History: In a city famous for its affluence, progressiveness, and diversity, Bayview Hunters Point (BVHP) is an anomaly. Bayview Hunters Point is a historically African American community located in the southeast sector of San Francisco. During World War II, a large influx of African Americans were recruited by the Navy to migrate to BVHP to work in the well-paying jobs at the Hunters Point naval shipyard. The area became one of the only majority African-American neighborhoods in San Francisco and its residents developed a thriving community, purchasing homes and creating a commercial area along Third Street. When the naval shipyard closed in 1974, many formerly working and middle class BVHP residents became unemployed. The shipyard that once served as an abundant source of employment and middle/working class income was designated as a Superfund site. The water that surrounds it is contaminated by radioactive waste as a result of sandblasting the ships that carried the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Hunters Point naval shipyard, along with the PG&E power plant, the city’s sewer, the City dump, and many other industrial facilities polluted the air and water surrounding BVHP. Today, there are two Superfund sites along with 325 other toxic sites within this densely populated community.
In addition to the poverty and toxic pollution that plagues the community, BVHP was devastated by the proliferation of crack and semi-automatic weapons in the 1980’s. Today, the socio-economic and health indicators of BVHP residents are among the most depressing in the nation. According to the SMART Data System, the mean Community Disadvantage Index for the total census tracts in BVHP is 9, with half of the census tracts (5) scoring a 10.
Demographics & Statistics: According to the 2000 U.S. Census, Bayview Hunters Point’s population is approximately 50% African American (compared to 7.6% citywide) 27.6% Pacific Islander (mostly Samoan and Tongan), 16.7% Latina/Hispanic, 5.4% White, and .3% Native American. It has one of the highest poverty rates in San Francisco, with 30% of families earning less that $10,000 per year, and a median household income of $29,640 annually, as compared to $65,000 for white San Franciscans and a $55,221 average citywide. An overwhelming 72% of the African Americans in Bayview Hunters Point have incomes below the federal poverty level.
The San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Community Development (2005) reports that Bayview Hunters Point has one of the highest percentages of children in the city: 30.0% as compared to the citywide average of 16.7%, and one of the lowest levels of educational attainment with 36.6% of its resident having no high-school diploma as compared to 18.8% citywide and only 11.6% having a Bachelors Degree as compared to 45.0% citywide.
Hunters Point has the highest rates of unemployment (19.2%, four times the average in the city), the highest infant mortality rates, and the highest rates of poverty in the City and County of San Francisco. Heart disease, breast cancer, strokes, and asthma rates in this area of the city are among the highest in the nation. According to San Francisco’s Human Services Agency’s quarterly report for 2008, BVHP residents represent the greatest number of Calworks (TANF) cases. They are among the greatest numbers of people receiving food stamps, general assistance, and Medicaid.[1] Schools serving a high concentration of children from BVHP have the greatest rate of truancy, suspensions, and dropouts in San Francisco.[2] According to San Francisco’s 2007 Juvenile Probation Report, 56% of the youth in the juvenile system are African American, and 27% are from the BVHP. Asthma rates in this community are the highest in the Bay Area, with BVHP residents being hospitalized for asthma at a rate of four times the average San Franciscan. African American women living in BVHP are two to four times more likely to give birth to infants with serious birth defects and 94124 has one of the highest infant mortality rates of any zip code in California and a murder rate that rivals Washington D.C. and Oakland for the murder capital of the country. In fact, the leading cause of death among San Francisco children, ages 15 through 24, is homicide.
The Difference Between Bayview & Hunters Point: Although Bayview Hunters Point is considered one community according to city districting, (and most people outside the community view it that way), many insiders actually consider it two separate communities: Bayview which largely consists of privately-owned homes on the flatlands, and Hunters Point which consists of subsidized and public housing on the hill.
The demographics of the population of these two areas differ significantly. According to statistics from the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA), the Hunters Point housing developments are over 70% African American; approximately 12% Pacific Islander (Samoan); 7.8% Hispanic; 7.0% White; 4.5% Asian; and 3% other. The average annual income for a family of four is $14,869 and over 30% of households earn less than $10,000 annually. On the other hand, the Bayview area has a much higher percentage of Asian (38%), White households (26%), and Hispanic households (16%). The average annual income for a family of four in the Bayview Area is $45,000 per year.
Health Indicators for Bayview Hunters Point residents mirror the socio-economic indicators of the community. African American women in BVHP have breast and cervical cancer rates that are twice the average rates of women living in the Bay Area (the nine counties that surround the San Francisco Bay,) and are among the highest in the entire country. Among all ethnic groups, African Americans in San Francisco have the highest rates of ischemic heart disease, stroke, and all types of cancer.
BVHP residents have the highest rates of obesity (28.1%) and overweight (34.6%) in the city as compared to an average of 11.9% for obesity and 28.4% overweight for the city as a whole. The prevalence of overweight/obesity in the neighborhood is associated with soaring rates of co-morbid conditions: BVHP ranks highest among San Francisco neighborhoods in the rate of ambulatory hospitalizations for adult uncontrolled diabetes and adult congestive heart failure. The area accounts for a disproportionate share of the city’s deaths from hypertension/heart disease and cerebrovascular disease, both of which can be exacerbated by being overweight or obese. Additionally, area residents have the highest rates of Type 2 diabetes – 13.6% as compared to an average of 3.1% in San Francisco and 5.3% in California. The hospitalization rate for diabetes is over three times higher for this group than the city’s average, at 1,300 hospitalizations per 100,000 vs. 400 per 100,000 citywide.
African American women living in Bayview Hunters Point are two to four times more likely than other women in San Francisco to give birth to infants with serious birth defects. However, most troubling of all, is that BVHP has one of the highest infant mortality rates of any zip code in California. According to a San Francisco Chronicle article, dated October 3, 2004, entitled “Too Young to Die”:
“Bayview Hunters Point has an infant mortality rate comparable to Bulgaria or Jamaica, while San Francisco has been cited in studies as having the best infant mortality rate among large U.S. cities, even with the death rate of Bayview Hunters Point included. Babies are 2.5 times more likely to die in their first year there (BVHP) than in other areas of San Francisco. The answer, some experts believe, lies in the cumulative toll levied by stress from neighborhood conditions ranging from violent crime, drugs, slum housing, a dearth of grocery stores, a lack of political clout and living in a dumping ground for industrial pollutants.”
[1] Human Services Agency of San Francisco. Data, Reports & Publications. CAAP Quarterly Reports (December 2008), CalWORKs Quarterly Reports (October 2008). Non-Assistance Food Stamps Quarterly Reports (December 2008). http://www.sfhsa.org/1028.htm
[2] San Francisco Unified School District. RPA Data Center. California Department of Education Educational Demographics Unit (2004-2005 School Year) http://sfportal.sfusd.edu/sites/research_public/Lists/rpa_links/AllItems.aspx
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