In 2000 the census numbered 151,060 in Salinas. According to the Dun & Bradstreet Market Profile Analysis , there were 112,965 Salinas households in 1990. The 2001 update showed 130,610 households. By 2003 most of the city’s construction of single family homes during the past decade had been in northeast Salinas, south of Boronda Road and east of North Main Street. Major developments included Harden Ranch, Creekbridge, and Williams Ranch, with various affiliated subdivisions.

Salinas continued to add attractions to the venerable old Main Street area. In 2005 the Maya Cinemas opened in the Oldtown area on Main Street near the National Steinbeck Center. On the north side of town the new Salinas Sports Complex with its many programs including the annual California Rodeo at Salinas, served as a draw for that end of town.

Despite new building construction, the first decade of the twenty - first century would prove economically difficult. Salinas residents faced several ballot measures that would drastically alter basic city services. In 2002 Measure O was placed on the ballot to cut the city utility tax in half. Five former Salinas mayors joined Mayor Anna Caballero in opposition to Measure O, which was defeated by 66% of the votes. Then in 2004 The Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Grow er - Shipper Association and other community leaders urged residents to pass Measures A, B, and C to increase revenue for the city and cover a projected $9.2 million deficit projected for 2005.

The financial bind was largely driven by the loss of property t axes and vehicle - license fees seized by the State of California to cover its own budget crisis. This was made worse by a sluggish local economy, and a shift in payments and reimbursements by Monterey County. Measures A and B failed. The city manager recommended that the city council close the city library system and four recreation centers, as well as approve cuts to police and fire services.

However, money from Rally Salinas, Mayor Caballero’s plan to raise funds, kept the Salinas Public Library open limited hours until Salinas citizens passed Measure V, a general sales tax increase of .025% in November of 2005. Eventually Measure V sales tax money would fund the Salinas Public Library System entirely.

In July of 2003 Dorothy’s Kitchen faced closure due to a $35,000 debt, but the Salinas area residents rallied to support the institution. In April of 2005 California State University Monterey Bay and Dorothy’s Kitchen presented a vision for redevelopment in Chinatown.

The Salinas Planning Commission approved a women’s shelter at Dorothy’s Kitchen in January 2006 and in December the Commission extended the permit for Dorothy’s Kitchen indefinitely. Some members of the community were not in favor, feeling that the kitchen continued to draw to the neighborhood some of the 1,570 counted in a 2005 Homeless Census of Monterey County. Nonetheless, Dorothy’s Kitchen celebrated “25 years of compassion” on May 4, 2007, while the city continued work on the area’s Chinatown Renewal Project.

Natividad Medical Center was another institution that was kept from closing its doors. In 2004 County Supervisors considered selling the center which serves the county’s poorest residents. However, in 2006 both Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System and Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula agreed to chip in a collective $8 million over two years to keep Natividad afloat, in exchange for a say in how to run the medical center. In April of 2009 Harry Weis was named Natividad Medical Center’s new CEO, and gave residents hope that the medical center would continue to provide service.

The Monterey County agricultural industry also faced a nightmare when a deadly E. coli outbreak was linked to Central Coast fresh spinach in 2006. Across the nation supermarkets removed bags of Salinas Valley spinach from their shelves. Salinas Valley producers were forced to lay off employees.

The disaster prompted industry leaders and federal officials together to establish tougher food safety standards. Some growers expressed the hope the United States Department of Agriculture would issue a mandatory marketing order that all salad producers must follow. Currently California growers have higher costs stemming from practices required by the marketing agreements.

On May 1, 2006 , thousands of people (estimates of 13,000 - 25,000) in the Salinas Valley took Monday off to march through Salinas on the National Day of Action called by immigrant rights activists and their supporters. The marchers converged at the corner of Alisal Street and Sanborn Road as part of a “Day without Immigrants.”

As a final agricultural note: in October of 2007 Agribusiness giant D’Arrigo Brothers and the United Farm Workers Union quietly signed a three - year contract, ending a thirty year dispute.

Despite the longest recession since World War II, the Salinas City Council began looking at redevelopment of the downtown area’s city owned property in 2008. This included turning aging properties like the police department, the city hall, the John Steinbeck Library and several parking lots into mixed use developments. Mayor Dennis Donohue called for input from residents about how the downtown should be redeveloped in a series of “charrettes”. At the end of the January public meeting, the Mayor observed the closure of Gadsby’s Music Store, a fixture in Salinas for 73 years, but asked residents to look ahead to the future:

“It’s all part of change” he said; “the old begins to give way to the new, and we begin to imagine that great city anew.” [Jack Foley. “Planners Hear Salinas’ Redevelopment Ideas,” Salinas Californian, 9 January 2009]