Union City celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2009, with a year of events planned for the community.
The San Francisco Bay Area Flight 93 Memorial is in Sugar Mill Landing Park. It was the first monument completed in the United States which was designed specifically to honor the passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, which was bound for San Francisco, but was hijacked and crashed in rural Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001.
As of the census of 2008, there were 73,402 people, 18,642 households, and 15,696 families residing in Union City and a total of 17,130 jobs and 32,700 employed residents in 2000. The population density was 1,341.2/km² (3,473.0/mi²). There were 18,877 housing units at an average density of 378.6/km² (980.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 43.3% Asian (18.8% being Filipino and 8.6% being Indian), 20.4% White, 6.7% African American, 1.3% Native American, 0.9% Pacific Islander, 11.5% from other races, and 6.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 24% of the population.
There were 18,642 households out of which 45.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.6% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.8% were non-families. 11.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.57 and the average family size was 3.83. The median price of a house in Union City is about $400,000.
In the city the population varied widely in age, with 27.8% under the age of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males.
According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $87,891, and the median income for a family was $87,307. Males had a median income of $45,212 versus $35,085 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,890. About 4.8% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.
Union City has an elected 3 member city council and 2 mayors. The mayor is Mark Green, vice mayor is Carol Dutra-Vernaci, and the city council members are Manny Fernandez, Richard Valle and Jim Navarro.
Union City is served by two highways. Interstate 880 (Nimitz Freeway) along the city's western side provides access to the industrial and commercial areas of the city. SR 238 (Mission Boulevard) primarily serves eastern foothill residential areas. Public transportation is served by the Bay Area Rapid Transit district thru the Union City BART station, by AC Transit, and by Union City Transit and Paratransit.
An intermodal station is envisaged at the BART Union City station to integrate with other modes of transportation including a future commuter rail system. The station is being planned and paid for by the city, state and regional agencies. Officials held groundbreaking ceremonies for the new facility on November 13, 2007. The project may include a conversion to solar power generation for the station's energy needs, which could make it the first station in the United States to be powered by solar energy.