San Francisco: Lowest Percentage of Kids in America

A new report indicates that San Francisco has the lowest percentage of children of any major city in America.

The report by the New York Times indicates that only 13 percent of San Francisco’s population is under 18 years old.

“Sometimes I’ll be walking through the city and I’ll see a child and think, ‘Hey, wait a second. What are you doing here?'” Courtney Nam, who works downtown at a tech start-up, told the New York Times. “You don’t really see that many kids.”

The combination of high-rents and distance of public schools has resulted in what can be regarded as a mass exodus of families with school-aged kids to cities that are more affordable.

The Times notes that the San Francisco has invested millions in upgrading parks, according to Phil Ginsburg, the general manager of the city’s Recreation and Parks Department.

Yet, other issues, including the setup of the education system, overpower the desire for residents to stay.

Before the tech boom, and ensuing gentrification, San Francisco was bustling with kids. Approximately 90,000 students enrolled in the public school system in 1970. Now, there are reportedly 53,000 students.

San Francisco Chronicle writer and San Francisco resident Amy Graff — who is also a mother to three kids — relates her own experience in the city:

I was elated when one of my dearest friends finally had a baby, but crestfallen when she decided to move to Lafayette before her son started preschool. I’d assumed her son would grow up with my kids. Same thing happened with another best friend who fled for Mill Valley.

My heart eventually numbed to the the mass exodus and I now approach new friendships in the way an army brat might at her third high school. I’m eager to meet new people but hesitant to get too close to protect myself from future partings.

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz