Round Table Meeting Minutes #1
In City Council November 28, 2011

ROUNDTABLE MEETING: Update on 2010 Census and Cambridge demographics.

DATE: November 28, 2011  5:43pm

PRESIDING OFFICER: Mayor Maher

PRESENT: Mayor Maher; Vice Mayor Davis; Councillors Cheung, Decker, Kelley, Reeves, Seidel, Simmons, Toomey; Margaret Drury, City Clerk; Donna Lopez, Deputy City Clerk; Robert W. Healy, City Manager; Richard Rossi, Deputy City Manager; Brian Murphy, Assistant City Manager for Community Development; Susan Glazer, Deputy Director, Community Development Department (CDD); Stuart Dash, Director of Community and Neighborhood Planning, CDD; Cliff Cook, Planning Information Manager, CDD; Ellen Semonoff, Assistant City Manager for Human Services; Duane Brown, Affirmative Action Officer; Sandra Albano, Executive Assistant to the City Council.

See attached hard copy of data presentation by Cliff Cook and summary of discussion points and requests for additional information.

ADJOURNMENT: 7:25pm

CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE MEETING
NOVEMBER 28, 2011
SUMMARY OF MATTERS DISCUSSED

Mayor Maher convened the meeting at 5:47pm and explained the purpose. He invited Brian Murphy, Assistant City Manager for Community Development to begin. Mr. Murphy gave opening remarks and expressed the importance of this data to the City's planning processes.

Mr. Cook started with a description of the changes in the Census procedures since the 2000 Census. In the 2000 census and previous census data collection, the Census bureau used to use two forms, the long form and the short form. The long form required the recipients to provide extensive information as their personal demographic data. Most citizens received and completed the short form, which still required demographic information, but much less than the long form did. The Census Bureau has discontinued use of the long form and instead an ongoing statistical survey sent by the U.S. Census to approximately 250,000 addresses each month. This survey regularly gathers the demographic information previously collected only in the long form. The charts in Mr. Cook's presentation indicate whether the source of data is the Decennial Census or the American Community Survey or another source.

Mr. Cook then provided a power point presentation entitled "Demographics Roundtable November 28, 2011 (Attached). He reviewed the individual charts and added explanatory remarks.

The population has increased 3.8% since 2000 to about 105,000. Cambridge's high point in population was 120,000 in 1959; its lowest census population was about 95,000 in 1989. There are significantly more men in the age groups 20 - 44 and significantly more women in the age groups 50-64. The population aged 63 and over increased while the population aged 75-84 decreased. Mr. Cook cautioned that the 2010 census only captured about two months of the baby boom growth, so the age groupings will show substantial changes in the next few years. The overall population under age 18 declined by 9%. The population under age 5 grew by 5% and the trendline of births shows a slight overall increase. The percentage of youth under age 18 ranks 4th smallest in the state, and the percentage of elderly (over 65) ranks 21st smallest in the state.

With regard to the data on households in Cambridge, there has been an overall increase of 3.3% which represents about 1500 additional households. The number of families has essentially stayed the same. Forty percent of people in Cambridge live by themselves, the third largest percentage in the state. The map on page 13 of where single person households are situated shows a large cluster in the Harvard Square area. Two thirds of Cambridge children live with two parents. Thirty-two percent of the over-65 population consists of couples living together and 29% is comprised of women living along.

Mr. Cook then presented the U.S Census and American Community Survey data on racial, linguistic and ethnic diversity in Cambridge (pp17-25). Sixty-two percent of the total Cambridge population is white, non-Hispanic. The black, non-Hispanic population is 11%, about the same percentage of total population as in 2000, the Hispanic population is 7.6% and the percentage of the total Asian population is 15.1 %. For residents under the age of 18, the white, non-Hispanic population is 44.2%; for black non-Hispanics; 22.3%, for the Hispanic population, 12.4% and for Asians, 11.1%.

The most growth in the total population has occurred in the Asian population, which was about 12% in 2000 and is now about 15%. Two Cambridge neighborhoods, Area 2 and 4, are now majority minority. About 1/3 of the population speaks another language at home, with Spanish being the dominant second language but not dramatically so. The percentage of the Cambridge population born in another country is 27.4%.

There are big disparities in income based on race. Almost 30% of white residents earn $125,000 per year; less than 10% of Hispanic or black residents earn that amount. Fewer than 15% of white residents earn less than $20,000 per year, while about 40% of black residents and 37% of Hispanic residents earn less than $20,000 per year.

Half of the employed residents of Cambridge work in Cambridge, but Cambridge residents fill only about ¼ of all of the jobs in Cambridge. The number of workers who drive alone to their Cambridge jobs has decreased from about 38% to just about 30%. Approximately 45% of single family households have no car and a quarter of two person households have no car. Just over 50% of two person households have one car. The number of residents who bicycle to work has gone from 3.9% in 2000 to 7.1% in 2008-10.

With regard to the housing stock in Cambridge, there has been an increase of 2,566 housing units since 2000; however the neighborhood statistics on housing stock also show that throughout the various neighborhoods approximately 800 units included in the last count are not included in the 2010 total.

At this time Mayor Maher invited questions from the City Council.

Councillor Toomey asked where the missing units went. Mr. Cook said that the 475 units in MIT/Area 2 are units that the Census reclassified as dorm units this time, but he does not know about the others. Some could be units lost after rent control ended when owners decided to merge units. Mayor Maher said that the average size unit in a two-family house is about 1,000 square feet. Families want more space now, so there are many two-family houses being converted to single family houses, which could account for some of the numerical disparity. Councillor Toomey requested information on income of residents broken down by neighborhood.

Councillor Simmons asked where GBLT couples are counted in the census Household Trends (p12). Mr. Cook said that they are in unmarried partners, now a category differentiated from roommates. Councillor Simmons said that she would like information on the number of same sex households in Cambridge. Councillor Reeves requested that these numbers include a break-down by sex if possible.

Councillor Seidel asked for information on how far back the Census has tracked the number of foreign-born residents.

Vice Mayor Davis asked whether measuring median income makes sense in a city like Cambridge where there is so much income disparity. Mr. Cook said that is a good question, one of the issues about statistics is that you are always averaging one way or another.

Councillor Reeves said that, with regard to the decrease in population of 5-17 year old residents, he would like to have similar information for Lexington, Brookline, Newton and Arlington and Brockton. Councillor Toomey added Malden and Everett. He also requested information about how many CRLS students were born in Africa.

Councillor Kelley said that according to the CPS survey of parents who moved out of Cambridge, the reason was not the cost of housing, it was for a variety of factors relating to the quality of public school education in Cambridge. Mayor Maher said that for many parents, the issue is not the cost of the housing, it is the amount of living space. Councillor Toomey asked how many Cambridge residents send their children to private school. Mr. Cook said that 19% of Cambridge school age children attend private school. Mayor Maher and Councillor Toomey asked for that information for other communities.

Mayor Maher thanked Mr. Cook for his presentation and all those present for their participation. On motion of Councillor Simmons, the meeting was adjourned at 7:25pm.

Margaret Drury, City Clerk