Online Survey

Here's something to ponder as Labor Day approaches: Los Angeles workers leave the highest percentage of their total employer-provided vacation time unused: 35%. By comparison, Boston workers let only 16% of their vacation days go unused. That's according to a new survey of America's 10 largest cities released this week by private destination club Inspirato . In all cities except Boston and Philadelphia, the majority of employees do not use all of their vacation time. San Francisco workers leave 32% of their total vacation days on the table, second only to L.A.'s 35%. Among America's 10 largest cities, the study found residents of Washington, D.C., were the most likely to take a vacation over the last five years while Chicagoans were the least likely.

When you travel for business, you might work hard and live a clean life, but most people suspect you are drinking, cheating on your spouse and stuffing your face with fatty food. That's the conclusion of an online survey of more than 2,000 adults taken by Harris Interactive on behalf of On24 Inc., a San Francisco-based Web casting and virtual events company. The survey found that 94% of those surveyed said “bad behaviors” take place among people who travel to business trade shows and conventions.

What do you want from your library? The L.A. Public Library wants to know. In a brief -- very brief -- online survey, the library asks for your thoughts about the library and its future. The survey is available in English and Spanish . The Los Angeles Public Library was founded in 1872 and has 72 branches. It has an annual circulation of 18 million materials in 29 languages.  The first woman to head the city's library was Mary Foy , who served from 1880-84; she later became better known as a campaginer for women's rights.

How do you measure a city's cultural cache, or its reputation for serious art versus fun in the sun? The Getty has tried to do just that by commissioning multiple surveys related to its $10-million, decade-in-the-making, region-wide initiative Pacific Standard Time. On the whole, the surveys -- involving about 14,000 responses -- show that PST gave Los Angeles a bit of a boost in its reputation as an arts capital. Getty communications chief Ron Hartwig said the surveys, which relied on different population samplings and methodologies (and were vetted by the Getty's in-house metrics guru Tim Hart)

Much has been made of the gender gap that has President Obama favored by women but lagging among male voters. A new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Obama continues to hold a lead among women, particularly those without children. Childless working women, 25 to 45 years old, favor Obama over Romney by a broad 20 points, 46% to 26%. The president's  advantage among all women was less than 9 points, 41.6% to Romney's 33%. Obama has been campaigning furiously to widen his standing with women, including with a stop this week in Colorado, where he was introduced at one appearance by Sandra Fluke, the former Georgetown University student who gained attention this year campaigning for contraceptive coverage.

The Super Bowl is all about food, TV commercials - and, apparently, losing money on bad bets. A whopping 92% of people who have bet on the big game say they've lost money at times, with 14% of them saying they've parted with more than $100, according to a new survey. Almost one-third of people - 31% - say they've wagered on the Super Bowl, which this year is a rematch of the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Not surprisingly, men place far more bets than women, 41% to 21%, according to the survey by CouponCabin.com . Some people say they've won money: 44% say they've walked away with $100 or more and 7% claim to have taken in $501 or more.

The pressure continues to mount on the Transportation Security Administration to prohibit passengers from bringing small pocket knives into the cabins of commercial planes. Opponents of allowing knives on planes unveiled a survey last week that found 90% of likely voters don't want the TSA to lift the ban that has been in place since 9/11. “You'd be hard-pressed to find another issue in today's discourse that so many people agree on,” said Laura Glading, president of the Assn.

Americans plan to travel in slightly higher numbers this summer, according to surveys, starting with the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. But many will hold the line on spending for items such as hotel stays and entertainment because of high fuel costs and rising airfares. An annual survey by the American Automobile Assn. released Tuesday predicted that 34.8 million Americans will travel by all modes at least 50 miles from home during the holiday weekend, a 1.2% increase over last year.

Despite record-high gasoline prices and a shaky economy, the number of Americans planning road trips for the Memorial Day weekend has dropped only slightly from last year, according to a survey released Thursday by AAA. The country's economic woes also will do little to discourage Americans from heading to the airports for next week's long weekend, according to the online survey of 2,000 adults, which the Travel Industry Assn. conducted and analyzed for AAA. About 31.7 million Americans plan to travel by car that weekend, a decline of about 1% from the 32 million a year earlier, AAA said.

The Colorado movie theater where a gunman killed 12 people and injured dozens during a screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” will reopen Thursday. Family members of several victims have pledged to boycott the event, saying an invitation they received only compounded their grief. What to do with the theater was the subject of much debate after the shooting in July. Last year,  Aurora city officials launched an online survey to gauge public opinion and said the response was overwhelmingly in favor of reopening the site.