Talk:Redwood City, California

Trivia Evidence

With regards to two (2) points:

1. Independence Day Parade
2. aka Deadwood City

The San Mateo Daily Journal has published an article today (2006-07-03) in support of both points. The article entitled What happened to the Fourth of July Rodeo? (by Joan Levy) states in the third paragraph:

Over the years, the celebration continued to change. The Peninsula Celebration Association (PCA) was formed in 1939 to “take the deadwood out of Redwood” as Charley Holt said.

--meatclerk 06:34, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

The Upcoming Map

As I stated before I have a map that will be inserted. It's now uploaded and ready. If someone else wants to use it, it's PD. Here is the link.

meatclerk 18:58, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Oracle Campus

Other than the main headquarters at 500 Oracle Parkway, where is there an Oracle campus in Redwood City?

it will likely require a trip down there for me to confirm (unless someone else down there can do so). last time i was down there, last year, i drove out seaport blvd in redwood city - at the end there is a large campus adjacent to the port of redwood city, which appears largely vacant. it may not have been an oracle campus proper, but an annex of office within the campus. but for now, i'll revert back to just listing the campus in redwood shores.Anastrophe 20:48, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

I remember there being an ORCL training facility out by the port (circa 2000), but it certainly isn't worth lisiting in this article. There are various buildings Oracle leases in the vicinity of HQ, but again, not worth mentioning. (forgot to sign) Schmiteye 17:01, 13 April 2006 (UTC)

agreed. Anastrophe 01:12, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

The campus out by the port is the Pacific Design Center (clearly visible in the skyline photo at the top of the article which I took). I was just out by the port three months ago and there are clearly no Oracle offices there. I don't know if Oracle used to be there, though. --Coolcaesar 01:32, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

Oracle, to my knowledge, has never been by the RWC port. I'll try to get a map from the Planning Department to post. On the map you'll be able to see that Oracle is in a completely different area, namely Belmont Slough. The port of RWC is in Redwood Creek. I have a [map], however it is out of date, circa 1969. In addition, I want to make the City of RWC symbol plainly visible. The map originates from a RWC planning department environmental study for Redwood Shores.

The Campus out by RWC was for NEXT Computers (formerly of Steve Jobs). The Port also maintains a section for the USGS (I believe), but definitely for government survey vessels. Also out in that area is Pete's Harbor (still operating, formerly speakeasy) and a game company (possibly EA extension).

As might be obvious, I work and play in RWC. I am also a volunteer historian for both RWC, Menlo Park, and selected parts of San Mateo Country.

meatclerk 18:34, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

Deadwood City

Do we have a cite for this? I've lived in the Bay Area for a long time and never heard of that one. I think it's funny (and probably appropriate), but it may be POV for Redwood City residents and as such should be cited to a neutral source. --Coolcaesar 02:14, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

I never heard it when I lived there; I worked and/or lived in RWC from 1993-2000. Google finds a few references to it, though. http://www.foxdream.com/HotSpot/111601.html describes 'a downtown once known as Deadwood City'. -- Kazrak 02:39, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

i grew up there, 1959 until about 1978. i heard it first when i was in high school. only sporadically. it's more of a tossed out term and really not used often. i dont' think it really merits an entry as 'trivia' to be perfectly honest. the fact that redwood city had the largest fourth of july parade west of the mississippi up through at least the 1970's probably merits more of a mention than that. Anastrophe 04:38, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

Deadwood City is a local term used. I used it often. The common joke I told was, "The first thing you do when you move into Redwood City is move out. That's why we call it Deadwood City."

Prior to the serious improvements in RWC, the only entertainment without alchol was at a small pizza place called "Pony Express Pizza". It was a place where garage bands made their break. We commonly referred to RWC as "Deadwood Shity", local bands playing there did also, as did those passing through.

I tend to agree it should be in the trivia section. It merits a this footnote at best.

meatclerk 18:43, 30 June 2006 (UTC)

I've read the discussion and I think a consensus is to cut it. No cite is possible. This is beneath Wikipedia's standards. I've lived in the Bay Area for 20 years, 15 in RWC and have never even heard the term. The discussion implies this was some joke some kids made way back when? I'm sorry there was no good place to hear garage bands but this just isn't professional level.

Sorry to disappoint your ideal view of RWC. I have added a citation to assist your objections. --meatclerk 06:18, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

I happened to glance back here and saw this. It's a reference to a story about a rodeo from 1939! Come on. You're attached to this dumb joke and determined to keep some vestige of it in. The sad truth is that Wikipedia's reputation has declined so much in the past six months, with the recent scandals about contributors, that nothing in the article really matters as it did last year, when we dreamed of Wikipedia as a communal source of knowledge. I'm not embarrassed for Redwood City but for Wikipedia, which has become the butt of gags for unprofessional reference work like this. Please exercise some self restraint. Rise to the occasion. The general impression of a Wikipedia article is starting to be the Onion's:

"The Revolution's main adversaries were the patriots and the people from Braveheart," said speaker Tim Capodice, who has edited hundreds of Wikipedia entries on subjects as diverse as Euclidian geometry and Ratf--king. "The patriots, being a rag-tag group of misfits, almost lost on several occasions. But after a string of military antics and a convoluted scheme involving chicken feathers and an inflatable woman, the British were eventually defeated despite a last-minute surge, by a score of 89-87."

"Despite spirited discussions bloggers present later described as "eluminating" and "sweet," the symposium was cut short when differences of opinion among the panelists degenerated into personal insults and name-calling.

"While Wikipedia's "American Inderpendance" page remains available to all site visitors, administrators have suspended additions and further edits to its content due to vandalism."

I concur with your view that the term "Deadwood City" is unsupported by the source and should be deleted from the article. --Coolcaesar 08:06, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Deadwood as a moniker is still in use in Redwood City. What type of evidence do you want? Another article, a note from a history book? Its well known locally and is not easily disputed. I live and work in RWC. It accurate. meatclerk 02:35, 12 July 2007 (UTC)

redwood city is not at all dead anymore. Its one of the only cities i no that have a live downtown even though most of the people there are teens. —Preceding unsigned comment added by SaNfRaNcIsCo415 (talk • contribs) 23:36, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Dreamworks

thanks to 70.248.252.11 for the citation for dreamworks animation group. Anastrophe 00:09, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Image

Jessemonroy650,

Adding photo of Mayor Barbara Pierce 3/2006. I hope I didn't mix anything up for you while uploading the image. This is one of her best photos. She was in her element that evening. PEACE TalkAbout 03:12, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Removed or Purged Information

This information was removed or purged because it was added for questionable purposes.

See Reason for more information.

Reason: Unrelated to topic.

*Friends for Youth

Reason: Updated with new map

*[[:Image:CAMap-doton-Redwood_City.png|left|frame|Location of Redwood City within California.]]

Reason: 1) The article on Brian does not show any street activity in RWC. If there is, it must be cited. 2) The article on Aggressive skating similarly shows no citations on the phrase. That is, it seems to be merely a term of doubious usage.

Brian Shima, Legendary professional aggressive inline skater started his career on the streets of Redwood City.

Reason: After several reviews, the link seems to be a message board.

*Redwood City Group on flickr.com Photos from within the Redwood City boundaries by every day people.

Reason: unable to verify if resident, or native, or title

*[Matt Doyle]], former tennis player, won 1 ATP title in Cologne

Reason: unable to verify

*World's Largest Ferrari Dealership Ferrari of Silicon Valley, the largest Ferrari dealership in the world, is located in Redwood City.

Reason: Broad claim without citation, nor defendable. Note: Redwood City Historical Association has been unable to qualify this, and item remains in contraversy.

==Climate==

Text for Map

Redwood City has two creeks that run through it, southwest to northeast - from the hills to the baylands. The streams are known locally as Cordilleras Creek and Redwood Creek. Both creeks exit into sloughs and marshland. Belmont slough marks the northern boundary to the landfilled baylands, now Redwood Shores. The slough originates from a creek in an neighboring town, San Carlos. Westpoint slough marks the southern boundary of another landfilled area bordering Menlo Park's Bay Front Park.

Cordilleras Creek originates in the hills of San Carlos. Cordilleras means chain or ridge of mountains.[1] The name refers to the origin of the creek. Therefore, the creek originates from a ridge of a mountain. The creek then runs northwest creating the border between San Carlos on the northside and Redwood City on the southside until it reachs the slough.

Redwood Creek has multiple origins. From north to south the tributaries are Lower Emerald Lake, Upper Emerald Lake and two mountain spring. They flow south then curve to follow the hills back to the northwest. Redwood Creek is also known as Arroyo de Ojo de Agua. The literal translation is Creek of Eye (Origin) of Water, meaning the creek originates from a water source (spring).

The flows from Lower Emerald Lake, Upper Emerald Lake and one of the mountain spring meet after the Alameda de las Pulgas (street) and before Hudson Street. This branch is refered to as "The Arroyo". The remaining spring, known as Redwood Creek, flows through Redwood Hills Country club, crosses Alameda de las Pulgas, then flows towards the baylands.

The Arroyo and Redwood Creek meet northeast of El Camino in the downtown section. The creek then meanders through downtown into the slough the into the Port of Redwood City, "the only deepwater port in south San Francisco Bay"[3]. Redwood Creek was named as such because the slough it feeds (Redwood Slough) was the end of the road for Redwood trees at the source of the creek.[4]

• [1] California's Spanish Place-Names - ISBN: 0-935382-68-2 (pbk.), pg. 225
• [2] IBID, pg. 213
• [3] Port of Redwood City
• [4] South from San Francisco - by Frank M. Stanger (c) 1963 -LOC# 63-21262, pg. 54

ShotSpotter

The document that follows reports on the effectiveness of the system. Notes from this will be used to update the trivia note about it on this article.

• (pdf) Field Evaluation of the ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System: Final ..

Climate

Temporary storage (See Removed or Purged Information - above)

==Climate==

Redwood City's reputation of "Climate Best By Government Test" is based on official weather records, originally kept by the U.S. Weather Bureau. The National Weather Service, which maintains both a regional forecast center and a cooperative weather station in the community, has continued to verify the excellence of the local climate.

The warmest month is normally July with an average high of 80.8° and an average low of 55.2°, demonstrating that most days are comfortably warm and nights are so cool that air conditioning is seldom needed. However, on July 14 and 15, 1972, the temperature soared to 110°, the highest temperature ever observed in Redwood City. Annually, temperatures normally reach 90° or more on 21.6 days and 100° or more on only 2.8 days.

The coolest month is normally January with an average high of 57.7° and an average low of 39.1°. Although freezing temperatures (32° or lower) normally occur on 10.4 days each year, daytime temperatures are relatively mild during the winter months. The record low temperature in Redwood City was 16° on January 11, 1949.

Most of the year's precipitation occurs from November through April; subtropical moisture has occasionally brought unexpected showers and even thunderstorms during the summer months. Average annual precipitation is 20.16 inches. The average annual days with measurable rainfall is 62.1 days. The most rainfall observed in one month was 12.42 inches in February 1998. The heaviest one-day precipitation was 4.88 inches on October 13, 1962, during the so-called "Columbus Day Storm" that deluged much of the San Francisco Bay Area. Measurable snowfall has not been recorded since May 1935, when a rare storm brought less than one-half inch to the city. Traces of snow have been observed since then, including the snow flurries that occurred on the morning and afternoon of February 5, 1976. Snow has sometimes dusted the higher hills of the city during the winter months.

Why is this being deleted

"In the Neil Young song, Heart of Gold, Redwood city is mentionned in the lyrics, in the line "I've been to Hollywood, I've been to Redwood, I've crossed the ocean for a heart of gold".

THIS IS A CLEAR EXAMPLE OF A REFERENCE IN POPULAR CULTURE/THE MEDIA! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.30.202.28 (talk) 20:57, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Neil Young's lyrics as mentioned, are vague, likely with some intention. That said, he lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains, somewhere close to, or in, Woodside, Ca. As such, his reference is best descriptive of the Redwood forests he lives in, and near by, and NOT Redwood City. His allusion appears to be to nature, not a location. meatclerk (talk) 01:29, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Hello, It is from Neil himself that he was referring to Redwood City, but that was in personal conversation and not a published source. He was referring to city names (e.g., Hollywood), and Neil's Broken Arrow Ranch where he lived for decades was in Woodside, which is immediately west of and borders Redwood City. We do have plenty of redwoods in California, and there's a Redwood Estates in the Santa Cruz Mountains, but Neil really was referring to Redwood City - for what it's worth. Regards, GoldDustProspector GoldDustProspector (talk) 00:34, 21 August 2020 (UTC)

gangs

it also doesnt say anyhting about it being a main city of the norteno gang and its sets they have here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by SaNfRaNcIsCo415 (talk • contribs) 23:34, 4 May 2009 (UTC)

Source of Name

Obviously there was at one time a forest of Coastal Redwoods (Taxodiaceae) which can grow in excess of 350 feet (107 meters). There is no mention of this nor of the current status of this forrest.(Are there any redwoods in redwood city?) Again,I find an article on Wikipedia that lacks BASIC info on a subject but instead,on the talk pages I find almost endless quibbling over infinitesimal trivia.BrianAlex (talk) 17:28, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

(I know this is a late reply) Actually it isn't so obvious given the climate is a bit dry for redwoods though there are some in the city. It is even more likely that the city was a port from which redwood timber (cut up in the hills) was exported. Or it was named after Redwood Creek. --Erp (talk) 01:27, 18 June 2017 (UTC)

There are Redwood trees throughout Redwood City. I doubt that you could drive more than a mile in any direction on any streets there without seeing one. At one time back in the 1970's, I collected bags and bags of Redwood seeds throughout the city for my brother, who is a seedsman. However, my understanding was that the source of the name is due to the logging of Redwoods directly 'up' in the hills of Redwood City, and the fact that they were transported out of the region by cargo ships at the deep-water port in Redwood City - thus, there was a constant stream of Redwood trees passing through the region, so the name was taken on from that. Whether the Redwood trees that are throughout the city now are 'natives' or grew from seeds dropped from all the Redwood logs that passed through, I don't know. However, the trees thrive there currently, so there's no reason to assume that they are only from the latter.

Unfortunately, all of this is obviously anecdotal. I have no sources ready-to-hand to corroborate or dismiss the info. Anastrophe (talk) 21:56, 25 June 2017 (UTC)

Section on the history of the Redwood City fire department

I removed this entire section because it appears to be a word-for-word copy of the text from http://www.redwoodcity.org/fire/about/history_timeline.html. Dewey Finn (talk) 01:43, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

Redwood City Improvement Association (RCIA) and public art in RWC

Seems like a paragraph about the Redwood City Improvement Association and the public art in downtown Redwood City would be good to add too! Also Jane Kim (artist) is a 2017 artist. http://www.smdailyjournal.com/articles/lnews/2017-03-23/creating-path-for-public-art-downtown-redwood-city-flora-from-fauna-murals-set-to-spark-conversation/1776425177710.html Jooojay (talk) 22:02, 23 March 2017 (UTC)

History section needs expansion

The history section needs expansion. It currently has nothing more recent than the end of the city's flower-growing industry around World War II. 1980fast (talk) 08:05, 31 January 2020 (UTC)

Sister Cities

Something odd about the list. Sister Cities International lists only Colima, Zhuhai, and Ciudad Guzman. Redwood City International lists those cities and Qingyuan as a friendship city. Redwood City government page lists those four cities plus, as another sister city, Aguililla, Mexico. I have a feeling some groups are not talking to each other. Also might be an idea to expand on what type of exchanges take place. --Erp (talk) 02:12, 15 September 2021 (UTC)

NeXT Computer

There is no mention of NeXT Computer, which Steve Jobs based on Redwood City before its acquisition by Apple. Perhaps goes with the 2nd paragraph under "Economy", which mentions other prior companies: Sega, 3DO. Probably needs external reference to acquisition by Apple, or that Jobs was starting the company. RocketSci (talk) 19:01, 11 October 2022 (UTC)

Yes, we would need a reliable source to add this information. - Adolphus79 (talk) 01:24, 13 October 2022 (UTC)

Actually, not really necessary, just a wl to NeXT accompanying the mention is adequate, as it's all sourced there. cheers. anastrophe, an editor he is. 01:39, 13 October 2022 (UTC)