Lots of toddlers, fewer school-age kids in S.F.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

A curious thing is happening in San Francisco, a city struggling with declining public school enrollment: a baby boom.

The city's largest and most popular mothers' club has tripled in size since 2003. Cafes are catering to toddlers with live children's music. Yoga studios reach out with kids' classes, and playgrounds across the city are getting face-lifts at the urging of parent activists.

Between 2000 and 2004, there was a steady rise in the proportion of city residents who were younger than 5, U.S. census data show. Yet these mini-baby boomers are not showing up in kindergarten; instead, school enrollment is slipping, and the city's school-age population is sliding. Families are leaving the city when their children reach school age. What's driving them away?

It's the housing prices. It's the desire for a backyard. San Francisco's real estate market, where suburban-size houses with backyards are uncommon and extremely expensive, is the reason most parents give for moving away.

It appears the trend in America isn't for families to live in big,old cities that don't have backyards.