Misery loves company: SoCal population to swell by 6 million
By JAMIE WETHERBE Special to the Daily Press
The quality of life in Southern California seems to be slipping every day.
It costs more than ever to live in the region, there are fewer jobs and educational opportunties, traffic is unbearable, smog is creating health issues for many and crime remains a major concern, according to a report released Thursday.
The annual “report card,” conducted by the Southern California Association of Governments, rates performance in categories like transportation, employment, income, housing, air quality, safety and education.
In 2003, Southern California once again didn’t make the grade, ranking as the nation’s most congested metropolitan area — moving last year from a D to a D-. Traffic caused the average Southern Californian about 50 hours of delay — the highest among the nation’s largest metropolitan areas, according to the association.
Air quality in Southern California had been steadily improving in recent years, but that changed in 2003, when more traffic and more people began taking a toll on the region. Air quality went from a B- to a C, the most dramatic one-year drop of any grade in the report, said association spokesman Jeff Lustgarten.
And the dearth of affordable, available homes kept Southern California’s housing grade holding steady with a D+ for 2003.
Southern California scored mixed grades on other areas of the report: Employment (B), income (C-), education (D) and safety (B).
“Lower-income residents tend to have fewer education opportunities that will allow them to obtain better paying jobs,” said Santa Monica Councilwoman and SCAG Benchmarks Task Force member Pam O’Connor.
“Lower-income residents tend to have fewer education opportunities that will allow them to obtain better paying jobs.” — — PAM O’CONNER City Councilwoman and member of Southern California Association of Governments
“Without higher wages, they cannot afford a home,” she added. “To find a home they can afford they have to move farther and farther away from their job, which means they’re spending more time on the roads and adding to our congestion and air quality problems.”
To get Southern California back on track, people first need “a menu of options to get out of their cars,” Lustgarten said. But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plans to cut state transportation funding by $4 billion could make matters worse for Southern California.
If the state fails this summer to meet federal air quality standards, California could lose $8 billion in government funds, which means cuts to car-pool lanes, highway improvements and public transit, Lustgarten said.
The assocation predicts that Southern California’s population during the next 20 years will increase by 6 million.
“That’s like adding two Chicagos to Southern California,” Lustgarten said.
The association will lobby for the completion of the car pool lane system, better promotion of public transit and lanes designated for trucks along key freeways.
And a high-speed, electric rail system — reminiscent to Disney’s monorail — could be built on freeway medians to ease traffic and use of public land, Lustgarten said.
Southern Californians “need to start thinking as one cohesive unit,” Lustgarten said. “What happens in Santa Monica could effect someone 100 miles away.”
The association is mandated by the federal government to research and plan for transportation, growth management, hazardous waste management and air quality.
The association covers six counties — Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Imperial — and a region of more than 15 million people and 38,000 square miles.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 6, 2004. Read the original PDF.