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PROJECTED HOUSING NEEDS Projected housing needs are premised upon population growth and employment projections; they are an indication of the community's need for additional housing in the future. The following review of growth trends and projections will form the basis for projections of future housing needs in Santa Aha. Additional data and statistical detail will be found in the Appendix. Employment Projections Table 5 of the Appendix projects employment in Orange County as a whole to the year 1985. That data indicates that employment in the County will increase by approximately 15 percent from 1980 to 1985. Employment forecasts for the County to the year 2,000 indicate that Orange County will experience the highest employment growth rate in Southern California, with its share of regional employment increasing from 14 to 20 percent. The northwest potion of the County, of which Santa Aha is an integral part, is forecast to increase its labor force by 360,000 jobs by the year 2000, implying strong employment growth for the City. The Civic Center, housing Federal, State, County and City offices, is expected to increase its on-site personnel by 33 percent by the end of this century. Such jobs will be primarily in professional, technical, managerial and clerical fields. Job opportunities in the City also will expand for teachers and providers of goods and services for young people. Employment in the industrial sector will depend in part on the type of development which takes place in the several vacant industrial areas of the City. Among the forces affecting the shape of the City's labor supply and employment base in the future will be the extent to which the recent influx of foreign-born, non-English-speaking individuals continues. This segment of the City's recent population growth has filled low-skilled, low-paying jobs. To the extent that this part of the labor force continues to grow, new skilled and professional/managerial jobs in the City are likely to be filled by residents who con~nute into the City to work. Population-Induced Housin9 Demand Santa Ana's population has grown at an average annual rate of 3.12 percent over the last decade. It is unlikely that this high rate of growth will continue over the long term, in part because housing cannot keep up with such growth rates, even.if current overcrowded conditions were to remain the norm. Population estimates prepared by Orange County for 1985 already have been exceeded and will be revised shortly. Pending receipt of such data, growth estimates as related to demand for housing are presented in preliminary form below. An assumed annual population growth rate of 2.5 percent, non-compounded, results in an increase of 25,464 Santa Ana residents during the period 1980-1985. At an average household size of 3.0 persons, slightly under the current 3.l average, this projected population increase would require 8,490 new dwelling units in order to be adequately housed without.further lO