West Mojave Plan FEIR/S - Desert Managers Group

Table 3-37Average Annual Units Constructed - All HousingSouthern CaliforniaSo CalLos Angeles Orange Riverside San Bernardino San Diego Ventura Total Kern IncludingPeriod County County County County County County So Cal County Kern Co.1981-85 31,073 13,211 11,904 13,654 21,740 3,694 95,276 4,912 100,1881986-90 50,112 20,366 23,277 21,556 27,547 4,916 147,773 4,496 152,2691991-95 10,166 7,911 7,920 5,708 6,658 1,977 40,338 3,556 43,8941996-00 11,963 11,379 11,799 5,927 12,353 3,265 56,686 3,008 59,6942001 18,118 8,585 18,097 8,395 15,468 3,453 72,116 3,494 75,61022 Yr Avg 25,611 12,902 13,656 11,410 16,824 3,488 83,890 3,925 87,815Source: Bureau of the Census - Construction Statistics Division; Alfred Gobar Associates.Identified trends clearly show that the volume of development activity throughout all ofSouthern California has dropped considerably since peak building activity during the late 80’s.At that time, housing construction activity was significantly outpacing sales volume just as theSouthern California economy was being impacted by the post-Cold War recession. In effect, thebottom dropped out of Southern California’s aerospace and defense industry, heavilyconcentrated in Los Angeles County, which fueled more wide spread job losses after 1990.During the subsequent recovery period (1995 to 2000), annual job growth began to approachprevious peak levels but housing development has continued at much more moderate levels. Inaddition, the pattern of new housing development has shifted to outlying areas of SouthernCalifornia more rapidly than corresponding shifts describing non-agricultural employmentgrowth.Job-Housing Mix: The Southern California economy has been characterized by ashifting pattern of employment, housing, and population growth trending outward from thetraditional urban centers. The Southern California’s economy as a whole has effectivelygenerated 1.20 nonagricultural wage and salary jobs per household, although this average hasfluctuated in cyclical fashion. Despite substantial employment losses during the early 90’s, LosAngeles County recently has been generating local jobs at a ratio approaching its long-termaverage rate (1.31 jobs per household). Relatively isolated employment submarkets in VenturaCounty and Kern County have also increased relative job-housing performance since the early90’s. The rate of local job growth in San Bernardino County and Riverside County hasaccelerated since 1995, but these sub-regions continue to lag the overall region in terms of jobsper household. A significant portion of housing growth within these two sub-regions continuesto reflect affordable housing opportunities for workers who in turn commute to jobs in the majormetropolitan employment centers.3.4.1.2 Study Area DemographicsThe West Mojave extends across large portions of four Southern California counties (LosAngeles, San Bernardino, Kern, and Inyo) which all combined host 11.7 million residents (2000Census) or nearly 35.0 percent of the Statewide population (33.8 million residents). As a matterof course demographic traits describing an area are most often compared to corresponding traitsdescribing a larger geographic setting of which it is a part. Roughly 80.0 to 90.0 percent of allChapter 3 3-199