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WORKING DRAFT FOR HCD REVIEW <br />NEEDS ASSESSMENT 3-22 SAN LEANDRO HOUSING ELEMENT <br />residents. Many low wage jobs, in particular, are filled by workers who commute long distances from <br />communities as far away as San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties. <br /> <br />At the same time, local employees are competing for housing in San Leandro with persons working in <br />higher priced housing markets such as San Jose and San Francisco. Market-rate housing on the Peninsula <br />and in the South Bay is more expensive than it is in San Leandro, causing demand to spill into the East <br />Bay and other more affordable areas. <br /> <br />The current ratio to jobs to households in San Leandro is 1.30 (e.g., there are 1.30 jobs for every <br />household in the city). Looking forward, ABAG projects that San Leandro will add 7,710 jobs between <br />2015 and 2035 while adding 5,410 households. This represents a slightly faster rate of job growth than <br />household growth, which will sustain continued high demand for housing. As long as job growth <br />outpaces housing growth, vacancy rates in the city are likely to remain low and locally employed lower- <br />income workers may face a challenge finding suitable housing near their workplaces. <br /> <br />Conclusions <br /> <br />San Leandro has a favorable jobs-housing balance. However, like many Bay Area communities, it has a <br />housing stock that is unaffordable to many of those who work in the community—leading to long <br />commutes for many local workers. While the city offers good entry-level and mid-level employment <br />opportunities, these jobs still do not pay the wages necessary to afford the median priced home in the city. <br />Creating a true balance between jobs and housing will require two courses of action—first, producing <br />housing at a rate that keeps pace with projected job growth, and second, producing more rental housing <br />and affordable ownership housing (including condominiums) so that those who work in the city can <br />afford to live in the city. <br /> <br /> <br />special housing needs <br /> <br />Several types of households have been identified by the State of California as having special housing <br />needs. Such households have a harder time than most finding suitable housing within the community. <br />Special needs populations in the state include seniors, persons with disabilities, large low-income <br />families, single mothers, farmworkers, extremely low income households, and the homeless. The 2010 <br />Census and American Community Survey provide useful metrics to estimate special housing needs and <br />other supportive service needs in the city. <br /> <br />Seniors <br /> <br />San Leandro has historically had a higher percentage of seniors than Alameda County as a whole. In <br />2000, the percentage of residents over 65 in the city was 60 percent higher than the countywide average. <br />The gap narrowed by 2010 as the senior population in the county continued to increase while the city’s