Posted on 03/17/2005 3:59:11 PM PST by BurbankKarl
The talk in Los Angeles is the talk of getting out In fact, a third of the residents surveyed said they want to move away, up more than 20 percent from 2003. The mood here in the South Bay, however, is slightly rosier.
Fed up with traffic, crime and skyrocketing housing prices, a growing number of Los Angeles County residents say they plan to move away within five years, according to a survey released Wednesday.
Although the mood in the South Bay area was slightly rosier, the report by the Public Policy Institute of California calls the county's 10 million residents "stunningly unhappy with some key indicators of quality of life and paints a picture of growing concern for any chance of long-term recovery."
"I spend all my money on rent," said San Pedro resident Janelle Anderson. "And now with gas prices going up, I'd love to find a cheaper place to live. But it's not that easy to leave your job and family."
The number of residents who plan to leave the county almost doubled in two years. A similar survey in 2003 found that 17 percent of residents did not see themselves staying in the county. The number is now 33 percent.
In fact, more people in the city of Los Angeles say they plan to leave than the 26 percent who voted in the recent mayoral election, said Mark Baldassare, the survey's director.
"It seems they plan to vote with their feet," he said.
For Torrance resident Gary Webb, it's the unrelenting traffic that makes him ponder leaving.
"It seems like I'm always in my car," he said. "And it keeps getting worse. I can't go anywhere without getting stuck in traffic."
The third annual survey found traffic, lack of affordable housing and low-performing public schools as reasons for the bleak outlook -- 74 percent of the 2,000 participants said congestion on freeways and main roads was a major problem. Another 64 percent said a lack of affordable housing was a big problem in the county. Both those figures have significantly increased from two years ago, when 67 percent cited traffic woes and 54 percent mentioned housing.
"So many dimensions of people are more negative today," Baldassare said. "The way they rate housing problems, the way they view race relations, and increasing negativity were certainly important things we noted."
In all, 58 percent believe race relations were not so good, compared to 53 percent in 2003. Different races also had varied outlooks. Only 21 percent of blacks -- compared to 50 percent of all residents -- say police in their community treat all racial and ethnic groups fairly most of the time.
But there were some silver linings in the survey. For instance, most residents expect race relations to improve.
"There are areas that have optimism," Baldassare said. "Most people believe race and ethnic relations will improve. And we're seeing improvements in the economy and the general belief that the quality of life is still good."
Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demographics at USC, suggested that the survey include a question about whether people planned to move. He said he was a little surprised at the results, but he also cautioned about reading too much into them.
"It's a little higher than I would expect," he said. "It's not clear people are going to act different. People complain about traffic, but don't leave."
But if people do follow up on their plans to move, it could spell trouble in the future.
"The danger is people will still keep coming, but the ones you want to keep might go away because they've got other choices," he said. "You might be keeping the wrong kinds of people. Middle-class taxpayers might get up and go. That's the key. Who are the ones leaving?"
The survey divided the county into four parts. The area that includes the South Bay -- which stretches from Long Beach to Malibu -- was more optimistic about many trends. While generally unhappy with traffic, two-thirds of the area's residents said things were going well. They also gave the highest rating to the economy (40 percent) and expressed strong approval of local parks (68 percent).
"Some of the optimism in the region reflects the fact that people have good air quality, good job opportunities," Baldassare said. "Many people are in good economic shape compared to other parts of the county."
well I guess you'll have to ask DFU. Like I'm just a valley boy ...
Personally, I jump for joy whenever I hear of a school closing.
Good. Leave. Maybe housing prices will finally start coming down after the same people now fleeing L.A. moved here and drove up the cost of everything.
I see that you have found yours. And Texas, too. Good choice.
How's Ventura Boulevard these days? Haven't been down that way in almost 10 years (visiting freinds).
I don't commute to L.A. I walk about 40 feet out to my guest house.
Actually, most folks I know who live in the Inland Empire (a scary name, IMHO) tend to work in the Inland Empire. Anyone who would commute to downtown LA or even Burbank from Riverside County, San Berdoo County, or Palmdale loves riding in their car a bit too much.
It is just awful here, get going while the going is good!
Please go!
I will just have to stay here and suffer the terrible warm weather, beaches and mountains by myself.
Really. It's OK. I can handle it. You go on now. Don't worry about us. We'll be OK.
No kidding.
"I have one more week until the moving truck pulls up in front of my rented 850 sg ft crackerbox and hauls my stuff to the 3000 sg ft Texas home I bought on Sunday."
Good for you! Now don't get shot between now and then. ;)
I lived in the San Diego area in the 80's. It's was nuts back then, so I can only imagine what it's like today.
My Uncle lives about 2 hours outside of LA and commutes 4 hours a day. I don't know how he stands it, but he's a film guy for Hollywierd, so he's used to abuse.
But...what happens if everyone on the coast smartens up and moves inland? Ach. It's not my problem. I'll either be dead by then, or the Second Coming will have happened and all of our worries will be over, LOL!
Enjoy Texas, LTowm.
I beg to point out another fact on this "one way rental" stuff. We left CA last fall. Couldn't get a one-way RV out of the state. Know why? SMOG II regulations. SMOG II regulations ensure that every single truck, rv, u-haul, etc., NATIONWIDE can pass "SMOG II" regulations. Too darned expensive and problematic for most businesses.
You know what they say...A "conservative" is simply a "liberal" who's been mugged. Maybe there's hope for LA.
A year ago, I drove into San Diego, and I noticed that no UHauls were heading in the same direction as I was.
A month later when I left San Diego, I saw at least five UHauls heading eastbound on Interstate 8 out of San Diego.
Hmmm, what happens when the majority of the people in LA are the welfare receivers? Who is going to pick up the tab?
New York magazine did a story a few years back about how the only folks who really wanted to leave NYC were the poor and "people of color" (Blacks and Latinos), while most of the white folk surveyed couldn't live anywhere else. In NYC, everyone pays the same high prices for everything, so you can't exactly live "high on the hog"if you are poor, an illegal, or a struggling student.
Good.Let all the 3rd world immigrants illegals, LEAVE round up the gangbangers, Close the borders and California and LOS ANGELES will be the greatest place it was when I was a Kid growing up there.
Again, shades of New York in the 1970s/1980s.
Cool! And the Red States will continue to pick off more of your Congressional seats over time as California loses people.
Eventually, California will be as irrelevant as Vermont on the national stage. Not that it already is irrelevant.
I gather that you've never been to Detroit, Newark or Camden.
Yeah! And be sure to send all the east coasters packing too.
Oh, wait a sec ...
;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.