Majority of Bay Area locals think it’s a good place for young people

More than half of Bay Area
residents believe young people can find the best opportunities
locally.
Justin Sullivan/Getty
Images

• A new survey reveals that most Californians would
  advise young people to move away for better
  opportunities.
• One notable exception: More than half of Bay Area
  residents believe young people can find the best opportunities
  locally. 
• It’s a surprising perspective, considering the Bay Area
  is plagued by expensive housing and a tangential “poop
  problem.”

Despite the ridiculously high cost of a
living — and a tangential “poop
problem” plaguing its streets — the Bay Area’s residents
still think it’s a good place for young people to settle
down. 

That’s according to a new survey from
the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), first
reported by SF Gate. Among all
Californians, 64% would encourage young people in their
communities to flee the area for better opportunities. Of the
seven regions surveyed, the Bay Area is the only one where a
greater share of respondents think young people should stay in
the area (54%) instead of leaving (45%).

PRRI’s definition of the Bay Area includes Alameda, Contra
Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara,
Solano, and Sonoma counties.

Taken as a whole, Californians without a college degree are
more likely to encourage young people to move elsewhere for
opportunity than those with a college degree — a difference of
nearly 15 percentage points. About 55% of California residents
say the American Dream is harder to achieve in their state than
other places in the US, while 16% say it’s easier and 29% say
it’s about the same. 

Despite repeated narratives about San Francisco’s insurmountable
housing crisis, PRRI’s survey found just 27% of workers in the
Bay Area are struggling with poverty, the lowest of any other
region in the state. By contrast, almost 50% of Los Angeles
workers are struggling with poverty, and 68% of workers in the
San Joaquin Valley, the rural inland region that
includes Fresno county.

The survey also found that lower levels of poverty means workers
in the Bay Area aren’t facing as many “financial hardships,” like
reducing meals or cutting back on food, receiving financial help
from family or friends, or having difficulty paying a monthly
bill or mortgage. Only 9% of Bay Area residents reported
experiencing five or more of the financial hardships listed in
the last year — again, the lowest of any region.

Read more: California
real estate is so expensive that families, retirees, and even
tech workers are living in cars and vans

It’s important to note that the PRRI survey gathered
responses only from 3,318 employed (or actively looking for
employment) Californians, so the poverty levels do not include
unemployed or homeless people.

Though some people may be encouraging young people to
settle in the Bay Area, many are still looking to move away
themselves. A June survey from the Bay Area
Council advocacy group found that 46% of residents say
they plan to move away soon, up from 40% last year and 35% in
2016, reported
Business Insider’s Leanna Garfield.

A previous SF Gate story reported that Californians
relocating to Washington
and Oregon are upsetting locals who are seemingly
threatened by a “Californiacation” of the Pacific Northwest, in
which home prices surge and traffic worsens, among other things.

Some Bay Area expats reported seeing “F— California” or
“California sucks” graffiti, while others have been verbally
derided by locals.