Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - WelcomeMagazine_08.09 - Index

anTIoCH
City of Antioch
Antioch once was a quaint
little town with one high
school. Just about everyone
knew everyone. Today, it’s a big
city of more than 100,000 – and
a bunch of big-city problems.
The city grew fast in the
1990s and early 2000s,
adding more than 1,000
new houses in many of those
years. Unfortunately, the roads
did not materialize nearly
as fast, leading to congestion
on Highway 4 and major
thoroughfares such as Lone
Tree Way, Hillcrest Avenue and
Somersville Road.
Crime has soared in recent
years, particularly violent crime,
which increased 31 percent in
2007 – the largest increase of
any large city in California.
But residents have been
fighting back by organizing
Neighborhood Watch groups
and supporting the police efforts
to deal with the problems.
On the upside, retail
businesses have proliferated in
recent years, especially along
Lone Tree Way, providing
enough shopping options to
satisfy most residents. And East
County is projected to become
a job-growth leader in the Bay
Area in the next 20 years.
Antioch Community Center
is planned to open in late
2009 in Prewett Park and
the innovative Dozier-Libbey
Medical High School opened in
August of 2008.
Scenes from
Antioch: a 4-H
member prepares
her prize animal for
the Contra Costa
County Fair; a
motorcade rumbles
through town in
honor of a fallen
police officer; and
a man and his dog
serenade the crowd
at one of the city’s
many Rivertown
District festivals.
Welcome! The Magazine of East County 2008-2009