Concord, California, United States

🇺🇸 Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California. Founded in 1869 as Todos Santos by Don Salvio Pacheco II, a noted Californio ranchero, the name was later changed to Concord. The city is a major regional suburban East Bay centre within the San Francisco Bay Area.

Founded in 1869 as Todos Santos by Don Salvio Pacheco II, a noted Californio ranchero, the name was later changed to Concord. The city is a major regional suburban East Bay centre within the San Francisco Bay Area, and is 29 miles (47 kilometers) east of San Francisco.

The United States Census Bureau defines an urban area in the East Bay which is separated from the San Francisco–Oakland urban area and with Concord as the principal city: the Concord–Walnut Creek, CA urban area had a population of 538,583 as of the 2020 census, making it the 80th largest in the United States.

History The valleys north of Mount Diablo were inhabited by the Miwok people, who hunted elk and fished in the numerous streams flowing from the mountain into the San Francisco Bay. It is important to note Miwok and other indigenous people still live within city limits. In 1772, Spanish explorers began to cross the area but did not settle there. In 1834, the Mexican land grant Rancho Monte del Diablo at the base of Mount Diablo was granted to Salvio Pacheco (for whom the nearby town of Pacheco is named).

Concord was founded under the name of Todos Santos ("all saints"; a name still borne by the central city plaza and park between Willow Pass Road and Salvio Street), on the initiative of Pacheco in 1869. It achieved prominence in the 19th century, when most residents of Pacheco relocated to Concord to avoid the devastation of fire and flood which crippled Pacheco's formerly booming economy. Concord was incorporated on February 5, 1905.

The area around Concord in the surrounding Ygnacio and Clayton Valleys was a large agricultural area. Crops that were grown included grapes, walnuts, almonds, wheat, hay, and even tomatoes. The area to the east (now the site of the Concord Naval Weapons Station) was the site of a few enormous wheat ranches over 5,000 acres (20 km²), and was almost a sea of wheat all the way to the marshes bordering Suisun Bay. During Prohibition, many vineyards were removed and replaced with walnut orchards. The town of Cowell, now incorporated into Concord, produced cement.

Geography Concord is located 29 miles (47 km) north-east of San Francisco, 22 miles (35 km) north-east from Oakland, 65 miles (105 km) south-west of Sacramento, and 51 miles (82 km) north of San Jose.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.5 square miles (79 km²), all of it land.

The focal point of downtown Concord is Todos Santos Plaza, which encompasses an entire city block and is known for its farmers market, free summer concerts, and large number of surrounding restaurants. Much of the area immediately around downtown has recently been redeveloped, with new high-density apartment and condominium projects to take advantage of the proximity to public transportation and to the area surrounding the park. Despite this, some crime and homelessness remain issues in the downtown area.

To the north and east of downtown is the older residential area of Concord, with many homes dating back to before World War II. In the far northern edge of town is a primarily industrial area, dominated by the Tesoro Golden Eagle Refinery (which is actually not located within city limits). The south-eastern area of the city, centered along Clayton Road, is primarily residential and was mostly developed in the 1960s and 1970s. In the south-west area of the city is the primarily Latino neighborhood known as Four Corners, centered around the intersection of Monument Boulevard and Oak Grove Road.

Concord is bordered on the west by Pleasant Hill and the unincorporated community of Pacheco, on the south by Walnut Creek, on the south-east by Clayton, on the north-east by Pittsburg and the unincorporated community of Bay Point, and on the north by the unincorporated community of Clyde. Although it shares no border with Concord, Martinez (the county seat) is located almost immediately adjacent to Concord on the northwest. The North Concord BART station is also known as Martinez BART.

Economy Concord has been primarily a bedroom community for San Francisco and Oakland over the last forty years, but during the last decades, jobs within the city have increased. Round Table Pizza is headquartered in Concord. Concord also has a strong retail sector including the Sunvalley Shopping Center, which used to be one of the 50 largest malls in the United States, auto dealerships, and Costco. Prior to its dissolution, Atrivo was headquartered in Concord.

Economy: Top employers According to a recent Financial Report, the top employers in the city include: 1 Mt. Diablo Unified School District; 2 John Muir Medical Center; 3 The Conco Companies; 4 Safeway Inc.; 5 Adecco Employment Services; 6 Macy's Concord.

Naval Weapons Station To the north of the city of Concord is the Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS), which was established in 1942. The station functioned as a World War II armament storage depot, supplying ships at Port Chicago. The CNWS supported war efforts during the Vietnam War and through the end of the Gulf War, processing and shipping out thousands of tons of material to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The station consists of two areas: the inland area (5,170 acres [ km²]) which is within the Concord city limits, and tidal area (7,630 acres [ km²]). Because of changes in military operations, parts of the inland area began to be mothballed and by 1999, the CNWS had only a minimal contingent of military personnel. In 2007, the U.S. Federal Government announced that the inland portion of the CNWS will be closed. The tidal area of the base is not scheduled for closure. The tidal area was transferred to the U.S. Army Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (SDDC) and is now known as Military Ocean Terminal Concord (MOTCO). The city is working on a reuse plan that may include developing the land while keeping a large portion for open-space and parks projects. The city has had many meetings on this subject and any plan for reuse is subject to approval by the Navy.

Transport Until 1995, the city was the eastern terminus of the Concord line of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) commuter train system; the line has since been extended eastward to Pittsburg/Bay Point in 1996 and Antioch in 2018. The County Connection provides limited public transportation in the city and to other points in the county. Buses run from the North Concord BART station to Martinez, the county seat.

Main thoroughfares include Willow Pass Road, Concord Avenue, Concord Boulevard, Clayton Road, Monument Boulevard, Ygnacio Valley Road, Oak Grove Road and Treat Boulevard. The city is also served by Interstate 680, and state highways 4 and 242.

Buchanan Field Airport is a public county-owned airfield in the City of Concord. It is served by JetSuiteX, and previously served by American Eagle, WestAir Commuter Airlines, Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) and later by PSA successor USAir with the latter two airlines operating nonstop jet service between the airfield and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

News The city of Concord is served by the daily newspaper the East Bay Times (formerly the Contra Costa Times) published by Bay Area News Group-East Bay (part of the Media News Group, Denver, Colorado), with offices in Walnut Creek. The paper was originally run and owned by the Lesher family. Since the death of Dean Lesher in 1993, the paper has had several owners. The publisher also issues a weekly paper, the Concord Transcript for Concord and nearby Clayton.

The city is also served by Concord Patch, a local news website covering community news and events, and by a news and talk blog called Claycord.com. Patch Media is owned by AOL Inc.

Media: Radio Concord falls within the catchment area of many high-power San Francisco Bay Area radio stations although some stations from Sacramento are also available.

KVHS FM 90.5 also known as "The Edge" is a Concord-based student run radio station. It is run from the campus of Clayton Valley Charter High School.

Concord and the neighboring cities of Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek are also served by KKDV FM 92.1. The commercial station brands itself "Diablo Valley's hometown station" and plays a mix of current hits and those from the last few decades.

From 1963 to 1993, Concord had a local radio station, KWUN AM 1480, also known as Contra Costa's K-15.

Media: Television Concord is served by major television stations broadcasting primarily out of San Francisco, Sacramento, and San Jose. The region's Fox affiliate, KTVU, is based in (and licensed to) Oakland at Jack London Square along with co-owned independent station KICU-TV (licensed to San Jose).

Over-the-air reception is difficult in many parts of the city due to hills on either side of the valley.

The sole Concord-licensed TV station, KTNC, gave up its broadcast frequency as part of the FCC reverse spectrum auction in 2017. It had broadcast on channel 42 from the top of Mount Diablo, but is now available on virtual channel 42 via a subchannel of KCNS channel 39.

Education California State University, East Bay has a campus in Concord.

Public libraries The Concord Library of the Contra Costa County Library is located in Concord. The library is adjacent to the Concord Civic Center.

Arts and culture Concord is the home of the annual Concord Jazz Festival and was the home of the Concord Records jazz record label until it was bought in 1999. Jazz musician Dave Brubeck was born in Concord and in 2006 a park adjacent to Concord High School on Concord Boulevard was renamed in his honor.

Concord is also home to the 20-time World Champion Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. The corps is made up of talented musicians from around the world. The Concord Blue Devils are the most decorated drum and bugle corps in the history of Drum Corps International.

The Public-access television channel is operated through TelVue Virtual Television Networks.

The headquarters of the Kabul Soccer Club is located in Concord.

Points of interest • Baldwin Community Park and the Concord Senior Center • Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps • Buchanan Field Airport • Camp Concord at South Lake Tahoe, a family-oriented summer camp, although not located in Concord, is operated by the city. • Concord Pavilion – amphitheater, a major regional concert venue formerly known as the Sleep Train Pavilion and as the Chronicle Pavilion at Concord. • Concord Skatepark • Dave Brubeck Park • Don Francisco Galindo House • Don Salvio Pacheco Adobe • Hillcrest Park – home to Matteo's Dream, a playground for children of all abilities • Lime Ridge Open Space • Markham Regional Arboretum • Newhall Community Park • Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial • Rick Sears Memorial Park • Shiva Murugan Temple • Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Concord • Starting point of the Iron Horse Regional Trail • Sunvalley Mall • Todos Santos Plaza – site of farmer's market, concerts, and movies • West Wind Solano Drive-In Theater • Willow Pass Community Park • Ygnacio Valley Park.