A MULTICULTURAL FIVE-YEAR MASTER PLAN FOR THE REDUCTION OF ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG PROBLEMS IN SAN MATEO COUNTY
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II. DESCRIPTION OF SAN MATEO COUNTY
San Mateo County is located directly south of San Francisco, on the Peninsula, bordered to the west by the Pacific Ocean, to the south by San Jose and the Silicon Valley, and to the east by San Francisco Bay. Occupying an area of approximately 447 square miles, the County has a population of 649,623 (1990 U.S. Census). The topography, including tidelands, rolling hills, meadows, and grasslands, is divided by the Central Coastal Range which lies on a northwest to southeast axis. Largely undeveloped pine-forested mountains to the west are contrasted with an eastern corridor where most of the population resides in a number of cities connected by Highway 101 and the older El Camino Real paralleling and to the west of it.
Long portrayed as a White, middle class County, in actual fact San Mateo has changed radically in recent decades, and today is one of the country's most diverse in terms of ethnic and cultural distribution. As the selected census data tables in the Appendix make clear, Whites constitute 71.9 percent of the population, Blacks/African Americans 5.4 percent, American Indian/Eskimos/Aleuts 0.5 percent, Asians/Pacific Islanders 16.8 percent, and Other Races 5.4 percent. Among the Asian and Pacific Islander groups, Filipinos make up 6.9 percent of the County's population, and Chinese 5.0 percent. Other groups include Japanese, Koreans, Asian Indians, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Hmong, Laotians, Thai, Hawaiians, Samoans, Tongans, and Guamanians.
A striking aspect of the 1990 U.S. Census is the reporting of Latinos/Hispanics as a status category separate from Race. Thus, the 114,627 Latinos, who constitute 17.7 percent of the County's population, are distributed across the five racial categories with 65.2 percent considering themselves to be White, 1. 1 percent Black, 0.6 percent American Indian, 3.2 percent Asian, and 29.9 percent Other Race. The place of origin of the Latino groups is 56.8 percent Mexican, 2.8 percent Puerto Rican, 0.8 percent Cuban, and 39.6 percent Other.
Should Latinos/Hispanics be viewed as a separate racial group, and their numbers deducted from the five Race categories included in the Census, then San Mateo County's population breakdown would be displayed as follows: Latinos/Hispanics, 114,627, or 17.7 percent; Whites, 392,131, or 60.4 percent; Blacks/African Americans, 34,000, or 5.2 percent; American Indians/Eskimos/Aleuts, 2,349, or 0.4 percent; Asians/Pacific Islanders, 105,559, or 16.2 percent; and Other, 957, or 0. 1 percent.
It is instructive when reviewing racial and ethnic composition to compare Census figures with school enrollment figures. The San Mateo County Office of Education reports the following breakdown in 1990-91 public school enrollment: American Indian/Alaskan Native, 0.30 percent; Asian, 9.58 percent; Pacific Islander, 2.93 percent; Filipino, 8.30 percent; Hispanic, 24.78 percent; Black not Hispanic, 7.49 percent; and White not Hispanic, 46.62 percent. Clearly there is an emerging majority of multicultural groups in the County's public school population, although this trend has not yet reached its potential within the population of the County as a whole.
Three resounding points with regard to multicultural groups in San Mateo County are:
1. There is considerable diversity among and within each of the several groups;
2. Their numbers are increasing at faster rates than are those of the dominant, White culture; and
3. They have been underreported to some significant degree, as indicated in statements by the Secretary, Department of Commerce, before the Congress, and yet the Census was not revised to accommodate the more accurate, albeit manipulated findings. There are planned legal challenges that yet may result in revision.
These three points were frequently discussed during the process leading to the development of the Master Plan document, and have been reflected throughout.
The older adult population in San Mateo County, 65 years and over, make up 79,998 people, or 12.3 percent of the population. If this group is expanded to include those 62 and older, the additional 17,096 raises the total to 97,094, or 15.0 percent. If those 60 and older are added, the additional 11,566 raises the total to 108,660, or 16.7 percent. And, if those 55 and older are added, the additional 29,130 raises the total to 137,790, or 21.2 percent. Clearly, San Mateo is an aging county.
A slightly larger number, 142,486, or 21.9 percent, represents youth under age 18. If those age 18 through 20, inclusive, are added, the total number under the legal age of adulthood is 166,728, or 25.7 percent.
Persons in families constitute 515,646 individuals, or 79.4 percent of the population. An additional 121,982 individuals, or 18.8 percent, live in non-family households. This leaves a remainder of 11,995 individuals, or 1.9 percent, who live in group quarters of some sort. Institutionalized individuals are the 7,250 people living in correctional, nursing, psychiatric, juvenile, and other facilities. Non-institutionalized individuals are those 4,745 people in college, the military, homeless, or other situations. Detailed breakdowns of the Census figures for each group are provided in the Appendix.
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