West Mojave Plan FEIR/S - Desert Managers Group

esidents within Southern California, however, reside in areas that are substantially moredeveloped and urbanized than is the case with the West Mojave.Typical population densities generally range from roughly 2,500 persons per square milein growing suburban areas to more than 7,500 persons per square mile in urbanized areas. Bycomparison, the corresponding population density for the eleven West Mojave cities combined(accounting for 71.0 percent of the West Mojave population base) only averages about 680persons per square mile (487,000 acres of land area divided by 520,000 residents in 2000). TheCensus Bureau utilizes a minimum threshold of 1,000 persons per square mile to denote anurbanized setting. The West Mojave is more characteristic of a large rural environment. Assuch, demographic traits that describe the West Mojave reflect distinctly different circumstancesthan is true for more urbanized portions of Southern California, thereby minimizing theusefulness of direct comparisons. Instead, the State of California, which includes a sizeable ruralpopulation, periodically serves as a comparative reference to denote overall distinctionsdescribing West Mojave residents.Demographic traits describing the 2000 population base of the four West Mojave subarearegions are detailed in Exhibit 8 of the Socio-Economic Analysis in Appendix N. Similar traitsdescribing the resident population of West Mojave cities are summarized in Table 3-38.The West Mojave consists of a relatively young population base but is aging more rapidlythan the State overall and more rapidly than central metropolitan areas of Southern California.The West Mojave includes a heavy composition of families and similarly has a greaterproportion of residents 20 years of age or younger. As result, there are relatively fewer smallhouseholds (two persons or less). The West Mojave is still attracting a relatively large numberof new households but at a slower rate than experienced through the 80’s and mid-90’s. Theaffordability of housing in the West Mojave remains a principal attraction to new householdsgiven 1 out of every 5 workers commutes 60 minutes or more to their job.Workforce participation (workers, not jobs) among West Mojave households continues tolag the State and Southern California economy. Census data indicates there was an average of1.11 workers (persons indicating a place of work) per household throughout the West Mojavecompared to a Statewide average of approximately 1.28 workers per household. Similarly,current estimates of local employment (local jobs, as distinct from resident workers) also indicatethat there are fewer job opportunities in the West Mojave (0.94 jobs per occupied household)than is true for the State economy or Southern California as a whole (1.20 jobs per household –long term average). The incidence of local job opportunities in the West Mojave, however, iscomparable to other outlying regions of Southern California, including Kern County (0.92 jobsper household) and the Inland Empire (0.98 jobs per household).Current estimates from the California Employment Development Department and datapurveyors place the 2002 employment base throughout the West Mojave at approximately232,500 civilian jobs available to a base of 758,000 persons or 247,900 households.Surprisingly, the mix of local employment opportunities is roughly comparable to the broadermix of employment throughout Southern California as suggested below:Chapter 3 3-200