Times Poll of S.D. County Suggests Growing Polarity

San Diego is developing as a county with a split personality, a Los Angeles Times Poll has found, with residents in one area more affluent, more family-oriented and--in the eyes of residents elsewhere in the county--more materialistic.

Compared with the rest of San Diego County, North County--with its million-dollar neighborhoods, beachfront condominiums, country estates and sprawling tracts of $350,000 homes--is an upscale place. Its residents are convinced that they have found more happiness than residents elsewhere in the county. And they are more concerned about losing their Camelot to growth’s bogey man than are their fellow county residents.

People in the central, southern and eastern portions of San Diego County tend to have lived in the county longer, the poll found. They feel more deeply rooted in their communities but also are less satisfied with them--perhaps because they also tend to feel more plagued by crime. They are more likely than are residents of North County to be liberal, willing to protect the environment and interested in helping others.

Those are some of the findings of the Times Poll, which surveyed 1,984 county residents--1,134 in North County and 850 in the rest of the county--from March 10 to 13.

Pollster I. A. Lewis said the countywide results are within 3 percentage points of what they would be if everyone in the county had been questioned; breaking that down for North County, the margin of error is 4 percentage points, and for the rest of the county it is 5. For the purposes of the poll, North County was defined as the area north of Miramar Road and La Jolla and extending as far east as Ramona.

The poll’s findings confirm long-held assumptions that people are moving to North County to escape the woes of urban living, said Robyn S. Phillips, a UC San Diego professor of urban economics and public policy.

But, with that trend, she fears, comes a growing polarity in San Diego County as people seek out the best possible communities--within their budgets--to establish their roots.

“As North County becomes more and more for the affluent--people who can afford to escape the problems of the city--there’s going to be a widening disparity between North County and the rest of the county socio-economically,” Phillips said. “I worry that the people who can afford to escape to North County no longer feel a responsibility toward what they’re leaving. They let it be someone else’s problem.”

Moreover, as people continue to seek out North County, the area’s perception as a good place to live “tends to reinforce itself,” and the disparity between North County and the balance of the county--especially in housing costs--will continue to widen even more quickly, Phillips said.

She concedes to feeling somewhat sheepish about her observations because she and her husband moved from the University City area of San Diego to Del Mar two years ago, partly so her husband, a Vista schools official, would be closer to work and partly because she sought Del Mar’s school system.

“We did what we perceived was best for us and moved,” she said. “But, when I look back at our decision as an analyst, I see what we did as part of a social phenomenon, and I worry about the social implications of what we did.”

No matter the distinctions between the two population bases, both share the view that the quality of life in San Diego County is not getting any better. In fact, about 45% of residents, in North County or elsewhere, say the quality of life has worsened during the past 10 years, the Times Poll found.

Barely half of San Diego County residents believe the beaches are safe for swimming, and nearly one in two say worsening air quality is the region’s biggest environmental problem.

Residents throughout the county also seemed to agree on a range of other topics--that drugs are the county’s worst problem, that they want to protect the environment even at some cost to the economy and that health is most what they want out of life.

But the poll also found striking differences between the demographics and attitudes in North County and those elsewhere in the county.

Among them:

* North County’s residents are less concerned than others in the county about affordable housing when it comes to a laundry list of how to pick a community. Indeed, they pay nearly 10% more, as a whole, for housing. Put another way, 13% of the residents outside North County pay $1,000 or more a month for housing, while in North County, 20% pay that much or more.

* North County residents can better afford such prices. While the median household income elsewhere in the county is $33,175--meaning half make more, half make less than that--the median household income in North County is $38,426, or 15% more.

* There are proportionately fewer married couples--and fewer families--outside North County.

* Residents of the central, southern and eastern parts of the county are older--and have lived in the county longer--than North County residents.

Dave Johnson is a 37-year-old native of San Diego County who now lives in an established neighborhood in Clairemont. He says he has little use for North County and what he calls its “instant, sterile, pop-up neighborhoods.”

“North County has become yuppified,” said Johnson, who is a teacher at the private Francis Parker School in Linda Vista. “And North County is very new. There’s no sense of history. It’s like an instant culture. Maybe there’s a lot to be said for new neighborhoods. But I’ve got neighbors who have lived in their same homes for 35 years, and I like that.”

Perhaps one of the most telling distinctions between those who live in North County and those who don’t are the perceptions both groups hold of those who live in North County.

The rest of the county’s residents characterize North County’s residents as better off financially, but not necessarily better off in spirit.

For instance, the rest of the county sees people in North County not only as more affluent, but as more materialistic, than themselves. North County people are far less likely to see themselves that way.

“Believe me, I’m happy right where I am,” said 59-year-old James Ball, a supervisor for a janitorial firm who has lived in East San Diego for 15 years and holds no dream of moving to North County--even if he could afford to.

“Sure, they’ve gotten away from this and that, and they’ve got more than me, but I think they’re more up-tight in North County,” he said. “You’ve got people up there driving around in their Mercedes. I don’t want to have to keep up with the Joneses. I’ve got my Chevy Nova. That’s who I am.”

Pat Trumble, the wife of a Roman Catholic deacon who has lived in Mission Hills and Lakeside and now lives in El Cajon, feels the same way toward North County.

“I think of them as having more money, of being a little higher-class, but I don’t aspire to live there,” she said. “We’re beyond that. We’re aspiring to get on with our lives, and it doesn’t include that kind of upward mobility.”

Indeed, North County has no self-esteem problem. Its residents tend to perceive themselves as happier, more family-oriented and more environmentally conscious than others in the county perceive them as being. And, although people south and east of them home in on North County as a center of traffic snarls, North County residents are less likely to see their territory as the hub of such problems.

Countywide, residents chose their community because it was close to work. The second-ranking reason for living outside North County is affordable housing. But, in North County, finding a rural atmosphere is the second most likely reason in selecting a specific community--and indeed, more of them live in rustic areas.

Perhaps because they were seeking a haven away from urban woes, North County residents also are much less likely to say crime is a top county problem.

Consider Mike Hamer, who moved to San Diego County seven years ago from England to get a job in the local electronics industry and who settled in Rancho Penasquitos.

Hamer moved to the area because it was “a new, growing neighborhood” and because it was within the esteemed Poway Unified School District, which has received substantial amounts of good publicity because of the achievements of its students.

“The income level (in his area) is a bit higher,” Hamer said. “The neighbors have a higher standard of living. We were looking for that for our children. It’s a safer surrounding for my family. The likelihood of less crime was something we were looking for.”

Hamer chuckled because his wife is now ready to move again. She wants to stay in the Poway school district--but wants a larger home. He says he may comply--especially if he can find a neighborhood with less traffic congestion.

Still, he’s happy with his decision to settle where he did.

“You get vibes about neighborhoods, and that there are definite areas in the county that are better than others. I think I’ve found one,” he said.

Like Hamer, North County people are, as a whole, more satisfied with their communities than those living elsewhere. And, where they are dissatisfied, it’s for somewhat different reasons, the poll found.

Although both North County residents and their counterparts elsewhere say increased traffic is what they dislike most about their community, North County residents rank growth in their community as the second most negative factor, while residents elsewhere say it is crime.

In North County, where the existence of migrant camps next to housing tracts has caused some community friction, people are more apt to take a dim view of the effect of the Latino life style in the county, and particularly of the impact of immigrants to the region, than are other county residents.

North County residents are more likely to say that they would be bothered at least a little if more Latinos moved into their neighborhoods-- 41%, compared with 34% for the rest of the county.

Although residents outside North County are more likely to cite the cultural contribution immigrants have made in the county, North County residents are more likely than the others to say immigrants have put a strain on social services and are responsible for driving up the crime rate.

But North County residents are also more likely than residents elsewhere to give credit to immigrants for providing a cheap source of labor.

North County’s greater degree of animosity toward Latinos and immigrants, said Times pollster Lewis, is money-driven.

“People who have more property to value--and they tend to in North County--are more sensitive to their property values. The people of North County are more biased against Latinos moving into their neighborhood than are the people elsewhere in the county.”

Ball, the East San Diego resident, said he would feel uncomfortable moving to North County because he is black. North County, which is about 1% black, is unlikely to have a neighborhood with a substantial black population, he said.

“You can figure that a black person in North County is either in the military or he’s a professional athlete,” Ball said with a laugh. “When you’ve got 2,000 white sheep, the black sheep is going to stick out. I don’t think I’d feel real comfortable up there.”

Trumble, the El Cajon resident, said she has been conscious--in every community where she has lived--of the figurative “good and bad side of the tracks,” and suggests that in San Diego County, Interstate 8 is now that divider.

“But what I’ve noticed about California, and San Diego in particular, is that, with all the population moving in, the location of those tracks always seem to be moving,” Trumble said. “So it’s almost like a crapshoot, wondering what part of the county will suddenly be upscale and what part won’t be.”

San Diego County’s Two Counties Two populations with different demographics and some different opinions emerge when North San Diego County is compared with the rest of the county. Although North County residents are on the whole newer to the county, they lead more settled lives, tending more to be married and have children and mortgages. They are less plagued by crime, more likely to be completely satisfied with their community-and they are significantly more affluent. North County Median household income: $38,426 Homeowners: 62% Median housing payment: $612 Length of residence in county: 14.5 years Lives in rural setting: 26% Married: 66% Married with children: 34% Liberal: 21% Think crime is county’s biggest problem: 21% Entirely satisfied with community: 26% Rest of County Median household income: $33,175 Homeowners: 55% Median housing payment: $571 Length of residence in county: 17.8 years Lives in rural setting: 12% Married: 49% Married with children: 23% Liberal: 27% Think crime is county’s biggest problem: 31% Entirely satisfied with community: 20%