The population of San Francisco residents aged 25-29 has decreased 39,164 since 2000 [City losing its younger residents, Aug. 7] and is now 52,229. Meanwhile, San Francisco residents aged 60-85 or older have increased to 146,828. They are the largest, fastest-growing segment of The City’s population, and represent one of five San Franciscans. Most are women, many are widows and all will face age-related conditions — physical and mental health, personal safety and economics.

San Francisco is facing a “geriatric tsunami” that will overwhelm the city budget and charitable agencies. San Francisco needs a blueprint for the coming senior society. Demography is destiny.

Mike DeNunzio

San Franciso

Your Aug. 7 article alleging The City is losing its younger residents may have overstated the case a bit. Comparing the 25 to 29 age group between 2000 and 2007 showed a drop from 91,393 residents to 52,229. However, most of those 39,000 residents didn’t move away; they just moved up an age group (or two) in the intervening seven years.

A better comparison would have been the 30 to 34 age group for 2007, which numbered 76,727 — still a drop but hardly as drastic, and probably due to the dot-com bust as you suggest. There was an even smaller drop-off of the 20 to 24 group in 2000 as compared with the 25 to 29 group in 2007, which paralleled The City’s overall 1 percent population drop. But the 33,334 teenagers of 2000 expanded into 44,696 20-somethings by 2007, so San Francisco still seems to attract younger adults.

Joseph Haletky

Palo Alto

Disability placard cheats

The Aug. 7 placard article [Placard cheaters run ‘rampant’] missed the very real tragedy here. Your focus seemed to be on The City’s lost parking revenue from cheaters not paying at meters, which is a point. But even more tragic is that many people who desperately need and honestly deserve access to the special handicapped parking spots are denied this by placard cheaters.

People who can’t walk, or who do so in great pain and difficulty, must search far and wide for a place to park — only to find that handicapped space is hogged by someone with no real disability. So those cheaters are committing truly evil acts by taking away the blue handicapped spaces from those who really need and deserve them.

Kevin Cox

San Francisco

Though it won’t help solve the parking space problem, why not simply charge a fee for the disability parking placards? Disabled are not necessarily poor; they just need a longer time in the space — but not free time. Charge a meaningful fee for the placard and grant exemptions to those who genuinely cannot afford to pay.

Larry Weinberg

San Francisco

Open space vote

Redwood City’s Open Space Vote initiative has qualified for the ballot and, if passed, will give residents the right to vote on any proposal to develop open space lands, including Cargill’s 1,433 acres of former salt ponds. With more than 6,500 Redwood City voters signing the petition, it’s clear this is a vote that Redwood City residents absolutely want.

Open Space Vote applies only to changes in open space zoning or general plan uses. Existing uses such as expansion of the Redwood Shores wastewater plant or the Red Morton Park senior center would not require a referendum. Only changes allowing open space development inconsistent with existing zoning is covered.

Lynne Trulio and Judy Serebrin

Redwood City

Clean our streets

The Department of Public Works has announced plans to reduce the frequency of street cleaning [Fewer clean sweeps of city streets, Aug. 6], saving about $1 million per year. And a few weeks ago, I read that the general fund awards $800,000 per year to a local nonprofit tenant-advocacy group. No wonder City Hall wants us to approve additional legislative aides.

Paul Burton

San Francisco

No Vice President Edwards

What was John Edwards thinking? I’m shocked and stunned. All I know for sure is that Edwards will not be vice president. And what if he had been the Democratic nominee? Oh, no.

Marc Perkel

San Bruno

Stones in glass houses

I find President Bush’s pre-Olympics criticism of China’s “crackdown on human rights” hypocritical. His administration approved the torture of prisoners at Guantánamo and via the “extraordinary rendition” program sending suspects to be tortured by proxy. The old saying is true: “People who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”

Ralph E. Stone

San Francisco