| Arcadia, California |
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| cities in los angeles county | |
| communities on u.s. route 66 | |
| settlements established in 1839 | |
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Arcadia is a U.S. city in Los Angeles County, California that is located about 20 miles Northeast of downtown Los Angeles It is the site of the Santa Anita Park racetrack and home to the Los Angeles County Arboretum And Botanic Garden . As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,054. HISTORY Arcadia was originally inhabited by the Tongva ("Gabrielino") Indian tribe, who were forced into slavery by Spanish colonizers at the San Gabriel Mission (in present-day San Gabriel, California ). The Gabrielinos were quickly wiped out through a combination of overwork and exposure to "Old World" diseases. During Mexican rule of California (1821-1848), a large area of land that included the present-day borders of Arcadia was sold to a Scottish immigrant, Hugo Reid. The land holding changed owners several times before being acquired by "Lucky" Baldwin, a real estate speculator and notorious womanizer who made millions off a silver mine in Virginia City, Nevada . "Lucky" Baldwin made Arcadia into what it is today, building a racetrack and arboretum. He lobbied fiercely to ensure that there would be a railroad stop at his ranch in Arcadia, which later proved crucial for local development. He also took steps to control flooding from the San Gabriel River and installed modern plumbing. When Baldwin was going through a personal financial crisis, he was forced to sell much of his Southern California land, retaining only Arcadia and establishing more or less the city's present-day boundaries. During '') Until a Supreme Court ruling in 1965, every property sale contract within the borders of Arcadia had to include a provision that the new owner could only sell the property to a white Protestant, though many non-Protestant families did, in fact, own homes and live in Arcadia long before that ruling. In October 1975, the Santa Anita Fashion Park was opened to the public on the corner of Baldwin Avenue and Huntington Drive. The center court featured a gigantic blue head by Roy Lichtenstein , later removed. James Dobson , a previous Arcadia resident, founded the nonprofit Christian ministry Focus On The Family in the city in 1977. Its original office still stands on the south side of Foothill Blvd . Focus grew to larger quarters in the city, and in intervening years expanded to Monrovia for warehouse space before moving out of Arcadia completely in 1990. In the late 1990s , Native American activists threatened to sue Arcadia High School over its use of the " Apache " mascot. The high school's use of Native American symbols, including an "Apache Joe" mascot, the ''Pow Wow'' school newspaper, the "Apache News" television program, the "Smoke Signals" news bulletin boards, the school's auxilary team's marching "Apache Princesses" and opposing football team fans' "Scalp the Apaches" signs were viewed by these Native American activists and many Arcadia community members as being offensive. The school consulted with Native American groups and made some concessions but refused to change the mascot. Some residents of Arcadia, who are former students at the school and have Native American ancestory, do not take offense to the school's use of these symbols. In August 2000, the 1912 mansion and 19 acre (77,000 m&2) estate of Anoakia, the oldest remaining private property in the city, was bulldozed to clear space for 31 luxury homes, which would come to be derided by many as McMansion s. The estate, which once belonged to the daughter of city founder Elias "Lucky" Baldwin, featured numerous one-of-a-kind architectural features and a structure whose facade was a replica of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. ''Further reading:'' Pat McAdam and Sandy Snider: ''Arcadia: Where Ranch and City Meet''. Published by "Friends of the Arcadia Public Library", 1981, ISBN 0-9606390-0-4. Online edition "Visions of Arcadia: A Centennial Anthology", 2003, ISBN 0-931995-01-9, edited and published by Gary Kovacic is a collection of 130 essays and over 90 historic photographs about life in Arcadia that was unveiled on August 5, 2003, the city’s 100th birthday. ARCADIA IN POPULAR CULTURE The famous Route 66 , immortalized in song and literature, passes through Arcadia, where it is known as Huntington Drive. Running parallel to and about a mile south of the 210 freeway, it cuts across the middle section of Arcadia. The city is mentioned by woman. The vignette demonstrates the intolerance and racism prevalent in many places during 1950s America. The drive-in restaurant may be based on Carpenter's, located on Route 66 next to Santa Anita Racetrack. In a motel located in Arcadia across the street from Santa Anita Racetrack, author Hunter S. Thompson wrote much of his infamous novel, '' Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas '' in the 1970s . The 2003 true story film Seabiscuit was filmed and takes place at the Santa Anita race track. NOTABLE RESIDENTS DEMOGRAPHICS Arcadia has experienced a tremendous demographic shift in recent years. A city that was almost uniformly white Protestant 30 years ago is now 45% Asian and is expected to have an Asian majority before the 2010 census. The transformation is linked to a rapid increase in wealth in Asian countries such as Taiwan, China, Korea and Hong Kong. This has led to the immigration of many Asians to countries like the United States. Arcadia offers excellent public schools, which are seen by many young upper-middle class Asian immigrant families as a ticket to a good college, and eventually desirable careers for their children in America. The large, established Asian immigrant community and the relatively high quality of life are also attractive. As of the Census of 2000, there were 53,054 people, 19,149 households, and 14,151 families residing in the city. The Population Density was 1,865.6/km&2 (4,830.0/mi&2). There were 19,970 housing units at an average density of 702.2/km&2 (1,818.1/mi&2). The racial makeup of the city was 45.58% White , 1.13% Black or African American , 0.25% Native American , 45.41% Asian , 0.08% Pacific Islander , 4.16% from Other Races , and 3.39% from two or more races. 10.61% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 19,149 households out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were Married Couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.23. In the city the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 27.2% from 25 to 44, 26.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males. ECONOMY The median income for a household in the city was $56,100, and the median income for a family was $66,657. Males had a median income of $50,594 versus $36,138 for females. The Per Capita Income for the city was $28,400. 7.9% of the population and 6.7% of families were below the Poverty Line . 7.8% of those under the age of 18 and 6.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. The Arcadia's economy is driven by wholesale trade, retail trade, manufacturing, health care and social assistance, arts, entertainment, and recreation. Revenue from the Santa Anita Racetrack supports Arcadia's independent library, school system and police force. The racetrack is also a major source of tax revenue for Los Angeles County. As of 2004, the City of Arcadia has an unemployment rate of 3.0%. The Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita (formerly the Santa Anita Fashion Park) is a major shopping center in the city. GOVERNMENT The city has a Council-manager Government with a five member city council (Gary Kovacic, John Wuo, Roger Chandler, Gail Marshall, and Mickey Segal), including the mayor (John Wuo). PUBLIC EDUCATION The city operates its own school district, Arcadia Unified School District , outside of the LAUSD . The city has one major and prestigious high school Arcadia High School , three middle schools (First Avenue Middle, Richard Henry Dana Middle, and Foothills Middle), and six elementary schools (Baldwin Stocker, Camino Grove, Highland Oaks, Holly Avenue, Hugo Reid and Longley Way). Arcadia's history of racial discrimination is not included in the official curriculum of the Arcadia Unified School District. The city also operates its own Public Library separate from the County Of Los Angeles Public Library system. HOSPITAL In the Arcadia Civic Center, Methodist Hospital , previously "Methodist Hospital of Southern California", sits on 22 acres of land. It has 284 beds in the facility. Methodist was the state's first community hospital to have a psychiatric unit. Plus, its nursery school was one of the first corporate daycares in the U.S. Several upgrades have been made to the original facility. For instance, in 1998, the Berger Tower was completed and it holds 169 additional beds. The hospital opened as ''Arcadia Methodist Hospital'' on May 27 1957 , having moved from downtown Los Angeles. It was an ''Official Hospital of the 1984 Olympic Games ''. GEOGRAPHY Arcadia is located at 34°7'58" North, 118°2'11" West (34.132688, -118.036491). According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 28.8 Km&2 (11.1 Mi&2 ). 28.4 km&2 (11.0 mi&2) of it is land and 0.3 km&2 (0.1 mi&2) of it is water. The total area is 1.08% water. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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