|
Point Arena (formerly, Punta Arenas and Puntas Arenas)〔 is a small coastal city in Mendocino County, California, United States. Point Arena is located west of Hopland, at an elevation of .〔 The population was 449 at the 2010 census, down from 474 at the 2000 census, making it one of the smallest incorporated cities in the state. Its main street comprises part of State Route 1, California's coastal artery. Along with a number of other Mendocino County coastal communities, Point Arena is associated with the hippie and subsequent counterculture groups. Its reported economy is largely geared toward servicing the summertime tourist industry and marijuana growth. The City is near the headquarters of the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria. ==Geography and environment== The city of Point Arena is located at .〔 It is in USPS ZIP code 95468. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land. The city itself is built around a small natural cove, used as a harbor, and is located about a south of the actual Arena Point, a narrow peninsula jutting around into the Pacific Ocean. This is the location of the Point Arena Lighthouse, at the tallest lighthouse on the West coast of the United States. The lighthouse is also the closest location on the mainland (excluding Alaska) to Honolulu, Hawaii at a distance of . The city has three high schools: Point Arena High School, South Coast Continuation High School and the Pacific Community Charter High School. Students are allowed to cross-enroll and take courses at both the Point Arena High and Charter High schools, granting Point Arena students a broad curriculum from which to choose, although, due to limited teaching staff, many of the top students are left without options. The choice of the charter school has helped to keep in Point Arena many students who formerly commuted to Mendocino to attend its high school. Several feeder schools bring students through grammar school before sending them to Point Arena High School or the Charter School, meaning that the schools draw from a large pool of students in southern Mendocino and northern Sonoma counties. A variety of fauna and flora occur in the Point Arena area. The location is also sometimes a range demarcation for occurrence of some species. For example, the Pacific Giant Salamander occurs at Point Arena and at points south, but not at all to the north.〔C. Michael Hogan (2008) (''California Giant Salamander: Dicamptodon ensatus'', GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg )〕 The Point Arena State Marine Reserve & Point Arena State Marine Conservation Area are two marine protected areas that extend offshore from Point Arena. Sea Lion Cove State Marine Conservation Area and Saunders Reef State Marine Conservation Area lie south of Point Arena. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems. Sound levels in Point Arena are relatively quiet, with many locations at night-time dominated by natural sounds such as those of the surf. The firm of Earth Metrics Inc., who prepared the ''Noise Element of the Point Arena General Plan'', found that, even considering the presence of logging trucks on main city streets, composite sound levels rarely exceed 55 Leq.〔(''Noise Element of the Point Arena General Plan '', Earth Metrics Inc ) 〕 The maximum acceptable sound level specified in that General Plan Element is 60 Leq for residential areas. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Point Arena, California」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|