Union City | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 37°35′47″N122°02′54″W / 37.59639°N 122.04833°W | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
County | Alameda |
Incorporated | January 26, 1959 [1] |
Government | |
• Mayor | Gary Singh |
• City Council | Jaime Patiño Scott Sakakihara Jeff Wang Lance Nishihira |
Area | |
• Total | 19.22 sq mi (49.77 km2) |
• Land | 19.22 sq mi (49.77 km2) |
• Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
Population | |
• Total | 70,143 |
• Density | 3,600/sq mi (1,400/km2) |
Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
ZIP code | 94587 |
Area code(s) | 510, 341 |
FIPS code | 06-81204 |
Website | unioncity |
Union City is a city in Alameda County, California, United States in the San Francisco Bay Area. The population in the 2020 census was 70,143, up from 69,628 in the 2010 census. The population is estimated to be about 67,141 in 2025.
It is located approximately 19 miles (31 km) south of Oakland, 30 miles (48 km) from San Francisco, and 20 miles (32 km) north of San Jose.
It was incorporated in 1959, combining the communities of Alvarado and Decoto. Alvarado is a California Historical Landmark (#503). [4] The city celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009. [5]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19 square miles (49 km2), all land with no bay frontage. The Niles Cone aquifer, managed by the Alameda County Water District, supplies much of the water consumed by Union City. Hayward surrounds the city to the north and Fremont, Newark to the south known as the Tri-cities.
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | 6,618 | — | |
1970 | 14,724 | 122.5% | |
1980 | 39,406 | 167.6% | |
1990 | 53,762 | 36.4% | |
2000 | 66,869 | 24.4% | |
2010 | 69,516 | 4.0% | |
2020 | 70,143 | 0.9% | |
U.S. Decennial Census [6] |
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic) | Pop 2000 [7] | Pop 2010 [8] | Pop 2020 [9] | % 2000 | % 2010 | % 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
White alone (NH) | 13,610 | 10,009 | 7,693 | 20.35% | 14.40% | 10.97% |
Black or African American alone (NH) | 4,321 | 4,194 | 3,006 | 6.46% | 6.03% | 4.29% |
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH) | 132 | 116 | 113 | 0.20% | 0.17% | 0.16% |
Asian alone (NH) | 28,780 | 35,052 | 40,270 | 43.04% | 50.42% | 57.41% |
Pacific Islander alone (NH) | 577 | 839 | 774 | 0.86% | 1.21% | 1.10% |
Other race alone (NH) | 203 | 138 | 276 | 0.30% | 0.20% | 0.39% |
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH) | 3,226 | 3,273 | 2,931 | 4.82% | 4.71% | 4.18% |
Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 16,020 | 15,895 | 15,080 | 23.96% | 22.87% | 21.50% |
Total | 66,869 | 69,516 | 70,143 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
According to the 2020 census estimate, the median income for a household in the city is $142,374. [10] Males have a median household income of $59,274 versus $40,625 for females. The per capita income for the city was $31,411. About 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.9% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.
Costanoans ("coastal peoples") were the first inhabitants, living along Alameda and Dry Creeks. Shell mounds along the sloughs of Alameda Creek near the Alvarado sugar mill contained burial sites. [11] : 7–9 [12] : 8–9
The first non-native community was founded in 1850 by John and William Horner, who named it "Union City" after their Sacramento River Steamship, "The Union". [13] In 1854, it merged with the nearby community of New Haven (founded 1851) to form the town of Alvarado, named after a former Mexican governor, Juan Bautista Alvarado. [14] Alvarado was the first county seat of Alameda County, a designation it lost in 1865 to San Leandro. Further east, Decoto was founded in 1870 as a railroad hub, hosting the first transcontinental railroad. [13] Alvarado-Niles Road, one of the city's largest streets, connects the historical Fremont district of Niles with the historical Union City district of Alvarado.
The California Beet Sugar Company, the US' first successful sugar beet mill, was located in Alvarado and began operations in 1870. The plant was demolished in 1977. [15]
Union City is a former railroad and steel town with an extensive industrial heritage. The Pacific States Steel Company occupied the land behind Union City Station that is redeveloping into the Union City Station District Downtown. The Alvarado and Decoto neighborhoods were both former railroad hubs and active railroad lines bisect both East End and the West Side of town. Trains are a way of life in Union City and natives are accustomed to waiting for Amtrak and freight trains to cross while commuting.
In the 1950s, Alvarado and Decoto – the latter making up the eastern side of the town – were annexation targets of the nearby communities of Newark, Hayward, and what would become Fremont. On January 13, 1959, they decided to incorporate into a single city, and named it after the Horners' original settlement, Union City. [13] [16] Tom Kitayama served as the city's first mayor in 1959 and was involved in Union City politics until his 1991 retirement. [16] The population grew from 6,000 in 1959 to 70,000 in 2020. In 2016, Union City started to rebrand and unveiled a new city seal. Union City opened a new Teen Center in 2018. [17]
Union City is the location of the American Licorice Company's West Coast operations, which moved there in 1971. [18]
Union City is home to three major health care providers: a Kaiser Permanente facility, the Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, and Washington Hospital's Nakamura Clinic.
Union City hosts industrial and shipping companies, including R&S Manufacturing, RCD Concrete, Jatco, and EntirelyPets.
Union Landing Shopping Center is a 100-acre (40 ha) shopping center, adjacent to Interstate 880. It is one of the largest centers in the city and supports about 70 stores. The mall was completed in 1999. The land was previously a drive-in movie park. [19]
A Target shopping center sits near the Hayward/Union City border. [20]
According to Union City's June 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, [21] the top employers in the city were:
# | Employer | # of Employees |
---|---|---|
1 | New Haven Unified School District | 1,196 |
2 | Southern Wine & Spirits | 600 |
3 | Walmart | 534 |
4 | Masonic Home For Adults | 498 |
5 | Abaxis | 400 |
6 | Mizuho OSI | 400 |
7 | Sterling Foods [22] [23] [24] | 400 |
8 | City of Union City | 313 |
9 | Emerald Packaging | 245 |
10 | American Licorice | 239 |
In 2014 New Haven Unified School District enrolls 10,000 students from Union City and Hayward. The district consists of seven (K-5) elementary schools, two (6–8) middle schools, one comprehensive high school (James Logan High School) with approximately 3,000 students enrolled. In addition, James Logan houses a 3,000-seat gymnasium and a 4,000 seat football stadium with lights. Lastly one adult/K-12 independent study school program is available. [25] In December 2015, New Haven Unified School District renamed Alvarado Middle School to Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School in honor of Philip Vera Cruz and Larry Itliong. [26] The school district added solar power at school sites to cut energy costs. An arts center and new track and field are available at James Logan High School.
New Haven Unified School District's first teacher strike came in 2019. [27]
Cornerstone International College, located at 725 Whipple Rd., is the city's first post-secondary institution.
Union City lies within the Ohlone Community College District and Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. [28] [29]
Several transit systems serve Union City, including AC Transit, the Dumbarton Express, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), and Union City Transit. The latter started in 1974 and runs 6 bus lines throughout Union City and parts of Hayward. [30]
BART came to Union City when the system opened in 1972. In 2007 the Union City BART station was rebuilt and developed into Union City Intermodal Transit Station. [31]
Union City is served by a network of high-capacity streets, with four exits on Interstate 880 (Nimitz Freeway). Highway 238 also serves the city (Mission Boulevard). Quarry Lakes Parkway, formerly known as the East–West Connector, is a 3-mile (4.8 km) roadway project that connects Mission Boulevard and Paseo Padre Parkway.
Union City invested $100 million into an expansion of the downtown district, including development surrounding the BART station, which links BART with rail services: Capitol Corridor, Dumbarton Rail Corridor and Altamont Corridor Express (ACE). Construction has started on 800 mixed units east of bart station known as station east near Decoto Road.
Union City runs a council–manager government. The City Council consists of five representatives on a part-time basis. On November 3, 2020, the city switched from citywide elections to districts. The Mayor is elected at large. As of December 2024 the elected officials were: Gary Singh mayor,Lance Nishihira Jaime Patiño, Jeff Wang, and Scott Sakakihara. The mayor and elected council members serve a 4-year term, with a 3-term limit. A utility tax was passed in November 2020.
In 2017, Union City had 35,857 registered voters with 19,644 (54.8%) registered as Democrats, 4,200 (11.7%) registered as Republicans, and 10,693 (29.8%) registered as decline to state voters. [32]
The monthly East Bay Echo [33] and bi-weekly Tri-City Voice newspapers offer local news. Union City Patch served the community and is part of Patch.com. [34]
The first sugar beet factory in the United States was located in Union City, called the California Beet Sugar Company. It is noted by a California Historical Landmark #768, situated at Dyer and Ratekin. [35] : 78
Bay Area Flight 93 Memorial is in Sugar Mill Landing Park. It was the first monument completed in the United States designed to honor the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, which was bound for San Francisco, but was hijacked and crashed in rural Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001. [36] [37]
First Alameda County Courthouse | |
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Location | 30977 Union City Blvd., Union City, California |
Coordinates | 37°35′48″N122°04′52″W / 37.596667°N 122.0811°W |
Reference no. | 503 [4] |
Alameda County's first courthouse was located in Alvarado, starting on June 6, 1853. The original courthouse was a two-story wooden building that was originally a mercantile that included a post office. [4] [38] It was built by A. M. Church and Henry C. Smith. In 1865 the county seat moved to San Leandro. [4] With the widening of Union City Blvd., the original site was paved over. [35] : 78 The site is listed on the California Historical Landmarks list. [4]
Masonic Home at Union City, a senior living community for Freemasonry's and their spouses, has as its centerpiece a large brick administration building. [39] The administration building was identified as a significant historic property in the 1974 Historic Resource Inventory of Washington Township. [40] Interior features include a main staircase with stained glass windows, a parlor filled with antiques, and paintings of fourteen Masonic US presidents. [41] The original five-story brick building formed the center of the Administration Building. It was constructed in 1898 and was the Masonic Widows and Orphans Home overlooking Decoto. [35] : 87 The north and south wings of the Administration Building were added in 1914 and 1928, respectively. Ten more buildings were built on this 305-acre (1.2 km2) campus, [42] including Acacia Creek, a continuing care retirement community for all seniors, both Masons and non-Masons, completed in 2010. [43]
Climate data for Union City, California | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 58 (14) | 62 (17) | 65 (18) | 67 (19) | 71 (22) | 75 (24) | 77 (25) | 77 (25) | 77 (25) | 73 (23) | 64 (18) | 58 (14) | 69 (20) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 42 (6) | 45 (7) | 48 (9) | 50 (10) | 53 (12) | 56 (13) | 58 (14) | 59 (15) | 57 (14) | 54 (12) | 48 (9) | 42 (6) | 51 (11) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.95 (75) | 3.02 (77) | 2.34 (59) | 1.02 (26) | 0.48 (12) | 0.11 (2.8) | 0 (0) | 0.03 (0.76) | 0.17 (4.3) | 0.81 (21) | 1.70 (43) | 2.56 (65) | 15.19 (386) |
Source: The Weather Channel [44] |
Union City's sister cities are: [45]
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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. Alameda County is in the San Francisco Bay Area, occupying much of the East Bay region. The population is estimated to be 1.641 million in 2025.
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Hayward is a city located in Alameda County, California, United States, in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area, and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 36th most populous municipality in California. It is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose Metropolitan Statistical Area by the US Census. It is located primarily between Castro Valley, San Leandro and Union City, and lies at the eastern terminus of the San Mateo–Hayward Bridge. The city was devastated early in its history by the 1868 Hayward earthquake. From the early 20th century until the beginning of the 1980s, Hayward's economy was dominated by its now defunct food canning and salt production industries.
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Newark is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in September 1955. Newark is an enclave, surrounded by the city of Fremont. The three cities of Newark, Fremont, and Union City make up the Tri-City Area. Newark's population was 47,529 at the 2020 census making it the third largest city in the US named Newark after Newark, New Jersey, and Newark, Ohio.
San Leandro is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the southeast. The population was 91,008 as of the 2020 census.
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AC Transit 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" routes across San Francisco Bay to San Francisco and selected areas in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. AC Transit is constituted as a special district under California law. It is governed by seven elected members. It is not a part of or under the control of Alameda or Contra Costa counties or any local jurisdictions.
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Alvarado is a former settlement in and former county seat of Alameda County, California, now part of Union City. It was located 5 miles (8 km) north-northwest of downtown Newark.
Decoto is a neighborhood of Union City, California originally established as a separate community. It is located 5 miles (8 km) north-northwest of downtown Newark, along California State Route 238.
Union City station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Union City, California. The station sits near Decoto Road east of Alvarado-Niles Road, directly behind the James Logan High School campus. The station is served by the Orange and Green lines. Local bus service is provided by Union City Transit and AC Transit.
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James Logan (1864–1931) was an education official in Centerville, California, which is today a district of Fremont, California. The James Logan High School built in Union City in 1959 is named after him.
New Haven Unified School District is a public school district serving approximately 11,000 kindergarten through 12th-grade (K-12) students at 11 schools in Union City and South Hayward, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
New Haven Adult School is an adult education program in Union City, California. As part of the New Haven Unified School District, the school serves approximately 2,500 community members annually.
Irvington is a planned Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) infill station in the Irvington District of Fremont, California. As of November 2023, estimates from the city anticipated construction to begin in mid-2026, with the station opening for service in 2031.
Hayward Area Historical Society (HAHS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting the history of the city of Hayward, California and adjacent communities. These areas include San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Castro Valley, Fairview, the former communities of Russell City, Mount Eden, Schafer Park, and other parts of unincorporated Alameda County. The society was founded in 1956. Their museum in Downtown Hayward closed in 2012. Their new facility opened nearby in 2014.
The California Beet Sugar Company was the first successful sugar beet factory in the United States. It was located in Alvarado, which has been incorporated into the city of Union City and its site is on the California Historical Landmarks list.