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In this Census Feature: Around America: Rise in Minority Numbers California: Diverse, but Still Segregated San Francisco: Major Trends Daly City: Finding Comfort Milpitas: Living Near Tech Central Monterey Park: Ground Zero in API Growth Boom

In San Francisco

By Neela Banerjee

Asian American growth in San Francisco has kept pace and gone beyond that of the rest of the city’s population, with a 24.5 percent increase in the last 10 years, bringing the population up to 30.7 percent. Major trends show Asian Americans moving west and south into areas of the city where home ownership is an option.

“This has been a trend for the past five years,” District 4 Supervisor Leland Yee says. “The shift of more and more Asian American voters into the Sunset is a microcosm of the changing demographics of the entire city.”

Yee says he studied these numbers back in 1996 when running for election to the Board, and attributed his win to the large numbers of Chinese voters in his district.

“I think that the Asian American community, especially the Chinese American community, has always been a community of transition,” he says. “It is not surprising to see that the endpoint for many individuals would be home ownership.”

Chinese Americans now have the second highest percentage of homeownership in the city. They are 50 percent more likely to be homeowners than any other ethnic group.

For the first time in years, though, Chinatown numbers have dropped to less than 50 percent Asian American. District 3, with 48 percent, is now second to the Sunset which is 54 percent Asian American. Even more residential Asian American neighborhoods, such as the Richmond district saw a slight drop in numbers, again attributed by the move to homeownership from rental properties.

Asian Americans are the majority in four districts: Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s District 3, Yee’s District 4, Sophie Maxwell’s District 10 and Gerardo Sandoval’s District 11. Asian American growth in both District 4 and 11 increased by 9 percent.

A Good Count

Immigrant Rights Commissioner and San Francisco Census 2000 liäson Dang Pham feels that the city did a lot better this year in getting residents to participate in the count, compared to 1990.

“Based on the data, we missed a lot of people back then and we vowed we wouldn’t let it happen again, especially because of the painful loss of state and county funding,” Pham says.

The city and county of San Francisco put together a Complete Count committee which worked with community-based organizations to do outreach and help with counting.

Pham adds: “We aren’t completely satisfied, because there is always somewhat of an undercount due to the complexity of things like illegal in-law housing units or immigrant fear of federal agents.”

Pham says that San Francisco had a 69 percent return rate, which was slightly better than the national average. With the increased growth, Pham is confident that services for Asian Americans will improve.

“I think the top priority has to do with equal access to services for people who do not speak English,” Pham points out. He mentions Supervisor Mark Leno’s proposal for increased language services that is pending in committee right now.

“Hopefully, we can get this on the books so it will help everyone, no matter if you are Chinese or Latino or African,” Pham says. “The hard-working people of this city who pay taxes deserve these services.”

Yee has called for a hearing in his Neighbors, Services and Parks Committee, which will look into census numbers and identify the policy adjustments that need to follow. With the increased Asian population, Yee wants to make sure that service recommendations are made to serve the population at hand.

African American, Asian American Neighbors

As Asian American and Latino numbers increase or stay steady, black numbers and communities saw huge losses. Traditionally African American neighborhoods such as Bayview/Hunter’s Point and the Western Addition saw drops of 10 to 15 percent.

“Gentrification has certainly negatively impacted both the Japanese American and black communities in this neighborhood,” Patty Wada, head of the San Francisco chapter of the Japanese American Citizen’s League, said, attributing the loss to the encroachment of Lower Pacific Heights.

“I find it disturbing because it certainly affects both communities in terms of population, vitality, and threatens the sustainability of both communities,” Wada adds.

The Japantown Planning and Task Force, a group that has been around for the past few years, has been working to preserve the diversity of the neighborhood, one of the only Japantowns in the nation that developed next to a predominately black neighborhood.

The high concentration of Asian Americans in District 10 was an issue that Supervisor Sophie Maxwell was aware of from the start of her campaign. According to Census tract data, Visitacion Valley now has the highest concentration of Asian Americans outside of Chinatown.

“The demographics in this District is what pushed Supervisor Maxwell to push for language access issues during meetings,” Maxwell aide Sarah He says. He is referring to a resolution that Maxwell introduced that would give people speaking through a translator more time to speak at public meetings.

Maxwell also specifically hired He, a bilingual Cantonese speaker who has worked extensively in the Chinese American community, to be a direct liäson to the community.

“Because of the changing demographics and the huge influx of Asian Americans who have moved in through the years, there is a lot of Asian-black tension,” He says. “Whether it is miscommunication, lack of understanding or cultural barriers, there has been tension and it is a hard problem to counter.”

Maxwell hopes to start to break down some of these tensions by starting a dialogue. Plans for an Afro-Asian celebration day are in the works.

“She just wants to get people together, to celebrate together,” He says. “Just start saying hello to their neighbors, you know? She wants to put this event together to celebrate so they can then move forward.”

Political Clout

Pham hopes the increasing numbers of Asian Americans will continue to inspire people to get involved in electoral politics.

“In national numbers we are 11 million, but here in San Francisco there are only, like, 250,000 of us and we already have a considerable political impact in terms of how many Asian Americans hold elected positions,” Pham says.

Yee, on the other hand, does not believe that mere numbers will encourage people to get involved in the government.

“When you have individuals who are going to nurture future generations, then you will have more people participating in electoral politics,” Yee says.