With a population of , according to U. Census Bureau estimates, [ 9 ] it is the 19th-most populous city in California. Modesto is located in the Central Valley region , 68 miles km south of Sacramento and 90 miles km north of Fresno. Distances from other places include: 40 miles 64 km north of Merced, California , 92 miles km east of San Francisco , 66 miles km west of Yosemite National Park , and 24 miles 39 km south of Stockton.
The city, in the San Joaquin Valley , is surrounded by rich farmland. Stanislaus County ranks sixth among California counties in farm production. Ralston asked that another name be found, and a railroad employee exclaimed loudly in Spanish that Ralston was a modest man. The railroad company co-founder Charles Crocker then named the town Modesto in recognition of Ralston's modesty. Modesto's population exceeded 1, residents in With fields of grain, the nearby Tuolumne River for grain barges, and railroad traffic, the town grew.
Irrigation water came from dams in the foothills, and irrigated fields of vegetables and fruit and nut trees flourished. By , Modesto's population was more than 4, For the next few decades, Modesto's population grew about two percent per year, to over , in and over , in The city's official motto, "Water Wealth Contentment Health," is emblazoned on the downtown Modesto Arch , which is featured in local photographs and postcards.
The original winning motto, "Nobody's got Modesto's goat ", [ 16 ] was later declined by town officials. Modesto's motto is sometimes spoofed as "The land gets the water, the bankers get the wealth, the cows get contentment, and the farmers get the health. In , Modesto enacted what is now considered to be the first zoning ordinance. The ordinance's primary goal was to keep laundries which were primarily Chinese run , out of the city.
In the late s Modesto embarked on an update to the city's general plan pursuant to requirements of the State of California. The result was a comprehensive evaluation of alternative population and land use projections along with associated environmental impact analysis.
