This survey of the 18-county Central Valley region is a special edition of the PPIC Statewide Survey. The survey was conducted in collaboration with the Great Valley Center. This is the third PPIC survey of the Central Valley. The first was conducted in 1999, the second in 2001. The purpose of the surveys is to provide comprehensive, advocacy-free information on the opinions and public policy preferences of Central Valley residents.
Some findings of the current survey:
- Central Valley residents generally appear satisfied with their communities: 76 percent. rate their community as an excellent (29%) or good (47%) place to live.
- Most residents continue to give excellent or good ratings to local services and amenities, including police (72%), parks and recreation facilities (68%), public schools (58%), and streets and roads (52%).
- Growth-related issues appear to lie at the heart of most of the region’s problems. Since 1999, an increasing number of residents have rated as a big problem in their part of the valley: the loss of farmland (increasing from 23% in 1999 to 38% today), traffic congestion (23% to 33%), population growth and urban development (21% to 29%), and air pollution (28% to 35%).
- Seventy-five percent of Central Valley residents use computers at home, at work, or at school, compared to 78 percent of all Californians. However, a large digital divide still exists in the region between non-Hispanic whites and Latinos in Internet use (71% to 54%) and computer ownership (77% to 55%).
Topics
Political Landscape Statewide Survey