Santa Clara bucks the trend of shrinking Bay Area cities with population spike
SANTA CLARA -- Over the past three and a half years or so, the majority of cities across the Bay Area have seen population declines. But in the South Bay city of Santa Clara, that's not the case.
Sandy Chi never imagined she'd call Santa Clara home, but she's been doing so since April.
"As a first-time homebuyer, I found this place was right for me," Chi explained.
She doesn't work in high tech. Chi is a landscape designer who often commutes to the Peninsula. She is settling in to her new neighborhood landscape as well.
"The neighborhood seems really nice. You can easily find parking," she said.
So why Santa Clara? For Chi, it was a combination of relative affordability, availability, and location.
"Mostly, I could only afford one bedroom/one bathroom apartments," Chi said.
She is not alone as a new resident of Santa Clara. According to estimates from the California Department of Finance, more than 4,000 people moved to Santa Clara from April 1st of 2020 to January 1st of 2023.
The city saw its population grow by 1.5% from 2022 to 2023 at a time when most cities in the Bay Area saw people leave.
Stephen Levy is the Director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. The backbone to his hypothesis as to why Santa Clara is adding residents while other cities are seeing residents leave comes down to housing.
"Cities that have been able to approve and get built a lot of housing are cities that have bucked the trend of population decline," Levy said. "It's a big deal. It compares to the county that lost 0.3%."
It's adding up in Santa Clara. From April 1st of 2020 to January 1st of this year, the city added more than 3,100 new housing units. That is good for population and economic growth, said Levy.
"Adding housing helps affordability. It helps existing residents, it helps the economy," said Levy.
One direct thing that more housing can do is provide more customers for local businesses. New customers like Chi who is finding her rhythm in her new home and her new neighborhood.
"I think the biggest change for me is now I have more space for myself," she said.
After moving all around the Bay Area for the last six years, she's happy to settle into one spot and call the growing city of Santa Clara home.
"I'm happy here," said Chi.