Turlock is a rapidly growing community of about 50,000 people located in the Central Valley of Northern California. The Central Valley's prime farmlands, soils and moderate climate have made this region one of the country's leading agricultural areas. The agricultural setting of the Central Valley has historically provided the basis for Turlock's primary industries of food processing and related agricultural services.
Turlock's Consolidated Plan outlines the goals and policies for utilizing CDBG and HOME funds to assist low income households, increase and improve the stock of affordable housing in the community. During the 1995/1996 funding year, approximately $927,000 will be spent to:
Public participation in the Consolidated Plan process included several
public comment meetings held at various locations and times throughout the
community. Input was sought from citizens and local service agencies on the
needs of Turlock. A 30-day public comment period was provided for the draft
document with City Council adoption at a public hearing on June 20, 1995.
In 1995, Turlock has an estimated population of 49,755 with a growth rate of 4.85%. The median area income in 1995 is approximately $38,500 yearly. Those households making 80% or less than the median income are considered low income. Approximately 42.3% of all households in Turlock are low income. Of Turlock's 15,400 households, 23% are considered at poverty level (making less than 30% of the median area income.) Areas of concentration of low income households tend to be located in the central and southwest portion of Turlock where the older homes provide more affordable housing.
The ethnic/racial composition of Turlock consists of: 73.1% White
(non-Hispanic), 20.6% Hispanic, 4.3 % Asian/Pacific Islander, 1% Black and 1%
Native American. This ratio of ethnic groups indicates a significant increase
in each group from 1980 except for a 42.7% decrease in the White population.
Those census tracts which have a minority concentration are in the southwestern
portion of Turlock where the majority of Hispanic households are located. The
ethnic groups which have a disproportionate need with income and housing are the
Hispanic and Black populations of Turlock.
As a rural agricultural community, Turlock has had a slow and steady growth rate until the 1970's when an 87.9% growth rate was experienced during the 10 year period. Turlock is heavily influenced by the surrounding Central Valley region which has gone through similar growth. Turlock continues to grow rapidly, exceeding the State's growth rates with an average annual increase of 4.85% for the community compared to the State's average annual increase of 2.3%. This growth rate is expected to continue due to the close proximity of the Bay Area with growth pressures causing spill-over effects into the Central Valley. The population estimates for Turlock for the years of 2000 and 2010 are 64,700 and 96,274 respectively. With this rise in population comes an increased demand for affordable housing.
While Turlock's population has grown rapidly, Turlock's employment has grown at a much slower rate of 3.2% annually. Food processing is the industry that employs the most people. Although agriculture has been the primary industry in Turlock's economy, it is not expected to provide a significant number of new jobs. Recently, Con-Agra Frozen Foods (one of the 10 largest employers in the community) closed their Turlock facility which employed approximately 600 people. As of December, 1994, the unemployment rate for Turlock was 11.1% compared with 14.8% in Stanislaus County and 8.7% for the State of California.
At Turlock's present growth rate, it is estimated that 24,693 units will be needed to house a population of 64,700 by the year 2000. This represents a 60% increase in the existing number of housing units. To address affordable housing needs, the current housing stock must be repaired and maintained, additional affordable housing constructed and services provided to address homelessness. Currently, there is a shortage of small-size units for elderly households and housing units for large families. There is also a shortage of affordable units to households making less than 30% of the median area income and services provided to assist the homeless in becoming self-sufficient.
The City of Turlock has approximately 15,400 housing units, with 95.4% of them being occupied. Half of these homes are occupied by the property owner, 45.4% are occupied by rental households and 4.6% are vacant. Sixty-one percent of the housing supply consists of single-family detached homes. Of the owner occupied units, 92.9% are single family residences with the remaining units comprised of mobile homes/trailers. Of the renter occupied units, only 35.7% are single family residences while 63.1% are multiple family residences.
Approximately 34.7% of Turlock's homes were built prior to 1970, many of which were built in the 1930's. According the Building Division, 23% of the housing units are estimated to need rehabilitation to correct hazardous conditions or to extend their useful life.
According to the 1990 Census, 44.6% of renter households pay more than 30% of their income on housing expenses. All these households had a gross income of less than $35,000 and 87% earned less than $20,000. Homeowners were considerably better off with 23.8% overpaying. Of those, 41 percent earned less than $20,000. Overall, 34% of the households in Turlock were overpaying for housing.
Consideration of housing problems includes overcrowded living situations, substandard housing and rehabilitation/repair needs. Large rental households have the greatest need with 79% having problems with overcrowding. There are 1,180 units that have four or more bedrooms and only 72 of these are rental units to house 900 large renter households. According to the 1990 Census, 10.3% of the total households in Turlock were considered overcrowded and 5.2% were considered "severely" overcrowded with more than 1.51 people per room.
According to a survey completed of all agencies assisting families and individuals who are homeless in Stanislaus county, an estimated 683 people from Turlock are considered homeless. These people are either residing in a shelter or living on the streets. From this same survey, it is estimated that 10% of these individuals have severe mental illness, 65% have problems with drugs or alcohol, 32% come from situations of domestic violence and 13% are physically disabled. The only shelter located in Turlock provides assistance for families but there is no shelter or service provider for individuals. Services to assist these individuals obtain/maintain housing and address the underlying issues that lead to homelessness, are also needed.
The Stanislaus County Housing Authority has 30 public housing units in Turlock. Of these units, there are: 4 one-bedroom units, 17 two-bedroom units, 8 three-bedrooms units and 12 four-bedroom unit. The Housing Authority has recently upgraded all of these units and does not anticipate any losses of these units in the near future. These upgrades include: remodeling a storage area to community space, replacement of roofs and laundry room repairs for a total of approximately $277,000.
As of July, 1994, there were 440 households in Turlock on the Section 8 voucher program administered by the Housing Authority. Eighty-five of these vouchers are for physically handicapped households and 131 are for elderly households. A breakdown of the unit sizes are: 2 studio apartments, 195 one-bedroom units, 137 two-bedroom units, 103 three- bedroom units and 3 four-bedroom units. The Housing Authority last accepted applications for the Section 8 program between the months of March, 1993 through August, 1993. Currently, there are over 6,000 households in Stanislaus County on the waiting list for Section 8 assistance. The Housing Authority does not plan to accept any new applications for at least a three-year period.
Supportive or assisted housing for people with special needs were indicated as a need by service providers. The special needs include frail elderly, physically or mentally disabled who often require special design considerations to assist with daily living.
Constraints to the provision of affordable housing in Turlock include:
The City of Turlock is undergoing a coordinated study with the City of Modesto, located to the north, to determine any impediments to fair housing in the area and how to address them. This project is scheduled for completion in early 1996. Currently, the City of Turlock contracts with Project Sentinel for the provision of fair housing services which include:
Housing which was built prior to 1980 is subject to the potential presence of lead based paint. While the presence of lead based paint in itself is not necessarily a hazard, the deterioration of this paint causing cracking and peeling is a serious health hazard to young children. There are 11,405 housing units in Turlock that were built prior to 1980 and a population of 5,196 children under the age of 6. According to the Stanislaus County Department of Public Health, there have been 8 cases of elevated lead blood levels reported in Turlock.
The greatest community development needs in Turlock are for public services
and infrastructure improvements. Those public service needs identified include
senior/youth/handicapped services, substance abuse services, crime awareness,
transportation services, employment training and child care services. The older
sections of Turlock are in need of repairs and replacement to existing
infrastructure which include street/water & sewer line repairs and
replacement, installation and repair of curb/gutter/sidewalks, provision of
handicapped accessibility and flood drainage improvements.
The overall priorities and objectives of the City of Turlock are to maintain and improve the existing housing stock and promote the development of affordable housing in the community through the programs outlined in the One-Year Action Plan. The community development priorities are to revitalize neighborhoods and businesses in the Redevelopment Area, improve the infrastructure, promote the provision of services to assist low income households in obtaining gainful employment, special needs services and preventing the threat of homelessness.
Affordable housing priorities include maintaining and improving the existing housing stock and living environment of low income households, increasing the supply of affordable housing, coordinating with the Housing Authority to increase available public housing, providing homeownership opportunities for low income households and assisting with accessibility for special needs households.
Homeless prevention priorities include shelter opportunities for individuals, the provision of transitional and permanent housing opportunities, case management services to address the underlying causes that lead to homelessness, and supportive services to those threatened with homelessness.
Special needs priorities include supportive housing for the accessibility and mobility considerations of frail elderly and handicapped individuals, support and referral services for accessible and modified housing availability.
Public service needs priorities include senior, youth and handicapped services; employment training; crime awareness; transportation services; and child care services.
Infrastructure improvement priorities include flood drainage improvements, water/sewer improvements, street repairs and overlays, traffic signalization and sidewalk accessibility and repairs.
Economic Development priorities include business retention/attraction, job promotion, and building retrofit and upgrades in the downtown business district to help maintain the downtown area as a viable and healthy part of our community.
Other community development priorities include energy efficiency improvements in older homes, detection and abatement of lead based paint hazards and neighborhood preservation and code enforcement to ensure a pleasant and safe living environment for the neighborhoods of Turlock.
Economic development, employment opportunities, redevelopment, attracting new businesses and retaining the existing businesses are Turlock's priorities in dealing with poverty. The goal is to maintain a healthy economic base, create new jobs and prevent job loss which benefits low income households and the community as a whole.
The primary resources for housing and community development programs come from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Grant, Redevelopment funds and enterprise funding for specific infrastructure improvements. The City of Turlock will also be applying for Shelter Care Plus and Supportive Housing Programs for homeless assistance as funding is available.
Coordinated efforts for implementation of the Strategic Plan involve various
non-profit, public and private agencies. The City of Turlock Community Housing
Preservation Division is responsible for implementing the programs of the
One-Year Action Plan and monitoring the programs carried out by the various
organizations in Turlock. The Stanislaus County Housing Authority will be
providing and maintaining public housing and rental assistance. The Tything
Place provides shelter, food and clothing assistance for homeless families.
Various other non-profit agencies in Stanislaus County will be providing
services for housing referral, shelter, transitional housing, domestic violence,
senior services, youth services, handicapped services for housing assistance.
During the 1995/1996 fiscal year, Turlock proposes the use of $927,000 in CDBG funding and program income to implement the following programs:
All programs offered by the City of Turlock are available on a city-wide basis. However, emphasis is placed on providing assistance to the southwest portion of town. This area holds the highest concentration of low-income households, Hispanic households, and older substandard housing. The City of Turlock will continue to concentrate assistance and redevelopment efforts in this area of Turlock.
Service delivery and management of the projects in the One-Year Action Plan are provided by the City of Turlock Community Preservation Division for the key projects; the Stanislaus County Housing Authority for public housing and rental assistance; the Tything Place for shelter, food and voucher assistance and the various non-profit agencies throughout Stanislaus County.
The City of Turlock's housing goals for the 1995/1996 fiscal year include: rehabilitating 6 housing units, completing handicapped accessibility improvements on 3 public facilities buildings, providing 3 small business loans, assisting 25 households with fair housing assistance, and 10 households with the acquisition of property for the construction of 10 housing units through a "self-help" program, 4 households by providing transitional housing opportunities, 91 elderly with the home delivery of meals for frail elderly citizens, 3,516 youth in providing gang and violent activities prevention, 385 youth through the juvenile diversion program for at risk youth, 7 youth through mentoring and leadership development and 6 households through improvements to 6 existing "self-help" housing units.
MAP 2 depicts the low and moderate income areas of Turlock, California.
MAPS 3a and 3b depict the racial distribution within the City.
MAP 4 depicts the concentration of unemployment within the City.
MAP 5 depicts the neighborhoods within the City.
