Clayton gains national recognition
For those of us fortunate enough to live and/or work in Clayton, we know what a special place our community is. Once we’ve discovered it, we hold understandable mixed feelings about others finding this special gem of a city.
However, accolades can’t stay hidden, and we hit the national radar again with two reports heralding the virtues of our citizenry and locale. The first national report, conducted by LendEDU and released in April, ranked Clayton No. 106 nationally among Cities with the Smartest Residents, with metrics weighting the number of residents with college education/ degrees against total population.
The second national report by the same independent firm report found Clayton No. 124 as part of its Best Cities for a Teaching Career Report. That study analyzed thousands of cities in the United States based on household income, cost of education, population enrolled in school and employees in educational services.
Such rankings are satisfying confirmations of what a distinct place we have managed to maintain amid the hustle and bustle of the Bay Area. My thanks to each of you who also value and enjoy this unique setting we proudly call home.
Recently, residents and commuters alike have been experiencing the preparatory street work on our arterial roads as contractors prepare our main streets for a micro-resurfacing rehabilitation. Initially, pavement saw cuts, base repairs and crack-sealings have been performed on Clayton Road, Oakhurst Drive and Marsh Creek Road using restricted funds to upgrade arterial streets.
Seeing such preparations, many residents have called or emailed City Hall highly recommending cracks on their residential streets as candidates for similar treatment. Unfortunately, the source of money for this work only permits this maintenance on arterial roads for this round.
Overall, Clayton is tied at No. 1 in Contra Costa County as the city having the best conditioned streets. After the base repairs and crack sealing is complete, a different contractor will perform the micro-resurfacing maintenance. Rest assured, a lane in each direction will remain open at all times.
Once again, Clayton enjoyed a successful beautification and good exercise routine with Clayton Cleans Up on Saturday, April 22. It was a well-attended annual event, where 200+ civic- and enviro-minded residents met at the City Hall courtyard and then trekked out into the community and trails to pick up others’ trash and litter, or even did some landscape trimming and weed pulls. The city thanks the owners of the Clayton Pioneer for its annual sponsorship of this worthwhile civic event.
Send comments to the mayor at jdiaz@ci.clayton.ca.us.