Livingston, California

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Livingston, California
settlement_type = City


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mapsize = 250x200px
map_caption = Location in Merced County and the state of California


mapsize1 =
map_caption1 =
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_name1 = California
subdivision_name2 = Merced
government_type =
leader_title =
leader_name =
established_date =
area_magnitude =
area_total_km2 = 9
area_total_sq_mi = 3.5
area_land_km2 = 9
area_land_sq_mi = 3.5
area_water_km2 = 0
area_water_sq_mi = 0
elevation_ft = 131
elevation_m = 40
population_as_of = 2000
population_footnotes =
population_total = 10473
population_metro =
population_density_km2 = 1163.7
population_density_sq_mi = 2992.3
timezone = Pacific (PST)
utc_offset = -8
latd = 37 |latm = 23 |lats = 4 |latNS = N
longd = 120 |longm = 43 |longs = 18 |longEW = W
timezone_DST = PDT
utc_offset_DST = -7
postal_code_type = ZIP code
postal_code = 95334
area_code = 209
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 06-42006
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 1656135
footnotes =
website =

Livingston is a city in Merced County, California. According to the 2000 census, the city population was 10,473. The city is the home of Foster Farms (poultry company) which promoted the city in its early ad campaign. Unfortunately they did not film the ads in Livingston, portraying it with a small midwestern image that was not factual. Livingston also had, at one time, the only stop light on highway 99 from Sacramento to Bakersfield, it has since been removed in a development that was planned since the freeways conception.

Location

Livingston is located at coor dms|37|23|4|N|120|43|18|W|city (37.384530, -120.721582)GR|1. It lies slightly uphill from where the Southern Pacific Railroad crosses the Merced River. Highway 99 follows the Southern Pacific through the city.

Agriculture

Livingston lies in the fertile San Joaquin Valley. Like the rest of the valley, it has long, dry summers and depends on irrigation water. The winters are mild, alternating between fog, rain, and sun, with occasional frost. This makes for long growing seasons, with a low risk of mold, storms, drought or other bad weather interfering with crops. Most of the valley has clay-based soils. Livingston is unusual in that the Merced River has deposited large amounts of sand. The sand is presumably the ground-up remnants of Half Dome, El Capitan, and Yosemite Valley.

The main crops of the Livingston area are:
* Chickens and turkeys -- The Foster Farms poultry company's headquarters and main processing plant are in Livingston. The chicken ranches import most of their feed from other parts of the United States. The tallest building in the area is Foster Farms' grain elevator.
* Dairy -- The Joseph Gallo dairy has the single largest herd in the United States. Neighboring towns (especially Hilmar) have many more cattle.
* Grapes -- Ernest and Julio Gallo, the Arakelian family, and many family farmers grow grapes for wine, the table, and raisin-making. Ernest and Julio Gallo have a major grape pressing operation near Livingston.
* Almonds
* Sweet Potatoes -- 90% of the sweet potatoes grown west of the Rockies are grown and packed in Livingston, Delhi, and Atwater. The sweet potatoes benefit from the sandy soil.
* Alfalfa, corn, and soybeans are grown to support the dairies.
* Melons -- watermelons, honeydew melons, "et cetera."
* Peaches -- most of the peach orchards have been replaced by almonds.

A few small farms grow:
* Grain -- barley, wheat, "et cetera."
* Onions
* Berries -- strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, "et cetera."
* Popcorn

City area

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.0 km²), all of it land. Much of this area is farmland that has been annexed either preemptively, or in anticipation of future growth. The actual city small but, has a vast amount of land that is around it used for agriculture.

Schools

*Merced Union High School District
**Livingston High School
*Livingston Union School District elementary schools:
**Livingston Middle School
**Campus Park School
**Selma Herndon School
**Yamato Colony School
**Shelby School
*Private schools
**St. Jude's Catholic Church used to have a K-8 grade school.
**Longview Mennonite School (outside the city limits)

Many students at Livingston High School attended grade school in Delhi, Ballico, and Cressey.

Features:
*Most children are within walking distance of school.
*The elementary schools' bus drivers are also their janitors.
*Half of the kindergarten classes are bilingual (typically Spanish/English, Punjabi/English, or Portuguese/Spanish/English)
*About one-fifth of fourth-grade classes are bilingual (typically Spanish/English or Punjabi/English).
*Livingston High School's foreign language department offers classes in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Punjabi.

Newspapers

* The Livingston Chronicle is published weekly, by the company that publishes the Merced Sun-Star. The Chronicle publishes local happenings, especially Livingston High School academic and athletic events and is delivered on Wednesdays.
* The Merced Sun-Star
* The Modesto Bee
* The San Francisco Chronicle
* [http://livingstoncalifornia.net/ Livingston California News] is an online-only newspaper. Its editor was the managing editor of the Livingston Chronicle for 12 years.

The Bee purchased the Sun-Star and Livingston Chronicle in December, 2003.

Prominent people

*Chris Aguilar, Member of the Aguilar family from Churitzio Mich. also currently in a program and to be released this December of 2008.

*Omar Arroyo,Chris Aguilar's cousin and member of the Arroyo family, Also has vast farmland and hunting experiance.

Article text.

Churches

Livingston has many churches, including:
*St. Jude's Roman Catholic Church
*An Apostolic Assembly
*An Assemblies of God Neighborhood Church
*Emmanuel Baptist Church
*A Church of Christ
*Our Redeemer Lutheran Church
*Livingston United Methodist Church (outside the city limits)
*A Mennonite Church (outside the city limits)
*Two Sikh Gurdwaras
*A United Pentecostal Church

Livingston is one of the few places in the United States where a mounted sheriff's deputy rides at the head of religious parades "because" of the religious symbolism.

After a lengthy court battle (which went to the United States Supreme Court), Sikh children as young as eight years old won the right to bring knives ("kirpans") to school, if certain safety precautions are followed. The final settlement was at least as restrictive as the provisions of the state law that the school district sought to enforce.

Labor and Industry

*Foster Farms (poultry company)
* Joseph Gallo Farms
*E & J Gallo Winery
*League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley
*United Farm Workers (UFW)
*California Teachers Association
*Merced Union High School District Teachers Association
*California School Employees Association

Demographics

Heritage

The residents of Livingston are descended from people of many nations (here are 12 examples):
*Mexicans from Michoacán, the Yucatán, Chihuahua, Veracruz, Sinaloa, Jalisco and other "estados".
*Other Central Americans from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and other countries.
*American People from Oklahoma and other parts of the United States of America. About 100 members of the Cherokee Nation American Indian tribe live in the town.
*Portuguese from the Azores, Angola, and Brazil, about 10 percent of the locals speak Portuguese.
*Mennonites from Germany and Russia.
*Armenians from the Middle East.
*Sikhs and Muslims from India and Pakistan, to make Livingston have one of the largest communities of American Sikhs.
*Japanese, mostly from Wakayama and Livingston's agricultural foundation is attributed to Japanese Americans. [http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views4h103.htm]
*Hmong from Laos.
*Cambodians from Cambodia.
*Vietnamese from South Vietnam
*Filipinos and Filipino Americans.
*Chinese and Chinese Americans.An estimated 30 European, 25 Asian, 15 Latin American and 5 Sub-Saharan African nationalities are counted among Livingston's ethnic makeup. Fact|date=September 2008

There are very few blacks despite the large wave of black American farmers arrived in Merced county during the 1940s, but a high number of American Indians in Livingston.

The immigration still continues. Most of the recent immigrants are from Mexico, Central America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the Punjab.

Census figures

According to the census of 2000, there were 10,473 people, 2,390 households, and 2,143 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,019.8 people per square mile (1,165.3/km²). There were 2,449 housing units at an average density of 706.2/sq mi (272.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 36.52% White, 0.74% African American, 0.93% Native American, 14.45% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 41.54% from other races, and 5.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 71.81% of the population.

There were 2,390 households out of which 60.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 68.2% were married couples living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 10.3% were non-families. 8.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.37 and the average family size was 4.57.

In the city the population was spread out with 37.7% under the age of 18, 12.5% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 15.2% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females there were 101.0 males. For every 100 women age 18 and over, there are 99.3 men.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,500, and the median income for a family was $33,939. Males had a median income of $22,249 versus $19,693 for females. The per capita income for the city was $9,231. About 20.8% of families and 25.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.7% of those under age 18 and 20.9% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

In the state legislature Livingston is located in the 12th Senate District, represented by Republican Jeff Denham, and in the 17th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Cathleen Galgiani. Federally, Livingston is located in California's 18th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +3 [cite web | title = Will Gerrymandered Districts Stem the Wave of Voter Unrest? | publisher = Campaign Legal Center Blog | url=http://www.clcblog.org/blog_item-85.html | accessdate = 2007-10-20] and is represented by Democrat Dennis Cardoza.

Sister city

*Wakami, Akita Prefecture, Japan

See also

*list of cities in California
*Merced River
*Merced County, California
*California
*League of Independent Workers of the San Joaquin Valley

References

* "Cheema v. Thompson" is the case involving "kirpans" in elementary schools.
* [http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/5views/5views4h103.htm National Park Service: A History of Japanese Americans in California: Yamato Colony]
*Merced Sun-Star article about Livingston's [http://www.mercedsun-star.com/local/story/8330473p-9162209c.html sister-city relationship] with Wakami.
* [http://www.lusd.k12.ca.us/ Livingston Union School District]
*Merced Union High School District. [http://www.muhsd.k12.ca.us/board/bbriefs/MINUTES%201-25-06.pdf "Regular Board Meeting Minutes" for the January 25, 2006 board meeting] , item 97.
*Livingston California News article [http://livingstoncalifornia.net/about_file.htm "About the editor"] .

External links

* [http://www.livingstoncity.com/index.asp?Type=DE={1F00C88A-646A-4D47-B30E-5AD90EF291D4} History of Livingston] on the City's official website ( [http://www.livingstoncity.com http://www.livingstoncity.com] )