The Evolving Chico Area

The Evolving Chico Area DAVID W.LANTIS Emeritus Professor, Department of Geography California State University, Chico Chico, CA 95929-6824 A n INCREASINGNUMBEROFCITIZENS in California’smajor metro­ politan areas and throughout the American West have begun to appreciate that nearly a dozen of the larger Central Valley cities are no longer merely farm supply towns. All are experiencing much change and many of these communities are evolving into mini­ metropolises. The United States Census ofPopulation now identifies ten of these Central Valley places as metropolitan areas (Lantis et al. 1989). The largest center in the Central Valley, Sacramento, owes its recently enhanced metropolitan status to diverse conditions, includ­ ing its function as the center of state government. Several of the other communities have gained significant commuterlinkages with the San Francisco Bay Area, especially those located as far north as Yuba City-Marysville and as far south as Modesto. For Bakersfield, access to the Los Angeles Basin provides a substantial growth impetus. In some, such as Redding and Bakersfield, interregional highway serv­ ices are conspicuous. A few, including Red Bluff, Redding, and Porterville, are gaining recognition as retirement places. The growth impetus for Chico is distinctive. It is too distant from Sacramento and the Bay Area to be a “bedroom” community, even though a number of pilots and others do commute by aircraft. As its 125 126 APCG YEARBOOK • VOLUME 52 • 1990 most conspicuous deficiency, for a community with rapid growth center status, it is 20 miles from Interstate 5. Nevertheless, a variety of economic, cultural and demographic factors have shaped recent changes and prompted what some residents identify as “rampant” growth. Chico evolved initially on land provided by its innovative and well-known founder, John Bidwell (Figure 1). The Bidwells’ spa­ cious Victorian residence, now a state historical park, is adjacent to the University campus and the central district. Reaching from the edge of the central business district into a Cascadian canyon is 2,400 acre Bidwell Park, donated to the community by the founder’s widow. Until the mid-twentieth century Chico functioned as a farm supply town. It also provided a residence for more affluent ranchers. In the pre-railroad years, it was, briefly, the terminus ofthe Humboldt Road, leading to the gold producing Boise Basin ofIdaho and a wheat shipping point through a nearby Sacramento River port. Chico be­ came a significant lumber producer in 1870, a role that was expanded after Diamond Match (later Diamond International) established a match factory and lumber mill in the early twentieth century. Lumber became less important after 1958 when Diamond erected a new mill in Red Bluffandreduced its activities in Chico. Today, finished wood products such as doors and moldings have but a small role in the city’s economy. The Leading Role of the University Chico acquired the second state normal school (after San Jose) in 1887. Even after it became a state college in the 1920s, enrollment remained small and limited primarily to students from northeastern California. World War II brought an Army Air Force Base, now the locale of the municipal airport, which had significant social and economic impact. Like others in its system of state colleges, Chico State College began to expand afterWorld War II, albeit more slowly than such others as San Diego, San Jose, and San Francisco. Unlike many of the CSU system schools it has remained on its small campus LANTIS: The Evolving Chico Area 127 adjacentto the centralbusiness district. For many years SanJose State College was an intervening opportunity and rival for the role of the preferred away-from-home institution for young Californians from the larger metropolitan areas. Then, in the mid-1960s, deterioration of downtown San Jose (also located adjacent to the campus) and city Figure 1. The Chico urbanized area. 128 APCG YEARBOOK • VOLUME 52 • 1990 growth in most of the Santa Clara Valley made San Jose State University a less appealing residence college. Thus many students elected to attend elsewhere, with Chico, San Luis Obispo, and Humboldtbeing among the top alternatives. Chico became the school of choice for many upper-middle income students from affluent portions of the Bay Area, Sacramento, and the Los Angeles conurba­ tion. As...