History

Bay Miwok Native Americans were the first to inhabit the Diablo Valley. During this time the land was rich in resources and wildlife. The Bay Miwok's remained the only inhabitants until 1772 when the first spanish explorers and missionaries discovered the valley (Concord Historical Society). The Bay Miwoks would soon be taken in by spanish missionaries to be baptized at Mission San Jose and Mission San Francisco de Asis. 

Diablo Valley

(Concord Historical Society.www.concordhistory.com. 25 August 2013)

The spanish spent the next sixty years exploring the valley. In 1834 Don Salvio a native californian, spanish militiaman and civil servant received the Monte del Diablo land grant. The 17,921 acre grant covered the Diablo Valley all the way to the Walnut Creek Channel (Concord Historical Society). Don Salvio's son was held in charge to occupy the land. 

Rancho Monte del Diablo 

(Concord Historical Society.www.concordhistory.com. 25 August 2013)  

In the 1850's the land brought in demand for goods such as cattle, grain, limes, and coal.In 1868 Don Salvio, his son Fernando and son-in-law Francisco Galindo arranged a town plan for the surrounding area, using Don Salvio's adobe as the center piece (Concord Historical Society). The town's original name was Todos Santos (All Saints), sited diagonally across the road which connected Clayton and its coal fields to the docks at Pacheco (Concord Historical Society). It was only a few months after the name of town was changed to Concord in 1869.

Todo Santos Downtown Map

(Concord Historical Society.www.concordhistory.com. 25 August 2013)

Concord's agriculture industry prospered in the 1870's as it supplied Contra Costa County with goods. 

Fast Forward....

By World War II Concord had a high school, modern hospital, five churches, central plaza, various cinemas, downtown commercial area, homes, and a population of 1,400 (Concord Historical Society). Post war the population grew exponentially. 

Today homes stand in place of the farms and the old downtown now features a multistory skyline. 

Concord, CA

(www.ci.concord.ca.us. 25 August 2013) 

Community Map and Analysis

94520 Community Map Link Below:

https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z2SWpfwvxBzE.kW0z-m0-mLiU

Our community map includes Schools, Medical facilities, and the following Points of Interest:

• Q-Zar (Laser Tag)
• Waterworld
• Mt. Diablo State Park
• Todos Santos Plaza
• Skipolinis (where we ate lunch)
• Pixieland (aka Pixie Playland - fun for kids)
• Diablo Valley Bowl (aka Diablo Lanes)
• Willow Pass Rec Center
• Ghost Golf (indoor mini golf)
• Batting Cages
• Queen of All Saints Church
• Sunvalley and Willow Pass Shopping Centers
• Concord Skatepark
• Brenden Theater and Solano Drive in Theater
• Monument Crisis Center (literacy programs, food bank, counseling)

Schools within the area code include public, private, and special education institutions.

• Preschools: Sun Terrace Preschool
• Elementary: Meadow Holmes Elementary, Sun Terrace Elementary, Cambridge Elementary
• Middle School: (located outside the area code) Oak Grove Middle School, Pine Hollow Middle School
• High School: Mt. Diablo High School
• Christian Schools: Cavalry Center Christian School,  Concord Christian Schools
• Catholic Schools: Queen of All Saints
• Special Educational School: Contra Costa Special Education, Floyd I. Marchus School, Seneca Center

There are numerous medical facilities in the area code, especially John Muir Hospital directly across the street from Mt. Diablo High School.

• Mt. Diablo-John Muir
• Apria Healthcare
• Muirlab
• Sutter VNA and Hospice
• Cardia Heart Medical Center
• Occupational Health Service
• Suma Kids
• Private Practice doctors

The Willow Pass Recreation Center: What it has to Offer

• Concord residents can take advantage of the Willow Pass Recreation center. There are areas to play sports and buildings to host events. Also, the rec center buildings offer space for seasonal classes that appeal to all ages. Examples of classes include Video Game Design, Digital Art, Creative Writing, Dog Training, Small Business Development, East Coast Swing Dance, Guitar, and various sports classes. Through the rec center, Concord offers a summertime "Camp Concord" for the city's youth. During the school year, a Concord Youth Government meets at the rec center, and for adults, tours and trips can be planned through the center. (check out the website: http://www.ci.concord.ca.us/recreation)

Todos Santos Plaza:

• The Plaza offers numerous shops, stores, restaurants, and relaxation space. During the summer, the Music and Market happens every Thursday, with live performances and a farmers market. This tradition has continued for twenty-five years, thanks to the spirit of the community.

The Arts:

• The Art Cottage in Concord is within walking distance of Todos Santos Plaza, and features work by local artists. Review by Mark P. from Martinez in 2012:
• "The Art Cottage opened a few months ago in Concord. It is the coolest, funkiest little art gallery around. FROgard Butler is a local artist, owner and a delightful person. The Cottage exhibits works by local artists in rotating one month shows. If you are looking for something to do during the week or on a weekend afternoon, stop by and say hi to FRO and see some great art."

Restaurants and Dining:

• Searching for restaurants in the area code 94520 offers a wide variety of eating styles and types of food. In the Todos Santos Plaza, restaurants ranged from a sit down pizza place (Skipolini's, pictured below!) to a grab and go breakfast place called House of Bagels. A taqueria with signs and menus in Spanish and a hot dog restaurant can be found next to each other. The variety is exciting, and appeals to anyone with an empty stomach! Following the main streets to other areas beyond the Plaza, we saw more chain restaurants like Dominos, Little Cesars, Dairy Queen, and Cinnabon. However, there were still many authentic restaurants, operating outside of the chain eatery system, such as La Taqueria Soledad and Le Cafe.

The Community's Strengths: Commercial nature, Proximity, and Religious Institutions

• The areas we explored were very commercial. Housing communities were organized around commercial centers. This impacts the community in the way it facilitates travel by bike, skateboard, or foot in order to go shopping or find a place to eat. We also saw a high number and variety of Churches, including non-denominational Christian Churches (Vineyard Church pictured below), Catholic Churches, and a Jewish Temple. Again, the closeness of these familiar and frequented religious institutions facilitates short commutes.

The Economy: (find out more: http://www.ci.concord.ca.us/business/facts/office.asp)

• Like Concord's infrastructure, diversity, and family-focused events, the economy is also expanding. Like other cities around the Bay Area, the recession caused a rise in the unemployment rate (most recently, at 13.8% for people over the age of 25). However, there has been economic growth. Concord now has thirteen industrial parks, and the following major employers: Bank of America Technology Center, Chevron Credit Center , Conco Cement, Contra Costa Water District, Costco, Fry's Electronics, Harris & Associates, JC Penney, John Muir Medical Center , Macy's West, Sears, Shaw Environmental Infrastructure, T-Mobile, and Wells Fargo Credit Center. Concord boasts 4 million square feet of office space, 5.8 million square feet of industrial space, and 1,200 hotel or motel rooms for visitors. Land and street space exist for further business growth. Concord's location also contributes to a growing economy; it is a short drive to urban centers in the Bay Area where businesses can find resources and connections, as well as employees.

Bonus Map! From the City of Concord Website, the many Parks Concord has to offer the community:

To See More information about the places listed above, check out our group's Prezi link:
Concord Prezi, by Kelly, Sarah, and Ashley

Mt. Diablo High in the Media

When doing some searching online for recent news regarding Mt. Diablo High and the surrounding community of Concord, we found various things.  Below we have linked some of the articles we found most interesting.  As you can see from the headlines alone, most of the news is not feel-good news.  Don't be mistaken, there are some really great things going on in Concord and at Mt. Diablo High.  But unfortunately, those things don't always make the headlines.

First we'll start you off with the articles relating to not-so-great events in the community:
Bomb Threat at Mt. Diablo High
Suspects Arrested for Armed Robberies in Concord
Concord Child Killed by Pit Bulls
Police Officer Accused of Molesting Concord Boy


And now for some of the more positive news stories surrounding the community:

Mt. Diablo High Students organize 'Teach-In' to Protest Furlough Day

Horizons Choir Sings to John Muir Patients
Mt. Diablo High Senior, 2nd Place in State Poetry Contest

Additionally, while we were searching, a site came up about Mt. Diablo High in general - giving basic statistics and district information.  The reason this is of interest is because Mt. Diablo High was listed as one of the 'Best High Schools' but then when you read through all the information, you come across the fact that it is not ranked nationally, and more importantly it does not meet the CA goal for Academic Performance.  This is a perfect example of mainstream media often being misleading.  The title and link to the page from Google made me think we'd be seeing some positive commendations of the High School, but that was not entirely the case.

Finally, I have one last point I'd like to make in regards to this topic.  We usually blame the media for poor or incomplete coverage of a topic or of a community.  We say it is their fault that places like Concord get bad reputations because all they tell us are the bad things that happen in Concord.  But what I'd like to propose is that even if the majority of news about a place was positive, and then somewhere along the line something tragic happened, people would remember that one tragic thing much longer than they would remember the fact that the community had a program for singing to the hospitalized.

Interviews

1: Mike, resident of downtown Concord in the Todos Santos Plaza

• Mike has been a resident of the Bay Area for many years and he is 67 years old. He is retired, and lives in a studio near Concord's Todos Santos Plaza. We met him in the Plaza, riding his motorized wheelchair and greeting his neighbors. He is battling stomach cancer and a few other health issues, but he told us that remaining positive and rising above negativity is the key.
• Mike has four sons, four daughters, and thirteen grandchildren. They live elsewhere in the Bay Area, such as El Cerrito. Overall, he enjoys living in Concord. Sometimes he rides his motorized scooter to the edge of town, near the Pleasant Hill sign, but he always stays within Concord. He says there are nice families and individuals in city that he meets during his rides. He often hears or attends the musical events or the farmers market in the Plaza.
• His one complaint of Concord is the lack of attention paid to disruptive homeless people in the Plaza. He believes the police do not intervene when the homeless people abuse drugs in public. He says the police are visible, but not active enough.

2: Officer Sansen (K-9 Unit) and Officer Thoms (Detective)

• We spotted these two officers on bicycles, giving an excited group of young kids some colorful pencils. The kids wore huge smiles as they held ice cream cones from the nearby Baskin Robbins in one hand, and their new pencils in the other. The officers gladly answered our questions about the Concord community.
• They described Concord as incredibly diverse. Within the Concord police, they take advantage of their own diversity. Officer Sansen gave the example of his Hispanic coworkers going to areas where undocumented residents live, so as better to connect with that community and solve crimes in the area. However, undocumented immigrants are still wary of police, and the police / immigrant relationship suffers. The police will not deport undocumented residents.
• When asked about the schools, they described the high schools as having different reputations and demographics. Officer Sansen will send his daughter to Concord High, and trusts the quality of Concord's public education system. He mentioned that Mt. Diablo High can get bad press because of gang presence or activity in schools. Students from North Pittsburgh often attend Mt. Diablo.
• For Concord's youth, the city offers after school activities like sports programs, the movie theaters, the YMCA, and the skatepark.
• The police officers brought up the homeless problem within Concord. The county funds and initiates various programs for the homeless, shelters, and even mental health centers, but these institutions are all located in Concord. Therefore, the city's resources attracts many homeless people from the county.
• Overall, Concord has set it's focus on placing families first, and the community members enjoy what Concord has to offer.

3: Skipolini's Waiter

• Our waiter was very friendly, and he lives in Brentwood but works here in downtown Concord. He described the city as a normal Bay Area town, but with a few racial and class divides that stand out, especially depending on one's location or school.
• He described Ygnacio Valley High School and Mt. Diablo High School with a racial dynamic of either Hispanic or white. In these schools, the divide between the lower class and the middle class is defined.
• The streets with similar race and class divides are Detroit Ave. and Monument Blvd, where the populations are mostly either white, or Hispanic.

4: James, Sacramento State student

• James grew up in Concord, and is about to start college at Sacramento State. He completed an inter-district transfer so he could attend College Park High School in Pleasant Hill. He attended DVC in Pleasant Hill as well. James is a self-described homebody, who we met sitting in a Todos Santos Plaza bench, reading a novel.
• James described the city of Concord as "peaceful" with "lots of families." As a community, Concord does well with its "Music in the Park" on Thursdays during the summer season. He mentioned that Concord youth goes to bookstores and coffee-shops for fun. 
• At the end of the interview, James recommended the House of Spaghetti or Chevy's for places to eat in the area.

5: Concord Moms in the Park

• When we approached a small group of moms watching their kids play in the Todos Santos playground, we introduced ourselves and explained our reason for interviewing a few Concord residents (gathering information about the community and its inhabitants' experiences). The moms generally turned away, although one answered our question about Concord's schools. When asked "What are your experiences with the school system in Concord," she promptly replied, "We send our kids to private school." That was the end of the interview, since one child had taken a fall on the playground.

6: Mrs. Jessica Semenchuk, parent and Preschool teacher

• Mrs. Semenchuck teaches at Walnut Avenue Preschool and has lived in Concord for twenty-two years. She moved to Concord knowing their kids would attend Catholic School. She and her family were happy with St. Francis of Assisi, De La Salle, and Carondelet High Schools, each in Concord and very close-by.
• Her favorite event in Concord is the Music and the Farmer's Market in the Park during the summer. She and her family of four enjoy buying food from local vendors and watching Concord families enjoy the park and the music while having a picnic. They see neighbors and friends from school at these weekly events.
• Mrs. Semenchuk believes Concord has changed for the better within the time she has lived there. Physically, the Concord has added trees and plants along the road, adding more greenery to the streets. There is more diversity now in the city, seen in her own Church. Her Church community now has active Hispanic, Portuguese, and Filipino groups. Concord also has Greek and Japanese festivals.

7: Matt Yankovich, Guitar Center Employee

• Matt has worked at Guitar Center off Willow Pass Road for the past three years. He was indifferent about the city stating "it seemed like any other fair sized suburban city."
• He believes Concord is divided into between two types of people, those who love the city and those who hate it. Matt finds that the people who live closer to Concord High School and Mount Diablo take more pride in the city.
• Matt said the community is diverse, but predominantly White or Hispanic.
• Notices that a lot of kids spend time at Dana Plaza near Concord High School. (Diverse group between the ages of 15 to 20)
• He also noticed that the city has a large drug and homeless problem. Many homeless gather downtown and behind his work (Along the side of the Freeway).

Mt. Diablo High Stats and Analysis

The Facts: Mt. Diablo

Total Enrollment: 1,483
English language learners: 347

Number of classes: 380

Students per class: 21.6 (less than the district average of 26.5)

Students per Computer: 4.1 
Percent of Students that took the SAT in the 2011-2012: 23.55%, with an avg. score of 445 in Critical Reading, 462 in Math, and 447 in Writing

• Compare to the District averages of 519 in Critical Reading, 542 in Math, and 519 in Writing

ACT: 4.94%, with an avg. score of 21.82

• Compare to District average of 24.5

Graduation Rate: 81. 5%

(http://dq.cde.ca.gov/)


The Feel: Mt. Diablo

We toured around the school and saw many positive, outstanding elements. First, the school's mascot is the "Red Devil" and the red and green theme are prevalent through signage and locker coloration. Then we saw an extremely creative way to honor two teachers that are no longer at the school. Students used graffiti design and typography to create a larger than life memorial, and the colors and artistry add vibrancy and pride to an otherwise blank wall. Also on campus is the Pizzeria, where students can buy lunch during break. The style mimics an Italian flag, and the convenience of professionally made food would be a nice break from homemade lunches. The quad includes new grass, a large stage for school performances, and plenty of seating area and trees for shade. Another memorial, for a student named Jesse de Soto, exists in the form of a garden next to the ROP building. When Mt. Diablo is filled with high school students, teachers, and staff, we can imagine it as a lively and energetic environment for learning. Construction workers on site during this week have been completing last minute renovations and updates to the campus.

Video Clips:

Mt. Diablo's Multi-Cultural Event (2011-2012)

Mt. Diablo students going back to class after a protest regarding furlough days.

Demographics of 94520

2010 Census, Area Code 94520 (Concord, CA)
(information gathered from factfinder2.census.gov)

Population:

• Total Population of Area Code 94520, Concord: 37, 208
• Median Age: 31.1
• Males: 51.7%
• Females: 48.3%

Race:

• Hispanic/Latino: 52.9%
• White: 29.8%
• Asian: 8.4%
• Black or African American: 4.5%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.9%
• American Indian/Alaska Native 0.3%
• Other: 0.2%
• Two or More Races: 2.9%

Housing:

• Owner-occupied housing units: 39.1%
• Renter-occupied housing units: 60.9%

Income and Benefits: (3.1% or less margin for error)

• Less than $10,000: 4.0%
• $10,000 - $14,999: 6.7%
• $15,000 - $24,999: 13.2%
• $25,000 - $34,999: 12.7%
• $35,000 - $49,999: 17.8%
• $50,000 - $74,999: 19.3%
• $75,000 - $99,999: 9.4%
• $100,000 - $149,999: 13.2%
• $150,000 - $199,999: 2.7%
• $200,000 or more: 0.9%

Median Household income: $46, 565 (compare this to Lafayette: $134, 871)

Year Householder moved into Unit (within occupied housing units)

• Moved in 2005 or later: 56.8%
• Moved in 2000-2004: 17%
• Moved in 1990-1999: 14.7%
• Moved in 1980-1989: 6.1%
• Moved in 1970-1979: 3.5%
• Moved in 1969 or earlier: 2.0%

Median number of rooms in a household: 4.2

Households with Food Stamp/SNAP benefits in the past year: 6.6%

Percentage of Families and People whose income in the past year is below the poverty level:

• All families: 14.2% (with a 3% margin for error)
• Married Couple families: 11.7% (with a 4% margin for error)
• Families with a female householder, and no husband present: 22%

The Price of Residence:

• The average price of an owner-occupied unit in this area code is $268,800
• compare to Lafayette: $1,000,000+
• People who pay a mortgage on their housing unit pay an average of $2,017 per month
• compare to Lafayette: $4,000+
• The average cost of rent is $1,115 per month
• compare to Lafayette: $1,570

Reflection: 
According to the demographics and data gathered about the 94520 area code in Concord, the city is home to a diverse population. While Hispanics/Latinos represent the majority of residents within the area, and Whites make up almost 30% of the population, other racial groups are represented.

Roughly 60% of people living in Concord rent property, while the other 40% own property. This may be due to the very new population of Concord residents (56.8% moved to Concord after the year 2005), who find renting an easier housing option.

From data on income and benefits, we see that the majority of Concord residents are lower to middle class. Although these incomes may classify as a different class in another area of the United States, the Bay Area remains one of the most expensive places to live.

While the Bay Area is extremely diverse, the range of living experiences even within one city can vary. In this area code, the price of housing and rent are relatively low, especially compared to elsewhere in Concord, or in nearby Lafayette, but the poverty rates are higher (food stamps, poverty levels, etc.). People have less income at their disposal after paying rent, mortgages, and utilities, even if housing prices are lower than neighboring communities.The median income of $46, 565 per year is not enough for many families.

Another characteristic this data reveals is the family-oriented nature of the city. We see that although more than half of the householders in Concord moved in after the year 2005, the median number of rooms per household is 4.2. This suggests a fairly new population of residents, but also that many families are moving in.