4.2 POPULATION AND HOUSING

SETTING

Regional Setting

Population

The five-county region population totaled 14,694,300 in 1995. Between 1980 and 1990, the population of the five counties grew by 2,575,200 people, a 23% increase. Between 1990 and 1995, growth for the region slowed to six percent. According to California State Department of Finance projections (1994), the five-county area will grow by 11% between 1995 and 2000.

Los Angeles County has the highest population of the five counties in the study area. The current population for Los Angeles County is estimated to be 9,369,800, a 25% increase from its 1980 population of 7,498,200. The county population is projected to increase an additional six percent to approximately 9,950,360 by 2000.

The population of Orange County is the second highest of the five counties studied. The current population of Orange County is 2,624,300, a 24% increase from its 1980 population of 1,942,900. The county population is projected to increase by more than nine percent to approximately 2,867,600 by 2000.

The current population of Ventura County is 716,100, an increase of 35% from its 1980 population of 532,300. The county population is projected to increase by eight percent to approximately 773,900 by 2000.

Santa Barbara County has the lowest population of the five counties in the study area. The current population of Santa Barbara County is 394,600, a 32% increase from a population of 299,700 in 1980. The county is expected to grow to a population of approximately 435,800 by 2000, an increase of 10%.

San Bernardino County has the fastest growing population in the regional study area. The current population is 1,589,500, a 76% increase since 1980, when the population was 902,900. Although the growth rate has slowed since 1990, the population is projected to grow by an additional 20% by 2000, to approximately 1,910,000.

Housing

As of January 1996, the five-county study area had a total of approximately 5,139,300 housing units. The population per household ranged from 2.83 in Santa Barbara County to 3.09 in San Bernardino County. Except for Santa Barbara County, the population per household in the study region is slightly higher than the state average of 2.868 persons per household (Taylor pers. comm.). Vacancy rates for the region ranged from a low of 4.99% in Ventura County to a high of 14.56% in San Bernardino County. The overall vacancy rate for housing in California is 7.37%. Housing for each of the counties is discussed below.

The estimated number of housing units in Los Angeles County in January 1996 was 3,240,879, with a vacancy rate of 5.57%. The population per household is estimated at 3.005. As with many large urban areas, portions of Los Angeles County are experiencing overcrowded conditions, portions are experiencing high housing costs, and other portions are experiencing high vacancy rates. Housing availability and affordability and vacancy rates vary substantially within the county.

Orange County has approximately 925,512 housing units, with an estimated vacancy rate of 5.55%. The population per household is estimated at 2.96.

The estimated number of housing units for Ventura County is 241,797 with a vacancy rate of 4.99%. The estimated population per household is 3.06.

Santa Barbara County has approximately 142,578 housing units, with a vacancy rate of 4.99%. The population per household is 2.83. Both the housing vacancy rate and population per household are lower than the state's average of 7.37 and 2.87, respectively.

San Bernardino County has an estimated 588,571 housing units, with an estimated population per household of 3.09. The vacancy rate for San Bernardino County is relatively high at 14.56%, but this can be attributed to rapid housing development over the past 10 years that has outpaced occupancy of new units. New construction of housing units has slowed significantly in the last two years. As discussed under population, San Bernardino County's population has been growing rapidly and is expected to grow by an additional 20% by 2000. It is likely that the vacancy rates will begin to decrease as the population grows and new housing construction declines.

Local Setting

Alamitos

The Alamitos Generating Station is located in western Los Angeles County, in the City of Long Beach. The estimated population of Long Beach in January 1996 was 437,800, a decline of 0.3% from 439,100 in January 1991. The population is projected to increase to 456,384 by 2000 and is projected to be 489,800 in 2010. The existing housing stock in Long Beach as of January 1996 consisted of 172,346 units, with a vacancy rate of 7.30%. Population per household in Long Beach is 2.68.

Cool Water

The Cool Water Generating Station is located in the unincorporated town of Daggett in San Bernardino County. Population data are not available for Daggett itself; however, data are available for unincorporated San Bernardino County. The unincorporated county population grew by 0.96% between January 1995 and January 1996. The unincorporated county population is projected to be 455,963 by 2000, an increase of 63.81% over the population in 1995. The existing housing stock in unincorporated San Bernardino County as of January 1996 was 130,080 units, with a vacancy rate of 33.26%. Population per household is 3.104.

Ellwood

The Ellwood Energy Support Facility is located in the incorporated town of Goleta, in Santa Barbara County. The population of the unincorporated area of Santa Barbara County was 163,952 in January 1995 and increased by 1.2% to 165,950 by January 1996. Housing units in the unincorporated area of Santa Barbara County totaled 58,713 in January 1996. The vacancy rate at the time was 7.05%. Population per household was 2.87.

El Segundo

The El Segundo Generating Station is located in western Los Angeles County, in the City of El Segundo. The current population of El Segundo is 16,050, up from 15,200 in 1991, an increase of 5.6% in five years. The annual rate of growth slowed considerably in 1995, to only 0.3% from January 1995 to January 1996. Annual growth of the city ranged from 1.0 to 1.6% between 1991 and 1995. It is projected that El Segundo's population will decline by 1.2% to approximately 15,800 by 2000, but by 2010, the population will increase to approximately 17,300. The existing housing stock in El Segundo as of January 1996 was 7,328 units. Population per household in El Segundo at the time was 2.33.

Etiwanda

The Etiwanda Generating Station is located in the City of Rancho Cucamonga, in San Bernardino County. The estimated population of Rancho Cucamonga in January 1996 was 115,900, up from 105,100 in January 1991, an increase of 10.3% in five years. The annual rate of growth in 1995 was 1.13%. Annual growth of the city ranged from 1.1 to 4.5% between 1991 and 1995. It is projected that the Rancho Cucamonga population will increase to 136,640 by 2000 and to 177,240 by 2010. The existing housing stock in Rancho Cucamonga as of January 1996 was 39,702 units, with a vacancy rate of 7.51%. Population per household in Rancho Cucamonga at the time was 3.09.

Highgrove

The Highgrove Generating Station is located in the City of Grand Terrace, in San Bernardino County. The current population of Grand Terrace is 13,200, up from 12,650 in l991, an increase of 4.35% in five years. The annual rate of growth in 1995 was 0.4%. Annual growth of the city ranged from 0.4 to 2.4% between 1991 and 1995. It is projected that the Grand Terrace population will increase to 14,000 by 2000 and decrease again to 13,241 by 2010. The existing housing stock in Grand Terrace as of January 1996 was 4,780 units, with a vacancy rate of 4.98%. Population per household in Grand Terrace at the time was 2.88.

Huntington Beach

The Huntington Beach Generating Station is located in the City of Huntington Beach, in Orange County. The current population of Huntington Beach is 187,200, up from 182,100 in 1991 and an increase of 2.8% in five years. The annual rate of growth in 1995 was 0.3%. Annual growth of the city ranged from -0.3 to 1.0% between 1991 and 1995. The population of Huntington Beach is projected to be 199,330 in the year 2000, an increase of 6.8% from 1995. The existing housing stock in Huntington Beach as of January 1996 was 74,305 units, with a vacancy rate of 5.30%. Population per household in Huntington Beach at the time was 2.65.

Long Beach

The Long Beach Generating Station is located in the City of Long Beach, Los Angeles County. Population and housing statistics for the City of Long Beach are described above for the Alamitos Generating Station.

Mandalay

The Mandalay Generating Station is located in the City of Oxnard, in Ventura County. The current population of Oxnard is 153,300, up from 143,600 in 1991, an increase of 6.7% in five years. The annual rate of growth in 1995 was 0.8%. Annual growth of the city ranged from 1.0 to 1.8% between 1991 and 1995. It is projected that the population of Oxnard will be 155,560 in 2000, an increase of 2.3% from 1995. The existing housing stock in Oxnard as of January 1996 was 43,341 units, with a vacancy rate of 4.72%. Population per household in Oxnard at the time was 3.66.

Ormond Beach

The Ormond Beach Generating Station is located in the City of Oxnard, in Ventura County. Population and housing statistics for Oxnard are described above for the Mandalay Generating Station.

Redondo

The current population of Redondo Beach is 63,900, up from 60,400 in 1991 and an increase of 5.3% in five years. However, the rate of growth has slowed considerably since 1993, to only 0.5% from January 1995 to January 1996 (an increase of 300 people). Annual growth of the city ranged from 0.64 to 2.28% between 1991 and 1995. It is projected that the Redondo Beach population will increase by 1.36% to 64,470 by 2000 and that by 2010, the population will increase to approximately 68,930. The existing housing stock in Redondo Beach as of January 1996 was 28,798 units, with a vacancy rate of 5.33%. Population per household in Redondo Beach at the time was 2.34.

San Bernardino

The San Bernardino Generating Station is located just outside the boundaries of the City of San Bernardino within San Bernardino County. The estimated population for the City of San Bernardino is 181,700. The population is projected to increase to 191,840, an additional six percent, by 2000. The station is also adjacent to the City of Redlands. The current population of the City of Redlands is 65,600. The population is projected to grow by 7.7% to 70,428 by 2000. The existing housing stock in the City of San Bernardino as of January 1996 was 64,059 units, with a vacancy rate of 7.6%. Population per household in the City of San Bernardino at the time was 2.99. The existing housing stock in the City of Redlands was 24,488 in January 1996, with a vacancy rate of 5.17%. Population per household in the City of Redlands is 2.74.

CHECKLIST ISSUES

a) Regional and Local Population Projections

With the project, it is projected that most of the plants would continue to operate in their present forms, but potentially at higher levels. A small increase in employees could result. However, such increases are expected to be relatively small and would not result in population projections being exceeded.

Conclusion

Because employment attributable to electrical power generation activities is generally small relative to local and regional employment bases as a whole, the potential for the project to cause substantial regional or local employment changes, and therefore to cause regional or local population projections to be exceeded, is less than significant.

b) Growth Inducement

As discussed in checklist item (a) above, a small increase in employees at some or all of the plants may result from the project. The continued operation of the power plants and the small potential increase in employees are unlikely to induce substantial growth in the local communities, either directly or indirectly.

Conclusion

It is unlikely that the continued operations of the divested plants would induce growth, either directly or indirectly. Therefore, the project's impact would be less than significant.

c) Existing Housing

See discussion under checklist item 2a, above. The proposed project would not displace existing housing, either directly or indirectly, at any of the 12 Edison sites, nor would the project be expected to have substantial effects on local housing demand.

Conclusion

Because the project would not substantially affect any housing conditions, it would result in a less-than-significant impact on local housing stock or markets.