Everything about San Rafael California totally explained
San Rafael (; originally ), is the
county seat of
Marin County, California,
United States. The city is located in the
North Bay region of the
San Francisco Bay Area. In
2002, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the city's population was 55,550.
History
What is now San Rafael was once the site of several
Coast Miwok villages; Awani-wi, near downtown San Rafael, Ewu, near Terra Linda, and Shotomko-cha, in Marinwood.
Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded in what is now downtown San Rafael as the 20th
Spanish mission in the colonial
Mexican province of
Alta California by four priests--Father
Narciso Durán from
Mission San José, Father Abella from
Mission San Francisco de Asís, Father
Luis Gíl y Taboada from
La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles and Father
Junípero Serra, Father Presidente of the Missions--on Dec. 14,
1817, four years before
Mexico gained independence from
Spain.
The mission and city are named for the
Archangel Raphael, the Angel of Healing. The mission was originally planned as a hospital site for
Central Valley American Indians who had become ill at the cold
San Francisco Mission Dolores. Father Luis Gil, who spoke several native American languages, was put in charge of the facility. In part because of its ideal weather, San Rafael was later upgraded to full mission status in
1822. The mission had 300 converts within its first year, and 1,140 converts by
1828. The
Mexican government took over the California missions in
1834, and
Mission San Rafael was abandoned in
1844, eventually falling into ruin. The current mission was built in the style of the original in
1949, but faces at right angles to the alignment of the original.
Geography
San Rafael is located at (37.983256, -122.523694). According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 58.1
km² (22.4
mi²). 43.0 km² (16.6 mi²) of it's land and 15.1 km² (5.8 mi²) of it (26.04%) is water.
Notable landmarks include: the
Mission San Rafael Arcángel, around which the city developed; the
Marin County Civic Center building, designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright; the
Rafael Film Center;
China Camp State Park; and the
George Lucas's Skywalker Ranch. San Rafael is served by the privately operated
San Rafael Airport.
Environmental features
The San Rafael shoreline has been historically filled to a considerable extent to accommodate land development, with underlying bay mud (saturated clayed silt) of up to in thickness. At certain locations such as Murphys Point, the sandstone or shale rock outcrops through the mud.
San Rafael has a wide diversity of natural habitats from forests at the higher elevations to marshland and estuarine settings. Its marshes are home to the
endangered species Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse. There are also
riparian areas including the
San Rafael Creek and
Miller Creek corridors.
Climate
San Rafael has a Mediterranean climate, with mild winter lows seldom reaching the freezing mark. Average highs are in the mid 50s F° (11-15 C°) and lows are in mid 40s F°(5-10 C°). In the summer highs are around the low 80s F°. Summer lows are around the mid 50s F°(13 C°). The National Weather Service reports that August is usually the warmest month with a high of 81.3° and a low of 54.8°. This makes it possible to live in this area without air conditioning. January, the coldest month, has an average high of 56.2° and an average low of 41.3°. The highest temperature on record is 110°, recorded in June of 1961. The highest temperature in recent years, 108°, occurred on July 23, 2006.
(External Link
) The record lowest temperature was 20° on December 22, 1990. There are an average of 19.5 days annually with a high of 90° or more and 2.1 days with a high of 100° or more. Freezing temperatures (32° or below) occur on an average of 4.2 days.
Total annual precipitation averages 34.29 inches. There are normally 68.5 days with measurable rain. The rainy season is from November to early April. Rain is rare outside of this period and it's normal to receive no rain in June, July, August, and September. The most rain in one month was 24.11 inches in January 1995. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall was 8.74 inches on December 11, 1995. A trace of snow was recorded on January 30th, 1976.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 56,063 people, 22,371 households, and 12,773 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,304.8/km² (3,378.9/mi²). There were 22,948 housing units at an average density of 534.1/km² (1,383.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 75.8%
White, 2.24%
African American, 0.56%
Native American, 5.59%
Asian, 0.17%
Pacific Islander, 11.16% from
other races, and 4.53% from two or more races. 23.3% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino.
There were 22,371 households out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18, 44.3% were
married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.9% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% have someone living alone who is 65 or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.99. The age distribution is as follows: 19.5% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males.
The reported median
income for a household in the city was $60,994; the median reported income for a family was $74,398. Males reported a median income of $50,650 versus $39,912 for females. The reported
per capita income for the city was $35,762. About 5.6% of families and 10.2% of the population reported incomes below the
poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.
Entertainment Industry
After the arrival of
George Lucas in San Rafael in
1970 to film the movie
THX 1138, the city became a center for the entertainment industry, particularly the high-tech elements of the business.
Lucasfilm was founded by
George Lucas in
1971, and is best known for the global hit movie series
Star Wars and also for
Indiana Jones. Some of the company's operations were moved to
San Francisco in
2005. Portions of the Universal movie production
American Graffiti were filmed in downtown San Rafael under George Lucas's direction, and portions of
THX 1138 were shot at the
Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael. Much of the movie
Gattaca, starring
Ethan Hawke, was also shot in the Marin County Civic Center.
Industrial Light & Magic was founded in
1975 by Lucas to do
special effects for his films and those of other filmmakers. The
new age music program
Hearts of Space is headquartered here.
Largely because of the presence of LucasFilm, San Rafael started to attract
video game developers, with several major studios located in the city. However, because of poor city leadership and ineffective zoning laws in the Canal neighborhood, most of the companies, including Lucas Arts, have left San Rafael:
LucasArts — Founded by George Lucas in (1984) as LucasFilm Games; relocated to San Francisco in 2005. Best known for Star Wars and Indiana Jones games and innovative titles such as Grim Fandango and Full Throttle.
Stormfront Studios — Founded by San Rafael native Don Daglow in 1988. Best known for, many EA Sports titles including NASCAR Racing, Gold Box RPG games and the first graphical MMORPG, Neverwinter Nights.
Visual Concepts — Founded by Greg Thomas in 1988, the company was bought by Sega in 1999, then sold to Take Two Interactive in 2004. Best known for creating many EA Sports titles, and recently for Sega Sports and its 2K line of sports games.
Totally Games — Founded by former LucasArts programmer Larry Holland in 1994. Best known for a series of Star Wars flight sim games.
Factor 5 — Founded in Germany in 1987 by Julian Eggebrecht, moved to San Rafael in 1996 to be close to publisher LucasArts. Best known for Star Wars and Indiana Jones games, the company now is working with Nintendo.
Telltale Games — Founded in 2004 by former LucasArts employees. Best known for its video game adaptation of the Bone (comics) book series and its episodic release of Sam and Max adventure games.
Mind Control Software — Founded in 1994 by Andrew Leker, Best know for Independent Games Festival winning game, Oasis.
Parks
San Rafael contains a number of well conceived parks:
There are two regional parks that serve statewide users: China Camp State Park and McNears Beach State Park.
Community parks are Albert Park, Boyd Park, Pickleweed Park and the Terra Linda Recreational Center.
There are a number of neighborhood parks and mini-parks such as Boyd Park, Sun Valley Park, Oleander Park, Victor Jones Park, Peacock Gap Park and Gerstle Park. Gerstle Park is a historic and walkable neighborhood south of First Street in close proximity to central Downtown.
Educational institutions
San Rafael has one university, Dominican University.
Most public schools in San Rafael are operated by the San Rafael City Schools district. Dixie School District operates some public elementary and middle schools in San Rafael. All comprehensive public high schools are governed by San Rafael City Schools.
The district operates two comprehensive public high schools: San Rafael High School and Terra Linda High School.
Public schools not operated by the district include:
Phoenix Academy is a California Charter school where chemically dependent students can develop a drug- and alcohol-free lifestyle, make academic progress, address emotional issues, and make sound career and vocational decisions. The school provides a highly structured and supervised program.
Private schools:
Marin Academy is a private high school in San Rafael.
Saint Raphael School is a K-8 school with a history linked to the Mission San Raphael.
Saint Mark's School, is a K-8 non-sectarian school located in Terra Linda.
Trivia
The term "420" when used in reference to Cannabis consumption is believed to have originated in San Rafael, specifically, at San Rafael High School. Since then, use of "420" has spread throughout the rest of the United States, and much of the rest of the world, in reference to cannabis consumption. (External Link)
Notable residents
Author Isabel Allende
Cyclist Susan DeMattei
Novelist Philip K. Dick
Musician George Duke
Professional tennis coach Brad Gilbert
Lauren Grandcolas, a 9/11 victim who was on United Flight 93
Novelist Jess Hartley born in San Rafael in 1967
Musician Ali Akbar Khan
Baseball Player Bill Lee
Director/Filmmaker George Lucas
Musician, artist and director Cory McAbee
Supercentenarian Christian Mortensen, 1882-1998, the oldest living human male, aged 115 years and 252 days at death
Musician Jerry Garcia
Musician Narada Michael Walden
Musician Carlos Santana
Legendary country singer/Television Pioneer Chester Smith ((Fact[ date March 2008))
Author Martin Cruz Smith
Movie Producer Saul Zaentz
Musician James Hetfield
Neighborhoods
Although not every location in San Rafael is part of a neighborhood that has a widely accepted and widely recognized name, there are some neighborhoods that have names that are accepted and recognized by most locals. The City of San Rafael 2020 General Plan recognizes 30 distinct neighborhoods in San Rafael:
| Bay Islands
Bayside Acres
Bret Harte
California Park
Canal
Canal Waterfront
Central San Rafael
China Camp
Civic Center
Country Club
Dominican/Black Canyon
|
Fair Hills
Francisco Boulevard West
Gerstle Park
Glenwood
Lincoln/San Rafael Hill
Loch Lomond
Lucas Valley
Marinwood
Mont Marin/San Rafael Park
|
Montecito/Happy Valley
North San Rafael Commercial Center
Peacock Gap
Picnic Valley
Rafael Meadows/Los Ranchitos
Santa Venetia
Smith Ranch
Sun Valley
Terra Linda
West End
|
Further Information
Get more info on 'San Rafael California'.
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