Milpitas (2000 population: 62,698) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, USA. Milpitas is usually considered to be a small northern suburb of San Jose. It is located with San Jose to its south and Fremont to its north, at the eastern end of Highway 237 and near the southern ends of Interstates 680 and 880. With Alameda County bordering directly on the north, Milpitas sits in the extreme northeast section of the South Bay, bordering the East Bay and Fremont. Milpitas is also located within the "Silicon Valley", a region of "hi-tech" computer businesses and industries. The corporate headquarters of Maxtor, PalmOne, Sipex LSI Logic, Solectron and Adaptec sit within the industrial zones of Milpitas.
The name Milpitas is the plural diminutive of milpa, a Mexican Spanish word for "corn field," which is a word dervied from Nahuatl milli, meaning "agricultural field" and pan. meaning "on." The name Milpitas literally means "little cornfields," reflecting the farming background of the area. The name was originally given to a rancho, but the name was later applied to the entire area.
Milpitas is located at 37°26'5" North, 121°53'42" West (37.434586, -121.895059). Milpitas lies in the northeastern corner of the Santa Clara Valley, which is south of San Francisco. . Milpitas is generally considered to be a San Jose suburb in the South Bay, a term used to denote the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.3 km2 (13.6 mi2). 35.1 km2 (13.6 mi2) of it is land and 0.2 km2 (0.1 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 0.44% water.
The median elevation of Milpitas is 19 feet (6 m). At Piedmont Road, Evans Road, and North Park Victoria Avenue, the elevation is generally about 100 feet (30 m), while the western area is almost at sea level. The highest point in Milpitas is a 1,289-foot (393 m) peak in the southeastern foothills.
To the east of Milpitas lie the foothills, rolling hills, and mountains of the Diablo Range. Monument Peak, the most prominent summit in the eastern Milpitas hills, is one of the oldest and most well-known symbols of Milpitas. It currently has a broadcasting antenna which provides several television channels to the South Bay.
Although not within Milpitas' city limits, Monument Peak, Calaveras Reservoir, Arroyo Hondo, Laguna Valley, and the surrounding region are culturally and historically considered part of Milpitas. (Loomis, Patricia - Milpitas: A Century of Little Cornfields) Many Portuguese farmers from the Azores have settled there, including the Coelho, Covo, Mattos, Serpa, and Silva families. They are often nicknamed by longtime Milpitans as the "hill people." These Azorean families still own the undeveloped lands in the Milpitas foothills, such as the Silvas living on Old Calaveras Road. 4 The southeasternmost hills belong to the City of Milpitas, which then leases the lands to cattle livestock companies.
There are also many creeks in Milpitas, most of which are part of the Berryessa Creek watershed. Calera Creek, Arroyo de los Coches, and Piedmont Creek are some of the creeks that flow from the Milpitas hills and dump into the San Francisco Bay. (See Berryessa Creek).
As of the census of 2000, there are 62,698 people, 17,132 households, and 13,996 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,785.2/km2 (4,622.9/mi2). There are 17,364 housing units at an average density of 494.4/km2 (1,280.3/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 30.87% White, 3.66% African American, 0.62% Native American, 51.81% Asian, 0.63% Pacific Islander, 7.48% from other races, and 4.94% from two or more races. 16.61% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There are 17,132 households out of which 43.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.1% are married couples living together, 10.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 18.3% are nonfamilies. 11.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 2.9% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.47, and the average family size is 3.72.
In the city the population is spread out with 24.6% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 38.0% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females, there are 110.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 111.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $84,429, and the median income for a family is $84,827. Males have a median income of $51,316 versus $36,681 for females. The per capita income for the city is $27,823. 5.0% of the population and 3.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 5.5% of those under the age of 18 and 6.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
The computer industry, which includes computer equipment manufacturing and software programming, is the largest source of employment in Milpitas. In Milpitas, more 50% of all Asians are employed in the computer industry. With the gradual decline of computer-related industries in the Silicon Valley, the real estate market is beginning to serve as an alternative source of employment because of the skyrocketing housing prices in Milpitas.
Milpitas has extremely high housing values. For example, a one-story, detached single-family home on a 1,500-square-foot (140 m2) lot may cost $700,000 in the city. However, these prices are considered low in the San Francisco Bay Area, as a similar house may cost well over a million dollars in Palo Alto or Saratoga. Reasons for the expensive housing include the economy, mild climate, foreign investment in the West Coast's housing, and a huge demand for limited homes.
Milpitas headquarters the technology companies of Maxtor, PalmOne, LSI Logic, Solectron and Adaptec. Quantum, Cisco Systems, KLA Tencor, Seagate, LifeScan, and Veritas also have offices in Milpitas.
Milpitas was first inhabited by the Tamyen (also spelled Thomien, Tamien, Thamien, or Tamiayn), a triblet of the Ohlone Indians who had resided in the San Francisco Bay Area for thousands of years. The Ohlone Indians lived a traditional life based on everyday hunting and gathering. They lived in various villages in modern-day Milpitas, including sites underneath what are now the Elmwood Correctional Facility, the Calvary Assembly of God Church, and Higuera Adobe Park.4
During the Spanish expeditions of the late 1700s, several missions were founded in the San Francisco Bay Area. During the mission period, Milpitas was only an unnamed region that served as a crossroads between Mission San Jos de Guadalupe in modern-day Fremont and Mission Santa Clara de Asis, now on the Santa Clara University's campus. After the Mexican government took over the vast missions lands and distributed them among the Californios (Mexican pioneers living in California), the brief but lively "rancho" period began. The land in modern-day Milpitas was divided between the 4,457.66-acre (18.0 km2) Rancho Milpitas and the 4,394-acre (17.8 km2) Rancho Tularcitos. Jos Higuera was granted Rancho Tularcitos, while Jos Mara Alviso occupied Rancho Milpitas (The latter is now named after a middle school in southeast Milpitas.). However, due to Alviso's difficulty securing his claims on the Rancho Milpitas property, much of his land was either swindled from the Alviso family or had to be quickly sold to American settlers. Both landowners had built Spanish-style adobes on their properties. Today, the adobes are still existent and are the oldest structures in Milpitas. Higuera Adobe, now in Higuera Adobe Park, is in fairly good condition , but the dilapidated Alviso Adobe is currently being repaired by the City of Milpitas. Alviso Adobe Park is scheduled to be opened a few years later, and planners have proposed to convert it into an educational museum with historic items, trees, buildings, and documents.
In the 1850s, large numbers of Americans of English, German, and Irish descent arrived to farm the fertile lands of Milpitas. The Burnett, Rose, Dempsey, Jacklin, Trimble, Ayer, Parks, Wool, Weller, Minnis, and Evans are among the early settlers of Milpitas. 1 (Today many schools, streets, and parks have been named in honor of these families.) These early settlers farmed the land and set up many businesses on a section of the old Oakland-San Jose Highway, which soon became known as the "Midtown" district. Yet another influx of immigration came in the 1870s and 1880s as Portuguese sharecroppers from the Azores came to farm the Milpitas hillsides. Many of the Azoreans had such locally well-known surnames like Coelho, Covo, Mattos, Nunes, Spangler, Serpa, and Silva. Local legend retells that during the late 1800s, there was a strong sentiment for the town to be named Penitencia, after the local creek that runs through the Midtown area. However, a post office clerk, Joseph Weller, opposed the city's naming to Penitencia because he disliked having his hometown to be named after what he thought was a near homonym to "penitentiary." Instead of choosing Penitencia, he selected the name Milpitas, which Weller had derived from the name of Alviso's property, Rancho Milpitas. Since then, "Milpitas" became a popularly used name in the town and has since stuck on.
In the early 1900s, Milpitas served as a popular rest stop for travelers on the old Oakland-San Jose Highway. One of the most famous of Milpitas' restaurants was the Kozy Kitchen that was run by the Carlos family. (Kozy Kitchen was recently demolished in 1999 when Carlos closed the restaurant. .) As late as the 1950s, Milpitas was only a rural town of 400 people who walked a mere one or two blocks to work.
On January 26, 1954, Milpitas was incorporated as a city. However, the newly formed city soon faced what the residents considered a serious threat to the city's culture and heritage. When San Jose attempted to annex Milpitas, the "Milpitas Minutemen" were quickly organized to oppose annexation and keep Milpitas independent. Almost all Milpitas residents voted "No" to annexation on the 1961 election because of vigorous campaigns that had stirred up the town. In the 1960s, the city approved the construction of the Calaveras overpass. Formerly at a junction with the Union Pacific railroad, Calaveras Boulevard had a bridge passing over the railroads after the construction was completed. Even though the good side was that local residents could now drive over the railroads without waiting for minutes when a train passed, the bad side was that many historic buildings and sites had to be either moved or demolished. (Paragraph source) 2
Starting in the 1950s and accelerating in the 1960s and 1970s, massive residential and shopping development took place. Farmland in western Milpitas rapidly disappeared as high-tech industries and residential developments sprang up. Soon, the rural town of Milpitas suddenly found itself as a bustling San Jose suburb. In a mere 30 years' amount of time, the population jumped ten times from about 6,500 in 1970 to 62,698 in 2000. Because the high-tech computer industries increased labor demand was met in large part by skilled workers from China, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, the percentage of Asian American residents skyrocketed from 12% of the population in 1980, to 37% in 1990, and boomed to 51% in 2000.
In the early 2000s, Milpitas light rail transit system station was added, making it the northeasternmost light rail destination in the region. On January 26, 2004, the city celebrated its 50th anniversary of incorporation and issued the book Milpitas: Five Dynamic Decades to commemorate 50 years of Milpitas' history as a busy, exciting suburb. After the recent 2004 Milpitas elections, former real estate agent Debbie Giordano was elected City Council member, and Jose "Joe" Esteves was reelected mayor. In the fall of 2004, the city successfully realigned the South Bay Aqueduct and improved sidewalks, bicycle lanes, and drainage ditches on Piedmont Road. A welcome plaque is also going to be constructed at the intersections of Landess and Piedmont this summer.
Source:
MilpitasCalifornia.com
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