San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County (pronounced /ˌsæn məˈteɪoʊ/ (Spanish for: St. Matthew County) is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and Silicon Valley begins at the southern end. As of 2005 the population was 712,462. The county seat is Redwood City. It is among the 20 most affluent counties in the United States, in terms of personal, per capita and household income. It is strongly Democratic and ethnically diverse. The county's built-up areas are mostly suburban, and are home to several corporate campuses.
History
San Mateo County was formed from parts of San Francisco County and Santa Cruz County in 1856.The county bears the Spanish name for Saint Matthew. As a place name, San Mateo appears as early as 1776 and several local geographic features were also designated San Mateo on early maps including variously: a settlement, an arroyo, a headland jutting into the Pacific (Point Montara), and a large land holding (Rancho San Mateo). Until about 1850, the name appeared as San Matheo.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 741 sq mi (1,919 km²),of which 449 sq mi (1,163 km²) are land and 292 sq mi (756 km²) (39.40%) are water. A number of bayside watercourses drain the eastern part of the county including San Bruno Creek and Colma Creek. Streams draining the western county include Frenchmans Creek, Pilarcitos Creek, Naples Creek, Arroyo de en Medio, and Denniston Creek.
Adjacent counties
San Francisco County, Californianorth
Alameda County, Californiaeast, border is entirely inSan Francisco Bay
Santa Clara County, Californiasoutheast
Santa Cruz County, Californiasouth
National protected areas
Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge(part)
Golden Gate National Recreation Area(part)
Major highways
Interstate 280(Junipero Serra Freeway)
Interstate 380(Kopp Freeway)
U.S. Route 101(Bayshore Freeway)
State Route 1(Cabrillo Highway)
State Route 82(El Camino Real)
State Route 84(Woodside Road,Dumbarton Bridge)
State Route 92(J. Arthur Younger Freeway,San Mateo Bridge)
Public transportation
SamTrans (San Mateo County Transit District) provides local bus service within San Mateo County. Local and commuter bus routes also operate into San Francisco.Caltrain, the commuter rail system, traverses the county from north to south, running alongside the Highway 101 corridor for most of the way. Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) trains serve San Francisco International Airport and the northern portion of the county, terminating at Millbrae.Caltrain, BART, and SamTrans converge at the Millbrae Intermodal station.
Airports
San Francisco International Airport is geographically located in San Mateo County, but it is owned by the City and County of San Francisco.San Mateo County does own two general aviation airports: Half Moon Bay Airport and San Carlos Airport.
Marine transport
The only deepwater port in South San Francisco Bay is the Port of Redwood City, situated along Redwood Creek, originally created as a lumber embarcadero in 1850.
Demographics
As of the census of 2009, there were 714,936 people, 258,648 households, and 174,582 families residing in the county. The population density was 2,753/sq mi (825/km²). There were 284,471 housing units at an average density of 789/sq mi (432/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 41.7% non-Hispanic White, 5.55% Black or African American, 1.47% Native American, 17.04% Asian, 3.5% Pacific Islander, 5.8% from other races, and 4.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 28.5% of the population. 7.4% were of Italian, 7.1% Irish, 7.0% German and 5.3% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 46.9% spoke English, 28.4% Spanish, 6.2% Tagalog, 4.0% Chinese or Mandarin and 1.1% Cantonese, and other language 4.2%, as their first language from estimate census 2009.There were 258,648 households out of which 30% had children under the age of 18, 48.6% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.7% were non-families. 31.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.79 and the average family size was 4.44.In the county, the population was spread out with 28.6% under the age of 18, 15.9% from 18 to 24, 25.8% from 25 to 44, 21% from 45 to 64, and 9.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 97.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.1 males.The median income for a household in the county was $69,306, and the median income for a family was $77,737. Males had a median income of $48,342 versus $45,383 for females. The per capita income for the county was $36,045. About 6.42% of families and 9.51% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.01% of those under age 18 and 8.52% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
San Mateo County has a five-member Board of Supervisors, representing five geographic districts, but elected at-large. The California Secretary of State, as of April 2008, reports that San Mateo County has 357,514 registered voters. Of those voters registered, 179,994 (50.4%) are registered Democratic, 82,189 (23.0%) are registered Republican, 13,648 (3.8%) are registered with other political parties, and 81,683 (22.8%) declined to state a political party preference. With the exceptions of Atherton, Hillsborough, and Woodside, every city, town, and the unincorporated areas of San Mateo County has more registered Democrats than Republicans.San Mateo is a strongly Democratic county in presidential and congressional elections. The last Republican to win a majority in the county was Ronald Reagan in 1984.San Mateo is part of California's 12th and 14th congressional districts. The 12th district seat became vacant upon the death of former Democratic representative Tom Lantos on February 11, 2008, but was filled by a special election held April 8, 2008 when former state senator Jackie Speier was elected to complete Lantos' term in the 110th Congress. The 14th district's representative is Democrat Anna Eshoo. In the State Assembly, San Mateo is in the 12th, 19th, and 21st districts, which are held by Democrats Fiona Ma, Jerry Hill, and Ira Ruskin, respectively. In the State Senate, San Mateo is in the 8th and 11th districts, which are held by Democrats Leland Yee and Joe Simitian, respectively.On Nov. 4, 2008 San Mateo County voted 61.8 % against Proposition 8, which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.
Environmental features
San Mateo County straddles the San Francisco Peninsula, with the Santa Cruz Mountains running its entire length. The county encompasses a variety of habitats including estuarine, marine, oak woodland, redwood forest, coastal scrub and oak savannah. There are numerous species of wildlife present, especially along the San Francisco Bay estuarine shoreline, San Bruno Mountain, Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and the forests on the Montara Mountain block. Several creeks discharge to the San Francisco Bay including San Mateo Creek and Laurel Creek and several coastal streams discharge to the Pacific Ocean such as Frenchmans Creek and San Vicente Creek.The county is home to several endangered species including the San Francisco garter snake and the San Bruno elfin butterfly, both of which are endemic to San Mateo County. The endangered California clapper rail is also found on the shores of San Francisco Bay, in the cities of Belmont and San Mateo. The endangered wildflower Hickman's potentilla is found near the Pacific Ocean on the lower slopes of Montara Mountain. The endangered wildflowers White-rayed pentachaeta, Pentachaeta bellidiflora, San Mateo Woolly Sunflower, Eriophyllum latilobum, Marin Dwarf Flax, Hesperolinon congestum and the San Mateo Thornmint, Acanthomintha duttonii, are found in the vicinity of the Crystal Springs Reservoir.Some students in San Mateo County's public schools attend outdoor education in La Honda. San Mateo Outdoor Education is a residential school that teaches major concepts of ecology via exploration of forest, pond, garden, tidepool, wetland, and sandy shore habitats. The center's mascot is the banana slug, a large yellow gastropod. The school uses songs from the famous Banana Slug String Band.
Economy
Prior to its dissolution, Pacific Air Lines had its corporate headquarters on the grounds of San Francisco International Airport in an unincorporated area in San Mateo County. Prior to its dissolution, Hughes Airwest had its headquarters on the grounds of San Francisco International.
Notable structures
There are a number of well known structures within San Mateo County:Carolands Mansion, Hillsborough
Cow Palace, Daly City
Coyote Point Museum, San Mateo
Crocker Mansion, Hillsborough
Crystal Springs Reservoir,unincorporatedcentral part of county
Dakin Building, Brisbane
Filoli Mansion, Woodside
Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, which incorporatesRalston Hall
Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Pescadero
Point Montara Lighthouse, Montara
Pulgas Water Temple, Woodside
Sanchez Adobe, Pacifica
San Francisco International Airport
Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Menlo Park
Kohl Mansion, Burlingame
County trails
See this county page for trail descriptions.Alpine Trail
Bog Trail
Cañada Trail
Crystal Springs Trail
Edgewood Trail
Ralston Trail
San Andreas Trail
Sand Hill Trail
Sawyer Camp Trail
Skyline Trail
Sheep Camp Trail
Sweeney Ridge Trail
Hiking trails in San Mateo County
County parks
Coyote PointRecreation Area
Coyote Point Marina
Crystal Springs
Edgewood Park and Natural Reserve
Fitzgerald Marine Reserve
Flood Park (County)
Heritage Grove
Huddart Park
Junipero Serra County Park
San Mateo County Memorial Park
Pescadero Creek Park
Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve
Sam MacDonald Park
San Bruno Mountain(County Park)
San Mateo Fishing Pier
San Mateo County Memorial Park
San Pedro Valley County Park
Sanchez Adobe
Woodside Store
Wunderlich Park -New
Source: http://www.sanmateocountyparks.org/
County Parks: http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/portal/site/parks
State parks
Año Nuevo State Park
Butano State Park
Castle Rock State Park
Heritage Grove
Portola Redwoods State Park
Quarry Park
Burleigh H. Murray Ranch
Pigeon Point Light Station Historic State Park
Point Montara Light Station State Park
Portola Redwoods State Park
San Bruno Mountain State Park
State beaches
Año Nuevo State Reserve
Bean Hollow State Beach
Big Basin State Beach
Gray Whale Cove State Beach
Half Moon Bay State Beach
Montara State Beach
Pacifica State Beach
Pebble Beach
Pescadero State Beach
Pomponio State Beach
San Gregorio State Beach
Thornton State Beach
Source: http://www.parks.ca.gov/parkindex/default.asp?tab=3 State Parks, Choose San Mateo