San Francisco saw by far the biggest percentage drop in population among major US cities during the first part of the pandemic, underscoring how the city emptied out during a shift to remote work, according to new census data.

The city lost 54,813 people, or 6.3% of its population, from July 2020 to July 2021. One pandemic year erased a decade of tech-fueled population boom: San Francisco’s 815,201 residents as of July 2021 was the lowest since 2010, according to census data.

New York had the second-highest percentage drop, losing 3.5% of residents or over 305,000 people. The country’s most densely populated county, Manhattan, was the hardest-hit New York borough, losing 6.6% of its population.

Other Bay Area cities saw some of the highest percentage of population losses in the country: Daly City dropped 3.2%, and Redwood City was down 3%, while San Mateo, Cupertino and South San Francisco each fell almost 3%.

Boston and Washington, DC, also had population drops of almost 3%, and nine of the 15 most populous US cities saw losses in people.

That included San Jose, the Bay Area’s largest city, which saw its population fall 2.7%, dropping below 1 million people for the first time since 2013. It remained the country’s 10th most populated city with 983,489 people. Austin, Texas, a popular pandemic destination for both California residents and companies, gained only 1,056 people for a total of 964,177 to remain the 11th largest city, though its suburbs boomed.

Experts have said the Bay Area’s high housing costs and remote work policies, particularly for the tech industry, fueled outmigration during the pandemic, as residents sought cheaper homes and more space. Almost all California coastal cities lost population, while the more affordable Central Valley and Inland Empire saw gains.

Census data released in March showed domestic out-migration was the primary factor in San Francisco’s population drop, with 56,000 people moving out.

There are signs that fewer San Franciscans are leaving and some are coming back. Postal service change of address requests fell last summer, and apartment rents are rebounding as companies bring people back to the office. State population estimates, which differ in methodology from the Census Bureau, put San Francisco’s population at 842,754 people at the beginning of 2022, down 0.8% from the previous year.

The 15 fastest growing US cities were concentrated in the west and south regions, including in Arizona, Texas, Florida and Idaho. Two suburbs north of Austin, Georgetown and Leander, Texas, added a combined 13,352 people, each growing more than 10% during the 12-month period. That was the nation’s highest two rates for cities with 50,000 or more people.

Central Texas’ housing construction is outpacing California’s biggest region. Travis County, which includes Austin, added 25,693 housing units, more than the 22,925 in Los Angeles County, which has almost eight times as many people, according to census data.

Overall, the nation’s population grew only 0.1% from July 2020 to July 2021, the slowest pace on record, as births fell, deaths rose and international immigration plunged.

California’s population fell slightly for the second year in a row in 2021, according to state figures.

Roland Li and Susie Neilson are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com, susan.neilson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf, @susieneilson

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Overnight temperatures in certain San Francisco neighborhoods could dip to near-freezing temperatures, according to ABC 7 Meteorologist Drew Tuma. As such, San Franciscans will want to take certain precautions with their pets, plants, and property.

“Bring your pets inside,” Tuma said in an interview with The Standard. In the coming days, the city’s official National Weather Service outpost in the Lower Haight might just record a low of 38 or 39 degrees Fahrenheit—which would be the chilliest reading in the past 6 years.

Also, anyone with particularly sensitive plants on the porch, balcony, or window sill should consider bringing those indoors, as well. David Stoner, president of Sloat Garden Center, said he is expecting San Francisco to experience frost over the next night or two. While frost is unlikely to deal a death-blow to established plants, it can damage the folliage.

The best course of action for proactive plant parents, according to Stoner, is to bring your plants inside. You can also move them under an overhang, or cover them with a frost blanket.

Stoner also noted that most plants prefer to be well watered when entering a period of extreme cold. The one exception to that rule: succulents and cacti. These, he said, should be as dry as possible heading into cold weather.

The reason the leaves of your burros tail, candelabra aloe, zebra plant and jade tree are so fleshy is that they are filled with water. And when those leaves approach freezing, the ensuing frost can damage the tender cells of those leaves, leaving the same plant that survived weeks without water in direct sunlight with withered, frost-bitten leaves.

Succulents are hearty, but they can be damaged by frost. | Getty Images

As for concerns about bursting pipes, Tuma said it’s always possible that freezing temperatures approaching could deal a final blow to older plumbing, though this issue is more common with sub-freezing temperatures.

San Francisco hasn’t officially recorded a temperature of 32 degrees Fahrenheit since 1990—even as it’s relatively common for areas directly north, south and east of the city to dip below freezing a few times every winter.

That’s due to something called the “urban heat island” effect, Tuma said. Winter temperatures never get far below freezing anywhere in the Bay Area; as such, the remaining heat that San Francisco’s concrete, asphalt, metal and glass surfaces continue to radiate after sunset helps keep the city warmer than its suburban and rural neighbors.

So see

Tuma had two more notes for locals bracing for the cold snap.

First, the good news: It’s possible that the dip in temperatures could pull some of the pollen out of the air, which might bring relief to allergy sufferers.

Second, he said, don’t be too hard on yourself if you feel cold. The first couple of cold days after a warm spell like we just had can be jarring to the body.

“Wear your gloves, wear your hat,” Tuma said. “I know we get the reputation for being weak, but your body’s not used to it.”

Nick Veronin can be reached at [email protected].

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New neighborhood-level data on vaccination in San Francisco shows that the highest dose percentage area is Japantown and the least vaccinated area is Treasure Island.

In Japantown, 37% of 3,532 residents received one or more cans, followed by Twin Peaks, where 24% of 8,019 residents received a shot or two. As of now, only 5% of Treasure Island’s 3,064 residents have been vaccinated.

The tenderloin, another quarter with lower incomes, is also lagging behind with 13% of vaccinated residents.

“A mobile vaccination station needed along with the tenderloin on TI,” tweeted Matt Haney, San Francisco supervisor, on Saturday afternoon, noting that Treasure Island has a large number of elderly, low-income residents.

The data comes from the city’s updated vaccine tracker, which now has a table showing each neighborhood’s population, the number of neighborhood residents who received vaccines, and the percentage of each neighborhood’s residents who received at least one shot.

A major reason Japantown and Twin Peaks are ahead of other neighborhoods, according to the San Francisco Department of Health, is because they both have large numbers of qualified care facilities. Residents of qualified care facilities could be vaccinated as part of phase 1a of the city.

The data doesn’t show that the richest and whitest neighborhoods get higher proportions of doses.

The marina, for example, lags Bayview-Hunters Point with 13% of the vaccinated population compared to 18% of the population. In other affluent neighborhoods like Pacific Heights and Haight Ashbury, a lower proportion of residents are vaccinated than in lower-income areas like Chinatown and Excelsior.

Overall, Asian San Franciscans have the highest vaccination rate of any ethnic group at 32% of the administered doses – close to their 34.6% population.

White residents, on the other hand, lag slightly: around 30% of the cans went to white, non-Spanish residents, although they make up over 42% of the city’s population. Hispanic and black residents are also slightly behind when it comes to vaccination rates, although not as much as the white Franciscans.

The ethnicity data is self-reported, which means it does not exactly match the U.S. census estimates used to categorize San Franciscans. For example, 14.5% of vaccines were given to people who identified their race as “other” or “unknown”, even though those categories in census figures made up only 0.5% of the city’s population.

When it comes to age, the city seems to be following the California framework: people over 65 make up only 17% of the population of San Francisco, but have received 48% of the footage so far. People under the age of 34 received 17% of the shots while making up almost 40% of the population.

Overall, San Francisco has vaccinated about 17% of its population with at least one dose. Overall, that’s better than the US: 14.6% of Americans have received at least one shot, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Susie Neilson is a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: susan.neilson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @susieneilson

Neighborhoods with the highest percentages of vaccinations per capita, according to the San Francisco data tracker.

Top 6

Japantown: 37%

Twin peaks: 24%

Inner sunset: 23%

Sea cliff: 22%

West of Twin Peaks: 21%

Western addition: 21%

Bottom 6

Treasure Island: 5%

Presidium: 9%

Lakeside: 10%

Lonely Mountain / USF: 12%

Nob Hill: 12%

Hayes Valley: 12%

See morecollapse

The post This is which San Francisco neighborhoods have the very best and lowest percentages of vaccinated individuals appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

“The city made the decision very early on to take aggressive action against the pandemic,” said Michael Phillips, CEO of Laguna Honda.

Phillips is promoting the San Francisco Public Health Department’s early and aggressive approach to protecting the 715 residents of Laguna Honda in the Twin Peaks neighborhood.

Laguna Honda serves the city’s most vulnerable residents who cannot afford private care. The facility was hit by a COVID-19 outbreak in late March and immediately quarantined. Within a few weeks, CDC nurses, doctors, and epidemiologists came to infection control to help.

RELATED: Coronavirus Crisis at Laguna Honda Nursing Home in San Francisco

“It was so important to ask for that help, not just to ask it, but to get it,” said Phillips.

The hospital reported 11 new cases of COVID from this recent surge of 309 active cases in long-term care facilities across San Francisco County, according to Phillips.

“Although we saw the number of employees increase during the surges, we haven’t seen an increase in the number of residents,” said Phillips.

RELATED: 76 nursing homes in the Bay Area were under staffing needs; 25 are in Alameda County

Of the 715 residents of Laguna Honda, only 5% or 33 residents have tested positive since March.

In total, there are more than 1,700 healthcare workers in the hospital, approximately 6% or 103 employees have tested positive for COVID-19.

“One of the answers from the nursing home industry is that it’s just not possible for facilities to defend themselves against the virus. It’s too expensive, it’s just not possible, people are going to die,” said Mike Dark, an attorney in California for the reform of the nursing home. “We know from Laguna Honda’s experience that this is not true.”

RELATED: Seniors Near Line For COVID-19 Vaccine, But Will They Take It?

Cal Hospital Compare, working with UCSF, found that the number of patients in California nursing homes who are sick or dying from COVID-19 more than doubled between May and August.

The analysis of 800 facilities found that the size of the nursing home and the number of patients played a role in the mortality rate. But that didn’t happen at Laguna Honda.

The hospital reported it wasn’t death until December 11, ten months after the pandemic. To put it in perspective, this is one of the 100 or so nursing home deaths reported across San Francisco County.

“It is possible, like Laguna Honda, to get on early and do a lot of hand washing training to ensure staff understand how to prevent the virus,” said Dark. “If that happens, they can be effective in preventing people from dying.”

According to Phillips, trust in his employees played a big part in their success in taking extra precautions outside of the hospital to keep everyone safe.

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