Inner-City Less Safe, Residents Tell Poll

A poll taken by The Times last June found that residents of inner-city Los Angeles felt much less safe in their neighborhoods than did residents of the San Fernando Valley and the Westside.

In a poll of 2,055 area residents, only 25% living in South Los Angeles and 39% in the Central City said they felt safe walking in their neighborhoods at night. This contrasted with 51% of the residents in the San Fernando Valley and 53% in the Westside who said they felt safe.

The poll found that 61% of blacks and 43% of Latinos listed crime as their biggest problem. In predominantly white neighborhoods, by contrast, only 32% of the respondents listed crime as their No. 1 problem.

The poll had a 3 to 5% margin of error.