Live Oak, Santa Cruz County, California
Encyclopedia
Live Oak is a census-designated place
(CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California
between the towns of Santa Cruz
and Capitola
. Live Oak sits at an elevation of 102 feet (31.1 m). The population was 17,158 at the 2010 census.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the CDP has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.4 km²), all of it land.
-speaking Ohlone
people inhabited the area from Half Moon Bay
to Aptos
, including the area now known as Live Oak. When missionaries established the Mission Santa Cruz
in 1791, they noted "an area to the east of the San Lorenzo River
"in sight of the Sea
" that was crisscrossed by "steep gulch
es containing running water" and three "reed
-lined" lagoons. Spanish colonial settlers, who later established the secular pueblo of Villa de Branciforte
on the east side of the San Lorenzo
, ran their herds of cattle and horses in the "common lands" of this area.
In 1834 and 1836, territorial governors divided these lands among two rancheros, the brothers Alejandro and Francisco Rodriguez. Alejandro Rodriguez was granted "El Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo", named for the rodeo
grounds located in a low-lying area along Rodeo Creek. (These grounds were later filled in during the construction of Highway 1
.) Francisco Rodriguez was granted the rancho bearing the name "Los Esteros" because of the three sizeable saltwater lakes lying within its boundaries (now known as Twin Lakes
and the Santa Cruz Harbor
).
With the discovery of gold in California
in 1848 and American statehood in 1849, legal maneuvering turned the Rodriguez brothers' holdings over to a handful of white settler-farmers. Their farms produced wheat
, oats
, and barley
, supporting small households of adobe
and rough-cut lumber. The farmers prospered, establishing a Grange Hall and, in 1872, a small schoolhouse called the "Live Oak School", named for the evergreen live oak
trees that dot the area. The Live Oak School District
has maintained a facility at this location, now the intersection of 17th Avenue and Capitola Road, to the present day.
By the turn of the century, fifty years of wheat and oat farming had depleted the soil
such that farmers turned to cultivating fruits and vegetables. Owing to the irrigation
needs of these crops, these farms eventually failed and were replaced by a large poultry
operation near the present-day intersection of Capitola Road and Soquel Drive, and a floriculture
bulb
nursery
(specializing in calla
s, narcissus, freesia
s and begonia
s) near the present-day intersection of 17th Avenue and East Cliff Drive.
Around 1910, two Santa Cruz real estate agents, the brothers Frank and David Wilson, purchased and subdivided several of the old 19th century wheat farms. The new lots were long and narrow, normally of 2.5 acres (1 ha), and came with a "poultry unit" that included a kit for a two-bedroom house, and one or two large chicken
coops stocked with a flock of 500 or 1,000 hens and roosters. The layout and shape of these lots has left a distinctive mark on the area's subsequent development. A feed mill to serve the area soon followed.
Egg
and poultry
prices plummeted in the early years of the Great Depression
, and this difficulty was compounded by a double plague of Pullorum Disease
and Coccidiosis, which swept through the chicken coops of Live Oak in 1931.
Paved roads and utilities were brought to the area during the 1940s, which also saw the incorporation of Capitola
to the east. Bulb nurseries, particularly those specializing in begonia
s, thrived throughout this period and into the 1950s, when the area was beginning to develop into a residential suburb of Santa Cruz
. The west-to-east serial numbering of Live Oak's north-south streets during that period reflected the expectation that the area would soon be annexed
to the city of Santa Cruz. Annexation never came, and a movement for Live Oak to incorporate
itself as a municipality was abandoned too, in light of the expense of providing the needed services to the area. In the 1970s, Capitola expanded westward, incorporating the tax-rich commercial neighborhood along 41st Avenue. Residential and commercial development in Live Oak continued at a steady pace, under the direction of Santa Cruz County
.
s, townhome condominium
complexes, and single-family homes in cul-de-sac
s, with the 2½ acre plots and their two-bedroom kit houses left over from the chicken farming days (The farms are no longer operating).
Live Oak has no downtown center, but 17th Avenue between Highway 1 and East Cliff Drive is the address for several schools, the Santa Cruz Live Oak Grange Hall, the Fire Department, a Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department, the Family Swim Center, and the majority of Live Oak's business establishments.
While identified as part of Live Oak, Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, California
, has its own history and developed out of El Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo rather than Rancho Encinalitos.
was 5,291.4 people per square mile (2,043.0/km²). The racial makeup of Live Oak was 12,636 (73.6%) White, 240 (1.4%) African American, 171 (1.0%) Native American, 773 (4.5%) Asian, 41 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 2,444 (14.2%) from other races
, and 853 (5.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4,796 persons (28.0%).
The Census reported that 16,714 people (97.4% of the population) lived in households, 193 (1.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 251 (1.5%) were institutionalized.
There were 6,441 households, out of which 2,083 (32.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,669 (41.4%) were opposite-sex married couples
living together, 836 (13.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 353 (5.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 480 (7.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
, and 91 (1.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,817 households (28.2%) were made up of individuals and 746 (11.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59. There were 3,858 families
(59.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.16.
The population was spread out with 3,668 people (21.4%) under the age of 18, 1,667 people (9.7%) aged 18 to 24, 4,738 people (27.6%) aged 25 to 44, 4,907 people (28.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,178 people (12.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.8 years. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.
There were 6,726 housing units at an average density of 2,074.2 per square mile (800.9/km²), of which 3,601 (55.9%) were owner-occupied, and 2,840 (44.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 1.9%. 9,291 people (54.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 7,423 people (43.3%) lived in rental housing units.
, and 5.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.98% of the population.
Live Oak comprised 6,216 households, out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.1% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.1% were non-families. 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size in Live Oak was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.11.
In Live Oak the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.
The median income for a household in Live Oak was $47,949; the median income for a family was $53,607. Men had a median income of $39,921 versus $32,955 for women. The per capita income
for Live Oak was $23,333. About 7.3% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.
Live Oak is located in the 11th Senate
District, represented by Democrat
Joe Simitian
, and in the 27th Assembly
District, represented by Democrat Bill Monning
. Federally, Live Oak is located in California's 17th congressional district
, which has a Cook PVI
of D +17 and is represented by Democrat Sam Farr
.
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
(CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...
between the towns of Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
and Capitola
Capitola, California
Capitola is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, on the coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,918 at the 2010 census.-History:...
. Live Oak sits at an elevation of 102 feet (31.1 m). The population was 17,158 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Live Oak is located at 36°58′53"N 121°58′50"W (36.981363, -121.980476).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP has a total area of 3.2 square miles (8.4 km²), all of it land.
History
For several thousand years, the AwaswasAwaswas
The Awaswas people are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone Native Americans of Northern California...
-speaking Ohlone
Ohlone
The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley...
people inhabited the area from Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay (California)
Half Moon Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean on the coast of San Mateo County, California. The bay is approximately semi-circular, hence the name half moon, with sea access to the south...
to Aptos
Aptos, California
Aptos is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 6,220 at the 2010 census.Aptos is an unincorporated area of Santa Cruz county, consisting of several small communities...
, including the area now known as Live Oak. When missionaries established the Mission Santa Cruz
Mission Santa Cruz
Mission Santa Cruz was established in 1791 and named for the feast of the Exultation of the Cross, the name that the explorer Gaspar de Portolà gave to the area when he camped on the banks of the San Lorenzo River on October 17, 1769, and erected a wooden cross...
in 1791, they noted "an area to the east of the San Lorenzo River
San Lorenzo River
The San Lorenzo River drains a large watershed in Santa Cruz County, California. The headwaters originate in the Santa Cruz Mountains at an elevation of , and the river flows through the San Lorenzo Valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Monterey Bay...
"in sight of the Sea
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean, along the central coast of California. The bay is south of San Francisco and San Jose, between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey....
" that was crisscrossed by "steep gulch
Gulch
A gulch is a deep V-shaped valley formed by erosion. It may contain a small stream or dry creek bed and is usually larger in size than a gully. Occasionally, sudden intense rainfall may produce flash floods in the area of the gulch....
es containing running water" and three "reed
Reed
- Musical instruments :* Single-reed instrument, a woodwind instrument that uses only one reed to produce sound* Double reed instrument, a woodwind instrument that uses two reeds to produce sound...
-lined" lagoons. Spanish colonial settlers, who later established the secular pueblo of Villa de Branciforte
Branciforte
Branciforte or as it was named originally, Villa de Branciforte, was a secular pueblo established by the Spanish in the of Las Californias Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, in 1797 on the eastern bluff overlooking the San Lorenzo River...
on the east side of the San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo River
The San Lorenzo River drains a large watershed in Santa Cruz County, California. The headwaters originate in the Santa Cruz Mountains at an elevation of , and the river flows through the San Lorenzo Valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean at Monterey Bay...
, ran their herds of cattle and horses in the "common lands" of this area.
In 1834 and 1836, territorial governors divided these lands among two rancheros, the brothers Alejandro and Francisco Rodriguez. Alejandro Rodriguez was granted "El Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo", named for the rodeo
Rodeo
Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...
grounds located in a low-lying area along Rodeo Creek. (These grounds were later filled in during the construction of Highway 1
California State Route 1
State Route 1 , more often called Highway 1, is a state highway that runs along much of the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. It is famous for running along some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, leading to its designation as an All-American Road.Highway 1 does not run...
.) Francisco Rodriguez was granted the rancho bearing the name "Los Esteros" because of the three sizeable saltwater lakes lying within its boundaries (now known as Twin Lakes
Twin Lakes, California
Twin Lakes is a census-designated place in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 4,917 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Twin Lakes is located at ....
and the Santa Cruz Harbor
Harbor
A harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...
).
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
in 1848 and American statehood in 1849, legal maneuvering turned the Rodriguez brothers' holdings over to a handful of white settler-farmers. Their farms produced wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, oats
OATS
OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
, and barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
, supporting small households of adobe
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
and rough-cut lumber. The farmers prospered, establishing a Grange Hall and, in 1872, a small schoolhouse called the "Live Oak School", named for the evergreen live oak
Live Oak
Live Oak may refer to:*The live oak, any of several types of oak trees that have evergreen foliage.Localities in the United States:* Live Oak, Santa Cruz County, California, a Census-designated place...
trees that dot the area. The Live Oak School District
Live Oak School District
The Live Oak School District is the collection of publicly funded educational programs in Live Oak, Santa Cruz County, California. The district was founded in 1872 by Martin Kinsley, an Irish immigrant. The first school in the district was the Live Oak School House. The superintendent, appointed by...
has maintained a facility at this location, now the intersection of 17th Avenue and Capitola Road, to the present day.
By the turn of the century, fifty years of wheat and oat farming had depleted the soil
Land degradation
Land degradation is a process in which the value of the biophysical environment is affected by one or more combination of human-induced processes acting upon the land....
such that farmers turned to cultivating fruits and vegetables. Owing to the irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
needs of these crops, these farms eventually failed and were replaced by a large poultry
Poultry farming
Poultry farming is the raising of domesticated birds such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese, for the purpose of farming meat or eggs for food. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry meat, and 68 percent of eggs are produced in ways that are described as...
operation near the present-day intersection of Capitola Road and Soquel Drive, and a floriculture
Floriculture
Floriculture, or flower farming, is a discipline of horticulture concerned with the cultivation of flowering and ornamental plants for gardens and for floristry, comprising the floral industry...
bulb
Bulb
A bulb is a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases. The leaves often function as food storage organs during dormancy.A bulb's leaf bases, known as scales, generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. At the center of the bulb is...
nursery
Nursery (horticulture)
A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to usable size. They include retail nurseries which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and to commercial gardeners, and private nurseries which supply the needs of...
(specializing in calla
Calla
Calla is a genus of flowering plant in the family Araceae, containing the single species Calla palustris...
s, narcissus, freesia
Freesia
Freesia Ecklon ex Klatt is a genus of 14–16 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to Africa. Of the 14 species, 12 are native to Cape Province, South Africa, the remaining two to tropical Africa, one species extending north of the equator to Sudan.The genus was named in honor...
s and begonia
Begonia
Begonia is a genus in the flowering plant family Begoniaceae and is a perennial. The only other members of the family Begoniaceae are Hillebrandia, a genus with a single species in the Hawaiian Islands, and the genus Symbegonia which more recently was included in Begonia...
s) near the present-day intersection of 17th Avenue and East Cliff Drive.
Around 1910, two Santa Cruz real estate agents, the brothers Frank and David Wilson, purchased and subdivided several of the old 19th century wheat farms. The new lots were long and narrow, normally of 2.5 acres (1 ha), and came with a "poultry unit" that included a kit for a two-bedroom house, and one or two large chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
coops stocked with a flock of 500 or 1,000 hens and roosters. The layout and shape of these lots has left a distinctive mark on the area's subsequent development. A feed mill to serve the area soon followed.
Egg
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
and poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
prices plummeted in the early years of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, and this difficulty was compounded by a double plague of Pullorum Disease
Bifidobacterium
Bifidobacterium is a genus of Gram-positive, non-motile, often branched anaerobic bacteria. They are ubiquitous, endosymbiotic inhabitants of the gastrointestinal tract, vagina and mouth of mammals and other animals. Bifidobacteria are one of the major genera of bacteria that make up the colon...
and Coccidiosis, which swept through the chicken coops of Live Oak in 1931.
Paved roads and utilities were brought to the area during the 1940s, which also saw the incorporation of Capitola
Capitola, California
Capitola is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, on the coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,918 at the 2010 census.-History:...
to the east. Bulb nurseries, particularly those specializing in begonia
Begonia
Begonia is a genus in the flowering plant family Begoniaceae and is a perennial. The only other members of the family Begoniaceae are Hillebrandia, a genus with a single species in the Hawaiian Islands, and the genus Symbegonia which more recently was included in Begonia...
s, thrived throughout this period and into the 1950s, when the area was beginning to develop into a residential suburb of Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
. The west-to-east serial numbering of Live Oak's north-south streets during that period reflected the expectation that the area would soon be annexed
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
to the city of Santa Cruz. Annexation never came, and a movement for Live Oak to incorporate
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
itself as a municipality was abandoned too, in light of the expense of providing the needed services to the area. In the 1970s, Capitola expanded westward, incorporating the tax-rich commercial neighborhood along 41st Avenue. Residential and commercial development in Live Oak continued at a steady pace, under the direction of Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz County, California
Santa Cruz County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, on the California Central Coast. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. . As of the 2010 U.S. Census, its population was 262,382. The county seat is Santa Cruz...
.
Live Oak today
Sporadic infill development in Live Oak over the last half century has contributed to the area's eclectic patchwork of trailer parks, ranch-style houseRanch-style house
Ranch-style houses is a domestic architectural style originating in the United States. First built in the 1920s, the ranch style was extremely popular amongst the booming post-war middle class of the 1940s to 1970s...
s, townhome condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
complexes, and single-family homes in cul-de-sac
Cul-de-sac
A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...
s, with the 2½ acre plots and their two-bedroom kit houses left over from the chicken farming days (The farms are no longer operating).
Live Oak has no downtown center, but 17th Avenue between Highway 1 and East Cliff Drive is the address for several schools, the Santa Cruz Live Oak Grange Hall, the Fire Department, a Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department, the Family Swim Center, and the majority of Live Oak's business establishments.
While identified as part of Live Oak, Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, California
Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, California
Two more spots surfed in the early '70's are "Little Wind & Sea" and "26th avenue". Both are just north of "Sewers" and "First Peak" at 26th Avenue....
, has its own history and developed out of El Rancho Arroyo del Rodeo rather than Rancho Encinalitos.
2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Live Oak had a population of 17,158. The population densityPopulation density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 5,291.4 people per square mile (2,043.0/km²). The racial makeup of Live Oak was 12,636 (73.6%) White, 240 (1.4%) African American, 171 (1.0%) Native American, 773 (4.5%) Asian, 41 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 2,444 (14.2%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 853 (5.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4,796 persons (28.0%).
The Census reported that 16,714 people (97.4% of the population) lived in households, 193 (1.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 251 (1.5%) were institutionalized.
There were 6,441 households, out of which 2,083 (32.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,669 (41.4%) were opposite-sex married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 836 (13.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 353 (5.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 480 (7.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
POSSLQ
POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....
, and 91 (1.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,817 households (28.2%) were made up of individuals and 746 (11.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59. There were 3,858 families
Family (U.S. Census)
A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...
(59.9% of all households); the average family size was 3.16.
The population was spread out with 3,668 people (21.4%) under the age of 18, 1,667 people (9.7%) aged 18 to 24, 4,738 people (27.6%) aged 25 to 44, 4,907 people (28.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,178 people (12.7%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.8 years. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.5 males.
There were 6,726 housing units at an average density of 2,074.2 per square mile (800.9/km²), of which 3,601 (55.9%) were owner-occupied, and 2,840 (44.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 1.9%. 9,291 people (54.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 7,423 people (43.3%) lived in rental housing units.
2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 16,628 people, 6,216 households, and 3,785 families residing in the Live Oak CDP. The population density was 5,142.4 people per square mile (1,987.6/km²). There were 6,405 housing units at an average density of 1,980.8 per square mile (765.6/km²). The racial makeup of Live Oak was 77.61% White, 1.37% African American, 1.02% Native American, 3.82% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 11.07% from other racesRace (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 5.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.98% of the population.
Live Oak comprised 6,216 households, out of which 32.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.1% were married couples living together, 13.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.1% were non-families. 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size in Live Oak was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.11.
In Live Oak the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 9.6% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1 males.
The median income for a household in Live Oak was $47,949; the median income for a family was $53,607. Men had a median income of $39,921 versus $32,955 for women. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for Live Oak was $23,333. About 7.3% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.6% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
In the state legislatureCalifornia State Legislature
The California State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of California. It is a bicameral body consisting of the lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members, and the upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members...
Live Oak is located in the 11th Senate
California State Senate
The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature. There are 40 state senators. The state legislature meets in the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The Lieutenant Governor is the ex officio President of the Senate and may break a tied vote...
District, represented by Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
Joe Simitian
Joe Simitian
Saren Joseph Simitian is a Democratic California State Senator elected in 2004. Simitian represents the 11th Senate District, which encompasses all or part of 13 cities in San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties....
, and in the 27th Assembly
California State Assembly
The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...
District, represented by Democrat Bill Monning
Bill Monning
William "Bill" Monning is an American educator, lawyer and politician. Monning was elected to the California State Assembly from the 27th Assembly District in the 2008 Assembly election....
. Federally, Live Oak is located in California's 17th congressional district
California's 17th congressional district
California's 17th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California that covers all of Monterey and San Benito counties, as well as part of Santa Cruz County...
, which has a Cook PVI
Cook Partisan Voting Index
The Cook Partisan Voting Index , sometimes referred to as simply the Partisan Voting Index , is a measurement of how strongly an American congressional district or state leans toward one political party compared to the nation as a whole...
of D +17 and is represented by Democrat Sam Farr
Sam Farr
Samuel S. "Sam" Farr is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected to Congress in a 1993 special election when longtime Democratic Rep...
.