SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC SCHOOLS ADMINISTRATIVE WORKSHOP Address of Edmund W. Littlefield, President, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce THE BAY AREA, ITS PROSPECTS AND ITS PROBLEMS Ladies and Gentlemen: I am pleased at the privilege of being with you this morning to discuss with you the Bay Area as a regional economy and to point out my views as to its prospects and its problems. No regional economy can be completely isolated from the national economy which will determine in large measure whether the trends are upward or downward. The Bay Area is an important segment of the national economy and, as such, its future course will be primarily dictated by the national trends. However, it does have certain unique aspects which may make it possible for the Bay Area economy to prosper more on the up-swings and to suffer less on the down-swings than the economy as a whole. Paradoxically the prime mover for both the prosperity and the problems of the Bay Area is its rapid growth in population. This is the great force that disrupts the balance of the Bay Area economy, both from the business and the community standpoint. The great growth in the number of people in the area sets in motion a myriad of economic forces which, like a powerful river at the crest of a flood-stage, can be either good or bad, depending upon whether they are controlled and channeled or allowed to run rampant. In the time allotted to me I shall try to point out to you the dynamic and changing nature of our Bay Area by developing with you these points. First, the population growth of the Bay Area is unusually rapid but not evenly spread throughout the communities in the area. Second, the population growth can be good or bad, depending on whether it is coupled with a corresponding increase in employment.