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Cost Of Living Now Top Concern For Bay Area Residents

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - The first in a series of surveys taking the pulse of Bay Area attitudes finds that crime, transportation and housing costs have been unseated as the number one concern among Bay Area residents by fears about the overall cost of living.

The Bay Area Council released the first in a series of polls Tuesday examining such issues as education, healthcare and transportation. The poll of 1,000 residents in the 2014 Bay Area Council Poll looked primarily at economic factors and found largely upbeat feeling about the local economy but deep concerns over the cost of living in the Bay Area.

54 percent of respondents to the survey said they feel like the Bay Area is better off than six months ago and almost every demographic spit found optimism about the direction of the economy.

The cost of living was overwhelmingly rated as the top concern, with at least half of residents in each part of the Bay Area ranking it as their top concern. San Francisco led the pack with 69 percent of residents rating it the top concern.

The Bay Area Council's poll was conducted by EMC Research of Oakland.

Read the full results here (.pdf)

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