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<br /> <br />4. Community Profile <br />4.1 Area at a Glance <br />Geography <br />Approximately 15.4 square miles, the city is located 8 miles south of Downtown <br />Oakland, 15 miles southeast of San Francisco, and 30 miles north of San Jose. It is <br />bounded on the north by Oakland and on the south by the unincorporated <br />communities of San Lorenzo and Ashland. The western edge of the city is defined by <br />San Francisco Bay, while the East Bay hills define the eastern edge. <br />San Leandro is well connected to the region’s transportation system, with three <br />freeways (I-880, I-580, and I-238) passing through the city and Metropolitan <br />Oakland International Airport two miles away. The city is served by two Bay Area <br />Rapid Transit (BART) stations, three freight rail lines, and an extensive network of <br />bus routes. These transportation advantages have helped define San Leandro’s <br />economic base and were a key factor in its development during the second half of the <br />20th century. <br />Over the past 50 years, San Leandro has developed a reputation as a diverse, hard- <br />working, business-friendly city. Much of the city’s identity dates from the post-war <br />era, when the community was at the leading edge of the Bay Area’s development. <br />Many of the city’s residents arrived during this era, and they and/or their <br />descendants continue to make San Leandro their home today. Today, San Leandro <br />offers many of the positive qualities of an older suburb, such as walk able <br />neighborhoods and convenience, with few of the negative qualities of either the <br />inner-city or the distant suburban fringe. The city has a strong identity within the <br />Bay Area as a stable community of solid neighborhoods, a manufacturing center with <br />an industrious labor force, and a town that has found strength in its growing <br />diversity. <br />4.1.2 History <br />Following some 3,000 years of Native American settlement, the area now known as <br />San Leandro was divided through Spanish land grants between 1829 and 1842. <br />Most of modern-day San Leandro was contained within the vast cattle ranches of <br />Ignacio Peralta (north of San Leandro Creek) and Don Jose Joaquin Estudillo (south <br />of San Leandro Creek). The ranches gave way to farms as settlers, squatters and <br />“49ers” arrived in the early 1850s. The town of San Leandro was laid out in 1855 <br />and became the seat of Alameda County in 1856. The original town plan established <br />a grid of streets, with sites set aside for prominent buildings such as the County <br />Courthouse and City Hall. <br />After a catastrophic earthquake destroyed the Courthouse in 1868 and the <br />transcontinental railroad reached Oakland in 1869, the county seat was relocated <br />from San Leandro to Oakland. However, San Leandro continued to prosper as a