Part One Video

UC Merced is the biggest thing that has come to Merced since I have lived there. Please watch this video about UC Merced life! Who knows? Maybe some of you might want to apply there! Click the link below to watch the video.

UC Merced Life

Chapter 9:Race

http://www.city-data.com/city/Merced-California.html

As you can see from this pie chart from city-data.com, Merced consists of about 49% hispanics and about 35% whites. The Hispanic race could be considered as the "majority" in Merced. Although this chart depicts this, a visitor to Merced can easily see the mixed races and cultures and the influences it has had on the town and its economic growth. In comparison to Northridge, I think that Merced has a less diverse culture. There are hardly any people there that are two or more races, and I have met people that live here and many of them are at least two or more ethnicities. This could be because of Northridge being so close to the metropolitan of Los Angeles, and all of the immigrants that have flocked there throughout the years. The mixture is more diverse than that of Merced County.

Chapter 8: Regional Development Programs

The Merced Irrigation District

http://www.norcalblogs.com/watts/2007/02/irrigation

Because agriculture and farming are so prominent in Merced county, the planning of an irrigation system happened relatively early for Merced around 1873. The outskirts of Merced consist of a canal system complete with a river, dams, reservoirs and even a man-made lake. The irrigation system was extremely important to the citizens of Merced, especially the farmers. They are the ones who really pushed and advocated this waterway system. The irrigation system stretches all they way into Stanislaus County. Over 50,000 acres have been irrigated throughout the county and beyond. Two main floods have challenged the districts irrigation system. These floods happen from heavy rain, and melting snow coming from the Sierra Nevada mountains just East of Merced. The Irrigation District works hard to preserve the agriculture and water rights. Without this system, Merced would not be what it is today. This county thrives on its agriculture and the revenue that comes with it.
 http://www.mercedid.org/

Chapter 7: Climate and Agriculture Today

Merced Climate Graph - California Climate Chart

http://www.usclimatedata.com/climate.php?location=USCA0695

The climate of Merced consists of hot summers and cold winters. The hottest months of the year are from late May till the end of August/beginning of September. The precipitation in Merced does not usually exceed above two inches. I have lived in Merced for 20 years, and it has only snowed once, in 1999, and one would not even consider it "snow", they were more like "flurries".  During the winter months, the temperature never drops below 0. The lowest temperature is about 30 degrees fahrenheit. The most comfortable months in Merced are the end of March until the end of May. Merced would be a good place for someone to live if they like swimming in the summer and curling up by a hot fire in the winter.

Merced County Crop Information

Value of agricultural production, 2010: $2,733,495,000 (state ranking: 5th)

Top five crops, by value, 2010:
Milk	$736,192,000
Almonds	$286,600,000
Broiler Chickens	$275,536,000
Cattle & Calves	$225,408,000
Sweet Potatoes	$152,863,000

In 2010, Merced was ranked fifth in the state for the production of milk, almonds, broiler chickens, cattle and calves and sweet potatoes. The revenue from Merced comes mainly from the hefty agriculture in the valley. http://www.cfbf.com/counties/?id=24

Chapter 5: Mineral Resources and Metropolitan Growth

As mentioned before, the discovery of mineral deposits in the Merced River increased the cities population. Gold is the only mineral resource known in Merced county. Merced does not overlap any gas, coal, or oil deposits. With the discovery of gold came the establishing of the Central Pacific and Southern Pacific Railroads.

http://www.spcrr.org/HistorySPCRR.htm

The Southern Pacific Railroad system ran from North to South through Merced. This resulted in many people deserting small gold mining towns that were established along the Merced River and flocking to towns such as Merced, Turlock, and Fresno which are all located in the Central Valley. The cause of this was because of the rail road system. Metropolitan growth flourished around this particular transportation system. Merced is known as the "gateway to Yosemite" so many locals traveled to Yosemite to continue their search for the precious metal.The building of this rail road system also lead to the transportation of goods from the San Francisco bay, to the Gulf of Mexico and vice versa.

Chapter 4: Population Distribution

 As of today, Merced has a population of approximately 80,600 with 3, 386 people per square mile.

Below is the Population Growth and Status as of 2012:

Total Population	67,584
Square Miles	83.96
Population Density	804.90
Population Change Since 1990	14.65%
Population Change Since 2000	5.78%
Forecasted Population Change by 2014	-2.33%
Population Male	33,280	49.24%
Population Female	34,304	50.76%
Median Age	29.10

As you can observe, Merced has had a 5.78% increase since 2000. This could be because of the new University which created new jobs such as teachers, engineers, landscapers, architects, scientists, builders, and contractors. The forecasted population change in another two years is in the negative. This could be because many major plants have closed such as Pepsi, and Color Print. A local Budweiser distribution plant has also closed, so many families may be relocating for another job opportunity. http://www.clrsearch.com/Merced_Demographics/CA/Population-Growth-and-Population-Statistics

http://www.clrsearch.com/Merced_Demographics/CA/95340/Employment-Occupation-and-Industry

Above is a graph depicting the 2010 employment by job type. The occupations of "Professional and Related" has increased to about 26.5% and the "Sales and Office" has increased to about 25.5%. You can see that the "Farming, Fishing and Forestry" are relatively low compared to the others and this is because many farmers have established themselves long ago, and most of the land for farming in Merced is privately owned. Merced County is not looking to hire anymore agriculturalists. As far as fishing goes, Merced is about 30 minutes from a recreational lake named Lake McClure. This lake is used for recreational fishing and sport fishing, but not to create a means of revenue for Merced.

Chapter 3: Who Lived Here Before Me?

Picture of Merced River taken from bridge.
 http://campingsierra.com/2007/05/

 Approximately 20 miles east of Merced is a mall town called Snelling. Snelling was settled around 1850 by two men named Dr. Joshua Griffith and Dr. David Wallace Lewis. The Merced River ran directly through the town making it easily accesible for gold-mining. Griffith and Lewis set up camp along the Merced River beaneath an old Oak tree. After there was word of gold being discovered in the Merced river, many people flocked to the town. However, they did not settle in snelling, but 20 miles east in the town of Merced.

Miners from Merced and Mariposa County.
 http://home.comcast.net/~davesmeds/alvinbranson.htm

 Therefore, Merced was settled by people from the United States that migrated to the East during the gold rush of 1849. This greatly boosted the population of Merced. The miners that migrated to Merced established small businesses in what is to day considered to be downtown Merced. The trip from Merced to snelling and back is on a two lane, flat road, cutting its way through the rolling hills.

 The process of dredging was used throughout Snelling to mine for gold. After this had occured, the idea was to bury the mounds of rocks that resulted from this process, but as of today the tailings on the side of the road can still be seen.
To learn more about the settlement of Merced County, click here.