Discovery Bay, California

Discovery Bay
Census-designated place
Aerial view of Discovery Bay
Flag Seal
Location in Contra Costa County and the state of California
Discovery Bay Location in the United States
Coordinates: 37°54′31″N 121°36′01″W
Country	United States
State	California
County	Contra Costa
Government
• State Senate	Jesse Arreguín (D)
• State Assembly	Lori Wilson (D)
• U. S. Congress	Josh Harder (D)
Area
• Total	6.95 sq mi (18.00 km2)
• Land	5.59 sq mi (14.48 km2)
• Water	1.36 sq mi (3.51 km2)  19.5%
Elevation	7 ft (2 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	15,358
• Density	2,746.42/sq mi (1,060.47/km2)
Time zone	UTC−08:00 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−07:00 (PDT)
ZIP Code	94505
Area code	925
FIPS code	06-19339
GNIS feature IDs	1701762, 2408672
Website	https://www.todb.ca.gov/

Discovery Bay is a census-designated place (CDP) in eastern Contra Costa County, California in the United States, about 60 miles (97 km) from San Francisco. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of 2020, its population was 15,358, a 15% percent gain from 13,352 at the 2010 census.

Discovery Bay was originally a waterfront community built on a network of man-made dikes, surrounded by fresh water, except for the southeast quadrant, which comprises the golf course of Discovery Bay Country Club. Some homes have private docks with access to the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. Newer developments have been added on former agricultural land to the west of the initial town-site. Road access is via California State Route 4.

History

Discovery Bay began as a planned community in 1964, and originally designated as "Riverside" and "River Lake." It was built on land known as the Byron Tract, which was previously used for growing barley and potatoes. In 1968, Jurgen Lunding led an effort to give the community its current name.

In July 2007, Discovery Bay received its own ZIP code: 94505. Formerly, it had shared 94514 with Byron. The ensuing celebration included a paddle boat raft-up that set a world record.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.9 square miles (18 km²), of which 5.6 square miles (15 km²) of it is land and 1.4 square miles (3.6 km²) of it (19.5%) is water.

Government

Discovery Bay is one of the unincorporated areas in California that has a community services district (CSD), a special district that provides some basic services that are usually provided by the county. The primary duties of the area's community services district, known as The Town of Discovery Bay Community Services District, are handling water, sewer, landscaping and recreation. The CSD Board has five members who are elected by community residents. While the CSD Board has no land use or zoning authority, the CSD can advise the county on decisions related to police and fire services, residential and commercial development, and more.

In December 2016, the CSD Board announced that Discovery Bay resident Mike Davies would become the general manager of CSD, effective January 3, 2017. He would replace the interim manager, Catherine Kutsuris. Davies had served as a police officer in Brentwood, California, including five years as chief of police there. Retiring from Brentwood Police Department in 2006, he was hired at the California Police Officers Standards and Training organization in Sacramento.

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1980	1,326		—
1990	5,351		303.5%
2000	8,981		67.8%
2010	13,352		48.7%
2020	15,358		15.0%
source:

The 2020 United States census reported that Discovery Bay had a population of 15,358. The population density was 2,746.4 inhabitants per square mile (1,060.4/km²). The racial makeup of Discovery Bay was 68.0% White, 4.8% African American, 0.7% Native American, 5.9% Asian, 0.5% Pacific Islander, 5.2% from other races, and 14.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 18.7% of the population.

There were 5,525 households, out of which 32.8% included children under the age of 18, 63.3% were married-couple households, 6.6% were cohabiting couple households, 15.8% had a female householder with no partner present, and 14.4% had a male householder with no partner present. 16.6% of households were one person, and 7.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.78. There were 4,267 families (77.2% of all households).

The age distribution was 22.5% under the age of 18, 7.1% aged 18 to 24, 21.7% aged 25 to 44, 31.2% aged 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.0 males.

There were 6,063 housing units at an average density of 1,084.2 units per square mile (418.6 units/km²), of which 5,525 (91.1%) were occupied. Of these, 83.7% were owner-occupied, and 16.3% were occupied by renters.

Education

Almost all of Discovery Bay CDP is in the Byron Union School District, while a small portion of the CDP is in the Knightsen Elementary School District. All of it is in the Liberty Union High School District.

There are two K–5 schools in the Byron district, and both were named California Distinguished Schools in 2012: Discovery Bay Elementary and Timber Point Elementary. Excelsior Middle School is located in Byron and is the district's sole 6–8 school. Major renovations and new buildings were completed at Excelsior Middle School in 2012. It was a California Distinguished School in early 2004. High school students (9–12) in all of Discovery Bay are zoned to attend Liberty High School in the Liberty Union High School District, located in nearby Brentwood. Liberty High School students have founded an arts group known as "PADA" and have arranged with city officials to allow select students to paint and personalize certain electrical boxes, walls, etc. in the theme of the town. Plans for a fifth high school on the south side of State Route 4 are on hold.

External links

• Discovery Bay Information
• Town of Discovery Bay
• Reclamation District 800
• Discovery Bay Chamber of Commerce
• Discovery Bay Lions Club Archived 2018-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
• Discovery Bay Marina
• Discovery Bay Golf & Country Club