Field Poll: Fewer rate California as one of the best places to live
Bay Area residents much more upbeat than voters elsewhere
Published on Mar 12, 2009 - 7:14:05 AM

By: Mark DiCamillo and Mervin Field, Field Research Corporation

Mar. 12, 2009 - The Field Poll has been charting the perceptions that California residents have had of their state for over forty years and over this period has observed many changes.

For example, in 1967 about three in four residents (73%) described the state as "one of the best places to live." This same general level of enthusiasm prevailed in subsequent measures conducted through the mid 1980's.

However, Californians' views of their state began to change in the late 1980's and reached a low point in 1992 when just 33% considered the state "one of the best places to live." Assessments improved modestly in the late 1990's and into the current decade, with between 40% and 54% offering this description of California as a place to live.

Voters' current appraisal of the state now falls at the low end of this range, with 41% saying the state is "one of the best places to live," down nine percentage points from two years ago.

There are wide variations in opinions across the state's major regions about living in California.

Residents of the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, for example, are much more likely than voters elsewhere to rate the state in very positive terms, with 61% maintaining that California is "one of the best places to live." By comparison, half as many voters in the Central Valley (30%) or in areas of Southern California outside of Los Angeles, Orange or San Diego counties (30%) offer such a positive assessment.

Continuing opposition to the idea of dividing California into two states

Ever since California first became a state in the mid-nineteenth century, it has witnessed a steady increase in its population. In the mid-twentieth century it became the nation's largest state and it continues to grow.

While this growth has brought many benefits to its residents, it has also created some regional rivalries, particularly between those living in the Northern and Southern portions of the state. In 1959 The Field Poll first began asking residents their opinions about splitting California into two states, North and South. This idea, however, was not very well received, with 75% disapproving and just 9% approving.

The proportion of residents who supported dividing the state in two increased somewhat in subsequent years and by 1993 had grown to 29%, although a still substantial 60% majority disapproved.

The current poll finds a smaller number of voters now in favor of dividing California into two states, North and South (19%), while those disapproving of this idea has climbed back to about its historical average at 71%.

There is somewhat more support for creating a North-South split among voters in the forty-eight Northern California counties (27%) than in the ten counties of Southern California (15%).

In recent years an alternate proposal had been advanced. It calls for dividing California longitudinally to create two states, East and West.

When the poll tested this idea in the current survey, however, voters are not very supportive, with just 9% in favor and 82% opposed.

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