They might not be tree huggers, but they like their air and water clean and their roads traffic-free, thank you. And health care did not even make the list. More than half the people are saying that environmental conditions pose a threat to their well-being. Baldassare speculates that two factors are driving the concern. One is the sheer level of population growth in the Valley, where new subdivisions sprout up every week and commutes seem to grow longer and more frustrating by the day.
Valley natives no doubt feel the quality of life they've always enjoyed slipping away.
The other factor is that many of the people filling those new homes are moving from the coastal regions, and bringing their views about the environment with them. The poll also unearthed some interesting results on a couple of specific questions related to the environment. Asked if they supported relaxing air-quality standards to increase the electricity supply, more than 60 percent of those surveyed said no. Baldassare asked about a number of proposals for solving Valley problems, and without much context it's not surprising that all of them fared well. Those numbers are interesting but don't mean much without also asking about the accompanying tradeoffs of higher taxes and more government regulation.