving Knox Freeway. It is named after the founder of the Port of Richmond, Henry Cutting. * 23rd Street runs through the heart of the city north–south from where it turns to Marina Bay Parkway at I-580 through this heavily Latino business district and neighborhood to San Pablo Avenue in the city of San Pablo. * Barrett Avenue parallels Macdonald Ave two blocks north; it is slightly less traveled and has less activity than Macdonald. * Marina Bay Parkway serves as a link between I-580 and the Marina Bay neighborhood, it turns into 23rd street after crossing 580. * Marina Way and Harbour Way/Harbour Way South (formerly 14th Street and 10th Street, respectively) run north–south. * Giant Highway, named for the former Giant Powder Company, runs in the northern part of town between San Pablo Avenue and the Leroy Heights neighborhood. * Hilltop Drive is a trunk street which runs from Richmond Parkway, crosses San Pablo Avenue, passes The Shops at Hilltop and continues over Interstate 80 into the neighboring city of El Sobrante. * Carlson Boulevard (formerly Pullman Avenue) is the primary access from Downtown Richmond to the Richmond Annex neighborhood, starting from 23rd Street and terminating at San Pablo Avenue just north of the Alameda–Contra Costa county boundary, feeding into the El Cerrito Plaza shopping center.


Public transportation

The city's primary transportation hub is Richmond station. It is served by
Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...
(BART) and service, plus
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
, , and
regional rail Regional rail is a public transport, public rail transport service that operates between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops than inter-city rail, and unlike commuter rail, operate beyond the limits of urban areas, connectin ...
and
intercity rail Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance co ...
service. The primary bus service in Richmond is operated by
AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...
, which runs 14 bus lines in the city. Service includes a number of local routes, rapid route 72R along San Pablo Avenue, transbay commuter service across the Bay Bridge to the
Salesforce Transit Center The Salesforce Transit Center, also known as the Transbay Transit Center, is a transit center in downtown San Francisco. It serves as the primary bus terminal for the San Francisco Bay Area, and is proposed as a possible future rail terminal. ...
and limited All Nighter (night bus service), All-Nighter service. Additional local service is operated by WestCAT, including a park and ride facility at the Richmond Parkway Transit Center. Bear Transit provides commuter and student service from El Cerrito del Norte BART station and UC Berkeley to the UC Field Station in Campus Bay on route RFS.RFS schedule
, Bear Transit website
Several regional bus operators serve El Cerrito del Norte station (just south of Richmond) rather than Richmond station because of the former station's proximity to I-80. Before AC Transit and BART, the Key System provided a network of several rail lines on the East Shore and Suburban Railway.keysystemmap.gif
, BayRails. Retrieved August 13, 2007.


Commercial and cargo rail

The Union Pacific Railroad (UP) has a mainline passing through Richmond. This line was formerly operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP). The BNSF Railway (BNSF) has a yard and that serves as the Northern California terminus of their line that goes to their main classification yard at Barstow, California, Barstow via the San Joaquin Valley. The track was formerly operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF). Many years ago, the ATSF offered rail car ferry service from Point Richmond to San Francisco. The partially burnt remnants of the ferry pier can still be seen at Point Richmond. The Richmond Pacific Railroad (RPRC) is a class III shortline railroad operating on of track, providing switching services at Richmond's wharves. The RPRC is owned by the Levin-Richmond Terminal Corporation and was formerly known as the Parr Terminal Railroad (PRT).


Ferry

The
San Francisco Bay Ferry San Francisco Bay Ferry is a public transit passenger ferry service in the San Francisco Bay, administered by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA) and operated under contract by the privately owned Blue and ...
relaunched ferry service to the San Francisco Ferry Building in January 2019. The service runs from the Craneway Pavilion in Marina Bay to the San Francisco Ferry Building seven days a week, with lower frequency on the weekends as opposed to higher volume weekday commutes. Schedules call for a 35-minute commute from the Marina Bay Terminal to San Francisco Ferry Building in either direction. Historically, Richmond had commuter ferry service from the Richmond Ferry Terminal to the San Francisco Ferry Building on weekdays and Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, Fisherman's Wharf on weekends in addition to special San Francisco Giants, Giants AT&T Park, Ballpark service during the MLB, baseball season. The voyage took approximately 45 minutes each way. The service began in 1999, but was discontinued in the late 2000s in the economic downturn following the dot-com bust. Ferry ridership plummeted and the service became economically unsustainable, which led Red and White Fleet to discontinue the service. The Richmond ferry terminal is at Ford Point located adjacent to the historic Ford Richmond Plant, Ford Plant in Marina Bay which is now open as an industrial park and under renovation. The terminal had its own dedicated
AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...
feeder service from Point Richmond, Richmond, California, Point Richmond and Downtown Richmond, Richmond, California, downtown Richmond with route 374 also now discontinued. A Richmond Ferry Terminal, new ferry service from Richmond is planned for 2018 by the San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority. The new ferry will take only half an hour to San Francisco and will use the existing terminal and parking facilities at Ford Point in Marina Bay. The San Francisco Bay Ferry relaunched ferry service to the San Francisco Ferry Building in January 2019.


Pedestrian and bike lanes

The city has aggressively developed its portions of the
San Francisco Bay Trail The San Francisco Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that when finished will allow continuous travel around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. As of 2020, of the trail have been completed. When finished, the trail will be over of pa ...
and has more than any other city at present. The total length is 2007 State of the City Address
, by Gayle McLaughlin, March 6, 2007, Gayle McGlaughlin website. Retrieved August 3, 2007.
and more is to be built. The city is also currently developing the
Richmond Greenway The Richmond Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle path in Richmond, California.Wildcat Canyon Regional Park Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is a East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) park bordering the city of Richmond in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It includes a portion of Wildcat Canyon as well as a portion of the ...
. The city also has many miles of trails in that park in addition to Miller/Knox, Point Isabel, and Point Pinole parks, among others. Image:Wfm red rock island.jpg, The
Richmond–San Rafael Bridge The Richmond–San Rafael Bridge (officially renamed the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge in 1981) is the northernmost of the east–west crossings of California's San Francisco Bay, carrying Interstate 580 from Richmond on the east to San R ...
( Interstate 580) alongside Red Rock Island and barges crossing
San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of the San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep wate ...
. Image:Sanpab-n-mac.jpg, Tree-lined San Pablo Avenue at Macdonald Avenue with an
AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...
bus rapid transit, BRT stop and businesses in East Richmond, Richmond, California, eastern Richmond. Image:Richmond Pacific Railroad RPRC Switcher 1268.JPG, A freight train of the Richmond Short Railroad Image:Richmond BART.jpg, Richmond BART Station within the intermodal Richmond Station which carries 1.9 million passengers annually.


Municipal services

Dozens of parks are run by the Richmond Parks & Recreation Department. The Richmond Civic Center is currently undergoing a seismic upgrade and renovations program. Some buildings are being refurbished while other buildings will be replaced.Civic Center Revitalization
, Mitigative and negative declaration, City of Richmond website. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
Richmond is also home to the West County Detention Facility in the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, Point Pinole area. It is a male and female county jail. RichmondWorks and Richmond Summer YouthWorks are city programs that aim to decrease unemployment and crime and have led to hundreds receiving employment at area retail businesses. Richmond's waste disposal and recycling is handled by the Richmond Sanitary Service. Water is provided by the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), while sewers are operated by the city government. The city's electricity and gas is provided by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E). Sewage is largely handed by the Richmond Sewage Treatment Plant in Point Richmond, Richmond, California, Point Richmond. Medical and trauma patients are transported by American Medical Response Paramedics and EMTs.


Fire Department

The Richmond Fire Department is the fire and rescue service for Richmond, and by contract with Contra Costa County, California, Contra Costa County it also serves East Richmond Heights, and North Richmond. The department is responsible for an area of . The department has seven fire stations in the city. In September 2002 the city coordinated an eight alarm fire call at the Richmond Sanitary Service landfill. After putting the fire out steam continued to spew forcing crews to remain on site for hours to water the still heated area in order to prevent reignition.


Police department

The Richmond Police Department, first organized in 1909, is now headquartered at the Richmond Civic Center. The building was recently renovated, and is LEED certified.


Notable people


Athletics

* Brian Abshire (born 1963), Olympic track and field athlete, 1988 Summer Olympics in 3,000-meter steeplechase * C. J. Anderson, running back for NFL's Denver Broncos * Courtney Anderson (born 1980), Oakland Raiders football player * Benny Barnes, Stanford and NFL player, 11 years as cornerback for Dallas Cowboys, starter for Super Bowl XII champions * Ken Carter (born 1959), Richmond High School basketball coach, inspiration for 2005 film ''Coach Carter'' * Loyd Christopher, Major League Baseball, MLB player and scout * Russ Christopher, MLB pitcher for 1948 World Series champion Cleveland Indians * Darrell Johnson, MLB player, backup catcher for New York Yankees behind Yogi Berra; also played with St. Louis Cardinals; manager for Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers * Ricky Jordan (born 1965), MLB first baseman for Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners * Willie McGee (born 1958), MLB player, outfielder for 1982 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, two-time National League batting champion, 1985 MVP * Takkarist McKinley, NFL player for Atlanta Falcons * Master P, Percy Robert Miller (also known as Master P), had a contract with NBA teams twice, with Charlotte Hornets during 1998–99 season and Toronto Raptors in 1999 pre-season; played in Continental Basketball Association for Fort Wayne Fury and for ABA's Las Vegas Rattlers; in 2008 McDonald's NBA All-Star Celebrity Game scored 17 points, hit two free throws to win the game * Dave Smith (NL pitcher), Dave Smith (born 1955), MLB pitcher for Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Padres * Dale Sveum, MLB player and former manager of Chicago Cubs * Lamont Thompson (born 1978), National Football League, NFL American football, football defensive back for Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals


Music

* Jason Becker (born 1969), musician, songwriter and composer * Stephen Bradley (musician), Stephen Bradley, musician, producer, and touring member of band No Doubt *Tom Brock (singer), Tom Brock (1942 – 2002), singer and songwriter * Billie Joe Armstrong (born 1972), lead singer and musician from the band Green Day was born in Richmond. * Peter Buck (born 1956), guitarist for rock band R.E.M. * Norton Buffalo (born Phillip Jackson; 1951–2009), twice Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter, country and blues harmonica, toured 32 years with Steve Miller. * Canary Lee Burton (born 1942), composer and keyboardist * Les Claypool (born 1963), bassist, songwriter and vocalist of Primus * Gary Holt (musician), Gary Holt (born 1964), guitarist and founding member of Exodus (band), Exodus; also a member of Slayer since 2011. * Iamsu! (born 1989), rapper and fellow organizer of The HBK Gang. * Larry LaLonde (born 1968), guitarist in Primus (band), Primus * Locksmith (rapper), Locksmith (born 1984), rapper. * Master P (born Percy Robert Miller), rapper, founder and owner of P. Miller clothing, former local businessman ::* Also connected to Master P: Silkk Tha Shocker, Lil Romeo, both relatives/associates of Master P, and Big Ed (rapper), Big Ed (formerly under Master P's No Limit Records) were residents of Richmond * Dorothy Combs Morrison, Dorothy Morrison (born 1944), lead singer for Edwin Hawkins Singers on their hit "Oh Happy Day"


Other

* Peter S. Beagle (born 1939), writer, author of the fantasy novel ''The Last Unicorn'' * David DePape (born 1980), Canadian convicted in assault of Paul Pelosi * Lucretia Edwards (1916–2005), preservation activist and environmentalist * Carl Franklin (born 1949), director of films such as ''Devil in a Blue Dress (film), Devil in a Blue Dress'' and ''One True Thing'' * William Haynes (comedian), William Haynes, comedian, co-host of the YouTube channel SourceFed. * Janet Lipkin (born 1948), Artwear clothing designer, visual artist and educator *Emiko Nakano (1925–1990), abstract expressionist artist * Glenn Plummer (born 1961), actor, known for films such as ''South Central (film), South Central'', ''Showgirls'' and ''Menace II Society'' * Ronnie Schell (born 1931), actor and comedian * Betty Reid Soskin (born 1921), park ranger, educator, and activist


Neighborhoods

Richmond has many distinct neighborhoods. The city can roughly be divided into the northern Hilltop/El Sobrante, eastern Central/East Richmond, downtown/Iron Triangle and Southern Point Richmond/Marina Bay areas.


In literature and film


Books

* An oral history based photographic history. * This book is an anthropological study of a group of Romani Americans living in Richmond (Barvale), California; based on fieldwork done during 1968–1970. * * *''In Contempt'' (Mass Market Paperback) by Christopher A. Darden, Jess Walter, ReganBooks; Reprint edition (February 1997) (Christopher Darden, one of the prosecutors in the criminal case against O.J. Simpson, grew up in Richmond.) * * * * * ''The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America'' by Richard Rothstein (2017)


Film and television

* The film documentary "Enough is Enough: Live From Tent City in Richmond, CA," details a grassroots movement of Richmond city residents to fight violence on their streets. * Much of the movie ''Tucker: The Man and His Dream'' was filmed at the National Preservation Award-winning Ford Assembly Building, now commonly referred to as Ford Point. * Many scenes from the Robin Williams film, ''Patch Adams (film), Patch Adams'' were filmed during a week in Point Richmond. * The basketball movie, ''Coach Carter'' although filmed across the bay in San Francisco was based on the story of the Richmond High School Basketball team being benched for poor grades despite an undefeated season. * In the TV show ''The Game (U.S. TV series), The Game'', character ''Latasha "Tasha" Mack'' grew up in Richmond. * Many parts of the Mel Gibson movie ''Forever Young (1992 film), Forever Young'' were filmed in Point Richmond. * DeVry College has made a commercial showing businesses along San Pablo Avenue in Richmond. * Kaiser Permanente made a commercial showing a man riding a bicycle in Point Richmond. * In the 2002 movie, The Sweetest Thing (film), The Sweetest Thing starring Cameron Diaz and Christina Applegate, the town of Somerset, where an important wedding scene takes place, includes filming in the historic Point Richmond district (not the church itself however).


Sister cities

Richmond, California has three sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International: * Shimada, Shizuoka, Shimada, Shizuoka Prefecture, Shizuoka, Japan (December 12, 1961) * Regla, Cuba, Regla, Cuba * Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China


See also

* East Richmond Heights * El Sobrante * Harry Ells High School * North Richmond * Point Richmond, Richmond, California, Point Richmond *
Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park is a United States national historical park National Historic Site (NHS) and National Historical Park (NHP) are designations for officially recognized areas of nationally hi ...
* * List of U.S. cities with large Hispanic populations


References


Bibliography

*


External links

* * {{Authority control Richmond, California, 1905 establishments in California Cities in Contra Costa County, California Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area Incorporated cities and towns in California Populated places established in 1905 Port cities in California Populated coastal places in California