City Of Chico

About Chico

The City of Chico was founded in 1860 by General John Bidwell, and incorporated in 1872 with a population of approximately 1,000 persons in an area of 6.6 square miles. The City of Chico, with recent annexations, has grown to over a 30.78 square mile Charter city of 84,396 with an urbanized, unincorporated area immediately adjacent to it making the total population of the Chico urban area 105,080. Chico is located in the Northern Sacramento Valley of California approximately ninety miles north of Sacramento, in Butte County, east of Interstate 5.

Chico maintains an historic downtown, a wide variety of services, and family oriented neighborhoods. Chico is known as a well-managed city that values quality infrastructure and services, and maintains a special sense of community and small-town living as it has developed into a vibrant regional center for business, recreation and cultural activities. There are also many recreational opportunities in and around Chico. BIDWELL PARK one of the largest municipally owned parks in the nation (3,670 acres), is the focal point of the City's park system and offers numerous trails for biking, hiking and equestrian use.