1.
Modesto, California
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Modesto /məˈdɛstoʊ/, officially the City of Modesto, is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, it is the 18th largest city in the state of California, the Modesto Census County Division, which includes the cities of Ceres and Riverbank, had a population of 312,842 as of 2010. Modesto has been honored as a Tree City USA numerous times and it is surrounded by rich farmland, Stanislaus County ranks sixth among California counties in farm production. Led by milk, almonds, chickens, walnuts, and corn silage, the farm-to-table movement plays a central role in Modesto living as in the Central Valley. The citys annual Architectural Festival honors Modestos history as a ground for mid-century modern architecture during the 1940s and 50s. Modestos mid-century buildings have been featured four times in Museum of Modern Art publications, in December 2009, Forbes ranked Modesto 48th out of 100 among Best Bang-for-the-Buck Cities. In this ranking, Modesto ranked 8th in housing affordability and travel time, Modesto is the home of Gallo Family Winery, the largest privately owned winery in the world. Modesto was originally a stop on the railroad connecting Sacramento to Los Angeles, at its founding in 1870, it was to be named Ralston after financier William C. Ralstons modesty prompted him to ask that another name be found, Modesto was incorporated in 1884 with a population of over 1,000. With fields of grain, a river for grain barges, and railroad traffic. Irrigation water came from dams installed in the foothills, and irrigated fields of vegetables and fruit, by 1900, Modestos population was over 4,500. During World War II, the area provided canned goods, powdered milk, for the next few decades, Modestos population grew about two percent per year to over 100,000 in 1980, and over 200,000 in 2001. The citys official motto, Water Wealth Contentment Health, is emblazoned on the downtown Modesto Arch, the motto was selected in a contest held in 1911. Modestos motto is sometimes spoofed as The land gets the water, the bankers get the wealth, the cows get contentment, Modesto is known for the following tourist attractions and historical sites. McHenry Mansion – Built in the early 1880s by Robert McHenry, the mansion is included on the National Register of Historic Places. McHenry Museum – Across the street from the McHenry Mansion, filled with tidbits from Modestos history George Lucas Plaza – American Graffiti-inspired bronze statue made in honor of Modesto filmmaker George Lucas, located at Five Points. Gallo Center for the Arts – Center for the performing arts opened in 2007 and is located in downtown Modesto at 1000 I Street, Downtown Modesto – Known for having a variety of restaurants and night life. It also hosts a multi-venue Art Walk year around on the third Thursday of the month, the State Theatre – Dating back to the 1920s, it was recently renovated and serves as a local performance arts center and as a theater specializing in independent and foreign films
2.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
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Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
California State Route 99
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State Route 99, commonly known as Highway 99 or, simply, as 99, is a north–south state highway in the U. S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley. From its southern end at Interstate 5 near Wheeler Ridge to its end at SR36 near Red Bluff. Cities served include Bakersfield, Delano, Tulare, Visalia, Kingsburg, Selma, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Modesto, Stockton, Sacramento, Turlock, Yuba City, and Chico. The highway is a remnant of the former Mexico to Canada U. S. Route 99, north of Sacramento, the road ranges from a rural two-lane road to a four-lane freeway. SR99 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, the entirety of this segment is now built to freeway standards with complete access control, although some older portions are not yet in compliance with Interstate Highway standards. The freeway sections connect and serve the agriculture and industry of the California Central Valley, most of the freeway also parallels the Union Pacifics Fresno Subdivision. In Sacramento, SR99 first joins with I-80 Business as part of the Capital City Freeway and these SR99 concurrences are not officially designated by the California Department of Transportation, but mapmakers often show it as such. SR99 signage had existed along that route for motorists convenience, but was removed in 2000, and replaced by TO SR99 signs instead. SR99 then splits from I-5 in northern Sacramento, and then heads along the segment of the Sacramento Valley through Yuba City. A majority of SR99 from Sacramento to Red Bluff is a highway, while segments in Yuba City. SR99 remains a freeway as the route leaves Sacramento County. As SR99 crosses SR20 as an intersection, the highway becomes a four-lane freeway for 3 miles before reverting to a two-lane road, passing the smaller towns of Live Oak, Fagan. SR99 briefly is a local road through Gridley before continuing as a two-lane highway. SR99 passes by the side of the Thermalito Afterbay. SR162 joins SR99 for 2 miles before splitting off east towards the end of the Thermalito Afterbay. SR99 then transitions from a road to a four-lane divided expressway just before the interchange at SR149 turning northwest. As SR99 leaves Chico, the highway reverts to a 2-lane road before crossing into Tehama County and passing rural areas. The route then curves to the west and terminates at the junction with SR36, approximately 1.5 miles from I-5 in Red Bluff
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Macerich
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Macerich is a self-managed Real Estate Investment Trust headquartered in Santa Monica, California. It is the third-largest owner and operator of shopping centers in the United States and it traces its antecedents to the MaceRich Real Estate Company founded in New York in 1964 by Mace Siegel and Richard Cohen who combined their first names to name their company. After years of buying and owning shopping centers privately, in 1994 the company went public as The Macerich Company, in 2006, the company name was rebranded to Macerich. In 2002, Macerich acquired Phoenix-based Westcor Partners for $1.475 billion, the purchase added nine properties to Macerichs portfolio, including Scottsdale Fashion Square. Three years later, it acquired Rochester-based Wilmorite Properties for $2.333 billion, on April 12015, the company rejected a $16.8 Billion takeover offer from Simon Property Group. Macerich rejected the bid on the grounds that Simon undervalued the company. The Macerich Company was a NORAD Tracks Santa program partner and sponsor for the 2005 and 2006 NORAD Tracks Santa seasons, the overall experience provided retail centers with multiple benefits such as extended stays of visit, additional, and changing foot-traffic patterns and property brand recognition. The result was a wonderful, and inventive boost to the shopping experience at the Macerich malls featuring NORAD/Santa Tracking Stations. Shopping property management firms Macerich Home Page
6.
Anchor store
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In retail, an anchor store, draw tenant, anchor tenant, or key tenant is one of the larger stores in a shopping mall, usually a department store or a major retail chain. Current examples of common anchor stores in the USA include Younkers, Macys, Kohls, Sears, Bergners, Dillards, Carsons, Boscovs, The Bon-Ton, Bloomingdales, Lord & Taylor, and JCPenney. Defunct examples include Montgomery Ward, Mervyns, Eatons, Lazarus, Galyans, Foleys, Marshall Fields, Hechts, Sports Authority, Parisian, anchors generally have their rents heavily discounted, and may even receive cash inducements from the mall to remain open. The regional center typically has two or more anchors, while the superregional typically has three or more, in each case, the anchors account for 50-70% of the malls leasable space. Malls with anchor stores have consistently outperformed those without one, as the anchor helps draw shoppers initially attracted to the anchor to shop at stores in the mall. Early on, grocery stores were a type of anchor store. However, research on consumer behavior revealed that most trips to the store did not result in visits to surrounding shops. Large supermarkets remain common anchor stores within power centers however, the challenges faced by the traditional large department stores have led to a resurgence in the use of supermarkets as anchors
7.
Shopping mall
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A shopping arcade is a specific form serving the same purpose. Many early shopping arcades such as the Burlington Arcade in London, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, however, many smaller arcades have been demolished, replaced with large centers or malls, often accessible by vehicle. Technical innovations such as lighting and escalators were introduced from the late 19th century. From the late 20th century, entertainment venues such as movie theaters, as a single built structure, early shopping centers were often architecturally significant constructions, enabling wealthier patrons to buy goods in spaces protected from the weather. In places around the world, the shopping centre is used, especially in Europe, Australia. Mall is a term used predominantly in North America, outside of North America, shopping precinct and shopping arcade are also used. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, malls are commonly referred to as shopping centres, the majority of British shopping centres are located in city centres, usually found in old and historic shopping districts and surrounded by subsidiary open air shopping streets. Large examples include West Quay in Southampton, Manchester Arndale, Bullring Birmingham, Liverpool One, Trinity Leeds, Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow and these centres were built in the 1980s and 1990s, but planning regulations prohibit the construction of any more. Out-of-town shopping developments in the UK are now focused on retail parks, planning policy prioritizes the development of existing town centres, although with patchy success. Bullring, Birmingham is the busiest shopping centre in the UK welcoming over 36.5 million shoppers in its opening year, there are a reported 222 malls in Europe. In 2014, these malls had combined sales of $12.47 billion and this represented a 10% bump in revenues from the prior year. One of the earliest examples of public shopping areas comes from ancient Rome, One of the earliest public shopping centers is Trajans Market in Rome located in Trajans Forum. Trajans Market was probably built around 100-110 CE by Apollodorus of Damascus, the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul was built in the 15th century and is still one of the largest covered shopping centers in the world, with more than 58 streets and 4,000 shops. Numerous other covered shopping arcades, such as the 19th-century Al-Hamidiyah Souq in Damascus, Syria, isfahans Grand Bazaar, which is largely covered, dates from the 10th century. The 10-kilometer-long, covered Tehrans Grand Bazaar also has a lengthy history, the oldest continuously occupied shopping mall in the world is likely to be the Chester Rows. Dating back at least to the 13th century, these covered walkways housed shops, with storage, different rows specialized in different goods, such as Bakers Row or Fleshmongers Row. The Marché des Enfants Rouges in Paris opened in 1628 and still runs today, the Oxford Covered Market in Oxford, England opened in 1774 and still runs today. The Passage du Caire was opened in Paris in 1798, the Burlington Arcade in London was opened in 1819
8.
Modesto Area Express
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Modesto Area Express, better known by the acronym MAX, is the primary bus agency for Modesto, a Northern California city with over 200,000 inhabitants. The agency provides regular transit and dial-a-ride local service in addition to commuter service to regional rail systems, BART, ACE. Hours of operation are,6,00 am –7,50 pm, Mon- Fri,7,50 am –7,00 pm, Saturday,8,45 am –6,00 pm, Sunday. There is no service on holidays, New Years Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day. There is priority seating for adults and persons with impaired abilities. All buses have lifts and also offer bike racks
