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Nicknames, Pronunciation, and Abbreviations San Bernardino has gone by many nicknames in its history. Of these, San Berdoo or Berdoo is the most common but is considered by some derogatory. Others include Gate City (to reflect its proximity to Los Angeles, and the fact that it is at the southern/western end of the Cajon Pass, leading to the High Desert and Las Vegas), City on the Move (used in the 1970s), and most recently The Heartbeat of Route 66. Latino gangs in the 1970s played on "Berdoo" by calling the city "Verdugo." as in "This is Verdugo, holmes" The term means "executioner" in Spanish, and is also a place name in Los Angeles County, both unrelated to the use. Outsiders often misspell the city as "San Bernadino" (without the "r"). A common street nickname is "San Bernaghetto". Newspapers, particularly the San Bernardino Sun, will abbreviate San Bernardino (both City and County) to "SB." This can cause some confusion in that other places in the state, including the South Bay of Los Angeles County, and Santa Barbara, California are both abbreviated to "SB." The name "San Bernardino" refers both to the incorporated "City of San Bernardino" and other associated, unincorporated parts of the City. History San Bernardino, California has had a long and turbulent history. Timeline Government The City of San Bernardino is a charter city, a form of government under California that allows limited home-rule, in that it can pass its own laws not in conflict with state law, such as when state law is silent, or expressly allows municipal regulations of areas of local concern. San Bernardino became a charter city in 1905, the most current charter was passed in 2004. The City of San Bernardino has what may be a unique form of government, with a strong, full-time, elected mayor, a city manager, an elected City Attorney, City Clerk, and City Treasurer, and seven council positions elected in a ward system. The charter also created the San Bernardino Unified School District, a legally separate agency, and the Board of Water Commissioners, a semi-autonomous, but legally indistinct commission, and a Board of Library Trustees. The Charter also created the San Bernardino Police Department and Chief of Police; before 1905, there was a position of City Marshall. The current Charter places the Chief of Police under the direction of the Mayor. The San Bernardino City Fire Department was founded in 1878. The Fire Chief is under the direction of the Mayor. It is a completely professional (as opposed to volunteer) fire department. All other positions are under the general supervision of the City Manager, a position created by the 2004 charter. Previously, the San Bernardino Municipal Code recognized a City Administrator. In March 2006, City Administrator Frederick ("Fred") Wilson became the City's first City Manager. When the City originally adopted a ward system, there were five wards. In the 1960s, the Council was expanded to seven wards. The boundaries are adjusted with each federal census as required by federal constitutional law. The current council is: First Ward: Esther Estrada; Second Ward: Dennis Baxter; Third Ward: Vacated by Gordon McGinnis, to be filled by election on November 7, 2006; Fourth Ward: Neiland ("Neil") K. Derry; Fifth Ward: Chas (not Charles) Kelley; Sixth Ward: Rikke Van Johnson; Seventh Ward: Wendy McCammack; The Mayor is Patrick J. Morris; The City Clerk is Rachel Clark; The City Treasurer is David Kennedy; The City Attorney is James "Jim" Frank Penman; As per California law, all city positions are non-partisan. San Bernardino shares certain powers with other agencies to form legally separate entities known as joint-power authorities under California law. These include Omnitrans, which provides transportation throughout the east and west valleys of San Bernardino County; SANBAG, which coordinates transportation projects throughout the County, and the Inland Valley Development Agency, which is responsible for redevelopment of the areas around the San Bernardino International Airport. Additionally, the Redevelopment Agency of the City of San Bernardino (which goes by the name "Economic Development Agency of the City of San Bernardino," but never legally changed its name, is a separate legal entity, though the City Council of the City of San Bernardino sits as the Agency Board, and the Mayor is its executive. The Government of Mexico has a consulate in San Bernardino on the southeast corner of Third Street and "D" Street. Citizens of Mexico can obtain a "Matrícula Consular" which many governments and businesses use in lieu of U.S. photo identification. Legal system San Bernardino is the County Seat of San Bernardino County. As such the (main) courthouse is, and by law must remain, in San Bernardino. Currently, the main courthouse is located at 351 North Arrowhead Avenue. It consists of a four-story building of steel and concrete construction built in 1927. A six-story addition was added in the 1950s. Currently, there are plans to seismically retrofit the 1926 structure, which will cause courtrooms and clerks to be temporarily moved to 303 West Third Street, site of the former State Building. The courthouse, after retrofit, will be transferred to the state's authority. Juvenile Court and Juvenille Hall are located in a county enclave adjacent to the City on Gilbert Street, near the site of the former County Hospital. A new courthouse is (very) tentatively planned to be built at the south east corner of Third and Arrowhead, across from both the planned 303 West Third courtrooms, and the current court. Funding for the future court will likely be conditioned upon a statewide bond inititative. The state courts operate as the San Bernardino Superior Court, San Bernardino District formerly Central Division prior to the unification of the Superior and Municipal Courts in 1998 The County's District Attorney and the Public Defender both have their main offices on Mountain View Avenue, directly east of the Courthouse. The California Court of Appeal Fourth District, Division Two used to be located in San Bernardino, but moved to Riverside in the 1990s. Federal cases (including Bankruptcy) are also heard in Riverside courthouses. As a charter City, San Bernardino may make and enforce its own laws not in conflict with the State's laws. These rules have been codified as the San Bernardino Municipal Code. Violations of the San Bernardino Municipal Code, punishable as a misdemeanor or infraction (or both) are prosecuted by the City Attorney's Office in the San Bernardino Superior Court. The City also has two administrative processes for violations of the San Bernardino Municipal Code, including adopted codes such as the Uniform Building Code and the California Fire Code. One is an administrative citation system, similar to a parking ticket, with a pay or contest procedure. The other is an administrative hearing process, generally used for multiple code violations by the Code Enforcement Department. The San Bernardino Police Department has a holding area, but pre-trial in-custodies are transported to the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Sentenced criminals are held at the Glen Helen Rehabilitation Center, just outside the City's limits in the Verdemont area. While the Central Detention Center, located at 630 East Rialto Avenue in San Bernardino, served as the main jail from 1971-1992, today it mostly serves federal prisioners under contract. San Bernardino's legal community has two centers: downtown and Hospitality Lane. Criminal, family, and government lawyers are centered downtown, while local civil firms, such as Gresham, Savage, Nolan & Tilden, and outposts of state and national firms, corporate, and insurance defense firms, are located along Hospitatlity Lane. Education San Bernardino is almost entirely served by the San Bernardino City Unified School District. The district also serves parts of the Cities of Rialto and Highland. Parts of the City are served by the Redlands Unified School District, Colton Joint Unified School District, and Rialto Unified School District. Despite the District's name, it is no longer a part of the City of San Bernardino. The district, as signified by its name, has elementary, intermediate, and high schools. The comprehensive high schools are Arroyo Valley High School, Cajon High School, San Bernardino High School, Pacific High School, and San Gorgonio High School. San Bernardino Valley College is a public community college. California State University, San Bernardino is a part of the California State University System. Other nearby institutions include the University of California, Riverside, the private University of Redlands, and California Polytechnic, Pomona. Geography San Bernardino is located at (34.129510, -117.293150). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 153.5 km² (59.2 mi²). 152.3 km² (58.8 mi²) of it is land and 1.1 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (0.74%) is water. The City lies in the San Bernardino foothills and the eastern portion of the San Bernadino Valley. Some major geographical features include the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Bernardino National Forest along the northern border; the Cajon Pass adjacent to the northwest border; City Creek, Lytle Creek, Twin Creek, Warm Creek (as modified through flood control channels) feed the Santa Ana River, which forms part of the City's southern border south of San Bernardino International airport, but only a small amount of the river flows within the City. A large part of the City is over the Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin, including downtown. This accounts for historically high groundwater in portions of the City, including the former Urbita Springs, a lake which no longer exists (it is now the site of the Inland Center mall), but which was a popular entertainment area until the 1930s. Seccombe Lake, named after a former mayor, is a man-made lake downtown at Sierra Way and Waterman Avenue. The San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District ("Muni"), which despite its name has nothing to do with the City, has plans on building a multi-acre reservoir south of Base Line to reduce groundwater and sell it to neighboring agencies. The City has some notable hills; among them Perris Hill (named after Fred Perris, an early engineer, and the namesake of Perris, California), Kendall Hill (which is near California State University, San Bernardino), and the Shandin Hills, also known as "Little Mountain," (strictly speaking is only the peak with the radio transmitters) which are generally bounded by Sierra Way, 30th Street, Kendall Drive, and Interstate 215. Freeways act as geographical dividers for San Bernardino. Interstate 215 is the major east-west divider, while State Route 30 (known as the "Crosstown Freeway") is the major north/south divider. Interstate 10 is to the south of the City, though a portion traverses San Bernardino near Waterman. Other major highways include State Route 206 (Kendall Drive and E Street; State Route 66 (which includes the former U.S. 66); State Route 18 (from State Route 30 north on Waterman Avenue to the northern City limits into the mountain communities), and California State Route 259, the freeway connector between Route 30 and I-215. San Bernardino International Airport (the former Norton Air Force Base) is physically located within the City. A large amount of warehouses are being built in its general vicinity; it is within the jurisdiction of the Inland Valley Development Agency, a joint powers authority, and the San Bernardino Airport Authority. Hillwood, a venture run by H. Ross Perot, Jr., is the master developer of the project, which it calls AllianceCalifornia. San Bernardino's neighborhoods are not commonly named. Some neighborhoods reflect tract names or geographical regions that existed before annexation. Del Rosa is the area generally between the foothills, Highland Avenue, Mountain and Arden Avenue, and includes unincorporated county islands. Delmann Heights is the area north of Highland Avenue, west of the 215, and east of the unincorporated area of Muscoy, California (which is within the City's sphere of influence for annexation). Some portions of Highland are within the City of San Bernardino, generally consistent with the portions of historical "West Highlands" north of Highland Avenue. The City also contains the post office for Patton, California, the area coexstensive with Patton State Hospital, a medium-security facility for sexually-violent mentally ill patients. Mountain Shadows originally was the development name for the area between Palm Avenune and Highland Avenue to State Route 330; today it generally means the mobile-home park of the same name. The "west side" is used generically to refer to the areas west of the 215 freeway. North Loma Linda is the area west of Mountain View (the border with Redlands), south of the Santa Ana River, North of the 10 freeway, and east of Tippecanoe Avenue. The area north of Northpark Avenue is sometimes referred to as Northpark. The area northwest of University Parkway, and north of Kendall Avenue to the City limits in Devore is called Verdemont. The neighborhood around Hemlock near Del Rosa is sometimes commonly called "Holcolmb Hill" in reference to former Mayor W.R. "Bob" Holcolmb, a long-time resident. The City of San Bernardino briefly (circa 2002) referred to the area immediately north of the Feldheym Library as "Old Towne," but the name is neither historically accurate, nor organic in any way. The "Bench" or "Rialto Bench" refers to the area with Rialto mailing addresses between Foothill Boulevard and Base Line, which is elevated over the wash. Crime San Bernardino has made great strides in improving its violent crime rates. Recent police efforts, includng joint patrols with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol, to clean up the city have made it safer. San Bernardino saw its murder rate peak during the early 1990s and remains one of the three most dangerous California cities, and one of the 25 most dangerous cities in the United States. It was Demographics As of the census of 2000, there are 185,401 people, 56,330 households, and 41,120 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,217.2/km² (3,152.4/mi²). There are 63,535 housing units at an average density of 417.1/km² (1,080.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 45.23% White, 16.41% African American, 1.40% Native American, 4.19% Asian, 0.37% Pacific Islander, 27.12% from other races, and 5.28% from two or more races. 47.48% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. Large parts of Western & Central San Bernardino are home to mixed ethnic populations of low-income, of which Latinos and African American populations dominate. Historically, many Latinos, primarily Mexican-Americans and Mexicans lived on Mount Vernon Avenue, while the East Base Line section was mostly black since the 1960s, particularly in an area known pejoritively as "Little Africa" centering around a public housing project called Waterman Gardens. Third Street near Arrowhead Avenue once boasted a Chinatown, detailed in the history section. The San Manuel Indian Reservation has developed a mega-resort casino, now one of the area's largest private employers. The Reservation is technically not in the City, just north of its boundaries, and San Manuels use the geographical identifier of "Highland" instead of San Bernardino, particularly in advertising. There are 56,330 households out of which 44.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.9% are married couples living together, 21.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 27.0% are non-families. 21.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 3.19 and the average family size is 3.72. As of 2000, 52.4% of housing is owner-occupied, 47.6% is renter-occupied, while 11.6% of all units were vacant. In the city the population is spread out with 35.2% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 16.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 28 years. For every 100 females there are 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.2 males. The median income for a household in the city is $31,140, and the median income for a family is $33,357. Males have a median income of $30,847 versus $25,782 for females. The per capita income for the city is $12,925. 27.6% of the population and 23.5% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 36.2% of those under the age of 18 and 11.4% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line. Media San Bernardino is part of the Los Angeles Nielsen area. As such, its residents receive the same television stations as most other Southern Californians. KVCR-TV, a PBS affiliate operated by the San Bernardino Community College District, is the only local San Bernardino television station. KPXN, the Los Angeles PAX affiliate, is licensed to San Bernardino, but contains no local content. Most of North San Bernardino cannot receive over-the-air television broadcasts from Los Angeles. This is because Mount Baldy and other San Gabriel Mountain peaks block transmissions from Mount Wilson. Since the 1960s, most North San Bernardino residents have required cable television to obtain television. Today, the City has two main cable franchises: Northwest San Bernardino has Charter Communications, the rest of the City is served by Time Warner Cable), and Mountain Shadow Cable is a small local company that provides services to the eponymous mobilehome park. DBS satelite is also prevalent. Historically, San Bernardino has had a number of newspapers. Today, the San Bernardino Sun, founded in 1894 (but was the continuation of an earlier paper) publishes in North San Bernardino, and has a circulation area roughly from Yucaipa to Fontana, including the mountain communities. Its major competitor is the Riverside Press-Enterprise. Many older residents refer to the Sun as the Sun-Telegram, its name when it merged with the afternoon Telegram in the 1960s. San Bernardino and the Inland Empire have their own Arbitron area. Therefore, there are a number of radio stations that broadcast in or near San Bernardino. These include country music station KFRG (FM) and PBS affiliate KVCR (FM). Other than government or media outlets, no large internet sites are centered around San Bernardino. Roads San Bernardino has a system of mostly publicly maintained local streets,including major arterials, some private streets, state highways, and interstate highways. The major streets are (north south streets, from the west): Meridian Avenue, Mount Vernon Avenue, E Street, Sierra Way, Waterman Avenue, Tippecanoe Street, Del Rosa Avenue, Sterling Avenue, Arden Avenue, Victoria Avenue, Palm Avenue, and Boulder Street; east west streets, from the north): Northpark Avenue, Kendall Avenue, 40th Street, Marshall Boulevard, 30th Street, Highland Avenue, Base Line (Street), 9th Street, 5th Street, 2nd Street, Rialto Avenue, Mill Street, Orange Show Road, and Hospitality Lane. The State Highways include: California State Route 206 (Kendall Avenue), California State Route 259 (the connector between Highway 30 and Interstate 215), California State Route 18 (Waterman Avenue) (the gateway to the San Bernardino National Forest), California State Route 330, and California State Route 66. Freeways include: The San Bernardino Freeway (Interstate 10), Interstate 215, Interstate 210 (under construction, to be completed in late 2007), California State Route 30, California State Route 259, and California State Route 330. Trains San Bernardino is served by Metrolink. Lines include the Metrolink Inland Empire-Orange County Line and the Metrolink San Bernardino Line. Plans are underway by SANBAG to create a light rail link to Redlands, California, with potential stops at Mill Street and Hospitality Lane. AMTRAK does not currently serve San Bernardino. Other Mass-Transit The City of San Bernardino is a member of the joint-powers authority Omnitrans. A rapid bus transit project, called SB-X, is planned from Cal State San Bernardino to Loma Linda. A bus transit center is planned in the vicinity of E Street and Rialto Avenue. Famous people from San Bernardino Sister Cities San Bernardino has eleven sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI) and the Mayor's office of the City of San Bernardino: Tachikawa is the oldest and strongest of the relationships, and predates Sister Cities International, Inc. It was formed because both San Bernardino and Tachikawa had United States Air Force Bases. Trivia Further reading Edward Leo Lyman, San Bernardino: The Rise and Fall of a California Community, Signature Books, 1996. Walter C. Schuiling, San Bernardino County: Land of Contrasts, Windsor Publications, 1984 Nick Cataldo, Images of America: San Bernardino, California, Arcadia Publishing, 2002 | |||||||||
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