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ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW DRAFT Conclusions San Leandro is projected to add more jobs than housing during the next decade. The demand for affordable homes and apartments is likely to remain very high, while the supply is likely to remain tight. As in the past, many of the jobs created will be in the retail, service, and administrative sectors. These jobs ordinarily do not provide the income needed to buy a new home in the City. The demand for rental apartments and more affordable for -sale homes (such as condominiums) will remain strong in the future. Special Housing Needs Several types of households have been identified by the State of California as having special housing needs. Such households have a harder time than most finding suitable housing within the community. Special needs populations in the State include seniors, persons with disabilities, large low-income families, single mothers, farmworkers, and the homeless. The Census provides some indication of the presence of such groups within San Leandro. Because Year 2000 data has not yet been released, and because the Census may not represent the complete picture, additional data is provided below. Seniors As mentioned earlier in this Chapter, about 16 percent of the City's residents are 65 or older, a substantially higher percentage than in Alameda County as a whole. The 1990 Census reported that 59 percent of San Leandro's senior households had incomes of $25,000 a year or less, while less than 5 percent had incomes of $50,000 a year or more. Some 70 percent of all San Leandro seniors spent more than 30 percent of their annual incomes on housing. Although current income data is not available, the percentage of lower income seniors remains relatively high. Many of the City's senior households may find it difficult to make monthly mortgage or rent payments on fixed or limited incomes. Others may find the day-to-day costs of home maintenance and improvement to be prohibitively expensive. In 1990, nearly 4,000 of the City's 13,000 senior residents lived alone (including over 2,000 who were over 75). This figure may have declined slightly during the 1990s, but is still quite large. The statistics suggest a possible demand for shared housing programs in the City, creating a potential source of income for lower income senior homeowners as well as a housing resource for lower income senior renters. In 2000, 2.2 percent of San Leandro's residents (1,747 people) were over 85, the highest percentage in Alameda County. There were more than 5,000 residents between the ages of 75 and 84. The demand for affordable assisted living and congregate care facilities in the community remains high, and will continue to remain high in the future. Single Parent Households Single parent households, particularly single female -headed households, tend to have a higher need for affordable housing than the general population. Child care responsibilities may limit the number of hours that a single parent can work. For those single parents who do work, child care expenses may consume a HOUSING ELEMENT 3-16 SAN LEANDRO GENERAL PLAN 4! a 8