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[pct-l] Sierra Nevada demographics article



  Those of you "not from around here" might find this interesting. It will be at 
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/mon/news/news_1n1sierra.html
for a week.

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Sierra is region of contrasts, study finds

  Economic changes not benefiting all counties

  By John Howard 
  ASSOCIATED PRESS 

  November 1, 1999 

  SACRAMENTO -- They are making more and spending less than other Californians, but a troubling number of Sierra Nevadans cannot read or write and a growing number of their children are living in poverty, according to a new study.

  The report by the Sierra Business Council paints a complex picture of the stunning region. The study offers a snapshot of 12 counties in the 400-mile-long mountain range that includes Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe. It examines demographics, industrial base, educational systems, housing costs, environment, property use and other factors.

  By design, the 122-page Sierra Nevada Wealth Index is dispassionate and provides little analysis.

  But its nuggets of information were put together to serve as a tool for policy-makers deciding the fate of an area in transition.

  "This is a measuring tool," said Robert C. Haydon, an Auburn banker and the chairman of the council's advisory committee that crafted the study. "We want to be able to sustain growth, but we don't want to destroy that which is creating our success, which is the quality of life we have here."

  The underlying premise of the report is that dramatic growth is changing the region, defined as Plumas, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Alpine, Mono and Inyo counties.

  Pieces of other counties also touch on the Sierra -- Butte, Yuba, Madera, Fresno and Tulare in California, and Washoe, Carson and Douglas in Nevada, but they were not included in the county-based analysis because they differ fundamentally from the other counties, the report's authors said.

  According to the study, the region's changes have been two-edged. The question is whether the changes ultimately can be beneficial, Haydon said.

  Improvements in communications, including the Internet, and transportation have allowed people to settle in small, rural communities and earn a living. Locals, including skilled workers and small businesses, who once would have been forced to leave to find work now are able to stay.

  "This reality is reflected in economic diversity, rising personal incomes, declining unemployment and new heights of scholastic achievement," the study says.

  But the report notes that the change has caused a "rapid loss of farmland, surprisingly high levels of water and air pollution, declining biodiversity and unsightly sprawl."

  Moreover, the economic improvements are apparent generally, but "in some counties, the growing number of children in poverty, declining personal income, slow literacy rates and outdated communications infrastructure show that some communities are being left behind."

  Among the findings:

    The region's population is growing about 4 percent annually, compared with 2 percent for California overall.

    Proportionally, the region has about 50 percent more people over the age of 65 than the state as a whole, and a smaller proportion of people under 18.

    High school seniors perform well on the Scholastic Assessment Test, but fewer students take the test than the statewide rate.

    Although proportionally fewer children live in poverty, the rate is on the rise. Inyo County had the sharpest increase in the Sierra, from 14 percent in 1989 to 19 percent four years ago.

    Across the board, Sierra children in kindergarten through 12th grade classrooms have better access to computers than statewide, or eight students per computer in the Sierra compared with 10 per computer statewide.

    The percentage of adults with poor literacy skills "is strikingly high," ranging from 33 percent in the North Central Sierra to 44 percent in the South Central Sierra. Statewide, the level is 46 percent, but that figure reflects the large number of Californians for whom English is a second language.

  "Since the Sierra Nevada is significantly less ethnically diverse than the rest of the state, the region's low literacy levels are particularly troubling," the study says.

    Housing, with some exceptions, generally requires a smaller share of household income than the statewide average, and income generally is more evenly distributed than in the state as a whole.

    The Sierra has far less hospital capacity than the state, about 567 people per hospital bed compared with a statewide average of 278. However, in the North Sierra pocket that trend is reversed, averaging about 155 people per bed. The least hospital capacity is in El Dorado County, with 856 people per bed.

    On average, residents of the Sierra Nevada are less susceptible to heart disease, about 104 people per 100,000 compared with 128 people per 100,000 statewide, a figure that was adjusted to account for varying age structures. In one county, Alpine, the level is 57 per 100,000, less than half the statewide figure.

    Violent crime is half the California rate.

    Voter participation is higher across the Sierra, ranging from 50 percent to 58 percent of eligible votes in the November 1998 general election, compared with 41 percent statewide.

  The data was derived from state and federal figures assembled by the counties.

  The Truckee-based council, a collection of business interests, conducts economic and environmental research and policy analysis.

  Copyright 1999 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. 



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