Goleta, California

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Image:Goleta from mountaintop.jpg Goleta is a city located in southern Santa Barbara County, California, USA. It was incorporated as a new city in 2002, after for a long time being the largest unincorporated, populated area in the county. As of the 2000 census, the CDP had a total population of 55,204, however, a significant portion of the Census territory of 2000 did not incorporate into the new city.

{{Infobox City |official_name = City of Goleta, California |image_seal = Goleta city seal.jpg |image_map = CAMap-doton-Goleta.png |map_caption = Location of Goleta within California. |subdivision_type = Country
  State
    County |subdivision_name = United States
  California
    Santa Barbara |leader_title = Mayor |leader_name = Jonny Wallis |area_magnitude = 1 E7 |area_total = 68.3 |area_land = 68.0 |area_water = 0.3 |population_as_of = 2000 |population_total = 55,240 |population_density = ~812.35 |timezone = PST |utc_offset = -8 |timezone_DST = PDT |utc_offset_DST = -7 |latitude = 34°44'4" N |longitude = 119°81'36" W |website = http://www.cityofgoleta.org/ |footnotes = }}

1 History
2 Urban environment
3 Geography
4 Demographics
5 Government
6 Mayor and council
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

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History

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Early history

The area of present-day Goleta was populated for thousands of years by the native Chumash people; locally they were known by the first European settlers as Canaliños (for the canoes they built to travel to the Channel Islands). One of the largest villages was alongside the Goleta Slough, not far from the present-day Santa Barbara Airport.

The first European visitor was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, who sailed past in 1542. During the 1980s, discovery of some 16th-century cannon on the beach led to the advancement of a theory that Sir Francis Drake sailed into the Goleta Slough in 1579 ([1]), where he may have spent several weeks repairing his ship.

In the 18th century, two Spanish expeditions came to the area; the second founded the Presidio of Santa Barbara and Mission to the east, and began the work of converting the Chumash to Roman Catholicism. During the 19th century most of the area, formerly covered with oak trees, was deforested; ranching was the principal land use during this time. The two main local ranchers, Nicolas A. Den and Daniel Hill, became wealthy in the late 1840s by selling locally-grown beef to the thousands of miners who came to the California Gold Rush.

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19th and 20th centuries

The Goleta Valley was a prominent lemon-growing region during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and remained largely agricultural. In addition, several areas, especially the Ellwood Mesa, were subject to oil development. During the Second World War, several military installations, including a Marine base at the site of the current University of California, Santa Barbara campus, brought population growth. Also during the Second World War, a Japanese submarine surfaced just offshore near the Ellwood pier and fired several shells at the oil facilities, but caused little damage (see Attacks on United States territory in North America during World War II.)

After the war, several aerospace firms built facilities in the Goleta Valley, and there was a corresponding housing boom: much of the tract housing in Goleta dates from this period. In 1954 the University of California acquired the former Marine base. Along with the boom in aerospace, the character changed from rural-agricultural to high-tech. Goleta remains a center for high-tech firms, and a bedroom community for nearby Santa Barbara.

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Incorporation

Image:Goleta city seal.jpg Goleta was incorporated as a city in 2002 after several unsuccessful attempts. A significant urbanized area remains unincorporated between the town of Goleta and the city of Santa Barbara, largely consisting of the area which polled against incorporation prior to the 2002 election (it was excluded from the proposed incorporated boundaries, in order to make passage of incorporation more likely). There has been some discussion of annexation of this area, sometimes dubbed informally "Noleta", by the City of Santa Barbara. The current boundaries of Goleta are shown in the city's map.

The 2000 census figures reflect the census-designated place of Goleta, which was somewhat larger than the incorporated city. The city's population was estimated in 2002 at around 30,904 according to the CA Governor's Office of Planning and Research.

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Goleta Postal massacre

On January 30, 2006, a former postal employee, Jennifer Sanmarco, shot and killed seven people, including six employees, before committing suicide at the local postal-processing facility. She is also suspected of shooting a neighbor just prior to the rampage.<ref>{{

cite news | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/01/national/01postal.html?_r=1&oref=slogin | title = Ex-Employee Kills 6 Others and Herself at California Postal Plant | publisher = New York Times | date = 2006-02-01

}}</ref> Police say the suspect, a former postal employee, killed six postal employees, including one critically wounded who later died, before committing suicide with a handgun. Police later also identified a seventh victim: Beverly Graham, 54, was found dead in a condominium complex in Goleta where Sanmarco once lived.<ref>{{

cite news | url = http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1565649 | title = Death Toll in Calif. Postal Shooting Rises: Calif. Sherrif's Deputies Say Woman Accused in Post Office Killings May Have Also Shot Her Former Neighbor | publisher = ABC News

}}</ref> Police have matched the 9mm shell casings found in Ms. Graham's condo with the shell casings used in the postal facility shooting spree. In addition to Charlotte Colton, 44, the dead included Ze Fairchild, 37, and Maleka Higgins, 28, both of Santa Barbara; Nicola Grant, 42, and Guadalupe Swartz, 52, both of Lompoc; and Dexter Shannon, 57, of Oxnard. The choice of these victims may have been also racially motivated. The suspect had previous history of racial prejudice, and tried to obtain business license for a newspaper of her own ideas, called Racial Times, in New Mexico. This incident is believed to be the deadliest workplace shooting ever carried out in the United States by a woman.<ref>{{

cite news | url = http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/31/postal.shooting | title = Seven dead in California postal shooting | publisher = CNN | date = 2006-01-31

}}</ref> <ref>{{

cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4665790.stm | title = US ex-postal employee kills six | publisher = BBC | date = 2006-01-31

}}</ref> [2] (See: going postal.)

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Urban environment

Image:CabrilloBusinessPark-1.png Goleta contains a mix of land uses, lacking only heavy industrial zones. North of the U.S. Route 101 freeway is a region of predominantly tract housing built between the late 1950s and the 1970s, intermingled with newer condominium developments, a few gated communities, and adjacent to a lower-density residential zone in the lower foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains which contains larger homes. A commercial strip along Calle Real is one of the town's several business districts. South of the freeway is Old Town Goleta, centered on the stretch of Hollister Avenue between Fairview Avenue and the Highway 217 overpass; adjacent to this commercial area is a region of older, and occasionally substandard housing; some of the south county's least affluent people live in this zone. Between Old Town Goleta and the airport, and running along south Fairview Avenue, are some light industrial zones, some of relatively few in southern Santa Barbara County. Farther west, near the intersection of Storke Road and Hollister Avenue, is a large shopping mall, including "big box" stores, which draws business from outside the local area. This area is called the "Camino Real Marketplace". There is also a new business park called Cabrillo Business Park next to it. Adjacent to the mall and extending more than a mile farther west is a residential area, most of the housing in which dates back to the 1960s; it includes some high-density apartment blocks which accept some of the overflow student population from nearby UCSB.

Goleta has several significant parks, including Stow Park, Lake Los Carneros, and the newly created Ellwood Open Space on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Goleta Beach County Park is just outside of the city limits.

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Geography

Goleta is located at 34°26'26" North, 119°48'49" West (34.440493, -119.813608)Template:GR. Goleta is about 8 miles west of the city of Santa Barbara, along the coast (the coast is aligned east-west for this portion of southern California). Nearby is the Santa Barbara campus of the University of California and the student community of Isla Vista.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 68.3 km² (26.4 mi²). 68.0 km² (26.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.38% water.

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Demographics

As of the census Template:GR of 2000, there were 55,204 people, 19,954 households, and 13,468 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 811.7/km² (2,102.1/mi²). There were 20,442 housing units at an average density of 300.6/km² (778.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 78.61% White, 1.27% African American, 0.82% Native American, 6.43% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 9.23% from other races, and 3.53% from two or more races. 22.33% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 19,954 households out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.1% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 22.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.18.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 24.2% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $60,314, and the median income for a family was $67,956. Males had a median income of $44,770 versus $32,127 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $28,890. 6.7% of the population and 2.9% of families were below the poverty line. 4.8% of those under the age of 18 and 4.4% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

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Government

The five City Council members take turns as mayor. The City Council also serves at the Planning Agency. City Council meetings are televised, while Planning Agency meetings are not. There have also been prolonged delays in getting the first General Plan adopted, despite state mandates to do so in a reasonable period of time after incorporation, and this has led to delays in the consideration of planning and development applications.

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