Bay Point, California

Not to be confused with Port Chicago, California, originally known as Bay Point.

Bay Point, formerly West Pittsburg and originally Bella Vista is a census-designated place located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in Contra Costa County, California. Bay Point is just west of Pittsburg, California, and northeast of Concord, California, on the southern shore of Suisun Bay. The population of Bay Point was 23,896 as of 2020. The Pittsburg/Bay Point Station of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rail system is located adjacent to Bay Point in Pittsburg. The community is traversed by a freeway, State Route 4, the California Delta Highway. Being unincorporated, Bay Point does not have its own police department. The community is policed by the California Highway Patrol and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office. The ZIP code is 94565, and the area code is 925.

Bay Point
CDP
Aerial view of Bay Point, facing approximately northwest.
Location in Contra Costa County and the state of California
Bay Point Location in the United States
Coordinates: 38°01′45″N 121°57′42″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Contra Costa
Government
• State Senator	Tim Grayson (D)[1]
• State Assembly	Lori Wilson (D) and Anamarie Avila Farias (D)[2]
• U. S. Congress	John Garamendi (D)[3]
Area [4]
• Total	7.44 sq mi (19.28 km2)
• Land	6.43 sq mi (16.64 km2)
• Water	1.02 sq mi (2.64 km2)  11.7%
Elevation	89 ft (27 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	23,896
• Density	3,718.64/sq mi (1,435.74/km2)
Time zone	UTC-8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (PDT)
ZIP code	94565
Area code	925
FIPS code	06-04415
GNIS feature IDs	1853376, 2407808

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 7.4 square miles (19 km²), 88.3% land and 11.7% water. Bay Point borders Suisun Bay. The northwest portion is the neighborhood of Shore Acres.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
2010	21,349		—
2020	23,896		11.9%
U.S. Decennial Census[5] 1850–1870[6][7] 1880-1890[8] 1900[9] 1910[10] 1920[11] 1930[12] 1940[13] 1950[14] 1960[15] 1970[16] 1980[17] 1990[18] 2000[19] 2010[20]

The 2020 United States census reported that Bay Point had a population of 23,896. The population density was 3,718.6 inhabitants per square mile (1,435.8/km²). The racial makeup of Bay Point was 19.8% White, 9.6% African American, 2.3% Native American, 10.8% Asian, 0.6% Pacific Islander, 43.4% from other races, and 13.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 62.4% of the population.

The Census reported that 99.7% of the population lived in households, 0.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.1% were institutionalized.

There were 6,867 households, out of which 45.9% included children under the age of 18, 48.2% were married-couple households, 8.3% were cohabiting couple households, 26.1% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.4% had a male householder with no partner present. 16.0% of households were one person, and 6.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.47. There were 5,333 families (77.7% of all households).

The age distribution was 27.1% under the age of 18, 10.4% aged 18 to 24, 30.1% aged 25 to 44, 23.2% aged 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.6 males.

There were 7,039 housing units at an average density of 1,095.4 units per square mile (422.9 units/km²), of which 6,867 (97.6%) were occupied. Of these, 54.2% were owner-occupied, and 45.8% were occupied by renters.^[21][22]

History

Bay Point was previously known by several names, including Bella Vista and, until 1993, West Pittsburg. An election was held in 1993 to vote on renaming the community Bay Point, reviving a historical name used in this area. "West Pittsburg," the former name, was sometimes confused with the western unincorporated section of Pittsburg, California. Bay Point is similarly unincorporated.

Ambrose Park annexation

The neighboring City of Pittsburg annexed Ambrose Park in July 2008. Administrative control remained with the Ambrose Parks and Recreation District, which had owned and operated the site and its facilities since 1946.^[23] The move was designed to bring Pittsburg's greater development funding and general resources to a joint project to replace the long-time swimming pool facilities at the park. The new Ambrose Aquatic Center opened on July 4, 2016.^[24] By population, about 20% of the Ambrose Parks and Recreation District is within Pittsburg City limits. Ambrose Park features picnic, tennis, basketball and hiking, and picnic facilities in 12.3 acres of unincorporated land at 125 Memorial Way, immediately adjacent to the City of Pittsburg. It was a gift to the community from the local Enes family in 1947.^[23]

Education

Most of Bay Point is in the Mount Diablo Unified School District. A small portion is in the Pittsburg Unified School District.^[25]

In 1940 the only grammar school was Ambrose Elementary located on Willow Pass Road. The high school was in Pittsburg. A branch of the Contra Costa County Library is located in Bay Point at Riverview Middle School. Bay Point is served by the Mt. Diablo Unified School District and has four public schools: Riverview Middle School (formerly Pacifica High School) for grades 6–8, Rio Vista Elementary School (formerly Riverview Middle School) for grades K-5, Shore Acres Elementary School for grades K-5 and Bel Air Elementary School for grades K-5.^[26][27]