Pomona, California

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City of Pomona, California
Official seal of City of Pomona, California
Seal
Location in Los Angeles County and the State of California
Location in Los Angeles County and the State of California
Coordinates: 34°3′39″N 117°45′21″W / 34.06083, -117.75583
Country United States
State California
County Los Angeles
Government
 - Mayor Norma Torres
Area
 - Total 22.8 sq mi (59.2 km²)
 - Land 22.8 sq mi (59.2 km²)
 - Water 0.0 sq mi (0 km²)
Elevation 850 ft (259 m)
Population (2000)
 - Total 149,473 (city proper)
 - Density 6,539.5/sq mi (2,524.9/km²)
Time zone PST (UTC-8)
 - Summer (DST) PDT (UTC-7)
ZIP codes 91765-91769, 91797, 91799
Area code(s) 909
FIPS code 06-58072
GNIS feature ID 1661247
Website: City of Pomona

Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California, at the western edge of the Pomona Valley since nearly the entire city is physically located east of the San Jose/Puente Hills. It may also be considered part of the San Gabriel Valley since it is at the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, whenever the Los Angeles/San Bernardino County border is used as the dividing line between the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 149,473. In 2005, its population was estimated as 160,815 [1]. Pomona is the 5th largest city in Los Angeles County (after Los Angeles, Long Beach, Glendale, and Santa Clarita).

Pomona is well known as the location of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). This university was established on the site of breakfast cereal magnate W.K. Kellogg's massive ranch located on the city's west side. It is also the home of the Los Angeles County fairgrounds. While a fair in the nation's most populous county might seem quaint, Cal Poly Pomona is one of several major agricultural research facilities in the state, and the fair's livestock exhibits are a noted attraction. (Other major California agriculture schools include California Polytechnic State University, Fresno State, UC Davis, and Chico State.)

Western University of Health Sciences is located in downtown Pomona, with programs ranging from veterinary medicine to nursing to osteopathic medicine.

Pomona is not the site of Pomona College. Although this elite liberal arts institution was founded in the city in 1887, its campus has been in neighboring Claremont since 1889.

Since the 1980s, Pomona's newest neighborhood Phillips Ranch, experienced rapid growth with demands of new housing units increased. Homes are still being built in the hilly area between Downtown and Diamond Bar. Today, Phillips Ranch is nearly all residential. Northern Pomona has seen some gentrification with additional housing units added and revamped streetscapes.

Aside from Pomona's educational assets, Pomona is also known for its hosting of the NHRA Powerade Winternationals Drag Racing venue.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Pomona is located at 34°3′39″N, 117°45′21″W (34.060760, -117.755886)[1]. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 59.2 km² (22.8 mi²), all land.

Pomona is bordered by the cities of San Dimas on the northwest, La Verne and Claremont on the north, Montclair and Chino on the east, Chino Hills and Diamond Bar on the south, and Walnut, South San Jose Hills, and Industry on the southwest. The Los Angeles/San Bernardino county line forms most of the city's southern and eastern boundaries . The Pomona; SR 60, Chino Valley; SR 71, San Bernardino; I-10, and Orange; SR 57 freeways run through the city. The Riverside and San Bernardino lines of the Metrolink commuter rail service also have stops in Pomona. Pomona is located in the Inland Empire.

[edit] History

The city is named for Pomona, the ancient Roman goddess of fruit. Supplied by horticulturist Solomon Gates, "Pomona" was the winning entry in a contest to name the city. By the 1880s, the arrival of railroads and Coachella Valley water had made it the western anchor of the citrus-growing region that encompassed most of what is now known unofficially as the Inland Empire. Pomona was officially incorporated on January 6, 1888. Because Pomona is part of the 909 telephone area code which includes many of the communities in the Inland Empire, and because of the San Jose Hills on Pomona's western city limit that creates a physical/psychological 'barrier' between Pomona and the rest of Los Angeles County, it would not be unusual to include Pomona within the definition of the Inland Empire. In 2005, Pomona citizens elected Norma Torres, the first woman of Guatemalan heritage to be elected to a mayoral post outside of Guatemala.

City Hall Pomona, California, 1969, Welton Becket and B.H. Anderson
City Hall Pomona, California, 1969, Welton Becket and B.H. Anderson
Pomona Fox Theater
Pomona Fox Theater

[edit] Demographics

Pomona
Population by year [2]

2005 160,815
2000 149,473
1990 131,723
1980 92,742
1970 87,384
1960 67,157
1950 35,405
1940 23,539
1930 20,804
1920 13,505
1910 10,207
1900 5,526
1890 3,634

Pomona is a very diverse city, with pockets of high-end housing near the Fairplex in the Ganesha Park neighborhood and a master planned development in the Phillips Ranch section. The city has some 2700 individual homes of historic significance. Particular architectural gems of the city are located in the Lincoln Park National Historic District, Wilton Heights Historic District and Hacienda Park District which contain entire large family neighborhoods, built 90 years ago, that are still intact. The southeastern part of Pomona is primarily densely populated tracts of apartments and single family homes. The Downtown was moribund for decades, but has since experienced a resurgence with concert halls, nightclubs, and art galleries improving the area's nightlife. High priced lofts have been developed in the Downtown and are selling well.[citation needed].

The majority of Pomona's population consist of Latinos, a great number from Mexico and Central America, and the main industry that attracts immigrants is manufacturing and other low-paying service jobs. There is a historically significant concentration of blacks in the northern part of town, although many of them have continued to move east to places like Rialto and Riverside.[citation needed] As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 149,473 people, 37,855 households, and 29,791 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,526.8/km² (6,544.3/mi²). There were 39,598 housing units at an average density of 669.4/km² (1,733.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 41.76% White, 9.63% African American, 1.26% Native American, 7.20% Asian, 0.21% Pacific Islander, 34.93% from other races, and 5.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 64.47% of the population.

There were 37,855 households out of which 49.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.7% were married couples living together, 16.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.3% were non-families. 15.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.82 and the average family size was 4.22.

In the city the population was spread out with 34.6% under the age of 18, 13.0% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 15.5% from 45 to 64, and 6.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26 years. For every 100 females there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.1 males.

The total employment for Pomona as of 2005 is 57,870. The top employers include Pomona Unified School District, California State Polytechnic University, Hamilton Sundstrand, Pomona Valley Medical Center, Casa Colina Center for Rehabilitation, and Lanterman Developmental Center, and a large residential facility for persons for severe/profound developmental disabilities.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,021, and the median income for a family was $40,852. Males had a median income of $30,195 versus $26,135 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,336. About 17.1% of families and 21.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.4% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Politics

In the state legislature Pomona is located in the 32nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Gloria Negrete McLeod, and in the 61st Assembly District, represented by Democrat Nell Soto. Federally, Pomona is located in California's 38th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +20[3] and is represented by Democrat Grace Napolitano.

[edit] Transportation

Pomona is served by several transit systems including:

[edit] Education

Most of Pomona and some of the surrounding area are served by the Pomona Unified School District, while portions of the northern section of the city are zoned to the Claremont Unified School District[4]. Pomona has been criticized for its construction of Diamond Ranch High School in the city's more affluent area of Phillips Ranch while ignoring its other underperfoming high schools such as Garey, Ganesha and Pomona High Schools. Pomona contains a mix of both public and private schools. There are two private schools that are located on Holt Blvd, being St. Joseph Elementary School and Pomona Catholic High School. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona is located southwest of the junction of the 10 and 57 freeways. The School Of Arts and Enterprise is a charter high school located on Monterey Ave. and Garey Ave.

[edit] References in popular culture

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • In an I Love Lucy episode, the main characters of the show "go out to the country" on a day trip to Pomona. This is now seen as odd due to Pomona since becoming quite urban. In 1940, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz spent their honeymoon in downtown Pomona.
  • In the 1940 Disney animated short Mr. Mouse Takes A Trip, Mickey is taking a train vacation from Burbank to Pomona. The conductor, Pete, won't let him bring Pluto, so he hides Pluto in his suitcase, and tries to hide him all throughout the trip without much luck. Pete thinks he's won when Pluto is hooked by a mail hook, and Mickey follows, but the twist is they actually got off the train in Pomona, as Mickey said "Look Pluto, Pomona, we're here".
  • It's a myth that Walt Disney originally planned on having Disneyland built in Pomona, but the city council declined his offer, fearing that the park would not succeed and would cause the city to go into debt. According to Matthew Tresaugue, former reporter for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, it was one of 71 considered cities, but was ruled out due to temperature extremes, i.e. too hot in summer and too cold at night. It is interesting to note, however, that author James Ellroy used Pomona as the setting for the fictional amusement park Dream-a-Dreamland in his novel L.A. Confidential. Dream-a-Dreamland and its fictional owner, the cartoon magnate Ray Dieterling, were based very closely on Disneyland and Walt Disney.
  • In the 2006 comedy Grandma's Boy, an American stoner film produced by Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison, Peter Dante's permanently-stoned character decides to buy a lion in order to protect his stash of marijuana. In one scene, Dante can be seen smoking weed with an African tribesman, Dr. Shakalu, in his basement. When the main character, played by Allen Covert, asks Dante about the nature of his relationship with Dr. Shakalu, Dante indicates that he met the doctor at a cockfight in Pomona.
  • In the Ben Lee song "Catch my disease", he refers to Pomona, "I was backstage in Pomona". Ben Lee wrote the song back stage at "The Glass House" with guitarist McGowan Southworth... "I wrote "Catch My Disease" backstage in Pomona at a venue called "The Glass House". It was the last night of a 6 weeks US tour supporting my friends Phantom Planet. My guitar player at the time, McGowan Southworth, gave me a c.d. of the chord progression and it just a had an absolutely classic feel to it. It made me think of Motown. The song wrote itself in about 10 minutes." Ben Lee
  • In the "Treehouse of Horror XVI" episode of The Simpsons, during the introductory scene, during the Springfield Isoptopes's game Pomona was used in a parody of 'The OC'. A poster background dipicting the word Pomona in a 'The OC' template. The announcer prompts Fox's newest endeavor 'Pomona' "it's even hotter away from the beach."
  • The film Inland Empire contains a scene in which two homeless women on Hollywood Boulevard discuss people they know in Pomona and whether or not you can get there from Los Angeles by bus.
  • Lela's, a restaurant in Pomona, was featured on the FOX television reality show Kitchen Nightmares. The restaurant was shut down because of large debts, however.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The Los Angeles County Fair, America's largest county fair in size and attendees, was established in 1922. The fair has been held continuously on the same site ever since, except during World War II when the grounds were used as Japanese American internment assembly camp, US Army ordnance and desert-training base, and POW camp.
  • Pomona was in line to be the capital city of the once proposed state of Southern California in the 1920s. Perhaps the city was considered "the middle of Southern California" between Los Angeles and San Bernardino.
  • In 1955, Pomona annexed the neighboring community of Spadra.
  • In 1999 Pomona ranked third for the highest murder rate in California behind Compton and Richmond. Nationally, the murder rate ranked 25th in the nation. By 2006, however, Pomona has reduced its crime rate from this high. [5]
  • USA Today wrote a news article about Pomona in 2002. The article stated that "Older suburbs" have become associated with intruding urban blight. The Pomona City Council defended the City. The City Council stated that the article was "offensive." The references on crime, drugs, gangs, racial issues, and poverty rates in the article are "untrue," as defended by residents, and based more on stereotypes than the actual 2000 census data on Pomona, which shows otherwise. Pomona is described by residents as a generally safe and diverse middle-class city.
  • Lindsay Lohan served her ten day community service at the Red Cross in Pomona.
  • In the film "Live Free or Die Hard" some of the special effect scenes were filmed at LA County Fairground White Av parking lot.
  • Barbarita Nunez, a worker in the city's Veterans Thrift Store, returned $30,000, on March 9, 2008, which belonged to a woman who had recently died, to her family. She had found the money in donated clothing. The family gave Nunez a cash reward.[6]

[edit] Famous People Born/Resided in Pomona

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  2. ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  3. ^ Will Gerrymandered Districts Stem the Wave of Voter Unrest?. Campaign Legal Center Blog. Retrieved on 2008-02-10.
  4. ^ http://www.cusd.claremont.edu/stu/images/boundary_main.gif
  5. ^ Morgan Quitno Press
  6. ^ Thrift store worker finds $30,000 in cash; returns it

[edit] External links

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