RAND's Santa Monica Snapshot: Part I

By Jorge Casuso

Santa Monica is a densely populated, highly educated and predominantly white segregated city, where half the residents live alone, mostly in inexpensive rent-controlled apartments.

That is the general snapshot of the city taken by RAND researcher Lee Mizell using the latest available data from a variety of sources, including updates of the 1990 Census. The sources include the city, the county, the school district, the police department, the Rent Control Board and the United Way.

"This is really intended to provide people with a general understanding of who lives here," said Mizell, who prepared the report. "It's good for establishing a context for decisions to be made, but it's only a snapshot.

"We didn't have a lot of data to compare things to," Mizell said. "For those who believe that facts speak for themselves, the facts are notable."

Compiled as part of Community Voices: A Community Profile and Planning Project of the City of Santa Monica, the report snaps a picture of a city of approximately 90,000 at the turn of the millenium.

"The City is fully built up, past patterns indicate that major mobility shifts are unlikely, and, given the demographic makeup of residents, overall birthrates for Santa Monica are likely to be lower than the state or county," according to the report. "Barring a substantial growth in new housing, Santa Monica's population is likely to remain about the same as it is today, or experience a slight decline."

The report also concluded that "the cost of living in Santa Monica is rising and likely to be beyond the reach of many, despite a slight increase in the number of high income households."

According to the 1990 Census, the median rent of renter-occupied units was $498. The median value of owner-occupied units was $500,000.

The report, which will likely be the most accurate source of information before new census figures are released in two to three years, found that:

· Santa Monica is one of the most densely populated urban areas in California. Although approximately one-third of the population lives south of Pico Boulevard, the most densely populated area is north of Montana, which has a large proportion of families.

· Santa Monica's total population has remained relatively stable over the past few decades, a trend that could continue, although the population could show a slight decline barring a substantial growth in new housing.

· Most residents of Santa Monica do not live in family households, where individuals are related by birth, adoption or marriage. In fact, 60 percent of Santa Monica households were non-family households in 1990 - more than double the percentages for the county and the state.

· In 1990, an overwhelming number of housing units were occupied by renters. Of the 47,437 housing units in the city, 32,520 (69 percent) were renter-occupied, 12,340 (26 percent) were owner occupied and 2,577 (5 percent) were vacant.

"The knee-jerk reaction is to say that 70 percent of residents are renters," Mizell said. "No." She noted in the report that "most owner-occupied units are single family homes, which accommodate more people - such as a family."

According to a 1995 tenant survey, 51 percent of households in rent-controlled units consisted of only one person, while 82 percent had not more than two persons.

· Santa Monica is predominantly white and segregated by race. Whites are estimated to be 71 percent of the city's population, Latinos 16 percent and African Americans 4 percent. The vast majority of African Americans (88 percent) and of Latinos (86 percent) live in two of the three zip code areas south of Wilshire Boulevard. Whites account for 85 percent of the residents north of Wilshire. Asians, who account for 8 percent of the population, appear to be the most evenly distributed among neighborhoods.

· In 1999, the Santa Monica's homeless population was estimated at 1,037, the overwhelming majority of them older than 24. Men accounted for 72 percent of the population and most of them (56 percent) sleep outdoors at night; women comprised 28 percent, the vast majority (74 percent) of whom sleep in shelters at night.

While whites accounted for 70 percent of housed Santa Monicans, only 52 percent of the homeless are white. African Americans, who constituted only four percent of the total population accounted for 24 percent of the homeless population. Latinos accounted for 18 percent of the homeless population and 16 percent of the total population.

· In 1990, 58 percent of Santa Monicans were between 20 and 49 years old. Thirty year-olds represented the largest category (25 percent) followed by those in their twenties (16.4 percent) and forties (also 16.4 percent). The number of seniors, who comprise 16.5 percent of the population, declined, bucking a nationwide trend. Most seniors were white women.

· The bulk of the city's youth lives south of Wilshire, while nearly a third of the seniors live between Wilshire and Montana. Twenty-three percent of the seniors lived in the downtown area.

· Santa Monica's residents are more highly educated, on average, than residents of the county or state. Twenty-four percent of the city's residents over age 25 had a Bachelors degree, nearly double the percentage in the county or state. Santa Monica also has twice the percentage of residents with a graduate or professional degree.

· In 1988, the median household income for Santa Monica was $48,934. Residents north of Montana posted the highest median income at $88,861, while the downtown area had the lowest median income at $31,410, lower than the state and national median.

· Between eight and 11 percent of Santa Monica residents live with a mobility or self-care limitation or work disability, most of them seniors, according to the 1990 Census. As of December 1999, approximately 12 percent of students in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District were enrolled in the special education program, a percentage higher than in surrounding communities.

Stay tuned for Part II, "The Current Welfare Trends in Santa Monica," coming up on Tuesday.