Best Web Design in Davis, CA (2026)

Web Design for Davis, California

Davis is a Yolo County university town in the Sacramento Valley defined by bicycles, agriculture, and UC Davis. It was the first city in the United States to earn Platinum Bicycle-Friendly Community status and is the only U.S. city to put a high-wheel bicycle on its official logo. A student-run culture of festivals, farmers markets, and the occasional whimsical civic project (yes, a tunnel for toads) gives the flat, tree-lined city an outsize personality.

AppWT works with Davis, CA businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Davis

Also known as. The Bicycle Capital of America / Bike City, USA. The People's Republic of Davis (a playful nod to its progressive politics and bike-heavy streets).

History. The city is named for Jerome C. Davis, whose ranch of some 12,000 acres was later developed into the town. It became a Southern Pacific Railroad depot in 1868 under the name Davisville. The post office shortened the name to "Davis" in 1907. The University Farm, run by UC Berkeley's College of Agriculture, opened near Davis in 1908. That farm was elevated to a full campus, the University of California, Davis, the seventh UC general campus, in 1959. The city's cycling identity crystallized after UC Davis's first chancellor, Emil Mrak, directed planners in 1961 to design a "bicycle-riding, tree-lined campus," folded into the 1963 Long Range Development Plan.

Local economy. UC Davis is the dominant employer and the region's economic and cultural engine, renowned in agriculture, veterinary medicine, and viticulture and enology. Education and research drive the local economy, alongside agriculture and ag-technology. The city had a population of about 66,850 in 2020, not counting thousands more living on the UC Davis campus. Its identity is that of a college town and agricultural-research center in the Sacramento Valley.

Culture and community. Davis was recognized in 2005 as the first Platinum-level Bicycle-Friendly Community in the U.S. by the League of American Bicyclists. The city is home to the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame. Picnic Day, held since 1909, is one of the largest student-run events in the nation, drawing more than 70,000 people for a parade, battle of the bands, and the beloved Doxie Derby wiener-dog race. The Whole Earth Festival, born in 1969 as a campus art project, is a three-day, zero-waste, student-run art and music festival on the UC Davis Quad. The award-winning Davis Farmers Market turns Central Park into a community gathering place and has run for about half a century. The Robert Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts hosts world-class performers and speakers on campus.

What makes Davis distinct. Davis is the only U.S. city that features a high-wheel (penny-farthing) bicycle on its official city logo. In 1995 the city built a roughly six-inch "toad tunnel" under the Pole Line Road overpass so amphibians could cross safely; a postmaster added a miniature "Toad Hollow" village with a toad bar, outhouse, and hotel, and it drew national attention including a 1998 segment on The Daily Show. A children's book, "The Toads of Davis" by Ted Puntillo Sr., was published in 2000 to tell the tunnel's story from the toads' point of view. Locals joke that bicycles outnumber people, feeding the "People's Republic of Davis" nickname. Picnic Day's traditions include the Doxie Derby dachshund race, and the whole event traces back to a 1909 open house for the University Farm's new dairy barn.

Davis is a university town built around UC Davis, known nationally for its bicycle culture, agricultural research, and a compact, walkable downtown.

Davis Landmarks and Local Life

• UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden - 100-acre public garden with a 3.5-mile loop trail along the old Putah Creek channel
• Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts - Performing arts center on the UC Davis campus
• Southern Pacific Railroad Depot - Restored 1913 Mission Revival train depot in downtown Davis
• Central Park - Downtown park hosting the year-round Davis Farmers Market
• Davis greenbelt and bike path network - More than 100 miles of bike lanes and off-street paths across the city

Davis at a Glance

U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2023.

• Median household income: About $87,421
• Adults with a bachelor degree or higher: About 75.1%
• Housing: About 44% of Davis occupied housing units are owner-occupied, reflecting a large student renter population
• Housing: About 43% of the city's housing units are single-family homes