West Sacramento

West Sacramento
Separated from Sacramento by Sacramento River, West Sacramento is a city located in Yolo County, California. With the total area being 22.9 square miles, West Sacramento has been home to many famous people such as Burney Lamar (NASCAR driver), Eugene Garin (contemporary seascape artist), Malcolm Floyd (NFL Wide Receiver), Oleg Maskaev (current World Boxing Council heavyweight champion of the world), and Steve Sax (former LA Dodgers 2nd baseman), and many more.

In the early days, three industries were established and thrived in west Sacramento; hotels, fishing, and farming. The hotel industry flourished due to the many weary travelers traveling that route, and many hotels, saloons and restaurants were established, whereas the fishing and farming prospered due to the many natural endowments of the land and close proximity to the Sacramento River.

The rich soil enabled the farming of abundant crops of corn, melons, cucumbers, and sweet potatoes, and the dairy industry also established roots in West Sacramento around this time. The Fishermen were not to be left behind. They saw profits in fish farming of salmon, sturgeon, catfish, eel, crayfish, and clams, and exploited not only the West Sacramento markets, but also those of San Francisco as well.

The 1990s saw the nurturing, and eventually the booming of another industry in West Sacramento; the housing industry. In the early 1990's, through extensive community involvement West Sacramento adopted a number of plans that were to guide the city's growth consistent with a common vision developed by the residents of West Sacramento.

Those plans included the Southport Framework Plan, the Triangle Plan, the West Capitol Avenue Action Plan and others. The people envisioned growth that included a good mix of both residential and business development to keep their city's economy diverse and not reliant on a few sources of income, and as well as a viable port.

Hence, West Sacramento experienced unprecedented growth, fueled largely by the increased statewide demand for residential property. West Sacramento witnessed people moving from the San Francisco Bay Area as well as from within the Sacramento region who realized the benefit of living closer to downtown Sacramento.

However, this residential demand in West Sacramento has placed huge strains on the streets and city services like police and fire services. To accommodate this growth, the city government will have to make infrastructural investments.

According to the census of the year 2000, population of West Sacramento reached the total of 31,615. By 2006, this figure saw a 39.7% increase when it touched the total of 44,162 people, the average age of the resident being around 35 years.

A wide variety of racial mix is found in West Sacramento with white non-Hispanics making up 54.6% (and a majority of the total), Hispanics, Asians, Blacks, Filipinos, Native Hawaiians, and Chinese making up the rest of the total. 7,922 residents of West Sacramento are foreign born, with 7.2% being of Latin American descent, and ^.4% of Asian descent.

The most common occupation for males in West Sacramento includes driver/sales workers and truck drivers, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations, laborers and material movers, electrical equipment mechanics and other installations, material recording, scheduling, dispatching, and distribution, vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, and supervisors etcetera, whereas the most common occupation for females include office and administrative support workers, including supervisors, building and grounds cleaning and maintenance operations, secretaries and administrative assistants, information and record clerks except customer service representatives, bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, cashiers, and business operations specialists etc.

Based on data collected from over 4000 weather stations, the average climate of West Sacramento seems very desirable, with the average temperatures being around 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter months and reaching a high of 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the summers. Average precipitation is around 3 ? to 4 inches in the winter months, with dry summers, with humidity being a constant 85 to 90% all year around.

The nearest cities with a population of over 50,000 people are Sacramento and Los Angeles, California. Some facts about the city, though miscellaneous, give a very important and in-depth glimpse of the city. As a result of the 2004 presidential election, around 60% of the people voted for Kerry/Edwards, whereas only 39% voted for Bush/Cheney.

The most commonly used household fuel in West Sacramento is Utility Gas (75%), Electricity (19%), and other fuel (5%). Even though West Sacramento has a major share of full time law enforcement employees (2 for every 1000 residents), the crime rate of the city is still quite high.

The West Sacramento citys crime index is almost double that of the US average crime index, with a large number of murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson etcetera. In early 2007, there were 98 registered sex offenders living in West Sacramento.