Oh Baby! San Francisco Births on the Rise
State demographers said San Francisco, San Mateo and Alameda counties would experience declining births. They were wrong.
By Sharon Simonson
With wildly expensive housing and poorly perceived public schools, San Francisco has not enjoyed a reputation as a child-rearing mecca.
As recently as 2010, state demographers predicted the number of births in the city each year would drop by a quarter over the coming decade. Trend lines were the same in Alameda and San Mateo counties.
New U.S. Census Bureau birth estimates illustrate anew the pitfalls of future-telling: the number of babies born each year in both San Francisco and Alameda counties in fact rose from 2010 through 2015 and stayed steady in San Mateo County.
A state demographer says their estimates erred in two, relate...