Antioch, California is at first glance, maybe, a simple, out of the way spot one wouldn’t consider settling on.  But with the overcrowding, the unreasonable real estate prices, and the urbanization of once beautiful landscapes, some might reconsider.

The population of Antioch, California was 90,532 in 2000.  It only grew by a little over eleven percent—in five years, with 51% females and 49% males totaling 100,631.

The average age of the Antioch resident is about 32, making for young, moderately progressive neighborhoods where their median income of $60k+ affords some of the most affordable homes in the Northern California area (at $196,000 on the average in 2000, for example).

More than two thirds of the folks have at least a high school education, and at the same time, unemployment is exceptionally low (at a little over five percent).

The crime rate is also incredibly low, with rapes and assaults increasing only minimally from, respectively, fourteen and 120 in the year 1999 and twenty-three and 187 by 2002—with only fifteen murders in a four year span, from 1999 to 2002.  (One can infer, even, that the highest crime, assault, could be attributed to anything from the occasional bar brawl to minor spats between friends.

The Antioch, California community is quite close, supporting one another in sports (rooting for the Antioch Pirates), and collaborating in local business endeavors in the educational, health, social services, retail/trade, professional, scientific, and management/administrative fields.  Nearly one third of the population works in town, while another quarter has relocated due to the commute…making Antioch, California a modest city despite its size on the map.

Also contributing to the simple, hard-working pride of the people of Antioch, California is their claim to being the birthplace of such sporting greats as San Francisco 49ers Jeremy Newberry; Texas Rangers Matt Riley; and college ball player Jason Gaines (of the San Francisco Dons).

The skies are still blue in Antioch, and the grasses, in season and on golfing courses, are still a lush green.  The bays lure water lovers, boaters, and fishermen; the country fairs appeal to the weekend warriors; and the whole area calls to the quiet, the serious, the hard-working, and the family-minded.

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