Richmond (pronounced /ˈrɪtʃmənd/) is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905.[1] It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been undergoing a shift towards a service and commercial economy since the 1970s. Richmond almost completely surrounds the city of San Pablo and the unincorporated areas of North Richmond, El Sobrante and East Richmond Heights. The city has a reputation for being crime-plagued, although this problem is centralized in the urban core, with many parts of Richmond having a low crime rate. But the city's own police department has described the city as having a chronic violent crime problem for "decades" and in 2010 was ranked as the 6th most dangerous city in the United States. The city is headed by mayor Gayle McLaughlin, making Richmond the largest city in the country with a Green Party mayor.[7] As of the July 1, 2005, U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 102,186, while the California Department of Finance estimates the city's population at 103,468, as of January 1, 2006.[8] This makes Richmond the 56th largest city in the state.