Results Contradict Earlier Poll in Which Life-Style Change Spurned

The findings of today’s Los Angeles Times Poll, which suggests that Southern Californians in general are willing to tolerate substantial life style and economic inconveniences for the sake of the environment, are in striking contrast to the results of the 1989 Orange County Annual Survey, released last Monday.

Both polls did show that residents living in Los Angeles and Orange counties agree that their quality of life has declined.

But the biggest differences were found in the willingness to make sacrifices.

In contrast to the new Times Poll findings that about 90% of Southern Californians are willing to make sacrifices, the Orange County Annual Survey--directed by a UC Irvine social ecology professor--determined that an increasing number of residents are resistant to solutions that would directly change their lives.

Managing growth is a prime concern among Orange County respondents. In the earlier survey, some 59% of respondents in Orange County said that local growth controls are not strict enough. Alongside that concern, a majority (52%) of Orange County respondents believe more freeways should be built. About 84% of those surveyed said they still drive to work alone.

That number has not changed significantly since the poll was first conducted in 1982, when 82% of respondents said they commuted solo.