To understand our agency’s work in affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization, it is important to know about the community and its people. San Ysidro (established in 1908) is located at the U.S. – Mexico border between Tijuana and downtown San Diego, three miles east of the Pacific Ocean. It is known as the busiest border crossing the world. In 1956, the City of San Diego annexed the area, and it still remains geographically and culturally isolated, being some twenty miles to the south of urban San Diego and separated from it by two other incorporated cities.

San Ysidro’s population is 27,180 (2000 Census), a growth rate of 6%, and is overwhelming minority – Hispanics, Black, and Asian/Other account for 91% of the total. It is a “young” community --the median age is 27.6 years. The median household income is $22,760. Families tend to be larger than average, with 4.07 persons per household. Two-thirds of the housing stock is multi-family, and 35% of the City of San Diego’s subsidized housing is located here, with more than 8,000 families on the waiting list. Of the 4,411 students in the San Ysidro School District, 82% are determined as low socio-economic status (compared to 45% in the County, and 29% nationally). One hundred percent of the school district’s students qualify for free or reduced-cost meals.