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San Francisco Becomes Fastest-Shrinking U.S. City
Yahoo News/Reuters ^
| Thu Jul 10, 5:00 PM ET
| Andrea Orr
Posted on 07/11/2003 1:49:17 PM PDT by hattend
San Francisco Becomes Fastest-Shrinking U.S. City Thu Jul 10, 5:00 PM ET Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Andrea Orr
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - I left my forwarding address in San Francisco.
The foggy city by the bay, which has lost jobs and income in the technology industry bust, saw the largest population decline of any major city in the United States last year, according to U.S. Census data.
San Francisco's population declined by 1.5 percent or nearly 12,000 between July 2001 and July 2002, making it the biggest loser among 242 U.S. cities with more than 100,000 people, a report released on Thursday showed.
San Francisco, with a population of about 776,000 in mid-2002, joins some other famously depressed U.S. cities, including Flint, Michigan, which ranked 240 on the list with a population decline of 1.4 percent or 1,687 people, and Gary, Indiana, which came in at 227, losing 0.8 percent of its population, or 793 people. San Francisco lost 11,929 residents over the same one-year period.
But the exodus from the San Francisco Bay Area appears more pronounced considering all the other surrounding cities that also suffered big population declines.
Second to last on the list was Sunnyvale, California, a Silicon Valley city about 50 miles south of San Francisco, and the home to number of high-tech companies and high-tech workers, who were hit hard by the dot-com bust. Sunnyvale's population declined by 1.4 percent, or 1,830 people, the report showed.
DOT-COM ADIEU
San Jose, California, also a key Silicon Valley city, ranked near the bottom of the list, at 220, as did Daly City, just outside of San Francisco, which ranked 236. San Jose lost 5,740 people or 0.6 percent of its people and Daly City 1,089 people or 1.1 percent.
Hundreds of high-tech start-up companies based in northern California have closed their doors during the past three years, sending many people out of town in search of work.
California's Employment Development Department said San Francisco had a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 6.6 percent in May, compared with a national rate of 6.1 percent. The jobless rate in Santa Clara County, encompassing Sunnyvale and much of Silicon Valley, was 8 percent.
This recent exodus marks a stark reversal of trends seen in the late 1990s when engineers and recent college and business school graduates thronged to the Silicon Valley region seeking work at high-tech companies that offered generous compensation and stock option packages.
Although San Francisco has not ranked among the fastest growing cities at any time in recent history, it did show healthy expansion throughout the 1990s, with its population growing 7.3 percent over the course of that decade, census data show.
Most of the fastest growth in the United States meanwhile, is occurring in southern California and throughout the Southwest. The Census report ranked Gilbert, Arizona, with a 10.3 percent population increase last year alone, as the fastest growing city in the U.S.
North Las Vegas, Nevada came in second with Rancho Cucamonga near Los Angeles; Henderson, Nevada; and Joliet, Illinois rounding out the top five.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; US: Arizona; US: California; US: Nevada
KEYWORDS: sanfrancisco; turnoutlights
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To: Joe Hadenuf
You never know.
To: Grando Calrissian
LOL, no you don't. But I am confident about you. Hehehe....
82
posted on
07/11/2003 4:55:20 PM PDT
by
Joe Hadenuf
(RECALL DAVIS, position his smoking chair over a trapdoor, a memo for the next governor.)
To: Grando Calrissian
The problem is that it's hard to do a decent parody of San Francisco, as the place is a parody of liberalism.
83
posted on
07/11/2003 4:55:43 PM PDT
by
Poohbah
(Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.)
To: Poohbah
It's full of Poo. But take away the Poo, and you have one of the most beautiful cities in the entire nation.......
84
posted on
07/11/2003 4:57:09 PM PDT
by
Joe Hadenuf
(RECALL DAVIS, position his smoking chair over a trapdoor, a memo for the next governor.)
To: Joe Hadenuf
It's amusing how people get so worked up over a city they:
A - don't live in
B - will never live in
C - will never visit
D - have never been to
To: Grando Calrissian
Oh, and I like the ones that do nothing but bad mouth everyone in Cal, and then turn around and beg them to leave Cal and come to their states. LOL!
86
posted on
07/11/2003 4:59:17 PM PDT
by
Joe Hadenuf
(RECALL DAVIS, position his smoking chair over a trapdoor, a memo for the next governor.)
To: Poohbah
The best description I've heard is "Kindergarten Socialism". The City's in real trouble, though, once Brown leaves. I cringe at having to listen to Mayor Ammiano's voice the next four years.
To: Joe Hadenuf
It's nice. I think Colorado Springs has it beat. Beautiful setting AND full of conservatives.
88
posted on
07/11/2003 5:00:57 PM PDT
by
Poohbah
(Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.)
To: Grando Calrissian
Watch Ammiano resolve the issue of people leaving using the classic socialist solution--put up barbed wire, mines, and concrete walls.
89
posted on
07/11/2003 5:02:13 PM PDT
by
Poohbah
(Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.)
To: Joe Hadenuf
Different strokes. It's always been my opinion that California hasn't been screwed up by the natives but by the people that have moved here from elsewhere the last 15 years or so. Most of the people leaving SF are people who recently arrived anyway. Good news in my book. More parking, cheaper rent, less traffic, people are starting to smile at each other again.
To: Poohbah
I believe he's already on record stating that he'll institute a City Income Tax at $125,000, which is close to the median household income. I am sure that if Ammiano becomes mayor, the City will become bankrupt within 2 years.
To: Poohbah
Colorado Springs is also loaded with illegal aliens.....And unfortunately, more on their way.....I have always loved SF, it's a very unique town, with a whole lot to do and see. Like everything else, to many and or the wrong kind of people can ruin it.
92
posted on
07/11/2003 5:14:33 PM PDT
by
Joe Hadenuf
(RECALL DAVIS, position his smoking chair over a trapdoor, a memo for the next governor.)
To: Michael.SF.
I was originally from Chicago suburbs, lived in SF for ten years and loved it. When I went back to Chicago after an absense of two decades, I found it horrible shape. Many more bums than SF, more buildings boarded up, a dreadful atmosphere pervades that once bustling city. I'd move back to SF tomorrow if I could afford it.
93
posted on
07/11/2003 5:20:31 PM PDT
by
PoisedWoman
(Fed up with the CORRUPT liberal media)
To: hattend
If you are mentioned with Flint or Gary in a list of cities, it usually isn't good.
94
posted on
07/11/2003 5:21:02 PM PDT
by
Dan from Michigan
("Crashed and Burned, eh gungrabbers?")
To: hattend
North Las Vegas, Nevada came in second with Rancho Cucamonga near Los Angeles; Henderson, Nevada; and Joliet, Illinois rounding out the top five.
One of these places is not like the others.
95
posted on
07/11/2003 5:24:25 PM PDT
by
July 4th
To: VOA
Los Angeles/Southern California: Dallas/Ft. Worth with a beach and more Asians. Overall, a nice place to visit, not so nice to live since Gray Davis happened. LA hasn't been a nice place to live for a long, long, long time.
96
posted on
07/11/2003 5:38:03 PM PDT
by
MattAMiller
(Down with the Mullahs! Peace, freedom, and prosperity for Iran.)
To: MattAMiller
LA hasn't been a nice place to live for a long, long, long time. Actually LA has some very nice areas, with some of the best climate on earth to boot, as a matter of fact, there are probably more wealthy folks that live in and around LA than any other region of the country. I am talking private jet aircraft and elevators in their homes. Big bucks.
I could name at least 30 areas around the greater LA area that are outstanding beautiful, places. Unfortunately, you need big bucks to live in those areas......If these areas were not super nice, with weather to match, the super rich wouldn't be there.......Plain and simple......
97
posted on
07/11/2003 5:47:22 PM PDT
by
Joe Hadenuf
(RECALL DAVIS, position his smoking chair over a trapdoor, a memo for the next governor.)
To: Grando Calrissian
i stand corrected. you know SF. sorry for the confusion.
To: cherry_bomb88
Fungus is bad.
99
posted on
07/11/2003 6:20:14 PM PDT
by
BIGZ
To: The Human G-Nome
you'd think the entire city were one big skid row The funny thing is about 15% of SF voted Republican so they all are aren't twisted perverts. Notice that the Green candidate got more votes than the Pub! Here are the Gove results
GOVERNOR VOTE FOR 1
GRAY DAVIS (DEM) . . . . . . . . 143,102 65.78
PETER MIGUEL CAMEJO (GRN) . . . . . 33,495 15.40
BILL SIMON (REP) . . . . . . . . 33,214 15.27
GARY DAVID COPELAND (LIB) . . . . . 3,048 1.40
IRIS ADAM (NLW) . . . . . . . . 1,649 .76
REINHOLD GULKE (AMI). . . . . . . 1,639 .75
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 1,414 .65
100
posted on
07/11/2003 6:29:32 PM PDT
by
Drango
(Just 5ยข a day will end pledge drives on FreeRepublic.)
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