Monterey_County,_California

Monterey County, California

Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2000, the population was 401,762. The county seat is Salinas. Monterey County is a member of the regional governmental agency, Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.

The coastline, including Big Sur, State Route 1, and the 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula has made the county world famous. The city of Monterey was the capital of California under Spanish and Mexican rule. The economy is primarily based upon tourism in the coastal regions, and agriculture in the Salinas River valley. Most of the county's people live near the northern coast and Salinas valley, while the southern coast and inland mountain regions are almost devoid of human habitation.

History

Monterey County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county were given to San Benito County in 1874.

The county derived its name from Monterey Bay. The word itself is composed of the Spanish words monte and rey, which literally means "Hill" and "King". The bay was named by Sebastian Vizcaino in 1602, in honor of Gaspar de Zuniga y Acevedo, Conde de Monterrey, the Viceroy of New Spain.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 3,771 square miles (9,767 km²), of which, 3,322 square miles (8,604 km²) of it is land and 449 square miles (1,163 km²) of it (11.91%) is water. The county is roughly 1.5 times larger than the state of Delaware

Cities and towns

Census-designated places

Aromas
Boronda
Bradley
Carmel Valley Village
Castroville
Chualar
Del Monte Forest, includes the well-known community of Pebble Beach
Elkhorn
Las Lomas
Moss Landing
Pajaro
Prunedale
San Ardo
San Lucas
Spreckels

Other unincorporated communities

Other locales

Big Sur includes the areas of Lucia, California and Gorda, California
Laguna Seca Ranch
Fort Ord decommissioned in the 1990s, some of it was converted to California State University, Monterey Bay
Naval Postgraduate School
Fort Hunter Liggett
Presidio of Monterey, home to the Defense Language Institute and one of three presidios in California
Jacks Peak Park, including the highest point on the Monterey Peninsula

Adjacent counties

San Luis Obispo County, California - south
Kings County, California - southeast
Fresno County, California - southeast
San Benito County, California - east
Santa Cruz County, California - north

National protected areas

Transportation infrastructure

Major highways

Public transportation

Monterey County is served by Amtrak trains and Greyhound Lines buses. Monterey-Salinas Transit provides transit service throughout most of Monterey County, with buses to Big Sur and King City as well as in Monterey, Salinas and Carmel. MST also runs service to San Jose.

Airports

Monterey Peninsula Airport is located just east of the City of Monterey. Commercial flights are available.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 401,762 people, 121,236 households, and 87,896 families residing in the county. The population density was 121 people per square mile (47/km²). There were 131,708 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 55.92% White, 3.75% Black or African American, 1.05% Native American, 6.03% Asian, 0.45% Pacific Islander, 27.82% from other races, and 4.98% from two or more races. 46.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 6.3% were of German and 5.4% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 52.9% spoke English, 39.6% Spanish and 1.6% Tagalog as their first language. Note that the county is divided by race, with higher-income Whites and Asians living near the coastal areas, and virtually all Latinos (including an enormous number of illegal immigrants) live in the Salinas Valley due to its agricultural productivity.

There were 121,236 households out of which 39.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.14 and the average family size was 3.65.

In the county the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 female residents there were 107.3 male residents. For every 100 female residents age 18 and over, there were 107.7 male residents.

The median income for a household in the county was $48,305, and the median income for a family was $51,169. Men had a median income of $38,444 versus $30,036 for women. The per capita income for the county was $20,165. About 9.7% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.4% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Presidential election results
Year	DEM	GOP	Others
2004	60.4% 75,241	38.4% 47,838	1.2% 1,574
2000	57.5% 67,618	37.2% 43,761	5.2% 6,155
1996	53.2% 57,700	36.7% 39,794	10.2% 11,064
1992	47.0% 54,861	31.3% 36,461	21.7% 25,367
1988	48.8% 48,998	49.8% 50,022	1.4% 1,361
1984	41.8% 40,733	57.2% 55,710	1.0% 1,027
1980	33.5% 29,086	54.7% 47,452	11.8% 10,256
1976	46.0% 36,849	51.0% 40,896	3.0% 2,408
1972	39.5% 32,545	57.0% 47,004	3.5% 2,859
1968	42.1% 28,261	50.2% 33,670	7.7% 5,193
1964	61.8% 40,093	37.9% 24,579	0.3% 172
1960	43.4% 25,805	56.3% 33,428	0.3% 130

Monterey County is considered to be a Democratic-leaning county in Presidential and congressional elections. The county voted for Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004. The last Republican to win the county was George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Monterey is part of California's 17th congressional district, which is represented by Democrat Sam Farr. In the State Assembly, Monterey is part of the 27th and 28th districts, which are held by Democrats John Laird and Anna Caballero, respectively. Laird was first elected to the Assembly in November 2002; Caballero in November 2006. In the State Senate, a small part of Monterey is in the 12th district; most of the county is in the 15th. The 12th district is held by Republican Jeff Denham and the 15th by Republican Abel Maldonado, who is considered to be moderate. Denham was first elected to the Senate in November 2002; Maldonado in November 2004.

According to the California Secretary of State, as of April, 2008, Monterey County has 147,066 registered voters. Of those voters, 72,550 (49.3%) are registered Democratic, 42,744 (29.1%) are registered Republican, 5,488 (3.7%) are registered with other political parties, and 26,284 (17.9%) declined to state a political party. Except for Sand City, all of the other cities, towns, and the unincorporated area of Monterey County have more individuals registered with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. In Sand City, the Republicans have the advantage by 1 voter.

Environmental features

Monterey County has habitat to support the following endangered species:

Media

Home prices

As of December 2005, Monterey County ranked among America's ten most expensive counties, with Santa Barbara County topping the list with a median home price of $753,790. In Monterey County, the median home price was $699,900. In the northern, more densely populated part in the county, the median home price was even higher, at $712,500, making it the fourth most expensive housing market in California. The disparity between the median household income of roughly $48,305 and the median home price of $700k has been cause for recent concern over excluding potential home buyers from the market. While the end of the United States housing bubble has caused prices to drop substantially, the median home price remains at over $500,000 and median household income below $60,000.