General Plan - Moreno Valley

CHAPTER 8 – HOUSINGagricultural production. Moreno Valley isincluded in the Riverside/Corona district thatcovers western Riverside County with SanJacinto and Temecula being in a separatedistrict. Although the amount of landdedicated to agricultural production inMoreno Valley has significantly declined,the district as a whole shows a slightlyhigher crop value in 1999 than in 1997:$29,046,200; 1998: $38,383,900; and 1999:$31,464,000. 17Although, only half of the 11,494 acresdedicated to citrus crops, within theRiverside/Corona District, were beingutilized in 1999, almost all the acreagededicated to tree and vine crops, vegetable,melon and miscellaneous crops was utilized(1,832 acres planted and harvested). Whatis occurring in the district is that the oncepredominant agricultural use which requiredlarge tracts of land and large numbers offarm workers is changing to one that ismore intensive on less acreage and canmore efficiently utilize fewer farm workers.In the two county region (Riverside and SanBernardino) farming as an industry was thesource of employment for 34,000 personsas of June 2000. 18 The farm labor forcecomprised 2% of the civilian labor force asof June 2000, in the two counties. In 1992,wages paid by growers/farmers to farmlaborers were $107,000,000 in the twocounty area and wages paid to laborers viacontractors were $52,000,000. 19Based on an ongoing study by theDepartment of Labor (DOL), 28% of farmworkers nationwide had personal incomesunder $2,500. Almost three-quarters hadpersonal incomes that did not exceed$10,000 and only one in seven had apersonal income over $12,500. Few farmworkers have assets. In a survey conducedby the Department of Labor Office, it wasdetermined that in 1994-95, about half ofthe farm workers (49%) owned a vehicleand about one third owned or were buying ahouse or trailer. 20 Since the survey wasMORENO VALLEY GENERAL PLANconducted across the United States indistinct agricultural regions, the applicabilityof the findings would be valid for farmworkers in Riverside County.The National Agricultural Workers Surveyfound that 10% of all farm workers livedalone, not sharing their housing with family,born workers were more likely to share aresidence with five or more people thanU.S. born workers (46% versus 19%respectively). 21co-workers or other individuals. Farmworkers born in the United States weremore likely than their foreign-borncounterparts to live in households thatconsisted of only one or two other people(44% versus 19%, respectively). Foreign-Among those farm workers who lived in anuclear family setting (containing a parent,spouse, or children), a relatively highnumber had non-family members also livingwith them. Among all farm workers, 20% ofthe nuclear families served as an anchor orhost for non-family members. However, themost common living pattern for farmworkers was to live exclusively with non-were muchrelatives. Male farm workersmore likely than their female counterparts toreside in living situations with only unrelatedindividuals. 228.3.13 Homeless NeedsThe City of Moreno Valley consulted withhomeless service providers to determine thenature and the needs of homeless personsin Moreno Valley. Homeless providers arereporting that the homeless population theyare serving is comprised of the chronicallyhomeless persons whose homelessness isthe result of chemical abuse, spousal orchild abuse, mental illness and lack ofindependent living skills. Homeless serviceproviders reported that 90% of thehomeless persons they serve becamehomeless as a result of substance abuseand 60% have problems related to spousalabuse and child abuse.Page 8-26 July 11, 2006