San Mateo County, California

County of San Mateo
—  County  —
Seal
Location in the state of California
California's location in the United States
Country	United States
State	California
Region/Metro area	San Francisco Bay Area
Incorporated	1856
County seat	Redwood City
Largest city	Daly City
Area
– Total	1,919.2 km2 (741.01 sq mi)
– Land	1,163.1 km2 (449.07 sq mi)
– Water	756.1 km2 (291.95 sq mi)
Population (2010)
– Total	718,451
– Density	617.6/km2 (1,599.6/sq mi)
Time zone	Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8)
– Summer (DST)	Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
Website	www.co.sanmateo.ca.us

San Mateo County ( /ˌsæn məˈteɪ.oʊ/ san mə-tay-oh; Spanish for "Saint Matthew") 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 2010 the population was 718,451. The county seat is Redwood City. It is strongly Democratic and ethnically diverse. The county's built-up areas are mostly suburban with some areas being very urban, 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 2000 census, the county has a total area of 741.01 square miles (1,919.2 km²), of which 449.07 square miles (1,163.1 km²) (or 60.60%) is land and 291.95 square miles (756.1 km²) (or 39.40%) is water.^[1] 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.

Incorporated cities

Atherton Belmont Brisbane Burlingame Colma Daly City East Palo Alto Foster City Half Moon Bay Hillsborough

Menlo Park Millbrae Pacifica Portola Valley Redwood City San Bruno San Carlos San Mateo South San Francisco Woodside

Unincorporated communities

Broadmoor Burlingame Hills El Granada Devonshire Emerald Lake Hills Highlands-Baywood Park Kings Mountain La Honda Loma Mar Menlo Oaks

Montara Moss Beach North Fair Oaks Pescadero Princeton-by-the-Sea San Gregorio Sky Londa West Menlo Park

Adjacent counties

• San Francisco County, California north
• Alameda County, California east, border is entirely in San Francisco Bay
• Santa Clara County, California southeast
• Santa Cruz County, California south

National protected areas

• Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Golden Gate National Recreation Area (part)

Transportation infrastructure

Major highways

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. ^[2]

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

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	3,214		—
1870	6,635		106.4%
1880	8,669		30.7%
1890	10,087		16.4%
1900	12,094		19.9%
1910	26,585		119.8%
1920	36,781		38.4%
1930	77,405		110.4%
1940	111,782		44.4%
1950	235,659		110.8%
1960	444,387		88.6%
1970	556,234		25.2%
1980	587,329		5.6%
1990	649,623		10.6%
2000	707,161		8.9%
2010	718,451		1.6%

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that San Mateo County had a population of 718,451. The racial makeup of San Mateo County was 383,535 (53.4%) White, 20,436 (2.8%) African American, 3,306 (0.5%) Native American, 178,118 (24.8%) Asian (9.8% Filipino, 9.0% Chinese, 1.9% Indian, 1.2% Japanese, 0.8% Korean, 0.5% Vietnamese, 0.3% Burmese, 0.1% Pakistani), 10,317 (1.4%) Pacific Islander, 84,529 (11.8%) from other races, and 38,210 (5.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 182,502 persons (25.4%); 15.7% of San Mateo County is Mexican, 2.7% Salvadoran, 1.2% Guatemalan, 1.2% Nicaraguan, 0.7% Peruvian, 0.6% Puerto Rican, 0.2% Colombian, and 0.2% Cuban.^[3]

Population reported at 2010 United States Census
The County	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
San Mateo County	718,451	383,535	20,436	3,306	178,118	10,317	84,529	38,210	182,502
Incorporated cities and towns	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Atherton	6,914	5,565	75	7	911	45	95	216	268
Belmont	25,835	17,455	423	72	5,151	198	964	1,572	2,977
Brisbane	4,282	2,578	80	21	1,084	41	182	296	712
Burlingame	28,806	19,510	360	74	5,841	139	1,451	1,431	3,966
Colma	1,792	620	59	7	619	9	366	112	708
Daly City	101,123	23,842	3,600	404	56,267	805	11,236	4,969	23,929
East Palo Alto	28,155	8,104	4,704	120	1,057	2,118	10,694	1,358	18,147
Foster City	30,567	13,912	576	29	13,746	189	575	1,540	1,995
Half Moon Bay	11,324	8,580	82	71	490	9	1,710	382	3,563
Hillsborough	10,825	7,178	42	7	3,044	23	109	422	373
Menlo Park	32,026	22,494	1,551	156	3,157	454	2,776	1,438	5,902
Millbrae	21,532	10,177	179	33	9,205	214	776	948	2,555
Pacifica	37,234	24,166	976	206	7,230	315	1,703	2,638	6,243
Portola Valley	4,353	3,960	12	5	242	1	29	104	175
Redwood City	76,815	46,255	1,881	511	8,216	795	14,967	4,190	29,810
San Bruno	41,114	20,350	942	246	10,423	1,377	5,075	2,701	12,016
San Carlos	28,406	22,497	233	65	3,267	70	827	1,447	2,855
San Mateo	97,207	56,214	2,296	505	18,384	1,998	12,264	5,546	25,815
South San Francisco	63,632	23,760	1,625	395	23,293	1,111	9,598	3,850	21,645
Woodside	5,287	4,717	23	4	332	4	63	144	243
Census-designated places	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Broadmoor	4,176	1,705	100	30	1,676	44	359	262	981
El Granada	5,467	4,608	45	38	190	5	336	245	813
Emerald Lake Hills	4,278	3,655	39	5	322	15	56	186	288
Highlands-Baywood Park	4,027	2,657	53	9	1,017	17	47	227	306
Ladera	928	811	13	0	16	2	18	68	69
La Honda	1,426	1,269	3	1	98	0	5	50	33
Loma Mar	113	101	2	0	3	0	0	7	12
Montara	2,909	2,491	16	21	142	1	97	141	324
Moss Beach	3,103	2,280	25	43	118	9	494	134	903
North Fair Oaks	14,687	7,060	235	143	548	219	5,728	754	10,731
Pescadero	643	314	2	2	5	1	294	25	402
West Menlo Park	3,659	2,983	28	2	416	4	52	174	201
Unincorporated communities	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
All others not CDPs (combined)	15,806	11,667	156	74	1,608	85	1,583	633	3,542

2000

As of the census of 2009,^[4] 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). 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 vote
by party in presidential elections

Year	GOP	DEM	Others
2008	24.8% 75,006	73.6% 222,767	1.6% 4,963
2004	29.3% 83,315	69.5% 197,922	1.3% 3,620
2000	31.0% 80,296	64.3% 166,757	4.8% 12,346
1996	29.2% 73,508	60.6% 152,304	10.2% 25,720
1992	27.2% 75,080	54.0% 149,232	18.9% 52,196
1988	42.9% 109,261	55.7% 141,859	1.3% 3,360
1984	51.9% 135,185	46.9% 122,268	1.2% 3,178
1980	48.8% 116,491	36.6% 87,335	14.6% 34,811
1976	50.6% 117,338	44.4% 102,896	5.0% 11,507
1972	52.8% 135,377	42.8% 109,745	4.4% 11,175
1968	43.7% 98,654	47.2% 106,519	9.1% 20,495
1964	35.6% 77,916	64.3% 140,978	0.1% 297
1960	51.7% 104,570	48.0% 97,154	0.3% 528
1956	61.0% 100,049	38.8% 63,637	0.1% 217
1952	63.6% 92,279	36.0% 52,149	0.5% 651
1948	56.7% 48,909	39.7% 34,215	3.7% 3,148
1944	49.2% 33,590	50.6% 34,594	0.2% 158
1940	46.6% 26,539	52.4% 29,831	1.0% 581
1936	33.1% 13,650	65.7% 27,087	1.2% 511
1932	39.7% 13,442	56.4% 19,094	4.0% 1,343
1928	58.9% 14,360	40.0% 9,755	1.1% 277
1924	55.3% 8,126	5.2% 771	39.5% 5,805
1920	70.5% 7,205	19.2% 1,958	10.3% 1,054

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, held by Democrats Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo, respectively. In the State Assembly, San Mateo is in the 12th, 19th, and 21st districts, which are held by Democrats Fiona Ma, Jerry Hill, and Rich Gordon, 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.^[5]

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.

Año Nuevo State Marine Conservation Area and Greyhound Rock State Marine Conservation Area are two adjoining marine protected areas off the coast of San Mateo County. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems.

Education

The people of San Mateo county may use the services of the Peninsula Library System and its dozens of branches, bookmobile and Library-a-Go-Go machine at the Millbrae BART/Caltrain station.

The county is broken up into several public school districts in addition to the local Catholic diocese and many other private parochial and secular schools.

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.^[6] 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.^[7] Prior to its dissolution, Hughes Airwest had its headquarters on the grounds of San Francisco International.^[8]

Notable structures

There are a number of well known structures within San Mateo County:

• Carolands Mansion, Hillsborough
• Cow Palace, Daly City
• Crocker Mansion, Hillsborough
• Crystal Springs Reservoir, unincorporated central part of county
• CuriOdyssey, San Mateo
• Dakin Building, Brisbane
• Filoli Mansion, Woodside
• Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, which incorporates Ralston 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 Point Recreation 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

See also

• List of school districts in San Mateo County, California
• List of California Historical Landmarks in San Mateo County, California
• List of California public officials charged with crimes, San Mateo County
• National Register of Historic Places listings in San Mateo County, California
• Peninsula Humane Society
• Seaport Centre
• Telephone Area code 650
• Leo J. Ryan Memorial Park
• Leo J. Ryan Federal Building
• Silicon Valley

References

External links

• County of San Mateo Official Website
• Visitors Guide from the Visitors Bureau
• San Mateo County Library – 12 branches throughout the County and a bookmobile
• Peninsula Library System – serving all of San Mateo County
• Superior Court Records
• SamCERA (San Mateo County Employees' Retirement Association
• Brisbane Baylands Project
• Diseño del Rancho Cañada de Guadalupe, la Visitacion y Rodeo Viejo : San Mateo Co., Ca at the Bancroft Library

		San Francisco County
Pacific Ocean		Alameda County
San Mateo County, California
	Santa Cruz County	Santa Clara County

Coordinates: 37°26′N 122°22′W / 37.44°N 122.36°W