About Tracy

Tracy is the second most populated city in San Joaquin County, California, United States and an exurb of Stockton. The population was 82,922 at the 2010 census. Tracy is located inside a geographical triangle formed by Interstate 205 on the north side of the city, Interstate 5 to the east, and Interstate 580 to the southwest, this has given rise to Tracy's motto, now recorded on the city's website: "Think Inside the Triangle".

The origins of Tracy are related to the mid-19th century construction of Central Pacific Railroad lines running from Sacramento through Stockton and to the San Francisco Bay Area. A number of small communities sprang up along these lines, including the one named for railroad director Lathrop J. Tracy. Incorporated in 1910, Tracy grew rapidly and prospered as an agricultural area even when railroad operations began to decline in the 1950s. Beginning in the 1980s, Tracy experienced a growth spurt as people migrated to the city looking for affordable alternatives to Bay Area home prices, in addition to a more tranquil lifestyle. A steady period of growth ensued, as many companies found Tracy an ideal location for their distribution facilities. The city today is home to several of these distribution facilities and is setting its sights on newer industries, including expansion of hi-tech companies from their existing Silicon Valley bases.

Located in the Central Valley, Tracy sits near both fertile and (due to a region of hills west of Tracy) unfertile agricultural lands. Some of this land (in the east and mostly north of Tracy because of the moist Delta river system) has come under increasing development pressure as the San Francisco Bay Area's vigorous population growth has spilled over into the Tracy area as well as other locations such as new town of Mountain House (because of TRAQC's Measure A in 1990) near the Bay Area's edge.

In an effort to reduce its impact on the environment, the city launched the Emerald Tracy Project in September 2009. City spokesman Matt Robinson said that if it succeeds, Tracy will be the second city after Riverside to satisfy the state’s goal for sustainable communities.

Three main school districts serve the city of Tracy. The largest and most recognized is the Tracy Unified School District. This school system incorporates many elementary and middle schools as well as six Tracy high schools: Tracy High School, Merrill F. West High School, Delta Charter High School, Millennium Charter High School, John C. Kimball High School, and Mountain House High School, which is planned to open in 2014. Tracy's expelled students attend the Willow community day school, and the Tracy One Program, or Community One. The other two school districts are: Lammersville Joint Unified School District and Jefferson School District which incorporates the south side of Tracy and includes four schools: Jefferson Middle School, Hawkins School, Monticello Elementary School and Anthony C. Traina School.