For the first time in over ten years, California incorporates a new city
On Monday, Mountain House, a 30,000-person hamlet in San Joaquin County that was previously unorganized, was formally recognized as the 483rd city in the state. 90% of voters in the town supported the establishment of cityhood in the state’s March primary election.
Mayor Andy Su told KGO-TV on Monday, “I’m just very thankful for all the help we’ve had over the years and I’m looking forward to continuing the growth of Mountain House.”
On Thursday, the city will celebrate its official incorporation with a ceremony. On Monday, the city’s inaugural mayor and council took office.
The proposed city, which is close to Tracy and off Interstate 580, was first only an idea. According to an October article in the San Francisco Chronicle, San Joaquin County officials authorized a plan in 1994 to start developing the area with the intention of offering reasonably priced homes for people relocating to the Bay Area. (Hearst owns both SFGATE and The Chronicle, but they have different newsrooms.)
According to the site, the community has expanded “in fits and starts” since the first properties were sold in 2003. The dream was almost dashed in the 2008 recession. 90% of homeowners in the town at the time owing “more on their mortgages than their houses are worth,” according to a New York Times study that called the town the “most underwater community in America.”
However, the Chronicle stated that as the economy improved, so did the neighborhood. In just twelve years, the population increased from 7,500 in 2010 to 27,300 in 2022, an almost fourfold increase.
The new metropolis now seems ready for much greater expansion. Within the next few years, a 22-mile rail link between Mountain House and the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station is expected to be completed. The Chronicle also mentioned that land for new subdivisions is already being assessed to the north.
On Monday, California will welcome a new city for the first time since Riverside County’s Jurupa Valley was incorporated in 2011.