Temple City, California
Temple City is a city in Los Angeles County, California located northeast of downtown Los Angeles and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. Temple City is part of a cluster of cities, along with Pasadena, Arcadia, Alhambra, San Marino, and San Gabriel, in the west San Gabriel Valley.
History
The town of Temple originated on May 30, 1923, when Walter P. Temple purchased of land east of San Gabriel which had been part of Lucky Baldwin's Rancho Santa Anita. The original townsite corresponds to the present-day area bounded by Garibaldi Avenue on the north, Baldwin Avenue on the east, Live Oak Avenue on the south, and Encinita Avenue on the west.Temple, the son and tenth child of Pliny Fisk Temple and William Workman's daughter Antonia Margarita Workman, was born on Rancho La Merced, which is today part of the city of Montebello. This was the site of the original San Gabriel Mission, founded by the Franciscan Fathers next to the rich bottom lands of the San Gabriel River. Historically called "Rio de los Temblores", which means the River of the Earthquakes, it is today known as the Rio Hondo.
Temple envisioned building a community where average people could afford to live and own their homes. He then divided the area into lots and laid out the park facing Las Tunas Drive. He named other streets after friends and family: Workman, Kauffman, Rowland, Temple and Agnes. Bond issues initiated by Temple were responsible for street paving and electricity. Temple also petitioned the Pacific Electric Railway Company to extend its Los Angeles to Alhambra line to a depot adjacent to Temple City Park. The extension of the railway contributed to the steady growth of Temple City, and is commemorated by statues of railcar passengers along Rosemead Boulevard.
In 1925, the Women's Club of Temple City was founded.
City name
The town was originally named "City of Temple" after its founder, Walter Temple, but the United States Postmaster General Harry Stewart New demanded a name change in 1926 because the mail was accidentally being directed to the Phoenix suburb of Tempe. It was officially designated "Temple City" but remained a city in name only until after the post–World War II population explosion followed by incorporation on May 25, 1960, which resulted in the redundant name: "City of Temple City". Merrill Fitzjohn, the founder and original owner of Fitzjohn Jewelers on Las Tunas Drive, was appointed as the city's first mayor.2009 Temple City Affair
In January 2009, the Los Angeles County District Attorney began investigating allegations that Temple City's mayor, Judy Wong, along with city council members David Capra, and former mayor Cathe Wilson solicited bribes in exchange for support of the proposed $75 million Temple City Piazza mall project and both women were charged with lying on fair political practice commission disclosure forms. Randy Wang, developer of the Piazza project, made allegations that Wong, Wilson and Councilman David Capra demanded and received cash bribes for their support of the development. Wang raised the allegations as part of his counter-suit against the city, which sued him in April 2008, claiming he failed to meet contractual deadlines of construction on the Piazza project. Temple City's lawsuit asks that the property, at Las Tunas Drive and Rosemead Boulevard, be returned to the city because of the delays after two groundbreaking ceremonies.Wong, 55, the city's first Asian council member, was elected in 2003, was re-elected in 2007, and served as the city's first Asian mayor in 2007. Capra pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of failure to report a campaign contribution and agreed to resign as a condition for no prison time. Nine months after being indicted on charges of bribery and perjury, Wong resigned from office in March 2010; Wilson was voted out of office in spring 2009. In May 2010, Wong accepted a plea agreement of no contest for 10 counts of bribery and perjury. Wong served a 16-month sentence at Chowchilla after pleading no contest to 10 felony counts of bribery, solicitation of bribery and perjury, and she is required to pay $16,700 in restitution to developer Randy Wang. She will have to pay about $16,300 in fines and fees. The judge denied a request from Wong's attorney seeking probation for the one-time politician.
Cathe Wilson was charged with three counts each of perjury and bribery. The perjury charges included one count of lying to the Los Angeles County Grand Jury in 2008 and two counts of submitting false material in Fair Political Practices reports. Although she maintains her innocence, she chose not to plea, and her case was continued. On March 30, 2011, Wilson pleaded innocent to all charges. "Oh, yes, I've got to prove my innocence," Wilson, 78, said at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center when asked if she was going forward with the trial. "I wouldn't put my life savings … if I didn't believe in my innocence. It's all a crock." In May 2011 she was convicted on six felony counts. She was sentenced on June 23, 2011, to four years in state prison and to pay more than $10,000 in restitution to the developer. She was released under an Alternative Custody Program in 2013.
Former candidate Scott Carwile, Wilson's protege, pleaded guilty to felony perjury and was granted probation in exchange for testifying against Wilson.
As of August 2014, all persons sentenced to imprisonment in the Temple City Affair have been released.
Attempts to block housing
In the aftermath of the passage of SB9, a California State housing law that permitted owners of single-family housing to subdivide their houses into duplexes, local officials in Temple City enacted new regulations that sought to disincentivize homeowners from creating duplexes. For example, the city required a 1,000-square-foot courtyard separating housing units, as well as other regulations. According to data reported to the state, there have been no applications for SB9 in Temple City.California state housing officials have warned Temple City they are potentially in violation of state housing law. According to Temple City city manager Bryan Cook, the city is working in "good faith" with California state housing officials.
Demographics
Temple City first appeared as a city in the 1960 U.S. census as part of the Southwest San Gabriel Valley census county division.| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2000 | Pop 2010 | % 2000 | % 2010 | ||
| White alone | 12,589 | 8,095 | 4,896 | 37.72% | 22.77% | 13.42% |
| Black or African American alone | 289 | 256 | 260 | 0.87% | 0.72% | 0.71% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone | 47 | 35 | 55 | 0.14% | 0.10% | 0.15% |
| Asian alone | 12,894 | 19,682 | 23,187 | 38.63% | 55.35% | 63.54% |
| Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone | 8 | 25 | 13 | 0.02% | 0.07% | 0.04% |
| Other race alone | 41 | 36 | 155 | 0.12% | 0.10% | 0.42% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial | 673 | 576 | 821 | 2.02% | 1.62% | 2.25% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 6,836 | 6,853 | 7,107 | 20.48% | 19.27% | 19.47% |
| Total | 33,377 | 35,558 | 36,494 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% |
2020
The 2020 United States census reported that Temple City had a population of 36,494. The population density was. The racial makeup of Temple City was 17.1% White, 0.9% African American, 0.7% Native American, 63.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 8.9% from other races, and 8.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.5% of the population.The census reported that 98.8% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.8% were institutionalized.
There were 11,734 households, out of which 34.9% included children under the age of 18, 56.0% were married-couple households, 4.4% were cohabiting couple households, 25.7% had a female householder with no partner present, and 13.9% had a male householder with no partner present. 16.4% of households were one person, and 8.1% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 3.07. There were 9,237 families.
The age distribution was 19.0% under the age of 18, 8.6% aged 18 to 24, 24.5% aged 25 to 44, 28.8% aged 45 to 64, and 19.1% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 43.4years. For every 100 females, there were 91.7 males.
There were 12,216 housing units at an average density of, of which 11,734 were occupied. Of these, 62.4% were owner-occupied, and 37.6% were occupied by renters.
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $102,449, and the per capita income was $42,664. About 8.2% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010
The 2010 United States census reported that Temple City had a population of 35,558. The population density was. The racial makeup of Temple City was 11,941 White, 283 African American, 150 Native American, 19,803 Asian, 31 Pacific Islander, 2,316 from other races, and 1,034 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6,853 persons.The census reported that 35,136 people lived in households, 29 lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 393 were institutionalized.
There were 11,606 households, out of which 4,402 had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,605 were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,714 had a female householder with no husband present, 686 had a male householder with no wife present. There were 404 unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 65 same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,973 households were made up of individuals, and 844 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03. There were 9,005 families ; the average family size was 3.39.
The population was spread out, with 7,549 people under the age of 18, 2,887 people aged 18 to 24, 8,983 people aged 25 to 44, 10,778 people aged 45 to 64, and 5,361 people who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.1 males.
There were 12,117 housing units at an average density of, of which 7,453 were owner-occupied, and 4,153 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%. 23,213 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 11,923 people lived in rental housing units.
According to the 2010 United States census, Temple City had a median household income of $97,082, with 5.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.