Census: Population growth in San Mateo County slows to lowest rate in history
By Mike Rosenberg
http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo...nclick_check=1
Updated: 03/09/2011 08:54:25 AM PST
San Mateo County's population grew last decade at its slowest rate in 150 years, showing one of the clearest signs that the affluent region has not escaped the clutches of the recession.
....About one-third of Peninsula cities actually lost population over the decade, led by Daly City, which saw a decline of 2,500 residents amid a rise in foreclosures.
....Among other the findings for San Mateo County: Asians and Hispanics are replacing whites, and
nearly two-thirds of the county's new housing units are empty, leaving unoccupied space for some 18,400 people.
....The information also did not include income data, but it did show the number of vacant versus occupied housing units. The county now has 257,837 occupied households, about 3,700 more than a decade ago. But there are also now 13,194 vacant housing units, slightly more than double the total from 2000.
That last bit of data suggests that the
recession has made it too expensive to live in a county that is consistently one of the nation's priciest places to own a house. Marin County, which is smaller but comparable in terms of housing prices and income levels, saw its population growth slow as well, to about 2.1 percent.