Fred Perry, 75, is an independent elder who moved to San Francisco from Florida in 1948.

"I know the place and can safely say I have always lived in San Francisco," he said. "It has an ambience and diversity that appeals to me. It's like a history book in its own right."

The fastest growing segment of the U.S. population is older than 85, and the number of elders living alone is at an all time high in San Francisco, statistics show. The findings represent a significant sociological shift and are even more astounding considering the group of people older than 65 will soon be the largest group of their kind in human history.

"The nature of society is shifting," said Anabel Pelham, Ph.D and professor of geriatric care management at SF State. "There are 74 million baby boomers (nationwide) who aren't having babies either and they're going to be living alone."

There are many factors leading up to the numbers of elders that do live alone. Many seniors live alone in San Francisco because they want to. In fact, the Center on Hunger reports that 77.5 percent of people over 65 choose to live in major metropolitan areas. Still, many elders have outlived family members and loved ones. In addition, scientific and medical developments lead people to live longer. Furthermore, the San Francisco Medical Society claims that most elders want to live in their own homes for as long as possible.

Toby Adelman, 46, is supervisor of the multipurpose senior services program at the Institute on Aging. Adelman said, "At some point you have to ask, 'Why is it worth living in San Francisco? Why do you choose to call this your home?' We are all living in one of the most expensive cities, but people love this city. Many elders have families who say, 'Come home,' but they like their lives here," Adelman said.

Perry's house is located near Laurel Heights on a hilltop. From his window he can see Market and Castro streets and enjoys the marvelous flowers and greenery that appear in splashes as he looks up and down his street. The view from Perry's house is serene as he gazes out the window and listens to music from his CD collection or radio.

Still, the outlook appears somewhat grim in San Francisco, where real estate prices rank among the highest nationwide and more than 500 elders are evicted each year.

From the outside, the building that Lee Ethel Alford, 78, lives in is not as idyllic. The Rosa Parks Senior Center looks over the subsidized housing units at Turk and Laguna streets. Past security and up to Alford's by way of the elevator, the dull moments it takes to walk down the long cold hallway are suddenly livened by the sounds from a television inside her apartment.

Alford first moved to San Francisco from Tennessee in 1946. She was 26-years-old.

"This was the first city I ever lived in," Alford said. "I liked the weather, and my husband used to take me to the beach and we would walk in Golden Gate Park."

Alford's husband has since passed and so has one of her daughters and a grandson, whom she raised. Still, she is optimistic. Alford just celebrated a birthday on March 2, and had her other daughter over to her house at the center. Besides family gatherings -- like birthday parties and holiday get togethers -- Alford says she has lots of friends. She mentioned one in particular who lives in the same building. "I'm a diabetic and so is she. We spend time talking on the phone."

What is concerning are the new issues elders face. Some of these concerns include lack of funds to pay for medical care, transportation, the high cost of rent and emotional factors like loneliness.

According to the Department of Public Health, 14 percent of San Franciscans are currently 65 or older and the number of residents over age 60 will increase by 43 percent between now and 2020.

Anthony Nicco, 54, is program manager for in-home support at the SF Department of Human Services. He explained what he thought was the cause of high numbers of elders who live alone.

"So many elders live alone here because of the transient population in San Francisco," Nicco said. "Many seniors do not have family or were abandoned by their families."

"It behooves us all to be looking at these issues," Adelman said.