Issue 2: Southern Californians Vested in Community

The information from this Fact Sheet can help better inform elected officials about the public’s concerns and priorities, and can also help the residents of this region gain insight into who they are as a community. In particular, the information can tell us the degree that we interact with others – with elected officials, neighbors, those we meet through volunteer work. These are all aspects of what can be considered community engagement. One key result from the survey is that a majority of Southern California residents are engaged in their community. While only one quarter of residents are highly engaged, most residents have been involved in at least one of the three activities examined here over the course of the past twelve months. It is important to note that there are constraints on certain populations that limit their level of engagement. Lower levels of education and income greatly decrease the likelihood of community engagement. Finally, while church attendance has little correlation with community engagement, the more money one has donated to non-religious organizations, the more likely he or she is to be highly engaged

Issue 7: Museum Attendance, Population Shifts, and Changing Tastes

SCS Fact Sheet no. 7 looks at the extent to which Southern California residents attend art and cultural museums. The findings are consistent with other studies, which have found differences in museum attendance based on ethnic and socioeconomic characteristics. We also found similarities in the general rate of museum attendance in the region over the past twenty years, as well as some changes in attendance rates among groups over the past two decades

Issue 11: Barriers to Transit Use

A 2005 survey sponsored by the UCLA Ralph and Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies found that, in general, public transit is underutilized. Ridership on public transportation accounts for only a very small fraction of all trips, with utilization varying systematically with economic and demographic characteristics. People do not use mass transit more often because it offers only limited service and geographic coverage. Overcoming these barriers will be challenging

Issue 3: SoCal Residents Not as Trusting as Rest of Nation

SCS Fact Sheet no. 3 looks at levels of trust in Southern California. Overall, Southern California residents are not as trusting as Americans in general. On an individual level, trust is related to one’s opinions and behavior. And finally, higher levels of income and education increase levels of trust, as does being white and being older

Issue 5: High Interest in Hybrid Cars

This SCS Fact Sheet provides information on the level of interest in purchasing hybrid automobiles—vehicles that combine gasoline and electric motors to increase fuel mileage and reduce air pollution. A significant minority stated that they are willing to pay more for such a car, with the proportion varying by income and ethnicity. Not surprisingly, those drivers who commute to work and those with environmental concerns are more likely to pay the additional cost for a hybrid car

Latinos and So Cal Local Government

The information from the survey can help better inform elected officials about the public’s concerns and priorities, such as how Latino residents feel about the region and about local government. Latinos’ concerns about the region’s top problems are similar to those of other Southern California residents, although they rank some problems differently. A majority of Southern California Latinos do have some degree of confidence in their local government, and actually have more confidence in local government’s ability to solve problems that affect them personally than non-Latinos do. However Latinos are slightly more pessimistic about quality of life in the region