Residents Sharply Split on County's Problems
Los Angeles County residents are sharply divided by race and ethnicity in their perceptions of schools, traffic, crime and other matters affecting their quality of life, a new poll has found.
The survey by the Public Policy Institute of California also found broad pessimism -- regardless of race and ethnicity -- about the prospects for improvement. A striking one-third of residents surveyed said they expect to leave the county within five years.
Among the most serious troubles cited were traffic jams and the shortage of affordable housing. Nearly three of four residents surveyed said clogged traffic was a big problem. Almost two of three named the high cost of housing as a big problem.
With about 10.2 million residents, Los Angeles is the nation's most populous county. Its rapid growth -- the state says more than 600,000 newcomers arrived in the four years ending last July -- has aggravated many long-standing problems, including overburdened freeways and overcrowded schools. But residents split starkly along racial and ethnic lines in how they see those problems -- and on their outlook for potential solutions.
"There's not much of a sense of common experience or consensus about how to improve conditions," said Mark Baldassare, research director at the institute. The survey of 2,003 adult residents was released to The Times in advance of its publication today.
Baldassare said the divergent views reflect "very different living conditions" across the region's vast ethnic patchwork.
Asked about the county's parks, beaches and recreation facilities, 70% of white respondents gave them "excellent" or "good" ratings, but just 40% of blacks, 53% of Latinos and 59% of Asians shared that view.
Asked to name the top issue facing the county, blacks and Latinos chose crime and gangs; whites and Asians cited education. Though a majority of blacks and Latinos said crime was a big problem in their areas, barely a quarter of whites and about a third of Asians said so.
On police protection, the survey also found a vast divide between blacks and whites. Though 34% of blacks rated police protection as excellent or good, 67% of whites did so. The poll found 63% of Asians and 53% of Latinos said police protection was excellent or good.
The survey also confirmed a rift in public perceptions of police conduct. Barely one in five blacks said police in their community treat all racial and ethnic groups fairly "almost always" or "most" of the time. But 62% of whites held that view, as did 58% of Asians and 46% of Latinos.
