Families' exodus leaves S.F. whiter, less diverse

Surrounded by adults, a child crosses a Market St. intersection on Thursday, March 8, 2012, in San Francisco. The Board of Supervisors is holding a special committee hearing on family flight and why so many families with young kids are fleeing the city. less Surrounded by adults, a child crosses a Market St. intersection on Thursday, March 8, 2012, in San Francisco. The Board of Supervisors is holding a special committee hearing on family flight and why so many ... more Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Families' exodus leaves S.F. whiter, less diverse 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Last year, a family of three earning $111,000 a year could afford just 23 percent of homes for sale in San Francisco - mostly in southern neighborhoods, including Bayview-Hunters Point.

The median price of a house in the city in 2010 was $668,000. Just 2 percent of new housing units built in the city since 2001 are single-family, detached homes.

These were just a few of the scores of statistics presented at a special Board of Supervisors hearing Thursday to help explain why San Francisco is bleeding families with children - losing 5,278 people younger than 18 between 2000 and 2010, according to census figures.

There are actually about 3,000 more children younger than 5 in the city than there were in 2000, but about 8,000 fewer school-age youths.

The flight of families with children - particularly middle-income and African American families - is leaving San Francisco older, whiter and richer. That has concerned city officials and family advocates who say families with children are essential to a diverse, thriving city.

Keeping city diverse

"This has been a personal issue for me for quite some time," said Supervisor Mark Farrell, who called the hearing and said his two young children are losing lots of their friends to the suburbs - and that his own adult friends are increasingly moving.

"Keeping families in San Francisco is important for a diverse city," he said. "Having children in our parks and our schools and strollers on our sidewalks is important to the vibrancy of our neighborhoods."

Just 13.4 percent of San Francisco's 805,235 residents are younger than 18, the smallest percentage of any major city in the country. By contrast, San Jose's percentage of children is 24.8 percent, Oakland's is 21.3 percent, Boston's is 16.8 percent and Seattle's is 15.4 percent, according to Brian Cheu, director of community development for the Mayor's Office of Housing. Even Manhattan is composed of roughly 15 percent children, according to Dan Kelly, director of planning for San Francisco's Human Services Agency.

In 1970, children made up 22 percent of San Francisco. In 1960, they constituted 25 percent.

Costs a driving factor

The high costs of housing and living in general seem to be the main culprits of family flight, according to city officials who testified Thursday. Households earning at least 80 percent of the city's median income - pegged at $92,700 for a family of three - can easily afford to rent an apartment, Cheu said.

But buying a house is much more difficult because there are so few single-family, detached homes with multiple bedrooms. And the housing crash has actually left some families who used city programs to buy below-market-rate homes in the Bayview during the housing peak underwater now.

"It's a far better deal to go to Alameda, Marin, Contra Costa, San Mateo," Cheu said.

Families that choose to stay tend to be whiter and wealthier than ever, several city officials said. Thirty percent of families with children in San Francisco now earn at least 150 percent of the city's median income. Those families made up 20 percent of all families with children in the city in 1990.

Adrienne Pon, executive director of the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs, said the city's increasingly high cost of living is driving out families with children, poor people and African Americans. It is leaving San Francisco an older city than in the past, with a median age of 38.2 years old.

Changing perceptions

Pon said other city characteristics causing families to leave are its high density, perceptions it is unsafe, beliefs the public schools are mediocre, high cost of private schools, and lack of open space. Several officials pointed to the high cost and overall lack of child care.

Whether public schools are also driving families out of the city was a big question at the hearing. Public school officials testified that they are seeing an increase in kindergarten applicants and forecast a rise in secondary school students within the next several years.

Farrell said his friends using the public schools are happy with them and that City Hall should take an active role in trying to change perceptions about the school district.

There were plenty of bright spots mentioned at the hearing, including the city's strong universal preschool program, its thriving park and recreation classes, and the high level of satisfaction expressed by public school parents in surveys conducted by the school district.

Sara Shortt, director of the Housing Rights Committee, which promotes tenants' rights, said the city needs to do a better job of building affordable housing suitable for families.

"Everybody you meet here these days is from somewhere else," she said. "It would be kind of like sci-fi to have a city where nobody actually grows up here. I can't even imagine that, frankly."