This is highly selective data, emphasizing challenges and needs rather than assets and successes. This assessment does not pretend to be comprehensive, objective, or complete. It is a rough snapshot of some important community needs at this time, gathered to help students begin linking local reality to social science classes. Most of the information was collected anecdotally from human services providers in the community. It should be considered a starting point for dialogue rather than a last wordFor a complete version of this information with sources, see Snapshot. --Leah Halper, 2008

Demographics:

•The population in 2007 is 43,700. Population density is 180 people per square . Median age is 36.7. (The US median is 37.6.) The average household size is 3.06 people. 58.55% of people in Morgan Hill are married. 9.68% are divorced. About 43.5% of households include children (Zip Code 95037 People).

•Using Census data, 70.30% of people are “white,” 1.61% are African-American, 7.39% are Asian, 1.11% are Native American, and 19.25% claim 'Other'. Another measure is that 27.52% claim Hispanic ethnicity, while 72.48% are non-Hispanic) (Zip Code 95037 People).

•Median household income is $99,207. Unemployment rate is 4.4 %. Occupations are as follows:

Management, Business, and Financial Operations 21.24%

Professional and Related Occupations 22.64%

Service 11.58

Sales and Office 24.84%

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry 2.08%

Construction, Extraction, and Maintenance 9.05%

Production, Transportation, and Material Moving 7.97%

(Zip Code 95037 Economy Data)

•The median home value in Morgan Hill, is $879,000. Renters make up 26.66% of the Morgan Hill population. (Zip Code 95037 Economy Data)

•The average one-way commute in Morgan Hill ((Zip Code 95037 Transportation Data), CA, takes 38 minutes.

•Overall, Morgan Hill (Zip Code 95037 Cost of Living Data), CA cost of living is 175. The average cost of living is indexed to 100, which means Morgan Hill is considerably more expensive to live in than the average US city.

•Air quality in Morgan Hill, similar to Gilroy’s, is 9 on a scale to 100 (higher is better). This is based on ozone alert days and number of pollutants in the air, as reported by the EPA. Water quality is 40 on a scale to 100 (higher is better). The EPA has a complex method of measuring watershed quality using 15 indicators. Superfund index is 10 on a scale to 100 (higher is better). This is upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts (Zip Code 95037 Health Data).

•About 43% of the population is religious: 28.71% are Catholic; 6.51% are Protestant; 1.21% are LDS; 2.40% are another Christian faith; 3.21% are Jewish; 0.07% are an eastern faith; 1.14% affiliate with Islam (Zip Code 95037 Religion Data).

•There are 119 non profits, many recreation or arts-related (Non-profit).

•Morgan ‘s violent crime rate, on a scale from 1 (low crime) to 10, is 3. Violent crime includes murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. The US average is 3. Property crime, on a scale from 1 (low) to 10, is 4. Property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson. The US average is 3 (Zip Code 95037 Crime Data).

Assets: New library, new community swimming center, new sports complex. Poppy Jaspar Film Festival, Mushroom Mardi Gras, July 4 parade, and Taste of Morgan Hill bring people into the community.

Challenges and needs

•Affluence exists alongside pickets of visible, semi-visible, and invisible underserved people. There is a marked income gap.

•Human needs are often less visible because the community’s self image is of wealthy, educated residents. Many county resources go to Gilroy because Morgan Hill is perceived as not needing them.

•Fewer agencies serve Morgan Hill than other cities in the county, and many that do exist don’t deal with human services so much as issues such as creating dog parks or supporting Coe State Park. Agencies such as the American Red Cross and Center for Living with Dying have had to close their offices in town due to costs. A new city-owned building will attract some San Jose non-profits in 2008.

•Existing nonprofits are often single-issue and rarely collaborate.

•Bedroom issues make it hard for non-profits to survive in Morgan Hill. People live in the community but don’t know about or support local work.

•Isolation of low income groups—low income housing is clustered in a few places.

•Small numbers of immigrants from many countries tend to be isolated in the area. There are not enough bilingual services.

•There is a considerable ethnic divide in Morgan Hill.

•The rate of domestic violence in Morgan Hill is the highest reported in the county.

• Morgan Hill schools expend $4,781 per student. The state average is around $7,800 this year. Quality of education, while high compared to that in Gilroy, does not meet expectations of bedroom arrivals, who have created opportunities for private and charter schools but to the detriment of public schools

•There is no hospital in town since the closure of the community’s hospital

•There are not enough bilingual services.

•Hate incidents and crimes may go unreported or under-reported. Gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered youth are at particularly high risk, though a case brought by several Live Oak High School students in the 1990s established a school district’s obligation to take action to protect students being harassed for sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. Despite mandatory training for students and teachings, students report that problems persist in the school system.

•Small businesses are concerned about the city’s recent incentives to big box store and by shoppers’ choices to go there and elsewhere outside the city. Other big box stores refuse to locate in Morgan Hill because of overlap with South San Jose and Gilroy stores.

•People generally go north for the arts. Downtown Association has addressed some aesthetic needs and parking issues but there is much to do still.

•There is a lack of “connective tissue” for various groups in community, little community feeling or participation among many people, most of whom don’t read the local paper.

•Mixed use projects downtown could address housing availability gaps and bring more people downtown.