Tracy, California

About Tracy, California

Tracy is a city in San Joaquin County, California, in the United States. As of the 2007, Sterling's Bestplaces.net showed total population of 80,000 and a July 1, 2005 Census estimate showed the fast-growing city's population at 75,800.

Tracy is part of the Stockton metro area, suburban in location to San Jose, and part of the combined metropolitan statistical area of San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area, around 21 miles (34 km) east of Livermore and just past Altamont Pass. It is considered by some to be an exurb of San Jose/ San Francisco, because many residents commute over the congested Interstate 580 to job centers in the Bay Area. Interstate 205 on the north side of the city connects I-580 to Interstate 5 and State Route 120, which goes to Yosemite National Park. I-580 also connects to I-5 south of the city for a route many Bay Area travelers take to Southern California. Together, I-580, I-205, and I-5 form a triangle around much of the city. The city is also west of nearby Modesto, Stockton, and Manteca.

Located in the Central Valley, Tracy sits atop fertile agricultural lands, which have come under increasing development pressure as the San Francisco Bay Area's vigorous population growth has spilled over into the Tracy area as well as other fringe locations. Because of the historic use of DDT on area row crops, there are residual issues of soil contamination from this substance and related persistent chemicals. There is also a historic area chloroform groundwater plume associated with Georgia Pacific operations in the area. Faults considered active in the Tracy area are the Black Butte Fault, Midway Fault and Carnegie Corral Fault. The San Joaquin Fault traverses the Tracy area and is a potential source of risk for seismic events. Other nearby active faults not actually traversing the Tracy area are the San Andreas and Hayward Faults.