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.

On the economy, more than half of Latinos and nearly half of blacks said a lack of well-paying jobs was a big problem in their community. Only a quarter of whites and Asians said the same.

The mix was different on public schools. Just 15% of blacks gave the schools excellent or good ratings, while 34% of whites, 43% of Latinos and 46% of Asians gave them positive scores.

Among every major racial and ethnic group, an overwhelming majority said schools in low-income and minority neighborhoods were more likely than those elsewhere to need repair or replacement. Yet just 46% of whites said school facilities in those neighborhoods should get more public funding even if it meant less money for other districts, while 73% of blacks, 71% of Latinos and 56% of Asians advocated a redistribution of resources.

On immigration, the contrast among ethnic groups was also clear: 81% of Latinos and 56% of Asians said immigrants benefit the county because of their hard work and job skills. But just 40% of blacks said immigrants were a benefit, and 46% of blacks said immigrants were more of a burden because of their use of public services. Whites were split about evenly on the question.

On race relations, county residents were divided. Overwhelming majorities of blacks and Latinos said race relations were “not so good” or “poor,” and a narrow majority of whites agreed. But nearly two-thirds of Asians said race relations were good or excellent.

A racial disparity also emerged on what should be the county’s top priority over the next 20 years. For whites, traffic and transportation topped the list. For Asians, blacks and Latinos, it was schools. Countywide, residents were split, naming both traffic and schools as the top priority.

Yet pessimism about the county’s future cut across all ethnic groups. More than three in four county residents said they expect traffic to worsen over the next 20 years, and nearly two-thirds said environmental quality would deteriorate.

Overall, 37% said they expect the county to be a worse place to live in 20 years, 24% said it would be a better place, and 35% said the quality of life would remain the same.

Still, the outlook of county residents was not entirely grim: 61% said they expect race relations to improve over the next 20 years, and 51% said public schools would get better.

The poll, which was conducted by telephone from Feb. 24 to March 7, had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. The margin was wider for smaller groups of poll respondents.

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How local services rate

Los Angeles County residents are sharply divided by race and ethnicity in their perception of the area’s quality of life, according to a new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. Percent of Los Angeles County residents rating local public service as “excellent” or “good”:

All Adults Asians Blacks Latinos Whites Parks, beaches and recreation 58% 59% 40% 53% 70%

Police protection 57 63 34 53 67

Public schools 36 46 15 43 34

Streets and roads 32 35 15 36 32

How the poll was conducted: The survey was directed by Mark Baldassare of the Public Policy Institute of California. Telephone interviews of 2,003 Los Angeles County adults were conducted Feb 24 through March 7. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus two percentage points for the entire sample; it is higher for subgroups.

Source: Public Policy Institute of California *--*