Growing Discontent: 47% Consider Leaving Bay Area In Latest Survey
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) – With housing prices and commute times remaining high, a new survey has found nearly half of Bay Area residents looking at life elsewhere, outnumbering those who want to stay.
The survey from the Bay Area News Group and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group found that 47 percent of respondents are thinking of moving, up from 44 percent in a survey by the same group last year. Nearly 10 percent of those surveyed said they had definite plans to leave the Bay Area this year.
Meanwhile, 45 percent of respondents said they were thinking about staying.
The number of Bay Area residents saying the region is headed in the wrong direction is also up significantly, from 47 percent last year to 65 percent in the group's latest survey.
Nearly 3 out of 4 residents surveyed said the quality of life in the Bay Area has become worse over the past five years. Discontent was felt among a wide swath among those surveyed, with large majorities of young and old, renters and homeowners, people earning less than $60,000 and more than $120,000, all saying that life in the Bay Area was worsening.
The poll is the latest in a long line of surveys expressing a growing desire to leave the Bay Area, in spite of the region's strong economy. Another poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies released last September found more than half of voters contemplating about leaving California.
The Bay Area News Group / Silicon Valley Leadership Group poll surveyed 1,257 registered voters in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties was conducted in January. The margin of error is plus / minus 2.8 percent.
