By S.E. Williams
This week California State University San Bernardino’s Institute of Applied Research released its 2015 Inland Empire Annual Survey. Over 1100 San Bernardino County residents were randomly selected and participated in this effort.
The annual survey has been conducted in San Bernardino County (and, at times Riverside County) since 1996.
The survey provides policy-based research in relation to issues important to the Inland Empire and gives local decision-makers objective, accurate and current information for the evaluation of key public and private sector services and activities including retail services, education and transportation. The report describes public perceptions related to quality of life, state of the local economy, perceptions of the region as a place to live and work. Such regional focus is considered essential for the on-going discussion of key local and regional issues.
This year’s survey, sponsored by California State University San Bernardino, Mojave Water Agency, Omnitrans, and City of Rancho Cucamonga, analyzed the county’s public opinion on the economy, crime, ratings of the county as a place to live, private and public services, commuting and confidence in elected officials.
Every five years, the US Census Bureau releases a report on migration within the US. The most recent report, released in February, 2014, showed the largest migration in the country, nearly 42,000 people, was from Los Angeles County to San Bernardino County. Although economists believe the movement was largely because it is cheaper to buy a house in San Bernardino County than in LA. Further, people also consider the central part of the county as being a place that is close to everything—an hour from the mountains, an hour from the beach, and hour from the desert. Both of those issues have been mentioned in previous survey reports as positive factors about living in the County
This year, nearly two-thirds of responding residents rated San Bernardino County as a “very good” or “fairly good” place to live. This year’s rating was slightly higher than last year’s rating. Collectively, about two-thirds of respondents or 66 percent believe the County is a “very good”