Manteca, California

MANTECA , CAL I FORNI A Manteca fashions itself the “Family City,” and lies at a crossroads of major highways and railroads. As recently as the 1970s, Manteca’s economy was based primarily on agriculture, and was still barely a stop between two freeways, Interstate 5 and State Route 99. The continuing rise in Bay Area housing prices caused Bay Area residents to look further eastward for cheaper places to live. Since the construction of the 120 bypass portion of State Route 120, Manteca has become a popular choice for these commuters, with population figures rising dramatically each decade since the 1990s. Based on January 2019 estimates, 83,178 called Manteca home, an increase of 2,700 in the past year alone, a 3.4 percent growth rate. Recently, Business View Magazine spoke with Don Smail, Manteca’s Economic Development Manager, who offers a thoughtful and thorough presentation of the current trends and projects impacting the city and its residents – focusing, particularly, on the need to develop more stay-in-town opportunities for a workforce that must travel many miles to and from their places of employment. “I think we’re in an interesting dynamic right now,” Smail begins. “We are part of what we are calling ‘Greater Silicon Valley,’ associating ourselves with the phenomenon of the great economic engine of 2.5 percent unemployment areas to the west in Santa Clara County, Silicon Valley, the East Bay, etc.. We have become a commuter bedroom community for that area, which requires a four- hour, round-trip commute. We’re building more than 500 houses a year and we think the long distance commute lifestyle is not sustainable. Only for so long will people put up with that kind of a crazy commute just for their career.” “We already have a unique and different cadre of workers here that we never had before,” he continues. “These are technology workers who are part of the Silicon Valley and Bay Area economy and they are residents here. Now, we have an opportunity to find ways to get them to shorten their commute by staying local and finding methods and means to help their current companies and others to consider expansion opportunities, or co-work spaces,