Race, Gender and Social Equality San Leandro City, California is a rich agricultural city, which has recently experienced unprecedented urbanization. With an estimated population of about thirty-eight million people as of July 2012, this figure is predicted to double by 2020. This paper focuses on racial, economic, social, and housing characteristics shaping the life chances of residents in this city.

How socioeconomic characteristics affect quality-of-life

According to the American Fact finder website, the poverty rate has increased by an average of fifty-five percent between 1981 and 1991. This percentage is much greater than the average growth rate of the U.S. city. As a result, San Leandro City, California can be significantly compared to the U.S. city. However, the city's per capita income bounced up in the 2000s. Perhaps, the greatest change and one that is the most critical indicator of progress in comparison to U.S. is the percentage change regarding the high number of school graduates. San Leandro City, California has been experiencing a significant rise in the population segment below the age of eighteen years. This partially explains the slow growth rate. It is remarkably worthy that the San Leandro city is again falling below the average of U.S. city. In addition, while San Leandro city boasts of a substantially increasing rate of high school graduation, in 1990s and 2000s, there was no such evidence. Some measures point towards positive change or a limit the problem rates relative to other cities. For instance, the average employment increase in San Leandro city is slightly higher than the rate in the U.S. Changes in violent crime rates like murder are more plausible than in other U.S.' cities.

Race and ethnicity

The city of San Leandro City is one of the major cities in California and has the greatest number of white residents relative to other cities. The average number of Whites (37,702) exceeds the average population of blacks (11,278), Asian (24,801) and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (1,097). While no growth was recorded compared to the U.S. white population...

The average growth of the black population in San Leandro also modestly exceeds the average growth in the U.S. In San Leandro City, California, the average population of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander is estimated at 1,097. This increase is significant for both populations. From the viewpoint of general population increase, there was a substantial growth in foreign-born population.
Housing characteristics

The American fact finder demonstrates that white and black students attending high school in affluent environments have minimal chances of dropping out of school relative to those attending schools in poor environments. Evidently, the most critical element in bearing on the success rate of students was the affluence of the school and not the racial aspect of the student body. Students attending racially mixed schools scored a high performance relative to students attending all-black schools. Therefore, the distances in the quality of school between all-black schools and racially mixed schools are increasing at the higher education level. As a result, it can be arguably said that absence of the spatial segregation of minorities, most social ills characterizing urban poverty in the city of San Leandro would not exist.

Minority families residing in racially discriminated neighborhoods are typically subjected to greater health risks. The American fact finder, as regards to healthcare and well-being of black communities living in San Leandro City, California found that African-Americans face higher rates of mortality than those living in white or integrated neighborhoods. African-Americans have more health care disadvantages partially attributed to unequal medical care access. A closer look at the American Fact finder website reveals that African-Americans with short life expectancy have been statistically underrepresented while conducting drug trials for treating diseases disproportionately afflicting them.

Poverty has concentrated in the urban ghettos as a direct aftermath of residential racial inequalities. Urban poverty…