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WORKING DRAFT FOR HCD REVIEW EVALUATION OF 2010 ELEMENT 2-2 SAN LEANDRO HOUSING ELEMENT and on the south by the unincorporated communities of San Lorenzo and Ashland. The western edge of the city is defined by San Francisco Bay, while the East Bay hills define the eastern edge. The city’s land area is 13.3 square miles. Excluding streets and freeways, about 46 percent of this area is comprised of residential uses. San Leandro’s neighborhoods include about 2,600 acres of single family detached homes, 260 acres of townhomes and duplexes, 300 acres of apartments and condominiums, and 70 acres of mobile homes. These areas contain about 32,500 housing units, for an average residential density of 10.5 units per net acre. This density creates a more urban character than the newer communities of the East Bay (like Dublin and Fremont) but a more suburban character than Berkeley, Oakland, and other cities closer to San Francisco. Although many San Leandro neighborhoods are perceived as being homogeneous, the housing stock is actually quite diverse. The city contains view-oriented hillside homes, Craftsman bungalows and Mediterranean cottages, apartment buildings and garden apartment complexes, mid-rise condominiums, ranch-style tract homes, century-old Victorians, mobile home parks, California contemporaries, and even semi-rural ranchettes. Many single family neighborhoods include pockets of higher-density housing, along with other uses such as parks, schools, and churches. San Leandro was initially laid out in 1855 and was incorporated in 1872. By 1900, it had grown to about 2,300 residents and was a prosperous agricultural center. The city continued to grow at a moderate pace during the first 40 years of the 20th Century. Many of the neighborhoods in the northeast part of the city, such as Broadmoor and Estudillo Estates, were developed during this time period. The railroad corridors developed with industry, while Downtown remained the center for commerce and civic life. By 1940, San Leandro had 14,000 residents. Still, the town covered just a few square miles and was surrounded by farms and orchards. The 1940s and 50s were a time of transformation for the city. A development boom, initially fueled by wartime housing construction and then sustained by returning veterans and their families, brought about a 350 percent increase in the city’s population in just 20 years. Much of San Leandro’s current form and character was defined during this era and nearly half of the city’s current housing stock was added. Most of the neighborhood shopping centers and commercial strips along East 14th Street and other arterials date from this period. The city also emerged as a major industrial center during this era, with more than 6,000 manufacturing jobs added between 1947 and 1954 alone. The pace of growth slowed as the city reached its natural limits during the 1960s. On the east, steep hills created a barrier to large-scale development. On the west, most of the shoreline had been acquired for park uses. Established communities lay to the north and south. The focus of new development shifted to smaller infill sites, including greenhouses and nurseries, and other properties that had been bypassed during the boom years. By the 1980s, other factors had begun to shape the form of San Leandro. The Bay Area’s economic base shifted from manufacturing to services and technology, and many traditional industries left the city. As the thousands of families who moved to San Leandro during the 1940s and 50s matured, school enrollment dropped and several schools were closed and redeveloped with housing. The percentage of