Pontiac, Michigan

Information about Pontiac, Michigan

City of Pontiac

Seal
Enlarge picture
Location of Pontiac, Michigan
Location of Pontiac, Michigan
Coordinates:
Country United States
State Michigan
County Oakland
Settled 1818
Incorporated 1861
Government
 - Type Council-Strong Mayor
 - Mayor Clarence E. Phillips
Area
 - City  20.2 sq mi (52.3 km)
 - Land  20.0 sq mi (51.8 km)
 - Water  0.2 sq mi (0.6 km)
Elevation  922 ft (281 m)
Population (2000)
 - City 66,337
 - Density 3,318.2/sq mi (1281.2/km)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 - Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP codes 48340-48343
Area code(s) 248
FIPS code 26-65440GR2
GNIS feature ID 0635224GR3
Website: [1]
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 66,337. It is the county seat of Oakland County6. Considered a satellite city of Detroit, it is surrounded by affluent Metro Detroit suburbs. Although in the midst of these suburbs, Pontiac itself is an urban center with a significant manufacturing sector. However Pontiac is no longer the largest city in Oakland County, that is now Troy.

The city is best-known for its General Motors manufacturing plants (GM's primary truck plant is in Pontiac) and the GM automobile brand, Pontiac, which was first produced in and named after the city. Also of note is the Pontiac Silverdome, the stadium that hosted the Detroit Lions from 1975 until 2002.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 52.3 km² (20.2 sq mi). 51.8 km² (20.0 sq mi) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 sq mi) of it (1.09%) is water.

The city is bounded by the City of Auburn Hills to the east and north, the City of Lake Angelus to the north, Waterford Township to the west, and Bloomfield Hills and Township to the south.

The defunct civil township, which was known as Pontiac Township, initially included what are now the cities of Pontiac, Lake Angelus, and Auburn Hills. The township incorporated as the City of Auburn Hills in 1983. Although the township no longer exists as a civil entity, it is still used as a survey township for land use purposes.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there were 66,337 people, 24,234 households, and 15,267 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,281.3/km² (3,318.2/sq mi). There were 26,336 housing units at an average density of 508.7/km² (1,317.3/sq mi). The racial makeup of the city was 39.09% White, 47.92% African American, 0.58% Native American, 2.40% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 6.47% from other races, and 3.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 12.76% of the population.

There were 24,234 households out of which 33.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.5% were married couples living together, 25.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.0% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 3.32.

In the city the population was spread out with 30.6% under the age of 18, 10.3% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 18.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,207, and the median income for a family was $36,391. Males had a median income of $31,961 versus $24,765 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,842. About 18.0% of families and 22.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.3% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Pontiac, Michigan runs two main high schools being Pontiac Central High School and Pontiac Northern High School. In recent years, many residents of southern Pontiac have begun sending their kids to Bloomfield Hills Schools causing a notable swell in the number of children attending those high schools, most notably Lahser High School

There are four charter schools in Pontiac which offer a school choice to residents of Pontiac and the surrounding cities. The four charter schools are: Pontiac Academy for Excellence (K-12), Arts and Technology Academy, Walton Charter, and Great Lakes Academy.

Culture

Regionally, the city is known for the Arts, Beats and Eats Festival, a widely attended summer festival featuring an art show, musical concert venues, and a sampling of food from numerous regional restaurants.

The city is at the north end of the famous Woodward Avenue, known in the 1950s and 1960s as being popular with young people who would "cruise" and drag-race their hot-rods in the area. Pontiac participates in the annual Woodward Dream Cruise, an event celebrating Woodward's hot-rod history, stretching from Pontiac to Detroit.

The city is sometimes referred to as "the Yak" by locals. Many younger residents are proud to claim the side of the city they hail from. The 300 and 400 address blocks are also other ways in which locals claim homestead in Pontiac. Numerous Hispanic immigrants also live in Pontiac, comprising an additional level of cultural diversity.

Transportation

Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, operates its Wolverine from Pontiac to Chicago via Detroit and Battle Creek, Michigan. Service is three times daily, both arriving and departing.

Commuter rail service was once provided by Grand Trunk Western Railroad (GTW) and later Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority (SEMTA) from Pontiac to downtown Detroit. This service ended on October 17, 1983, after subsidies were discontinued. Efforts continue to this day to restore such commuter service.

Class one freight rail service is provided by Canadian National Railway (CN), which also operates a large classification yard in Pontiac serving the local auto industry.

Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) operates local and regional bus transit.

The major thoroughfares in the city are: Woodward Avenue (M-1), Huron Street (M-59), and Telegraph Road (US 24). Portions of Woodward Avenue were once known as "Saginaw Street" and "Wide Track Drive" (the portion of Saginaw Street that runs through the downtown business district remains under that name).

Public Safety

The City of Pontiac operates a police department and a fire department.

Pontiac Police Department: www.pontiacpolice.com

Pontiac Fire and Rescue Department: www.pontiac.mi.us/departments/fire.html

If needed for extra ambulances, psychological/behavorial patients, or for city coverage the city can and will contact Star EMS for their services. Star EMS is a private ambulance company located with in the city.

Government

Notable residents

See also

References

External links

  •  • [ e] Municipalities and communities of
Oakland County, Michigan
County seat: Pontiac
Cities Auburn Hills  Berkley  Birmingham  Bloomfield Hills  Clarkston  Clawson  Farmington Hills  Farmington  Ferndale  Hazel Park  Huntington Woods  Keego Harbor  Lake Angelus  Lathrup Village Madison Heights  Northville  Novi  Oak Park  Orchard Lake Village  Pleasant Ridge  Pontiac  Rochester Hills  Rochester  Royal Oak  South Lyon  Southfield  Sylvan Lake  Troy  Walled Lake  Wixom
Villages''' Beverly Hills  Bingham Farms  Franklin  Clarkston  Holly  Lake Orion  Leonard  Milford  Ortonville  Oxford  Wolverine Lake
Charter townships''' Bloomfield Township  Brandon Township  Commerce Township  Groveland Township  Highland Township  Holly Township  Independence Township  Lyon Township  Milford Township  Novi Township  Oakland Township  Orion Township  Oxford Township  Rose Township  Royal Oak Township  Waterford Township  West Bloomfield Township White Lake Township
General law townships Addison Township  Avon Township  Pontiac Township  Southfield Township  Springfield Township
 •  • [ e]
State of Michigan
Lansing (capital)
Governors | Lieutenant Governors | Legislature | Supreme Court | History | Michiganders
Regions Upper Peninsula: Copper Country | Keweenaw Peninsula
 Lower Peninsula: Central Michigan (or Mid-Michigan) | Flint/Tri-Cities | Michiana | Northern Michigan | Southeast Michigan (including Metro Detroit) | The Thumb | Western Michigan
Largest municipalities Ann Arbor | Battle Creek | Bay City | Bloomfield | Canton | Chesterfield | Clinton | Commerce | Dearborn | Dearborn Heights | Detroit | East Lansing | Eastpointe | Farmington Hills | Flint | Flint Charter Township | Georgetown | Grand Rapids | Holland | Jackson | Kalamazoo | Kentwood | Lansing | Lincoln Park | Livonia | Macomb | Meridian | Midland | Muskegon | Novi | Pontiac | Portage | Redford | Rochester Hills | Roseville | Royal Oak | Saginaw | Saginaw Charter Township | St. Clair Shores | Shelby | Southfield | Sterling Heights | Taylor | Troy | Warren | Waterford | West Bloomfield | Westland | Wyoming | Ypsilanti Charter Township
Counties Alcona | Alger | Allegan | Alpena | Antrim | Arenac | Baraga | Barry | Bay | Benzie | Berrien | Branch | Calhoun | Cass | Charlevoix | Cheboygan | Chippewa | Clare | Clinton | Crawford | Delta | Dickinson | Eaton | Emmet | Genesee | Gladwin | Gogebic | Grand Traverse | Gratiot | Hillsdale | Houghton | Huron | Ingham | Ionia | Iosco | Iron | Isabella | Jackson | Kalamazoo | Kalkaska | Kent | Keweenaw | Lake | Lapeer | Leelanau | Lenawee | Livingston | Luce | Mackinac | Macomb | Manistee | Marquette | Mason | Mecosta | Menominee | Midland | Missaukee | Monroe | Montcalm | Montmorency | Muskegon | Newaygo | Oakland | Oceana | Ogemaw | Ontonagon | Osceola | Oscoda | Otsego | Ottawa | Presque Isle | Roscommon | Saginaw | Sanilac | Schoolcraft | Shiawassee | St. Clair | St. Joseph | Tuscola | Van Buren | Washtenaw | Wayne | Wexford
country, state, and nation can have various meanings. Therefore, diverse lists of these entities are possible. Wikipedia offers the following lists:

..... Click the link for more information.
Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
..... Click the link for more information.
United States of America

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the United States


Federal government
Constitution
Taxation

President Vice President
Cabinet


Congress
Senate
..... Click the link for more information.
State of Michigan

Flag of Michigan Seal
Nickname(s): The Wolverine State,
The Great Lakes State,
The Automotive State,
Winter Water Wonderland
..... Click the link for more information.
The boundaries of counties in the U.S. state of Michigan have not changed since 1897. However, throughout the 19th century, the state legislature frequently adjusted county boundaries.
..... Click the link for more information.
Oakland County is a county in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of 2005, the population was estimated at 1,214,361.[2] The county seat is Pontiac6. Oakland County is part of the Detroit metropolitan area, though the actual city of Detroit is located in
..... Click the link for more information.
18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1780s  1790s  1800s  - 1810s -  1820s  1830s  1840s
1815 1816 1817 - 1818 - 1819 1820 1821

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
..... Click the link for more information.
18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1830s  1840s  1850s  - 1860s -  1870s  1880s  1890s
1858 1859 1860 - 1861 - 1862 1863 1864

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
..... Click the link for more information.
Mayor-Council government is one of two variations of government most commonly used in modern representative municipal governments in the United States. It is also used in some other countries.
..... Click the link for more information.
A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "larger", "greater") is the modern title of the highest ranking municipal officer.

In many systems, the mayor is an elected politician who serves as chief executive and/or ceremonial official of many types of
..... Click the link for more information.
Area is a physical quantity expressing the size of a part of a surface. The term Surface area is the summation of the areas of the exposed sides of an object.

Units

Units for measuring surface area include:
square metre = SI derived unit

..... Click the link for more information.
city is an urban settlement with a particularly important status which differentiates it from a town.

City is primarily used to designate an urban settlement with a large population. However, city may also indicate a special administrative, legal, or historical status.
..... Click the link for more information.
square mile is an imperial and US unit of area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. It should not be confused with the archaic miles square, which refers to the number of miles on each side squared.
..... Click the link for more information.
Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:
  • 1,000,000 m²
  • 100 ha (hectare)
Conversely:
  • 1 m² = 0.

..... Click the link for more information.
elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, often the mean sea level. Elevation, or geometric height, is mainly used when referring to points on the Earth's surface, while altitude or geopotential height
..... Click the link for more information.
1 foot =
SI units
0 m 0 mm
US customary / Imperial units
0 yd 0 in
A foot (plural: feet or foot;[1] symbol or abbreviation: ft or, sometimes, ′
..... Click the link for more information.
1 metre =
SI units
1000 mm 0 cm
US customary / Imperial units
0 ft 0 in
The metre or meter[1](symbol: m) is the fundamental unit of length in the International System of Units (SI).
..... Click the link for more information.
city is an urban settlement with a particularly important status which differentiates it from a town.

City is primarily used to designate an urban settlement with a large population. However, city may also indicate a special administrative, legal, or historical status.
..... Click the link for more information.
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, humans in particular.

Biological population densities


..... Click the link for more information.
time zone is a region of the Earth that has adopted the same standard time, usually referred to as the local time. Most adjacent time zones are exactly one hour apart, and by convention compute their local time as an offset from UTC (see also Greenwich Mean Time).
..... Click the link for more information.
Eastern Time Zone (ET) of the Western Hemisphere falls mostly along the east coast of Northern America and the west coast of South America. Its time offset is UTC-5 during standard time and UTC-4 during daylight saving time.
..... Click the link for more information.
UTC−5 is the time offset used in the North American Central Time Zone during Daylight Saving Time.

For North America see also Eastern Standard Time and Central Daylight Time.
..... Click the link for more information.
Daylight saving time (DST; also summer time in British English) is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less.
..... Click the link for more information.
UTC−4 is the time offset used in the Atlantic Standard Time Zone in Canada in winter and the North American Eastern Time Zone during daylight saving time (DST), as well as other countries.
..... Click the link for more information.
ZIP code is the system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The letters ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan,[1]
..... Click the link for more information.
State of Michigan area codes: 231, 248, 269, 313, 517, 586, 616, 734, 810, 906, 947, 989
North: 810
area code 248/947 East: 586
..... Click the link for more information.
Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) are publicly announced standards developed by the United States Federal government for use by all non-military government agencies and by government contractors.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) contains name and locative information about almost two million physical and cultural features located throughout the United States of America and its Territories.
..... Click the link for more information.
United States of America

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
the United States


Federal government
Constitution
Taxation

President Vice President
Cabinet


Congress
Senate
..... Click the link for more information.
State of Michigan

Flag of Michigan Seal
Nickname(s): The Wolverine State,
The Great Lakes State,
The Automotive State,
Winter Water Wonderland
..... Click the link for more information.

This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.