Fresno County & The San Joaquin Valley:
Agricultural Production, Unemployment, &
Educational Attainment
Urban Planning 206A
Prof. Leo Estrada
By
Pedro E. Nava
San Joaquin Valley
•Comprised of 8
counties
•Considered the
agricultural hub of
the state & nation.
•Measure of America
• (2008) SJV is one of
the lowest ranked
regions on wellbeing
indicators. [Health,
Income, Education]
The Purpose
 To analyze spatial relationships
between agricultural
production, poverty and
educational attainment.
 How does the political
economy of the San Joaquin
Valley shape the life chances of
youth living there?
 Where are there areas in the
SJV that foster greater
opportunity for youth,
specifically those from
farmworking backgrounds?
California & The Migrant Labor
 $36.2 billion agricultural output in state of CA
(2008) (CA Dept. of Food & Ag)
 $11.3 billion alone in counties that are part of U.S.
CD 20 (Measure of America)
 Measure of America report
 CD 20 rated worst in the nation out of 435
 Only 6.5% of adults were college graduates
 Average income $17K year
A Profile of Migrant Students
 800,000
migrant students nationally
330,000
in California
Almost 45% live in Central Valley
 (US. Dept of Education, 2003)
 Large
percentages of students are
undocumented.
Ag Production In Billions
6
5.34
5
4.87
4.09
4
3.82
3
3
2.41
2
2
1.76
1
California Co.
Tulare
Kern
Monterey
Merced
Stanislaus
San Joaquin
Kings
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
•Fresno County has higher
than state average
unemployment rate
•Stats underestimate the
real unemployment rate
due to seasonal status of
farm labor demands &
residency status of
farmworkes today.
Source:
CA Dept. of Food
& Agriculture
Source: CA
EDD
18%
Unemployment Rate
Rank
Fresno
0
SJV is #1 in Ag
Production
•Historical development
of state allowed for the
creation of large farms
in CA.
•Yet US farm policy is
based on “small family”
farm of Midwest.
Annual Unemployment Rate 2000-10
Fresno, 16.7%
16%
14%
12%
10%
CA, 12.4%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
CA
0.049 0.054 0.067 0.068 0.0624 0.054 0.0489 0.0534 0.0719 0.1143 0.1244
Fresno 0.104 0.1066 0.1154 0.1175 0.1046 0.0903 0.0801 0.0851 0.105 0.151 0.1671
Racial Makeup of SJV
•To determine the poverty rate
of youth under 18 in Fresno
County I combined attribute
fields from the American
Community Survey for males
and females .
•[(<5) + (5) +(6-11) + (12-
14) + (15) + ( 16-17)] Male *
Female =
•The westside of Fresno
County has the higher
percentages of youth in
poverty. It also has the
higher percentages of
farmworkers living there.
 Educational Attainment of
Males and Females in Fresno
County
 These maps are a comparison
of Males and females over 25
years of age who have attained
at least a college degree
 It is not surprising to note that
lower levels of college degree
attainment are present on the
westside, the area with the
highest percentages of youth
in poverty. What is the
likelihood that the youth from
there will have a different
trajectory then adults from
there community?
 Educational attainment of
White & Latino males by
Median Household
Income.
 The two insets are Metro
Areas of:
 Fresno
 Bakersfield
 As is evident, no one
census tract has more than
13% of college grads.
 I Geocoded schools that fit
2 criteria.
 Had high API scores (over
800)
 or
 High percentages of
Latinos (at least 70%) and
high percentages of EL and
migrant students
 Only Waterford High had
 I developed this layout as a
case study. How does lack of
accessible transportation limit
the abilities of (im)migrant
families living in rural
communities to engage in the
schooling of their children?
Parent engagement is linked
in educational research as a
key factor for student
success.
 Buffers are 12 mile radius
Small things go a long way
 According to Phil Martin 40 percent increase in farm
worker wages passed to consumers
 Would cost $16 a year
 Yet, average Farmworker earnings for a seasonal
worker would increase by $4000 to $13,600
 That would put them $3,200 over the poverty line
(Phil Martin, 2010)
Utilization of Metadata
Model’s Used
Clipped California Streets to San
Joaquin Valley
Skills that were utilized
 Inset Map
 Aggregate attribute fields
 Clipping
 Modeling
 Geocoding
 Metadata
 Original data
 Charts & Graphs
 Point/line graduated
symbols