This special PPIC Statewide Survey on California’s Future seeks to raise public awareness, inform decisionmakers, and stimulate public discussion about current conditions in California, future projections concerning growth and its effects on the state, and the governance and policy options possible in response to the expected growth and change.
Some findings of the current survey
- Nearly half of all residents (49%) think that population growth will make California a worse place to live two decades from now; only 25% say it will be a better place. Whites (57%) and blacks (49%) are far more likely than Latinos (39%) and Asians (34%) to think the state will be a worse place to live in the future.
- More than six in ten Californians (63%) call traffic congestion a big problem in their part of the state, and 81% expect it to worsen by 2025.
- Only 12% of residents have “a great deal” of confidence that state government can plan effectively for future growth, 46% have “only some” confidence, and 40% have “very little or none at all.”
- 73% of Californians believe that local voters-as opposed to local elected officials’should be making important decisions about growth issues through the ballot box.