Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Survey Finds Residents Happier Than in 1990 : Antelope Valley: Backers say the positive results of the $40,000 labor market study will help attract new businesses.

Despite often-voiced complaints, Antelope Valley residents are more satisfied now than three years ago with their schools, community services and even commuter traffic, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The telephone survey of more than 600 people in April found 71% of those answering satisfied with their schools (up 1% from 1990), 87% satisfied with their community services (up 3% from 1990), and 76% of those who are heads of households satisfied with their commutes (up 5% from 1990).

The results are just some of those contained in the $40,000 study of the Antelope Valley’s labor market funded by the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale and the Lancaster Economic Development Corp. The results of this year’s responses were compared to similar results from a 1990 survey.

Vern Lawson Jr., executive director of the Lancaster EDC, said those findings by Placentia-based Alfred Gobar Associates--as well as detailed information about the valley’s work force--will help the area attract new businesses once the effects of Southern California’s recession abate.

Local officials said one of the main messages from the study’s findings is that the Antelope Valley continues to have a large and highly skilled population of commuters--about 35% of the work force--many of whom wish to work closer to home if the area’s job market expanded.

On residents’ general attitudes toward their community, the survey found 32% planned to stay in the Antelope Valley even if it meant commuting and 18% liked the area but were looking for closer jobs. Only 2% said they planned to move elsewhere in Los Angeles County.

Gobar’s study and survey defined the Antelope Valley as a nearly 3,000-square-mile area including northern Los Angeles County and southern Kern County, terrain the consultant said would rank 19th in size among California’s 58 counties if it were a separate, unified political jurisdiction.

The study estimated the area’s 1993 population at 309,528, up 13.2% from the 1990 census tally of 273,443. The city of Palmdale, with about 89,700 people, was its fastest growing area during the past three years, averaging a 10.1% population increase each year.

The region’s 1993 estimated median household income was $41,322, well above the $38,913 figure for all of Los Angeles County. Palmdale again led the study’s areas with a $45,002 figure, trailed by Lancaster at $41,536, according to the study.

Of the 122,000-person work force in the Antelope Valley, Gobar estimated that 79,300 (65%) work locally and 42,700 (35%) commute to jobs outside the valley, virtually the same ratio as in 1990. Commuters tended to be better educated and higher paid than the general population.

Forty-eight percent of those surveyed said commuting traffic was worse in 1993 than two years earlier, down from the 76% response to that question in 1990. Among commuters, 76% reported driving alone (down from 81% in 1990). People using car pools increased from 12% to 16%.

Although broader than government unemployment rates, which do not count people who have stopped looking for work, Gobar’s assessment estimated that 16.7% of the Antelope Valley’s work force lacked jobs in 1993, up from a 9.3% figure for 1990. No government unemployment rate is calculated for the area.