Features

Bay Area Briefs

Staff
Friday December 14, 2001


2002 projections released 

 

OAKLAND — The Association of Bay Area Governments on Thursday announced Projections 2002, a forecast that details expected economic and demographic trends in the Bay Area. 

The forecast shows new patterns in population, employment, labor force, income, and households in the Bay Area for the next 25 years, especially after the dot-com economy plummeted. 

The new forecast predicts recovery from the Bay Area recession will begin during the second half of 2002, with jobs and population growing at a pace of one to two percent per year. 

Data shows that the area’s economy will continue to be driven by high technology, biomedical research and development, the finance sector, tourism, retail goods and services, and government. 

Currently the Bay Area’s population is at 6.8 million and projected to grow to 7.5 million in 2010 and 8.2 million in 2025. 

 

 

 


Residents concerned about the economy  

 

SAN FRANCISCO — The Bay Area Poll 2001 showed that this year, more residents are concerned about the regional economy than last year, but respondents still cite transportation as the biggest regional problem. 

From a total of 600 surveyed residents, 27 percent ranked the economy as the biggest regional problem compared to only 4 percent in 2000. But more expect economic conditions to get better in the coming 12 months than to worsen. Thirty-eight percent expected improvement, 25 percent saw the economy staying the same, while 32 percent, predicted a worsening economic scenario for the region. 

Transportation still remains the biggest problem facing the region, according to 32 percent of residents. But the survey registered a 25 percent drop in the number of residents putting transportation at the top of the list. 

Housing, as the top problem facing the Bay Area, dropped from second place 24 percent in 2000 to third place this year, earning 14 percent of the residents’ ire. 

The poll, conducted by the Field Research Corporation and commissioned by the Bay Area Council, surveyed residents from the nine Bay Area counties and has a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percent. 

 

 

 


School bus driver to undergo evaluations  

 

SANTA CLARA — A judge on Wednesday ordered Cathline Repunte, the San Jose school bus driver accused of killing a co-worker and injuring three others, to undergo evaluations by court-appointed doctors to determine whether she is competent to stand trial. 

Police say more than a dozen witnesses at Laidlaw Transit watched in terror as Cathline Repunte allegedly opened fire early on the morning of April 23. 

While family members claim Repunte has a history of mental problems, prosecutors have said there is no evidence of that.