An annual UCLA survey that measures the quality of life satisfaction found that San Fernando Valley residents have the lowest satisfaction in the last nine years, and satisfaction is the lowest ever for residents across Los Angeles County.
Countywide, residents are concerned about the high cost of living and housing, according to the survey released on April 17.
The survey polled 1,686 Los Angeles County residents in February and March on 40 different aspects of life, including cost of living, education, environment and public safety. The poll is part of the Los Angeles Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, which has measured Los Angeles County residents’ quality of life satisfaction since 2016.
“We have two societies here in L.A.,” said Zev Yaroslavsky, director of the study at UCLA. “We have an incredible income gap and wealth gap, inequities from A to Z.”
In 2016, the overall rating for Los Angeles County was 59 on a scale from 10 to 100. But this year the overall rating of Los Angeles County residents’ satisfaction level had dropped to 53, or two points below last year. At 51, the overall satisfaction level for San Fernando Valley residents was even lower, according to Yaroslavsky.
Researchers say the ratings indicate that the majority of residents are unhappy with the overall quality of their lives.
On the issue of the cost of living, the overall rating countywide in 2016 was 50. This year it had tumbled down to 38.
“The thing that is driving the cost of living rating is the cost of housing,” Yaroslavsky said. “The cost of housing is still the number one issue.”
Jeff Bornstein, a Woodland Hills resident and president of the nonprofit West Valley Alliance for Optimal Living, who has lived in the Valley since 1961, said, “The Valley used to be a relatively quiet community and through the 2000s and 2010s the business interests in the Valley, especially in the West Valley, overdeveloped it. There are too many people here, too many cars, too much traffic. On top of that, people drive way too fast. It’s very dangerous and we have horrific crashes.”
Bornstein added: “The price of housing is insane. If you have a one-bedroom condo selling for half a million dollars, people can’t afford that. If you don’t have your property by now, you’re going to be spending 40% to 50% of your income on your mortgage and insurance, and upkeep of your new property. It’s very hard on the young consumers.”
Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, said, “People always felt they could come to the Valley — and it’s not like that anymore. It’s pretty expensive here and it’s frustrating for people. Prices have gone up and there’s not a lot of (properties) on the market. It’s not easy to live anywhere.”
The UCLA survey is “an indicator of dissatisfaction with the cost of living in the region,” wrote in an email Sonya Blake, president and CEO of the Valley Economic Alliance, a private, non-profit economic development and marketing organization, adding that “desirable places to live tend to be more expensive.”
Satisfaction with public safety across Los Angeles County was 56 but in the Valley, the rate was 52. Yaroslavsky said San Fernando Valley residents reported lower levels of satisfaction compared to countywide numbers in several other categories, including education, environment, transportation, health care and cost of living.
Researchers asked for the first time this year whether responders had air conditioning in their homes or apartments.
“What I was looking for was to see whether there was what I suspected — that there was a disparity based on income, race and geography of where people had air conditioning or not,” Yaroslavsky said.
It turned out that 75% of homeowners countywide have air conditioning. More than 90% of residents living in the San Fernando Valley, known for its hot and dry summers, have air conditioning compared to 48% of residents who live near the ocean. And about 60% of residents in the South Los Angeles area have air conditioning.
South L.A. is “an area of the city that is warmer in the summer than the average, and poorer than the average, and the heart of two minority communities: African American and Latinos,” Yaroslavsky said.
The countywide level of satisfaction with the cost of living dropped from a very low 41 to an even lower 38, marking the lowest satisfaction level in the study — for any category that has been surveyed since 2016.
While the cost of living was reported negatively by all groups, the lowest scores were reported by women of all races, Latinas and renters.
“The cost of housing is still out of reach,” Yaroslavsky said, adding that “on top of the cost of housing, you have the cost of groceries and utilities. About a year ago, we had a monstrous increase in gas bills.”
Related Articles
Less alcohol, or none at all, is one path to better health
Does where you live in LA County mean healthcare, nutrition, housing inequity?
Move over, fentanyl? Stimulant overdose deaths are rising fast
Cities would share power to probe addiction treatment complaints under Umberg bill
LA County steps in to address ‘strep zoo’ outbreak among dogs at Downey Animal Care Center
About 60% of homeowners reported feeling optimistic about their economic perspectives while only 49% of renters feel optimistic about their economic future.
Asked whether they were worried about becoming homeless, the highest level of stress was expressed by renters and those who earned less than $60,000 annually.
Yaroslavsky said responders didn’t express much optimism toward government programs aiming to reduce homelessness.
The majority of responders, 60%, said homelessness in their neighborhoods got worse over the last year. Only 10% said the conditions had improved. About 20% were more optimistic than last year, saying that the homelessness situation would get better.
When it comes to tackling homelessness, Yaroslavsky said, “It’s going to take some time for the county and city to show results. Homelessness didn’t occur overnight. That’s not going to get solved overnight.”
