Richmond is a city in western

Contra Costa County, California ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 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, rural 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, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties ...

region, Richmond borders San Pablo, Albany, El Cerrito and

Pinole Pinole, also called pinol or pinolillo, is roasted ground maize, which is then mixed with a combination of cocoa, agave, cinnamon, chia seeds, vanilla, or other spices. The resulting powder is then used as a nutrient-dense ingredient to make d ...

in addition to the

unincorporated communities An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of North Richmond, Hasford Heights, Kensington, 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. 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 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 water c ...

. During Gayle McLaughlin's mayoralty, 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 social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

mayor. Its population was 116,448 as of the 2020 census. Stegeaerial1930

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 7th Governor of Virginia. As a delegate from Virginia, he attended the Constitutional Convention and helped to create ...

, originally from Richmond, Virginia, 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 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 were the first inhabitants of the Richmond-area, settling an estimated 5,000 years ago. They spoke the Chochenyo language, and subsisted as hunter-gatherers and harvesters. The city of Richmond was carved out of Rancho San Pablo, from which the nearby town of San Pablo inherited its name. 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 production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

in the world; the small abandoned village of Winehaven remains fenced off along Western Drive in the Point Molate Area. From 1917 and throughout the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was active in the city. In 1930 the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

opened the Richmond Assembly Plant, which moved to

Milpitas Milpitas (Spanish for "little milpas") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in Silicon Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 80,273. The city's origins lie in Rancho Milpitas, granted to Californio ranchero José Marí ...

in 1956. The old Ford plant has been a National Historic Place since 1988. In 2004 it was purchased by developer Eddie Orton, who converted it into an events center (Ford Point Building–The Craneway). Richmond was a small town at that time, until the onset of World War II brought a rush of migrants and a boom in the industrial sector. Standard Oil set up operations there in 1901, including what is now the Chevron Richmond Refinery and tank farm, which

Chevron Chevron (often relating to V-shaped patterns) may refer to: Science and technology * Chevron (aerospace), sawtooth patterns on some jet engines * Chevron (anatomy), a bone * '' Eulithis testata'', a moth * Chevron (geology), a fold in rock ...

still operates. There is a pier into San Francisco Bay south of Point Molate for oil tankers. 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 larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

's western terminus was established in Richmond with ferry connections at Ferry Point in the Brickyard Cove area of Point Richmond to San Francisco. At the outset of World War II, 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 shi ...

were built along Richmond's waterfront, employing thousands of workers, many recruited from other parts of the country, including many African-Americans and women entering the workforce for the first time. Many of these workers lived in specially constructed houses scattered throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, including Richmond, Berkeley and Albany. A specially built rail line, the

Shipyard Railway The Shipyard Railway was an electric commuter rail/interurban line that served workers at the Richmond Shipyards in Richmond, California, United States, during World War II. It was funded by the United States Maritime Commission and was built an ...

, transported workers to the shipyards. Kaiser's Richmond shipyards built 747

Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

and

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

s for the war effort, more than any other site in the U.S. The city broke many records and even built a Liberty ship in a record five days. On average the yards could build a 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), commonly known simply as Kaiser, is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser ...

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 ...

. It 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 originally Richmond's commercial hub, but a new downtown arose in the center of the city. 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 founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...

Macy's Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. It became a division of the Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated wi ...

, and Woolworth's. During the war Richmond's population increased dramatically, peaking at around 120,000 by 1945. 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 71,000. Many Black Americans from the South and to a lesser extent the Midwest migrated to Richmond during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

to take up jobs as production in heavy industry and transport expanded to meet the needs of the war economy, while increased numbers of women in general also joined the industrial workforce as large numbers of working-age men were drafted for the war effort. In the early 1900s, the Santa Fe railroad established 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. The Pullman Company 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 ser ...

on the Pullman cars. Many of them settled in the East Bay, from Richmond to Oakland, before World War II. Just before his April 1968 assassination,

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

had been working on plans for the Poor People's Campaign, 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 advocate. The oldest son and oldest living child of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, King served as the 4 ...

, completed the Poverty in America Tour in 2007, stopping in Richmond. In the 1970s, the Hilltop area, including a large shopping mall, was developed in Richmond's northern suburbs, further depressing the downtown area as it drew retail clients and tenants away. In the late 1990s and early 2000s the Richmond Parkway was built along Richmond's western industrial and northwestern parkland, connecting Interstates 80 and 580. In 2006, the city celebrated its centennial. This coincided with the repaving and streetscaping project of Macdonald Avenue. The city's old rundown commercial district along Macdonald has been designated the city's "Main Street District" by the state of California. This has led to funding of improvements in the form of state grants. 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:Wendy Welder Richmond Shipyards.jpg, A "Wendy the Welder" at the Kaiser

, contributing to the

war effort In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...

Geography

Richmond is located at . According to the

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

, 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.Statistics of Richmond, California
City Data.com The city borders San Francisco Bay to the southwest and

to the northwest, and includes Brooks Island and the Brother Islands entirely, and half of Red Rock Island. There are several cities and

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. Alam ...

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

and the unincorporated areas of Bayview, Montalvin Manor, Hilltop Green, Tara Hills. Richmond borders

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

, 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. Richmond-California-aerial

Climate

Richmond, like much of the coastal

, enjoys a very mild

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

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 between 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 more s ...

", 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 atmospheric conditions that differ from those in the surrounding areas, often with a slight difference but sometimes with a substantial one. The term may refer to areas as small as a few squ ...

s. Southern parts of the city and the ridges receive more fog 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''), or Canadian goose, is a large wild 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 America, and it is o ...

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 se ...

s live on the Castro Rocks, and pigeons and

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the family Laridae in the suborder Lari. They are most closely related to the terns and skimmers and only distantly related to auks, and even more distantly to waders. Until the 21st century ...

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. Herons 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 Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

s, ducks, foxes, owls, and

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. ...

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 are plentiful and manta rays may also be found. Striped bass,

bat ray The bat ray (''Myliobatis californica'')Gill, 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. is an eagle ray found in muddy or sandy sloughs, estuaries and ...

leopard shark The leopard shark (''Triakis semifasciata'') is a species of houndshark, in the family Triakidae. It is found along the Pacific coast of North America, from the U.S. state of Oregon to Mazatlán in Mexico. Typically measuring 1.2–1.5 m (3.9� ...

s, surf

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Per ...

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 ...

, sturgeon,

white croaker White croaker (''Genyonemus lineatus'') is a species of croaker occurring in the Eastern Pacific. White croakers have been taken from Magdalena Bay, Baja California, to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, but are not abundant north of San Francis ...

, and flounders 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 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 wit ...

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. The two distinct subspecies are both endangere ...

and

California clapper rail Ridgway's rail (''Rallus obsoletus'') is a near-threatened species of bird. It is found principally in California's San Francisco Bay to southern Baja California. A member of the rail family, Rallidae, it is a chicken-sized bird that rarely fli ...

. Another endangered species in the city is the Santa Cruz tarweed which survives alongside Interstate 80. Wildcat Canyon also hosts falcons and vultures. Threatened black rails also live in the city's marshes. River otter Richmond Marina Scott Campbell July 29, 2010

River otter Richmond Marina Scott Campbell July 29, 2010

After a baby gray whale 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 Campus Bay is a baylet of the Richmond Inner Harbor in Richmond, California formed by conflicting drainage on opposite ends from Meeker Slough Creek and Baxter Creek's deltas Meeker Slough and Stege Marsh Stege Marsh, also known as the South Ri ...

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

Field Station near Meeker Slough.Save The Bay's "Creeks to the Bay" Restoration Vision for Eastshore State Park
well.com. Retrieved August 1, 2007. 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 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. The ' ...

'', March 1, 2006. Retrieved August 1, 2007. Mayor McLaughlin has set a goal of installing five megawatts of solar photovoltaic generation in Richmond.A Step Toward "Cleaning and Greening" Richmond
, MSH Properties' Richmond Cooperative Advances City's 5-Megawatt Solar Energy Goal, Borrego Solar, May 3, 2007. Retrieved August 2, 2007.

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 a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enforcem ...

. 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. 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.Chevron Fined Over March Blast, Fire
, Sfgate.com, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 17, 1999. In a July 26, 1993, industrial accident, a

General Chemical Tata Chemicals Limited is an Indian global company with interests in chemicals, crop protection and specialty chemistry products headquartered in Mumbai, India. The company is one of the largest chemical companies in India with operations in In ...

company rail tanker car containing oleum 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 (; ) is the 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 its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...

Richmond marina bay shore closure - oil spill

The city's shoreline and wildlife were seriously affected by the

2007 San Francisco Bay oil spill The ''Cosco Busan'' oil spill occurred at 08:30 UTC-8 on 7 November 2007 between San Francisco and Oakland, California, in which of Fuel oil, IFO-380 heavy fuel oil, sometimes referred to as "bunker fuel", spilled into San Francisco Bay after t ...

. 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. 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 locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

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. On August 6, 2012, a fire erupted in the Chevron refinery, resulting in 15,000 residents in the surrounding area seeking medical treatment. There are 17 emergency warning sirens in the city; they are tested on the first Wednesday of every month, at 11 am, and are usually used to warn of toxic chemical releases from the Chevron Richmond Refinery.

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2010

The

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

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 hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 27,542 (26.6%)

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

, 662 (0.6%) Native American, 13,984 (13.5%) Asian (4.0%

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

, 3.5%

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

, 1.6% Laotian, 1.2%

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

, 0.7%

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

, 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, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

, 0.2% Pakistani, 0.1% Thai), 537 (0.5%)

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

, 22,573 (21.8%) from

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

, and 5,813 (5.6%) from two or more races.

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

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 40,921 persons (39.5%). Among the Hispanic population, 27.3% were of Mexican origin, 4.7%

Salvadoran Salvadorans (Spanish: ''Salvadoreños''), also known as Salvadorians (alternate spelling: Salvadoreans), are citizens of El Salvador, a country in Central America. Most Salvadorans live in El Salvador, although there is also a significant Salvad ...

, 1.7% Guatemalan, and 1.2%

Nicaraguan Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

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 la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

(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 which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

, 21.36%

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

, 0.64% Native American, 12.29% Asian, 0.50%

, 13.86% from

, and 5.27% from two or more races. 26.53% of the population were

, 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, 1.75% speak Chinese, 1.20% speak Miao–Mien, 1.12% speak Laotian, 0.72% speak Punjabi, 0.54% speak

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...

, 0.51% speak French, 0.5% speak

, 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 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, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). Th ...

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

), the last active

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industr ...

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 production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, b ...

( 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 alcohol ...

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 floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

. 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 H ...

, with 26 million

ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...

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. The

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify ...

employs over 1,000 at its regional office and program service center in Downtown Richmond.

's Richmond Medical Center hospital in the Downtown Richmond is one of the largest employers in the city. Galaxy Desserts is run and operated in the city. Vetrazzo, an award-winning green business that manufactures Recycled Glass Countertops out of waste glass such as beer bottles and old traffic lights, is located in the refurbished Ford Assembly Plant.Vetrazzo About
Treeskunk Productions a video game animation studio is based in the town. Bay View recording studios are located in the city, and have worked with artists such as

Smash Mouth Smash Mouth is an American rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994, and was originally composed of Steve Harwell (lead vocals), Kevin Coleman (drums), Greg Camp (guitar), and Paul De Lisle (bass). With Harwell's depa ...

. Photon Films, LLC, a video production and editing studio, is located in Harborfront area along the southeast shoreline.

Shopping

The Hilltop District includes Prologis Hilltop Center which had planned renovations, beginning with the addition of

99 Ranch Market 99 Ranch Market () is an American supermarket chain owned by Tawa Supermarket Inc., which is based in Buena Park, California. 99 Ranch has 54 stores (as of June 2021), primarily in California, with other stores in Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Ne ...

, which have since been canceled. Two of their long time anchors,

and

, both ceased operations there in 2020 and 2021 respectively. This leaves the mall with one last existing anchor of the

Wal-Mart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

department store. Furthermore, the area is home to Hilltop

Auto Mall An auto row or auto mall is a business cluster with multiple car dealerships in a single neighborhood or road. Auto rows are distinct from car supermarkets which are a single, large dealership. Economics Auto rows, like mall food courts, are an ...

, 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, t ...

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. It is anchored by a Foods Co. supermarket and a

Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...

pharmacy. 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

is a commercial plot along the trunk route of Macdonald Avenue which has been designated the city's main street under the aforementioned program. It was once anchored by the now-defunct Montgomery Wards and a Toys"R"Us. Demolition of the former buildings and construction of a new shopping mall were completed in 2006 and the center is now anchored by a

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

store.

Richmond Annex and Southwest Annex

"Big-box" stores already in the city include

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation (Trade name, doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only Big-box store, big-box retail stores (warehouse c ...

in the Point Isabel area and a

Home Depot The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...

which is partially in Richmond. A controversial

Kohl's Kohl's (stylized in all caps) is an American department store retail chain, operated by Kohl's Corporation. it is the largest department store chain in the United States, with 1,165 locations, operating stores in every U.S. state except Haw ...

department store has been proposed for Point Isabel. (See Point Isabel)New Kohl's store proposed for Richmond
by Katherine Tam,

Contra Costa 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 ...

, May 30, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2008.

Redevelopment

The former

were transformed starting in the late 1980s into a multiunit residential area, Marina Bay. Starting in the early 2000s, the city began an aggressive redevelopment effort spurring exurban tract housing, condominiums, townhomes, a transit village, and terraced hillside subdivisions. The city also created a

redevelopment agency A redevelopment agency 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 or CRA) ...

that refurbished Macdonald Avenue, funded the Metro Walk transit village, resurrected 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

, and created the Richmond Greenway

rails-to-trails A rail trail is a shared-use path on 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 right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

trail and

urban farming Urban agriculture, urban farming, or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing, and distributing food in or around urban areas. It encompasses a complex and diverse mix of food production activities, including fisheries and for ...

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 (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

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 The ...

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 and California governments including El Monte Fontana, the city of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, 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 the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

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 (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

and

Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company is an American multinational financial services company with corporate headquarters in San Francisco, California; operational headquarters in Manhattan; and managerial offices throughout the United States and intern ...

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 statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

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 Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...

proposes 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 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 certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

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.Richmond rejects tribe's plans for casino resort
Carolyn Jones. San Francisco Chronicle. April 7, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2011. 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, was elated. The

Guideville Band of Pomo Indians The Guideville Band of Pomo Indians is a Native American tribe of the Pomo Indians of northern California.

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 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 ...

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 George Livingston (c. 1933 – January 7, 2012) was an American politician who served as the first elected African American Mayor of Richmond, California, from 1985 to 1993. Livingston was appointed Mayor in 1985 by the city council. He won ele ...

Sr. was the first elected African American mayor. He served from 1985 to 1993.

Rosemary Corbin Rosemary Corbin is a longstanding Democratic public figure and former mayor of Richmond, California.

served as the mayor from 1993 to 2001. The current mayor Thomas K. Butt was elected Mayor of Richmond in 2015 with more than 50 percent of the vote. Prior to winning the mayoral election, he served on the Richmond City Council for 20 years (from 1995 to 2015) and served as the city's vice-mayor in 2002 and 2012. Years of political domination by the local firefighters union subsided after an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

corruption investigation. In the early 2000s Gayle McLaughlin 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 L. Anderson 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 the 2006 mayoral race and lost to Green Party challenger councilperson Gayle McLaughl ...

. 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. There has recently been controversy regarding appointments of councilpersons Sandhu and Thurmond who were not elected at-large or were appointed to the ballot on a Yes/No basis. Recently Mayor McLaughlin and Councilperson Butt have opposed Chevron's Renewal Project that would replace their 1950's 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. During the regular election on November 7, 2006, 21,575 of 37,605 (57.37%) registered voters cast their ballots.OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE 2006 MUNICIPAL ELECTION HELD ON NOVEMBER 7, 2006
. Retrieved August 2, 2007. Richmond has formerly been home to black culture and activist movements, most notably the Black Panther Party.

Cannabis

The city has eight

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

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, 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, 14,108 (26.9%) have

declined to state Decline to State (DTS) was an affiliation designation on the California voter registration form that allows voters to register to vote without choosing a party affiliation. It is similar to what in other states would be called declaring oneself as ...

a political party, and 4.1% are registered members of a third party.

Education

The public schools in 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 co ...

, 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 unincorp ...

, Salesian College Preparatory, Richmond High School, and Kennedy High School. In addition, there are four charter high schools, Making Waves Academy, 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 system, opened a charter middle school. There are also three middle schools, 16 elementary schools, and seven elementary-middle schools. Richmond also hosts three adult education schools. The

Contra Costa Community College District The Contra Costa Community College District is a community college district that encompasses three community colleges in Contra Costa County, California - Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College and Los Medanos College. The headquarters is i ...

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. 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 systems in Califor ...

, 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 high schools statewide in order to graduate. The examination was suspended in ...

, 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, pizza, and other similar items in attempt to curb childhood obesity 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.City Council moves forward with soda tax
Alexis Kenyon, '' Richmond Confidential'', December 12, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011 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 Contra may refer to: Places * Contra, Virginia * Contra Costa Canal, an aqueduct in the U.S. state of California * Contra Costa County, California * Tenero-Contra, a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland ...

. 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, 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 The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a left-wing multi-tendency socialist and labor-oriented political organization. Its roots are in the Socialist Party of America (SPA), whose leaders included Eugene V. Debs, Norman Thomas and Mich ...

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 United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. 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 Ferry Point Tunnel is one of the oldest tunnels in California. 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 is a restored World War II

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were sli ...

, the 558th ship made in Richmond.

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and Victory ships transported troops and supplies during World War II. During World War II the city sprawled and its population increased dramatically. This led city leaders to construct the Richmond Civic Center in 1957. This center houses the city hall, a small convention center, library, hall of justice, police headquarters, and arts center. 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. The Richmond–San Rafael Bridge extends across San Pablo Bay. 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 built in 1957, and connects Contra Costa County with Marin County. Automobiles are charged a $6 toll in the westbound (towards Marin) direction only. 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. The Santa Fe Railroad Terminal operated as the western terminus for the railroad from the late 19th century to the late 20th century. It has now been transformed into a museum to exemplify the feel of the terminal in that era. Point Richmond, Richmond, California

The Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park is in Richmond, and commemorates women's shipbuilding and support for the war effort in the 1940s. 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. Point Molate Beach Park is a park on the western coast of Richmond along Western Drive. It was originally a Chinese shrimp camp in the 1870s. Point San Pablo yacht harbor accommodates hundreds of private boats. East Brother Light Station on East Brother Island (one of the Brother Islands) is host to an exclusive

bed and breakfast Bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. Bed and breakfasts are often private family homes and typically have between four and eleven rooms, wit ...

. 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 city is also home to a radio controlled model airplane airport, Breuner Airfield that is located in

Breuner Marsh The Dotson Family Marsh, formerly Breuner Marsh, is a 238-acre (96 ha)Rolling Hills Memorial Park Rolling Hills Memorial Park is a cemetery in Richmond, Contra Costa County, California, established in 1960. The site has approximately 50,000 interments. Notable interments * Nicholas Caldwell (1944–2016), Singer * Proverb Jacobs (1935–20 ...

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 distri ...

s administered by the

East Bay Regional Park District The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which ...

lie within the city, including the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline and the

. 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 p ...

. Part of the former shipyard is now a marina. Th
Richmond Art Center
founded by Hazel Salmi 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 and California Green Party are active political parties in Richmond. The House Rabbit Society 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 501(c)(3) organization for artists with developmental and physical disabilities, founded in 1982 and based in Richmond, Contra Costa County, California. The organization ...

. 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
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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 subculture and subgenre of rap music originated in Richmond and surrounding cities. From 1996 to 2002 a "geekfest" 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 School (Richmond, California), 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. A new national park,

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 ...

, is now under construction in 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 the craneway of 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 Parks District 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 adjoin ...

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 pedestrians ...

is the largest off-leash dog park in the United States. The Richmond Greenway is a project costing millions of dollars to transform an old rail line into a walking, jogging, and biking trail. It will span east to west from the end of the Ohlone Trail that follows the BART line from El Cerrito to Berkeley. It will also follow the BART line to Richmond station and continue to Point Richmond. Pedestrian bridges will be used to cross major avenues such as San Pablo Avenue and 23rd Street. An additional side project will add a bike lane/bike trail between the Richmond Greenway and the Ohlone trail at Potrero Avenue via 23rd Street, Carlson Boulevard, Cutting Boulevard, and Potrero. It is currently under construction. Richmond is home to four marinas: the Brickyard Cove Yacht Club, Point San Pablo Yacht Club, Marina Bay Marina, and Channel Marina in the Santa Fe channel. In addition, Richmond has the "Richmond Plunge", a municipal

natatorium A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built above ground (as ...

dating back to 1926 and which reopened August 14, 2010. The pool is located in the Point Richmond neighborhood. Richmondfromwildcatcanyon2019

Celebrations and conferences

The city has annual

Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining "June" and "nineteenth", it is celebrated on the anniversary of General Order No. 3, i ...

and

Cinco de Mayo Cinco de Mayo ( in Mexico, Spanish for "Fifth of May") is a yearly celebration held on May 5, which commemorates the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862, led by General Ignacio Zaragoz ...

celebrations.Thousands Celebrate Cinco de Mayo in Richmond.
Kornelia Trytko. Richmond Confidential. May 2, 2011. Retrieved May 7, 2011. 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 proclaime ...

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 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 among the top graduate journalism schools in the United States, and is designed to produce journalists wi ...

, 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, run by

Media News Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado-based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. The company has been growing its portfolio and as of May 2021, owns ove ...

, covers greater Contra Costa County.

Television

A local cable TV station, KCRT-TV, mainly plays historical archives but also airs

government-access television 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 television stations. GATV pr ...

(GATV), city council meetings and music videos.

Radio

KKSF (AM) KKSF (910 AM) is a licensed broadcasting commercial radio station coming out of Oakland, California. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and serves the San Francisco-Oakland- San Jose media market. It operates as the Bay Area affiliate for th ...

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 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 in the eastbound direction, and through Albany, Berkeley, 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, 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/San Francisco direction while slicing through mixed medium and heavy industries and homes through Point Richmond and onto the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge over the

segment of the San Francisco Bay into San Rafael and Marin County. * 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 in Oakland.

Major trunk streets

* Macdonald Avenue is the "Main Street" of Richmond, running east–west from Atchison Village through downtown to San Pablo Avenue in the North & East neighborhood. In 2010, it was repaved and refitted with new lampposts, street furniture, business façades, landscaping and trees. * Cutting Boulevard 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 Henry 'H.C' Cutting (April 3, 1870 – ?) was a California entrepreneur, engineer, school official and amateur economist. Initially attaining a mining degree in Nevada and serving several years as superintendent of the state's schools, he moved in ...

. * 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 Hilltop Horizon, formerly known as Hilltop Mall, East Bay Science and Technology Center and The Shops At Hilltop, was a regional shopping center in the Hilltop neighborhood of Richmond, California. Hilltop is managed and co-owned by Prologis ...

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 (BART) and service, plus

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

, , and regional rail and

intercity rail Inter-city rail services are express passenger train services that run services that connect cities over longer distances than commuter or regional trains. There is no precise definition of inter-city rail; its meaning may vary from country ...

service. The primary bus service in Richmond is operated by

AC Transit AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...

, 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

Transbay Transit Center The Transbay Transit Center (officially the Salesforce Transit Center for sponsorship purposes) is a transit station in downtown San Francisco. It serves as the primary bus terminal — and potentially as a future rail terminal — for the San ...

and limited All-Nighter service. Additional local service is operated by

WestCAT WestCAT is a public transportation service in western Contra Costa County (north of Oakland, CA). It is a service of the Western Contra Costa Transit Authority. The Western Contra Costa County Transit (WestCAT) was established in August 1977 as ...

. Bear Transit provides commuter and student service from El Cerrito BART 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 El Cerrito del Norte station (''North Hillock'' in Spanish) is a BART station located off Cutting Boulevard near San Pablo Avenue and Interstate 80 in El Cerrito, California. The station serves as a regional transit hub for local AC Transit bu ...

(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 The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

(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 A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard ( British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ...

at Barstow via the

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

. The track was formerly operated by the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

(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 The Richmond Pacific Railroad is a terminal railroad owned by the Levin-Richmond Terminal Corporation. The RPRC operates on of track in the shipping terminal and wharves at Richmond, California. The RPRC also interchanges with the Union Pa ...

(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). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday a ...

relaunched ferry service to the

San Francisco Ferry Building The San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay, a food hall and an office building. It is located on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California and is served by Golden Gate Ferry and San ...

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

on weekdays and Fisherman's Wharf on weekends in addition to special

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

Ballpark A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimensions can vary widely from place to pla ...

service during the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

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 Plant in Marina Bay which is now open as an industrial park and under renovation. The terminal had its own dedicated

feeder service from Point Richmond and downtown Richmond with route 374 also now discontinued. A new ferry service from Richmond is planned for 2018 by the

San Francisco Bay Area Water Transit Authority 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). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday a ...

. 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

relaunched ferry service to the

in January 2019.

Pedestrian and bike lanes

The city has aggressively developed its portions of the

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 a

rails to trails A rail trail is a shared-use path on 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 right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

project running parallel to Macdonald Avenue which will feed into the Ohlone Trail which serves as feeder service for the El Cerrito del Norte BART station. There is also the Hercules Bikeway connecting the Ohlone Trail with Hercules, which runs along the neighborhoods of East Richmond and El Sobrante. There is a trail under construction along Wildcat Creek to connect the Bay Trail and Wildcat Marsh with

. 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 ( Interstate 580) alongside Red Rock Island and barges crossing

. Image:Sanpab-n-mac.jpg, Tree-lined San Pablo Avenue at Macdonald Avenue with an

BRT BRT may refer to: Transportation * Block register territory, a method for dispatching trains * British Rail Telecommunications * Brookhaven Rail Terminal * Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, a former transit holding company in New York City * Bro ...

stop and businesses in 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 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 East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), colloquially referred to as "East Bay Mud", is a public utility district which provides water and sewage treatment services for an area of approximately in the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay.S ...

), while sewers are operated by the city government. The city's electricity and gas is provided by the Pacific Gas & Electric Company (

PG&E The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 millio ...

). Sewage is largely handed by the Richmond Sewage Treatment Plant in 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 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 The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

in 3,000-meter steeplechase *

C. J. Anderson Cortrelle Javon Anderson (born February 10, 1991) is an American football coach and former running back who is currently the running backs coach at Rice University. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons, primarily with ...

, running back for NFL's

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

* Courtney Anderson (born 1980), Oakland Raiders football player *

Benny Barnes Benny Jewell Barnes (born March 3, 1951) is a former American football cornerback in the National Football League for eleven seasons, all with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Stanford University in the Pacific-8 Conference. Ea ...

, Stanford and NFL player, 11 years as cornerback for

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

, starter for Super Bowl XII champions *

Ken Carter Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in t ...

(born 1959), Richmond High School basketball coach, inspiration for 2005 film ''

Coach Carter ''Coach Carter'' is a 2005 American biographical teen sports drama film starring Samuel L. Jackson and directed by Thomas Carter (no relation). The film is based on the true story of Richmond High School basketball coach Ken Carter (played ...

'' *

Loyd Christopher Loyd Eugene Christopher (December 31, 1919 – September 5, 1991) was an American professional baseball player and scout. During his on-field career (1938–1952; 1955), he was an outfielder who appeared in Major League Baseball for 16 games fo ...

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player and scout * Russ Christopher, MLB pitcher for

1948 World Series The 1948 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1948 season. The 45th edition of the World Series, it matched the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National League (NL) champion Boston Br ...

champion

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

Darrell Johnson Darrell Dean Johnson (August 25, 1928 – May 3, 2004) was an American Major League Baseball catcher, coach, manager and scout. As a manager, he led the 1975 Boston Red Sox to the American League pennant, and was named "Manager of the Year" by ...

, MLB player, backup catcher for

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

behind

Yogi Berra Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra (May 12, 1925 – September 22, 2015) was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of manager and coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) (1946–1963, 1965), all but ...

; also played with

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

; manager for

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

and Texas Rangers *

Ricky Jordan Paul Scott "Ricky" Jordan (born May 26, 1965)Ricky Jordan
Baseball Reference, access date August 28, ...

(born 1965), MLB player for Philadelphia Phillies,

Willie McGee Willie Dean McGee (born November 2, 1958) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is an assistant coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for four teams, over 18 seasons. H ...

(born 1958), MLB player, outfielder for

1982 World Series The 1982 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1982 season. The 79th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion St. Louis Cardinals and the Am ...

champion

, two-time National League batting champion, 1985 MVP *

Takkarist McKinley Takkarist Jaune McKinley (born November 2, 1995) is an American football defensive end who is a free agent. He played college football at UCLA and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Early years McKinley ...

, NFL player for Atlanta Falcons * 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 The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

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 (born 1955), MLB pitcher for Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, and

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

Dale Sveum Dale Curtis Sveum ( ; born November 23, 1963) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager. He most recently served as the bench coach for the Kansas City Royals. As a player, Sveum saw action in 12 major league seasons bet ...

, MLB player and former manager of Chicago Cubs * Lamont Thompson (born 1978), NFL football defensive back for

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

and Cincinnati Bengals

Music

Jason Becker Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He w ...

(born 1969), musician, songwriter and composer * Stephen Bradley, musician, producer, and touring member of band No Doubt *

Billie Joe Armstrong Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for ...

(born 1972), lead singer and musician from the band Green Day was born in Richmond. *

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his ca ...

(born 1956), guitarist for rock band

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

Norton Buffalo Phillip Jackson (September 28, 1951 – October 30, 2009), best known as Norton Buffalo, was an American singer-songwriter, country and blues harmonica player, record producer, bandleader and recording artist who was a versatile proponent of ...

(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 Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...

(born 1963), bassist, songwriter and vocalist of Primus * Gary Holt (born 1964), guitarist and founding member of Exodus; also a member of Slayer since 2011. *

Iamsu! Sudan Ameer Williams (born November 16, 1989), better known by his stage name Iamsu! (stylized as IamSu! or IAMSU!), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is also a part of the production team The Invasion and lead ...

(born 1989), rapper and fellow organizer of

The HBK Gang The HBK Gang (abbreviation for the Heartbreak Gang) is an American hip hop collective based in Richmond, California and the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded by Iamsu!, Chief, Skipper and P-Lo in 2008, members also include singer Kehlani and rapper ...

. *

Larry LaLonde Reid Laurence "Larry" LaLonde (born September 12, 1968), also known as Ler LaLonde, is an American musician best known as the guitarist for Primus, a position that he has served since 1989, where he is known for his experimental accompaniment t ...

(born 1968), guitarist in Primus * Locksmith (born 1984), rapper. *

Master P Percy Robert Miller Sr. (born April 29, 1967), known by his stage name Master P, is an American rapper, record executive, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of the record label No Limit Records, which was relaunched as ...

(born Percy Robert Miller), rapper, founder and owner of P. Miller clothing, former local businessman ::* Also connected to Master P:

Silkk Tha Shocker Vyshonn King Miller (born June 18, 1975), better known by his stage name Silkk the Shocker, is an American rapper and actor. He originally went under the stage name Silkk, but later adopted Silkk the Shocker after the release of his first album ...

Lil Romeo Percy Romeo Miller (born August 19, 1989), also known by his stage name Romeo (formerly Lil' Romeo), is an American rapper, actor, and television personality. He gained fame as a rapper in the early 2000s after signing with No Limit Records, the ...

, both relatives/associates of Master P, and Big Ed (formerly under Master P's No Limit Records) were residents of Richmond * Dorothy Morrison (born 1944), lead singer for

Edwin Hawkins Singers Edwin Reuben Hawkins (August 19, 1943 – January 15, 2018) was an American gospel musician, pianist, choir master, composer, and arranger. He was one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. He (as leader of the Edwin Hawkins S ...

on their hit "Oh Happy Day"

Other

* Peter S. Beagle (born 1939), writer, author of the fantasy novel ''

The Last Unicorn ''The Last Unicorn'' is a fantasy novel by American author Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968, by Viking Press in the U.S. and The Bodley Head in the U.K. It follows the tale of a unicorn, who believes she is the last of her kind in the wor ...

'' * David DePape (born 1979-80), suspect 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 ''Devil in a Blue Dress'' is a 1990 hardboiled mystery novel by Walter Mosley, his first published book. The text centers on the main character, Ezekiel "Easy" Rawlins, and his transformation from a day laborer into a detective. Plot Set ...

'' and ''

One True Thing ''One True Thing'' is a 1998 American drama film directed by Carl Franklin. It tells the story of a woman in her 20s who is forced to put her life on hold in order to care for her mother, who is dying of cancer. The script was adapted by Karen ...

'' * William Haynes, comedian, co-host of the YouTube channel

SourceFed SourceFed was a YouTube channel and news website created by Philip DeFranco in January 2012 as part of YouTube's original channel initiative, and was originally produced by James Haffner. The main SourceFed channel mainly focused on popular cu ...

. *

Emiko Nakano Emiko Nakano (1925–1990) was an American Abstract expressionism, abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, fiber artist, and fashion Illustrator. Biography Emiko Nakano was born on July 4, 1925 in Sacramento, California; her parents were im ...

(1925–1990), abstract expressionist artist *

Glenn Plummer Glenn E. Plummer (born August 18, 1961) is an American film and television actor best known as Timmy Rawlins in '' ER'' (1994-2007), and Vic Trammel in ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008-2009). Biography Plummer was born in Richmond, California. Career ...

(born 1961), actor, known for films such as '' South Central'', ''

Showgirls ''Showgirls'' is a 1995 erotic drama pulp noir film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Joe Eszterhas. The film stars Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer, Robert Davi, Alan Rachins, and Gina Ravera. Produ ...

'' and ''

Menace II Society ''Menace II Society'' (pronounced ''Menace to Society'') is a 1993 American teen drama film directed by the Hughes Brothers in their directorial debut. The film is set in Watts and Crenshaw neighborhoods of Los Angeles, and follows the life of ...

'' *

Ronnie Schell Ronald Ralph Schell (born December 23, 1931) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He appeared on the May 28, 1959, episode of the TV quiz ''You Bet Your Life'', hosted by Groucho Marx. Schell demonstrated a comic barrage of beatnik jive t ...

(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 Jess Walter (born July 20, 1965) is an American author of seven novels, two collections of short stories, and a non-fiction book. He is the recipient of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2006. Career Wal ...

, 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 Richard Rothstein is an American academic and author affiliated with the Economic Policy Institute, and a senior fellow (emeritus) at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. His current research focuses on the history ...

(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 street

* 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 Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

film, ''

Patch Adams Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams (born May 28, 1945) is an American physician, comedian, social activist, clown, and author. He founded the Gesundheit! Institute in 1971. Each year he also organizes volunteers from around the world to travel to var ...

'' were filmed during a week in Point Richmond. * The basketball movie, ''

'' 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 T.V. Show '' The Game'', character ''

Latasha "Tasha" Mack This is a list of the characters and plot points from the American comedy-drama television series '' The Game''. Characters Main Recurring Series cast main character format Legacy Characters of the series appeared throughout the various s ...

'' grew up in Richmond. * Many parts of the

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apoca ...

movie '' 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 ''The Sweetest Thing'' is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Roger Kumble and written by Nancy Pimental, who based the characters on herself and friend Kate Walsh. It stars Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, and Selma Blair. Plot A group ...

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 A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

, as designated by

Sister Cities International Sister Cities International (SCI) is a nonprofit organization, nonprofit citizen diplomacy network that creates and strengthens partnerships between communities in the United States and those in other countries, particularly through the establish ...

: * Shimada,

Shizuoka Shizuoka can refer to: * Shizuoka Prefecture, a Japanese prefecture * Shizuoka (city), the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture * Shizuoka Airport * Shizuoka Domain, the name from 1868 to 1871 for Sunpu Domain, a predecessor of Shizuoka Prefecture ...

, Japan (December 12, 1961)Northern and Central California Sister Cities in Japan , Consulate-General of Japan in San Francisco
/ref> *

Regla Regla () is one of the 15 municipalities or boroughs (''municipios'' in Spanish) in the city of Havana, Cuba. It comprises the town of Regla, located at the bottom of Havana Bay in a former aborigine settlement named ''Guaicanamar'', Loma Model ...

, Cuba * Zhoushan, Zhejiang, China

References

Bibliography

External links

*
West Contra Costa Unified School District
* {{Authority control 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