What are the sociological, economic, and demographic conditions and characteristics of the area?
Tulare is a growing city of 50,000 in the central San Joaquin Valley of California, an agricultural/dairy capital of the U. S. 50% of the population is Hispanic (largely Mexican), with Anglos around 40% and the other 10% African-American, Asian and Native American. We are 198% above the national average for Hispanic and Latino families. Population trends in CA are to add another 15 million residents by 2040, with many of them in the Central Valley due to affordable housing compared to LA and San Francisco, both 3 hours away. (Tulare: 13% increase from 2003-2008 projected by Percept. ) Visalia is right next door (5 miles) with over 100,000 population, and Bakersfield is over 250,000 one hour south and Fresno 450,000 forty-five minutes north on the 99 freeway corridor. There is some great wealth in the valley, but the majority of people live in a lower economic status, with over 50% of residents receiving some form of government aid. The median income in Tulare County is $49,000 in 2003,
