January - May 2001

May 2001

Census 2000 Figures Reveal Shocking Statistics
by Sandy Johnson, Salida.org

The U.S. Census Bureau has slowly been releasing bits of data from the 2000 population survey. Not all of the data is available, but total population and some race demographics are now online. Upon researching the population results for the Stanislaus County area, it was rather astonishing to see some of the figures. Especially when comparing them to the 1990 Census data.

The most surprising revelation is the increase in population in the largest un-incorporated area of the county, Salida. Recent estimates of the population for Salida have wavered around 12 to 13 thousand people. Not a bad guess, Salida is now well over 12,560 people strong. The greater Salida area including Del Rio and parts of the rural West Modesto area is the 4th most populous area in Stanislaus County with over 18 thousand people.

To put the Salida growth spurt into perspective, consider this: In 1990, when the last census was taken, Salida registered 4,499 total persons. In the past 10 years, Salida's population has increased nearly 200%. An increase of 8,061 people over the past decade has made Salida's population skyrocket. Overall, Stanislaus County saw a 20.6% increase in population with the State of California seeing a 13.8% increase. Other areas of the county also saw exponential growth since the previous census. Newman increased it's population by 119% going from 4,151 in 1990 to 9,095 in 2000. Riverbank was another city that saw a hefty increase in population swelling from 8,547 in '90 to 15,826 showing a 85% increase. Most every area of the county saw an increase of 14 percent or better with one exception. According to the available data, Denair, an unincorporated area just outside of Turlock showed a decrease in population by 6.6%.

Modesto grew by 14.6% with a total population of 188,856 for 2000. Turlock is at 55,810 increasing 32%, Waterford increased by 45% to 6,924, Patterson is growing strong with a 34.5% increase with the population up to 11,606 and Oakdale saw a 29.6% increase with 15,503.

The current population for the United States according to the 2000 Census is 281,421,906. California leads the list of most populated states, with 33,871,648. It ranked the most populous state in 1990 as well. Coming in second for most populated state is Texas with 20,851,820, third is New York with 18,976,457, coming in 4th is Florida with 15,982,378, and rounding out the top 5 is Illinois with 12,419,293.

Some interesting notables while researching the census data shows that Nevada holds the top position for percent increase in population. Nevada's population increased by 66.3%. North Dakota saw the smallest increase in population only gaining a .5% increase. The most interesting is Washington D.C. which saw a decrease of 5.7% in it's population, the only U.S. state/territory to show a negative increase in population.

Raw Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov

Compiled by: Salida.org http://www.salida.org

March 2001

We will be seeing a lot of changes in Salida this spring. Our railroad crossings are finally being re-surfaced, and we should have some construction starting on the redevelopment of Broadway.

Have you noticed more patrols of the Sheriff's Dept. around town? We have just welcomed aboard two new Community Deputies and we also have a new CHP Community officer.

Many of our community organizations have some events coming up this spring like the Salida Civic Association Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser and the Salida Town Watch Dinner, Dance and Silent Auction.

February 2001

SALIDA GROWS UP

To even the casual observer, one thing is obvious: Salida is no longer the sleepy little town north of Modesto. Some changes, like the number of houses and population increases, are obvious: just look at the traffic in the morning. Other changes are more subtle.

It is the subtle changes that help define Salida as a community. These changes are brought about by people caring enough to become involved, donating their time and efforts to make Salida a better place to live. Most of the time, these people get involved for personal or selfish reasons: Starting a Neighborhood Watch group, or putting together a youth sports league to give their kids something to do, are but two examples. Whether intentional or not, those seemingly small efforts usually have positive effects in the community as a whole.

Through the efforts of many Salidans, a number of community-based organizations have come to life in the past two to three years. Some of these groups were active in the past, and have been recently resurrected, while others are brand new. The following list of Salida community organizations is not exhaustive. If there are other organizations in Salida that are not listed, please contact Tom Burns at 545-2778 or tburnsesq@att.net to add your group to the list.