Decline in black population worries San Francisco:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/09/state/n154148D07.DTL&hw=blacks&sn=025&sc=476(04-09) 15:41 PDT San Francisco (AP) --
City officials expressed concern over the continuing black migration from San Francisco, which has the lowest proportion of black residents of any large city in the nation.
Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to appoint a task force of business leaders, religious groups, community groups and families to study the sources of the flight, as well as what can be done to attract and retain a sizable black population.
"We will look at places that are gaining African-American residents, find out what they are doing policy-wise, and replicate it," said Fred Blackwell, director of the Mayor's Office of Community Development.
According to census estimates, the number of black people living in San Francisco dropped from 96,000 residents in 1970 to about 47,000 in 2005. Blacks now represent about 6.5 percent of residents, compared to 12.1 percent of the nation's population.
"The decline is phenomenal," said Hans Johnson, a demographer with the Public Policy Institute of California.
Oakland, which long has had more black residents than San Francisco, also has experienced a decline. Between 1980 and 2000, blacks went from making up 47 percent of the city's population to 38 percent. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that blacks made up between 20 and 33 percent of Oakland's black population in 2005.
Demographers said many blacks leave the city for the suburbs once they have enough money, just as other racial minorities do. As such, it is unclear what the city can do to stem the flow.
"This is a concern because this city values having a diverse population," said Greg Wagner, a program director at the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association. "It is economics combined with cultural things that are tough to sort out. There are restrictions in this state about what you can do that is racially based."
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Information from: San Francisco Chronicle,
www.sfgate.com/chronicle