Built during theCalifornia Gold Rush, Stockton's seaport serves as a gateway to the Central Valley and beyond. It provided easy access for trade and transportation to the southern gold mines. TheUniversity of the Pacific (UOP), chartered in 1851, is the oldest university in California, and has been located in Stockton since 1923. In 2012, Stockton filed for what was then the largest municipalbankruptcy in US history – which had multiple causes, including financial mismanagement in the 1990s, generousfringe benefits to unionized city employees,[21] and the2008 financial crisis. Stockton successfully exited bankruptcy in February 2015.
When Europeans first arrived in the Stockton area, it was occupied by the Yatchicumne, a branch of the Northern ValleyYokuts Indians. They built their villages on low mounds to keep their homes above regular floods. A Yokuts village named Pasasimas was located on a mound between Edison and Harrison Streets on what is now theStockton Channel in downtown Stockton.[22]
The extensive network of waterways in and around Stockton was fished and navigated byMiwok Indians for centuries. During theCalifornia Gold Rush, theSan Joaquin River was navigable by ocean-going vessels, making Stockton a natural inland seaport and point of supply and departure for prospective gold-miners. From the mid-19th century onward, Stockton became the region's transportation hub, dealing mainly with agricultural products.
Carlos Maria Weber was a German immigrant to the United States in 1836. He was born as Carl David Weber (February 18, 1814, inSteinwenden – May 4, 1881, in Stockton) and then went by Charles in 1836 in the United States, first spending time inNew Orleans and then inTexas. He then came overland from Missouri to California with theBartleson-Bidwell Party in 1841 and began to go by Carlos, when he began working forJohn Sutter. In 1842 Weber settled in thePueblo of San José.
As an alien, Weber could not secure a land grant directly, so he formed a partnership with Guillermo (William) Gulnac. Born in New York, Gulnac had married a Mexican woman and sworn allegiance toMexico, which then ruled California. He applied in Weber's place forRancho Campo de los Franceses, a land grant of 11 squareleagues on the east side of the San Joaquin River.[24]
Gulnac and Weber dissolved their partnership in 1843. Gulnac's attempts to settle the Rancho Campo de los Franceses failed, and Weber acquired it in 1845. In 1846 Weber had induced a number of settlers to locate on the rancho when theMexican–American War broke out. Considered a Californio, Weber was offered the position of captain by Mexican generalJosé Castro, which he declined; he later, however, accepted the position of captain in the Cavalry of the United States. Captain Weber's decision to change sides lost him a great deal of the trust he had built up among his Mexican business partners. As a result, he moved to the grant in 1847 and sold his business in San Jose in 1849.
At the start of theCalifornia Gold Rush in 1848, Europeans and Americans started to arrive in the area of Weber's rancho on their way to the goldfields. When Weber decided to try his hand at gold mining in late 1848, he soon found selling supplies togold-seekers was more profitable.[25]
As the head of navigation on the San Joaquin River, the city grew rapidly as a miners' supply point during the Gold Rush. Weber built the first permanent residence in theSan Joaquin Valley on a piece of land now known as Weber Point.[22] During the Gold Rush, the location of what is now Stockton developed as a river port, the hub of roads to the gold settlements in the San Joaquin Valley and northern terminus of theStockton - Los Angeles Road. During its early years, Stockton was known by several names, including "Weberville," "Fat City," "Mudville" and "California's Sunrise Seaport."[2] In 1849 Weber laid out a town, which he named "Tuleburg," but he soon decided on "Stockton" in honor ofCommodoreRobert F. Stockton. Stockton was the first community in California to have a name that was neither Spanish norNative American in origin.[1]
Thousands of Chinese came to Stockton from theGuangdong province of China during the 1850s due to a combination of political and economic unrest in China and the discovery of gold in California. After the gold rush, many worked for the railroads and land reclamation projects in theSacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and remained in Stockton. By 1880 Stockton was home to the third-largest Chinese community in California. Discriminatory laws, in particular theChinese Exclusion Act of 1882, restricted immigration and prevented the Chinese from buying property.[26] The Lincoln Hotel, built in 1920 by the Wong brothers on South El Dorado Street, was considered one of Stockton's finest hotels of the time. Only after theMagnuson Act was repealed in 1965 were American-born Chinese allowed to buy property and own buildings.[27][28]
The city was officially incorporated on July 23, 1850, by the county court, and the first city election was held on July 31, 1850. In 1851 the City of Stockton received its charter from the State of California. Early settlers included gold seekers from Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, the Pacific Islands, Mexico and Canada. The historical population diversity is reflected in Stockton street names, architecture, numerous ethnic festivals and the faces and heritage of a majority of its citizens. In 1870 the Census Bureau reported Stockton's population as 87.6% white and 10.7% Asian. Many Chinese were immigrating to California as workers in these years, especially for theTranscontinental Railroad.[29]
Benjamin Holt (left) with British Col.Ernest Dunlop Swinton in Stockton, April 1918. The vehicle on the right is a Holt tractor; on the left is a miniature replica ofa British tank.First Sikh temple in the United States, built in Stockton in 1912
On Thanksgiving Day, November 24, 1904, Holt successfully tested the first workablecontinuous track tread machine, plowing soggySan Joaquin Valley Delta farmland.[30] Company photographer Charles Clements was reported to have observed that the tractor crawled like a caterpillar, and Holt seized on the metaphor. "Caterpillar it is. That's the name for it."[31]
On April 22, 1918, British Army Col.Ernest Dunlop Swinton visited Stockton while on a tour of the United States. The British and French armies were using many hundreds of Holt tractors to haul heavy guns and supplies duringWorld War I, and Swinton publicly thanked Holt and his workforce for their contribution to the war effort.[32] During 1914 and 1915, Swinton had advocated basing some sort of armored fighting vehicle on Holt's caterpillar tractors, but without success (although Britain did develop tanks, they came from a separate source and were not directly derived from Holt machines).[33] After the appearance of tanks on the battlefield, Holt built a prototype, thegas–electric tank, but it did not enter production.
On January 10, 1920, a major fire on Main Street threatened an entire city block. At about 2 a.m., a blaze was discovered in the basement of the Yost-Dohrmann store, which was gutted, and adjacent businesses were damaged by flames and water. Damage was estimated at $150,000.[34]
Stockton is the site of the firstSikh temple in the United States;Gurdwara Sahib Stockton opened on October 24, 1912. It was founded by Baba Jawala Singh and Baba Wasakha Singh, successful Punjabi immigrants who farmed and owned 500 acres (202 ha) on the Holt River.[36]
In 1933, theport was modernized, and the Stockton Deepwater Channel, which improved water passage toSan Francisco Bay, was deepened and completed. This created commercial opportunities that fueled the city's growth.Ruff and Ready Island Naval Supply Depot was established, placing Stockton in a strategic position during theCold War.[37] During theGreat Depression the town's canning industry became the battleground of a labor dispute resulting in theSpinach Riot of 1937.[38]
Partial view of the Stockton Assembly Center
DuringWorld War II, the Stockton Assembly Center was built on the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds, a few blocks from what was then the city center. One of 15 temporary detention sites run by theWartime Civilian Control Administration, the center held some 4,200Japanese-Americans removed from their West Coast homes underExecutive Order 9066, while they waited for transfer to more permanent and isolated camps in the interior of the country. The center opened on May 10, 1942, and operated until October 17, when the majority of its population was sent toRohwer, Arkansas. The former incarceration site was named a California Historical Landmark in 1980, and in 1984 a marker was erected at the entrance to the fairgrounds.[39]
In 1979, the development of a residential area in Stockton at a burial ground of the tribe unearthed two hundredMiwok remains. In an attempt to prevent the further desecration of the burial grounds, a descendant of the people initiated a legal case which becameWana the Bear v. Community Construction (1982). The decision ultimately sided with the development company, which was heavily criticized by Native Americans as a display ofethnocentrism.[40][41]
In September 1996, theBase Realignment and Closure Commission announced the final closure of Stockton's Naval Reserve Center on Rough and Ready Island. Formerly known asRuff and Ready Island Naval Supply Depot, the island's facilities had served as a major communications outpost for submarine activities in the Pacific during the Cold War. The site is slowly being redeveloped as commercial property.[42]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city occupies a total area of 64.8 square miles (168 km2), of which 61.7 square miles (160 km2) is land and 3.1 square miles (8.0 km2), comprising 4.76%, is water.
The historic Commercial & Savings Bank building, Stockton
Historically an agricultural community, Stockton's economy has since diversified into other industries, which include telecommunications andmanufacturing.
Stockton's central location, relative to San Francisco andSacramento, its proximity to the state and interstate freeway system, and its comparatively inexpensive land costs have prompted several companies to base their regional operations in the city.
The city of Stockton has oneshopping mall, theWeberstown Mall. The city previously housed theSherwood Mall, adjacent to Weberstown, but in 2022, it was converted into a shopping center now named Sherwood Place. It has the only Dillard's in the Northern California region at the Weberstown Mall, as well as one of the three Sears stores still operating in the Northern California region.
The Stockton real estate market was disproportionately affected by the2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis, and the city led the United States inforeclosures for that year, with one of every 30 homes posted for foreclosure.[44] From September 2006 to September 2007, the value of a median-priced house in Stockton declined by 44%.[45]
Stockton'sWeston Ranch neighborhood, a subdivision of modest tract homes built in the mid-1990s, had the worst foreclosure rate in the area according toACORN, a now-defunct national advocacy group for low and moderate-income families.[citation needed] Stockton found itself squarely at the center of the 2000s' speculativehousing bubble. Real estate in Stockton more than tripled in value between 1998 and 2005, but when the bubble burst in 2007, the ensuing financial crisis made Stockton one of the hardest-hit cities in United States.[46]
Stockton housing prices fell 39% in the 2008 fiscal year, and the city had the country's highestforeclosure rate (9.5%) as well. Stockton also had an unemployment rate of 13.3% in 2008, one of the highest in the United States. Stockton was rated byForbes in 2009 as America's fifth most dangerous city because of itscrime rate.[46] In 2010, mainly due to the aforementioned factors,Forbes named it one of the three worst places to live in the United States.[47]
Following the 2008 financial crisis, in June 2012 Stockton became the largest city in U.S. history to file for bankruptcy protection. It was surpassed byDetroit in July 2013. The city approved a plan to exit bankruptcy in October 2013,[48] and voters approved a sales tax on November 5, 2013, to help fund the exit.[49]
The collapse in real estate valuations had a negative effect on the city's revenue base. On June 28, 2012, Stockton filed forChapter 9 bankruptcy.[50] On April 1, 2013, theUnited States Bankruptcy Court Eastern District of California ruled that Stockton was eligible for bankruptcy protection.
The Stockton bankruptcy case lasted longer than two years and received nationwide attention. On October 4, 2013, Stockton City Council approved a bankruptcy exit plan by a 6–0 vote[48] to be filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California, Sacramento. Voters approved a3⁄4-cent sales tax on November 5, 2013, to help fund the bankruptcy exit.[49]
On October 30, 2014, afederal bankruptcy judge approved the city's bankruptcy recovery plan, thus allowing the city to continue with the planned pension payments to retired workers.[51] The city exited from Chapter 9 bankruptcy on February 25, 2015.
As part of a privately funded experiment inUniversal Basic Income in 2019, the Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration (S.E.E.D.) conducted a pilot project that gave a $500 stipend to 125 randomly selected residents for an 24-month period with “no strings attached."[52] It was made possible by the Economic Security Project,[53] an advocacy group chaired by Facebook co-founderChris Hughes, which provided the first $1 million for the program, and a dozen other Silicon Valley organizations and private donors who funded the rest of its $3 million budget.[54][55] The positive benefits of the program during the first year were described in an interim report published in March 2021.[56]
Stockton's climate lies right on the boundary of, and fluctuates between,hot-summer Mediterranean (Köppen:Csa) andcool semi-arid (BSk). Stockton is characterized by very hot, arid summer and cool, wet winter. In an average year, nearly 95% of the 13.45 inches (341.6 mm) of precipitation falls from October through April.[57] Located in theCentral Valley, the temperature range is much greater than in the nearby Bay Area. The degree ofdiurnal temperature variation is roughly twice as high in the summer as in the winter.Tule fog blankets the area during some winter days. Stockton lies in the fertile heart of the California Mediterranean climateprairiedelta, about equidistant from the Pacific Ocean and theSierra Nevada.[citation needed] The intermediate climate between the coast and the Central Valley gives a similar climate to that ofBadajoz, Spain.[58]
Climate chart for Stockton
At the airport, the highest recorded temperature was 115 °F (46 °C) on July 23, 2006, and September 6, 2022, and the lowest was 16 °F (−9 °C) on January 11, 1949. There are an average of 88 afternoons annually with high temperatures of 90 °F (32.2 °C) or higher, and 19 afternoons of 100 °F (37.8 °C) or above; 19 mornings see low temperatures at or below freezing. The wettest "rain year" was from July 1982 to June 1983 with 27.89 inches (708.4 mm) and the driest from July 1975 to June 1976 with 5.71 inches (145.0 mm).[59] Note that regional difference of precipitation has been recorded in Stockton. The more northern part of Stockton receives more precipitation than southern Stockton.
The most rainfall in one month was 8.22 inches (208.8 mm) in February 1998 and the most rainfall in 24 hours was 3.01 inches (76.5 mm) on January 21, 1967.[59] There are an average of 56.5 days with measurable precipitation.[57] Only light amounts of snow have been recorded, and the only instance of measurable snowfall occurred on February 5, 1976, with 0.3 in (0.8 cm) measured.[59]
Source: NOAA (dew points and relative humidity 1961–1990)[59][57][62]
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found onPhabricator and onMediaWiki.org.
This section needs to beupdated. The reason given is: Newer information is available from the 2020 census report. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(February 2022)
Stockton, California – Racial and ethnic composition 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 may be of any race.
The2010 United States Census[69] reported that Stockton had a population of 291,707. The population density was 4,505.0 inhabitants per square mile (1,739.4/km2). The racial makeup of Stockton was 108,044 (37.0%)white (22.1%non-Hispanic white[64]), 35,548 (12.2%)African American, 3,086 (1.1%)Native American, 62,716 (21.5%)Asian (7.2% Filipino, 3.5% Cambodian, 2.1% Vietnamese, 2.0% Hmong, 1.8% Chinese, 1.6% Indian, 1.0% Laotian, 0.6% Pakistani, 0.5% Japanese, 0.2% Korean, 0.1% Thai), 1,822 (0.6%)Pacific Islander (0.2% Samoan, 0.1% Tongan, 0.1% Guamanian), 60,332 (20.7%) fromother races, and 20,159 (6.9%) from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 117,590 persons (40.3%). 35.7% of Stockton's population was of Mexican descent, and 0.6% Puerto Rican.
The 2010 census reported that 285,973 people (98.0% of the population) lived in households, 3,896 (1.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1,838 (0.6%) were institutionalized.
There were 90,605 households, out of which 41,033 (45.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 41,481 (45.8%) wereheterosexual married couples living together, 17,140 (18.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 7,157 (7.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 7,123 (7.9%)unmarried heterosexual partnerships, and 720 (0.8%)same-sex married orregistered domestic partnerships. 19,484 households (21.5%) were made up of individuals, and 7,185 (7.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.16. There were 65,778families (72.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.69.
The population was spread out, with 87,338 people (29.9%) under the age of 18, 34,126 people (11.7%) aged 18 to 24, 76,691 people (26.3%) aged 25 to 44, 64,300 people (22.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 29,252 people (10.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.
There were 99,637 housing units at an average density of 1,538.7 units per square mile (594.1 units/km2), of which 46,738 (51.6%) were owner-occupied, and 43,867 (48.4%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 9.4%. 146,235 people (50.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 139,738 people (47.9%) lived in rental housing units.
In 2020,U.S. News & World Report named Stockton as America's most diverse city.[70]
Due to a number of socio-economic problems, Stockton has been subject to a series of negative national rankings:
In a 2010 Gallup poll, Stockton was tied withMontgomery, Alabama for the most obese metro area in the US with an obesity rate of 34.6 percent.[71]
In the February 2012 issue ofForbes, the magazine ranked Stockton the eighth most miserable US city, largely as a result of the steep drop in home values and high unemployment.[45]
In 2012, Stockton was ranked as the tenth most dangerous city in America and the second most dangerous in California (behind Oakland).[73]
In 2013, Stockton was ranked as the third least literate city in the U.S. in a study by Central Connecticut State University, with less than 17% of adults holding a college degree,[74] and ABC.com ranked the city as the third least literate of all U.S. cities with a population of more than 250,000 behindBakersfield, California, andCorpus Christi, Texas.[75]
University of the Pacific is known for its music conservatory and for being the home of the Brubeck Institute, named afterDave Brubeck, aPacific alumnus and jazz piano legend. The institute maintains an archive of Brubeck's work and offers a fellowship program for young musicians. The Brubeck Institute Jazz Quartet is composed of Pacific students and tours widely.[78]
San Joaquin Delta College has a growing jazz program and is home to several official and unofficial jazz bands composed ofDelta and Pacific students and faculty.[79]
Christian Life College offers associate and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Christian music.
Stockton hosts several live-music venues, including:
The annual Apollo Night talent show draws about 1,500 people to theStockton Memorial Civic Auditorium (1925) to watch performances by aspiring Northern California musicians.[80]
The Bob Hope Theatre in downtown Stockton, formerly known as the Fox California Theatre, built in 1930,[81] is one of severalmovie palaces in theCentral Valley.Bob Hope often came to Stockton to visit close friend and billionairetycoonAlex Spanos, who donated much of the money to revitalize the theater after Hope's death. TheUniversity of the Pacific Faye Spanos Concert Hall often hosts public performances, as does theStockton Memorial Civic Auditorium. The Warren Atherton Auditorium at the Delta Center for the Arts on the campus of theSan Joaquin Delta College is a 1,456-seat theater with a 60-foot (18 m) proscenium and full grid system.[82] The Stockton Empire Theater is anart deco movie theater that has been revitalized as a venue for live music.
Founded in 1951, the Stockton Civic Theatre offers an annual series of musicals, comedies and dramas. It maintains a 300-seat theater in the Venetian Bridges neighborhood. The company also hosts the annual Willie awards for the local performing arts.
Other performing arts organizations and venues include the Stockton Opera[83] and others.
Haggin Museum — the private, non-profit fine arts and history museum was built in Victory Park in 1931. The museum displays 19th and 20th-century works of art and houses local historical exhibits. The Haggin Museum features collections and exhibits related to local Valley history and California history. The museum also displays fine art of late 19th and early 20th century artists such asJean Béraud,Albert Bierstadt,Rosa Bonheur,William-Adolphe Bouguereau,Paul Gauguin,Jean-Léon Gérôme,Childe Hassam, George Inness, Daniel Ridgway Knight,Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Jehan-Georges Vibert, and Jules Worms.[22]
TheSan Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum operates an 18-acre (7.3 ha) museum facility atMicke Grove Regional Park, two miles (3.2 km) north of the city. The museum houses exhibits dedicated to the founding of Stockton, San Joaquin County's legacy of innovation in agriculture and manufacturing, immigrant communities in Stockton and Lodi, and historic industries in San Joaquin County.
Reynolds Gallery, and Horton Gallery — theUniversity of the Pacific Reynolds Gallery, and theSan Joaquin Delta College Horton Gallery, both feature contemporary work by students and local and nationally known artists.
Children's Museum of Stockton — housed in a former warehouse in the Downtown Waterfront District, featuring many interactive displays.
Elsie May Goodwin Gallery — operated by the Stockton Art League.
Filipino American National Historical Society proposed the construction of the National Pinoy Museum in theLittle Manila district, dedicated to the history ofFilipino Americans. Stockton historically had one of the largest populations of Filipinos, immigrants and U.S. citizens, in the United States.[84] The museum opened in 2015 after two decades of planning.[85][86]
Art Expressions of San Joaquin – an artists' cooperative featuring the works of local artists – with a prior gallery on the Miracle Mile and ongoing shows at the Hilton Hotel, the County Administration Building and the Stockton Metropolitan Airport.
Stockton Field Aviation Museum – sponsored by the Aeronautical Education Foundation, featuring WWII-era memorabilia.
Murals depicting the city's history decorate the exteriors of many downtown buildings.
Mexican Heritage Center & Gallery, Inc. — A non-profit located in downtown Stockton whose mission is to educate and promote art and culture for current and future generations. Since the late 1990s, the Mexican Heritage Center & Gallery has been a pioneer in bringing Mexican visual and performing arts to the Stockton community.
With over 77,000 trees, the City of Stockton has been labeled Tree City USA some 30 times.[22]
Stockton has over 275 restaurants, ranging in variety reflective of the population demographics. A mix of American, African American, BBQ, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Greek, Italian, Mexican and Vietnamese restaurants are abundant in the community reflecting the city's diverse culture. Cantonese restaurant On Lock Sam still exists and dates back to 1895.[87]
The Stockton Ports Baseball Team play their home games atBanner Island Ballpark, a 5,000-seat facility built for the team in downtown Stockton. The Ports played their home games at Billy Hebert Field from 1953 to 2004. The Ports have been a single A team in Stockton since 1946 in the California Minor Leagues. Stockton has minor league baseball dating back to 1886.[96] The Ports have produced 244 Major League players including Gary Sheffield, Dan Plesac, Doug Jones, Pat Listach, and Stockton's own Dallas Braden among others.[97] The Ports have eleven championships and are currently the A class team for the Athletics. The Ports had the best win–loss percentage in all Minor League Baseball in the 1980s.[98]
Stockton is home to the oldest NASCAR-certified race track West of the Mississippi. The Stockton 99 Speedway opened in 1947 and is a quarter-mile oval paved track with grandstands that can accommodate 5,000 spectators.[citation needed]
Stockton's designation for Little League Baseball is District 8, which has 12 leagues of teams within the city. Stockton also has several softball leagues including Stockton Girls Softball Association, and Port City Softball League, each having several hundred members.[citation needed]
Rowing Regatta featuring Junior, Collegiate and Master Level Rowing & Sculling Competition is organized by theUniversity of the Pacific[99] annually on the Stockton's Deep Water Channel. Teams from throughout Northern California compete in this Olympic sport which is also the oldest collegiate sport in the United States.
Stockton hosts a wide variety of sports events every year: from resident hockey, baseball and soccer games through basketball at the University of the Pacific and at the Stockton Arena; golf championships at two 18-hole courses and a Par 3 Executive Course; rowing, sailing and fishing on the Delta and the Stockton Channel; martial arts and cage fighting. There are four public golf courses open year-round, Van Buskirk, Swenson, and The Reserve at Spanos Park and Elkhorn Golf Course. Private courses include The Stockton Golf & Country Club, Oakmoore, and Brookside Golf & Country Club.[citation needed]
Stockton is also the base ofUFC fightersNick andNate Diaz. Nick is the former WEC and Strikeforce Welterweight champion,[101] while Nate is the winner ofThe Ultimate Fighter 5.[102] Both brothers are Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belts underCesar Gracie[103] and operate a school in Stockton which teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu to children and youth.[104][105]
The City of Stockton has a small children's amusement park, Pixie Woods; the park opened in 1954 and has since welcomed more than one million visitors.[106]
On January 17, 1989, the Stockton Police Department received a threat against Cleveland Elementary School from an unknown person. Later that day, Patrick Purdy, who was later found to be mentally ill, opened fire on the school's playground with a semi-automatic rifle, killing five children, all Cambodian or Vietnamese refugees, and wounding 29 others, and a teacher, before taking his own life. TheCleveland Elementary School shooting received national news coverage and is sometimes referred to as the Cleveland School massacre.[111]
Budget crisis
The city cut its police force by more than 20% during the2008 subprime mortgage crisis, but voters approved a sales tax on November 5, 2013, that provided funds to hire an additional 120 police officers.[112][113]
On July 16, 2014, officers responded to an armed bank robbery, which resulted in the four perpetrators taking three hostages and leading them on an hour-long high-speed pursuit. Over the course of the car chase, one suspect fired over 100 rounds from anAK-47s at police, disabling 14 police vehicles, including the department's ownLenco BearCat armored personnel carrier. More than 30 officers shot over 600 rounds into the getaway vehicle. Two perpetrators were killed, two hostages were injured, one hostage was killed by police ammunition, and numerous vehicles and other property were damaged or destroyed by the nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition fired by the robbers and police.[114] The department faced criticism with its handling of the incident in the aftermath.[115]
Crime
Amtrak Police cars at the Stockton – San Joaquin Street Station in Stockton, 2012
In 2012, the City of Stockton was the 10th[73] most dangerous city in America, reporting 1,417 violent crimes per 100,000 persons, well above the national average, and 22 murders per 100,000 (above the average of 4.7).[citation needed] In 2013, violent crime lessened to 1,230.3 crimes per 100,000 population, making it 19th on the list of the most dangerous cities.[116] Stockton has experienced a high rate of violent crime, reaching a record high of 71 homicides in 2012 before dropping to 32 for all of 2013.[116][117]
Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones credited 2013's drop in the murder rate toOperation Ceasefire, a gun violence intervention strategy pioneered in Boston and implemented in Stockton in 2012,[118] combined with a federal gun and narcotics operation.[119]
The Stockton Fire Department was first rated as a Class 1 fire department by theInsurance Services Office in 1971. In 2005, all 13 of the city's stations met theNational Fire Protection Association standard of a 5-minute response time.[120] In 2009, it had 13 fire stations and over 275 career personnel.[121] Due in part to staffing levels that placed five staff on ladder companies and four staff on engines, it was one of only 57 departments among 44,000 to receive the Class 1 rating in 2010.[122]
The department maintained this rating until 2011, when during the city's Chapter 9 bankruptcy proceedings and following a Civil Grand Jury investigation, the city reduced staffing levels from 220 full-time staff to 177, and the 2011 budget from $59 million to $40 million. The department was cut by 30%.[123] The bankruptcy was due in part to a 1996 decision made by the city to provide firefighters with free health care after retirement, which they later expanded to all city employees. The benefit gradually grew into a $417 million liability.[124]
As of 2016[update], the department consists of 12 firehouses that house 12 Engine Companies and three Truck Companies. In 2015 the Fire Department responded to over 40,000 emergency calls for service, including more than 300 working structure fires. The department is one of the busiest in the United States. The Stockton Fire Department is assisted on medical emergency calls by American Medical Response.[125]
TheUniversity of the Pacific moved to Stockton in 1923 from San Jose. The university is the only private school in the United States with less than 10,000 students enrolled that offers eight different professional schools. It also offers a large number of degree programs relative to its student population.[126] The men's Pacific Tigers basketball team has been in the NCAA Tournament nine times. The Tigers have played their home games at the Alex G. Spanos Center since 1982, prior to that playing at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium since 1952. The campus has been used in the filming of a number of Hollywood films (seebelow), partly due to its likeness to East CoastIvy League universities.[127]
Humphreys University, a private non-profit institution offering undergraduate and graduate degrees including aJuris Doctor from the Laurence Drivon School of Law
Kaplan College of Stockton
Christian Life College, a private four-year Bible college offering associate and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Bible and theology or Christian music
Due to its location at the "crossroads" of theCentral Valley and a relatively extensive highway system, Stockton is easily accessible from virtually anywhere in California.Interstate 5 andState Route 99, California's major north–south thoroughfares, pass through the city limits. The east–west highwayState Route 4 also passes through the city, providing access to theSan Francisco Bay Area as well as the Sierra Nevada and its foothills. Stockton is the western terminus ofState Route 26 andState Route 88, which extends to the Nevada border. In addition, Stockton is within an hour ofInterstate 80,Interstate 205 andInterstate 580.[citation needed]
Stockton is served byStockton Metropolitan Airport, located oncounty land just south of city limits. The airport has been designated aForeign Trade Zone and is mainly used by manufacturing and agricultural companies for shipping purposes. Sinceairline deregulation, passenger service has come and gone several times. Domestic service resumed on June 16, 2006, with service toLas Vegas byAllegiant Air.[131] The days of service and number of flights were expanded a few months later due to demand. Air service toPhoenix began in September 2007.
On July 1, 2010,Allegiant Air implemented non-stop service to and fromLong Beach.[131] In 2006Aeromexico had plans to provide flights to and fromGuadalajara, Mexico, but the airport's plan to build a customs station at the airport was initially rejected by the customs service. However, the possibility of building this station is currently a continuing matter of negotiation between the airport and the customs service, and Aeromexico has indicated a continuing interest in eventually providing service. Ground transportation is available from Hertz, Enterprise, Yellow Cab and Aurora Limousine.[citation needed]
ThePort of Stockton is a fully operating seaport approximately 75 nautical miles (86 mi; 139 km) east of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Set on theSan Joaquin River, the port operates a 4,200-acre (17 km2)[132] transportation center with berthing space for 17vessels up to 900 feet (270 m) in length.[133] As of 2014, the Port of Stockton had 136 tenants[134] and is served by BNSF & UP Railroads.[135] The port also includes 1.1 million square feet (100,000 m2) of dockside transit sheds and shipside rail track and 7.7 million square feet (720,000 m2) of warehousing.[136]
Stocktonia News Service is an online news site for Stockton.
Weekly periodicals
Bilingual Weekly News publishes a weekly newspaper, in both Spanish and English
Monthly periodicals
Artifact is a San Joaquin Delta College periodical based in Stockton from December 2006 - 2020. Writing in all genres, photography and visual media by students, staff and faculty as well as community members are accepted.
Caravan is a local community arts and events monthly tabloid.
Poets' Espresso Review is a periodical that was based in Stockton and was mostly distributed by mail from 2005 to 2010.
San Joaquin Magazine is a regional lifestyle magazine covering Stockton, Lodi, Tracy, and Manteca.
As part of theSacramento-Stockton-Modesto television market, Stockton is primarily served by stations based in Sacramento, but may carry some San Francisco Bay area television stations' airwaves. These are listed below, with the city of license in bold:
Stan Lee named Stockton as the birthplace of theFantastic Four in 1986, after Joe Field successfully petitionedMarvel Comics to change it from the fictional "Central City".[138]
^Mean monthly maxima and minima (i.e. the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month) calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020.
^San Joaquin County employers both within and outside the city. Details of the split were not available, and San Joaquin County has been excluded from the list.
^Aviles, Gwen (November 15, 2019)."An ugly legacy: Latino couple finds racist covenant in housing paperwork".NBC News. RetrievedNovember 16, 2019.No persons other than those wholly of the white Caucasian race shall use, occupy or reside upon any part of or within any building located on the above described real property, except servants or domestics of another race employed by or domiciled with a white Caucasian owner or tenant,
^Caterpillar Times report, May 1918, pages 5 to 8.
^Eyewitness, being Personal Reminiscences of Certain Phases of the Great War, Including the Genesis of the Tank, by Major-General Sir Ernest D. Swinton. (Garden City, N.Y., Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1933) Throughout.
^United Press, “Stockton Is Scene Of $150,000 Fire,”Riverside Daily Press, Riverside, California, Saturday January 10, 1920, Volume XXXV, Number 9, page 1.
^Isetti, Ronald Eugene (2019).Competing voices : a critical history of Stockton, California. [Denver, Colorado]: Outskirts Press. p. 312.ISBN978-1-9772-1483-6.OCLC1119604979.
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