A Montage Of Magical Modesto

Each day at our route meeting in the morning before all the riders hit the road, one assigned rider talks about the city we are about to visit.  Today we are riding to Modesto CA where we will also have a build day tomorrow and guess who has city facts for today's route meeting? 

Modesto, a city of 201,165 residents, covers just over 37 square miles of land and is located at 89 feet above sea level. The city relies heavily on agriculture as it's main form of industry with walnuts, almonds, milk, chicken, and corn silage being the central crops.  For reference, the community grossed $3.1 billion in revenue in 2011.  

Unfortunately, that sizable income does not benefit all residents of Modesto.  As of January 2013, 14.9% of families and 18.5% of population were living below the poverty line and 13% of the population was unemployed. 

Demographics-wise, the breakdown is as follows: 

     • 65% white (~16% Hispanic whites) 

     • 4.2% African American 

     • 1.2% Native American 

     • 6.7% Asian 

     • 1% Pacific Islander

     • 21.9% other 

As far as affordable housing goes, the average household size is 2.67 people with 57% of homes being owner occupied and 43% being renter occupied, a comparably large proportion of renters in my experience.   The median household income is $49,852 and the median family income is $56,629.  While Forbes noted in a ranking of 100 cities that Modesto was 8th best in terms of housing affordability, it was also ranked #99 in foreclosures and #86 for job forecast growth so there is obviously a dichotomy between the price of homes and the ability of homeowners to responsibly make payments on their mortgages or seek out employment opportunities to finance their home-buying desires.  

Finally, for all you popular culture fans out there, you might recognize Modesto as the filming location of "American Graffiti", the television show "Happy Days" and home to the world's largest winery named E&J Gallo Winery.  

So now you have gotten a glimpse into what a route meeting might feel like (just imagine me reading these tidbits of information rather than writing it).  Hopefully the team has a worthwhile build day in Modesto.  But first, we have to bike 116 miles to get there!