Residents Rate SB County Living Conditions

SAN BERNARDINO>> San Bernardino County is a “very good” place to live, according to residents who think the county’s economy is excellent and have a trust in their elected officials. Those were some of the findings in the 2016 Inland Empire Annual Survey, a telephone survey of 1,187 residents randomly selected within San Bernardino County and conducted by the Institute of Applied Research and Policy Analysis at California State University, San Bernardino. Crime, however, is still a worry, according to the survey. According to institute director Barbara Sirotnik, a professor of statistics and supply chain management at CSUSB, the institute analyzes public opinion in San Bernardino County relative to the economy, crime, ratings of the county as a place to live, private and public services, commuting and confidence in elected officials. This year the survey, which is available as an online PDF on the institute’s website, was supported by CSUSB as a platinum sponsor; the Mojave Water Agency and the city of Rancho Cucamonga as silver sponsors; and Omnitrans, city of San Bernardino, and San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools as bronze sponsors. All the sponsors gain valuable information from the collected data. The following are highlights based off of the survey as they relate to various community issues: The number of residents who rated the county’s economy as “excellent” or “good” continued to increase, but the figure has not yet reached pre-recession levels. There continues to be an improvement in the number of respondents reporting that they are better off financially than they were a year ago and optimism about their financial future has increased. Younger people feel more optimistic about their financial futures than do older people; democrats and independents are more optimistic than republicans; renters are more optimistic than homeowners; and Hispanics have a higher likelihood than non-Hispanics to think they will be “better off” financially in the coming year. Crime is on the upswing in the county, and so is fear of being the victim of a serious crime — especially in Rialto, Highland and San Bernardino. According to the survey, young people are more fearful than older people, females are more fearful than males, Hispanics are more fearful than non-Hispanics and people with higher incomes and education are less fearful than those with low or middle incomes. Nearly two-thirds of residents rated San Bernardino County as a “very good” or “fairly good” place to live. Older people gave higher ratings of the county than younger people, and ratings differed significantly by city of residence. Residents continued to cite a good area/location and/or scenery as the most positive aspect of living in the county, and crime/gang activity as the most negative. Air quality has virtually dropped off the charts as a major negative of life in the county. Libraries were rated the highest among all evaluated services, followed by ratings of police/sheriff, shopping and parks and recreation. Street and road maintenance was rated lowest of the list of services, as has been the case in the past. Since 1997, a majority of respondents have reported that their commute time is less than one hour, but the percent with shorter commutes is decreasing. Median commute time is increasing, and is now the highest it has been since the inception of this survey. Most respondents report that they work in San Bernardino County, with Los Angeles County being the next destination of choice. Confidence in elected officials has barely budged for the last few years, according to the survey. A majority of respondents report having a “great deal” or “some” confidence in their local elected officials, but San Bernardino County figures remain below national figures from the Gallup organization.