Going straight to the source to identify the concerns of Central Valley residents
Socio-political issues like those that concern MOVE The Valley tend to be evocative—they can incite great passion in the people they affect and are easily illustrated through anecdotal and qualitative evidence. But to properly carry out its vision and mission and best represent the people it aims to serve, the organization’s efforts are also driven by data.
From 2020 to 2022, MOVE partnered with the UC Merced Community and Labor Center to conduct annual “Fresno Speaks” surveys in order to gauge the greatest concerns among that city’s residents. Concerns over the COVID pandemic dominated those surveys for the first two years, but the top five issues in 2022 were: housing (20.5%); homelessness (18.4%); crime and gun Violence (16.9%): infrastructure, sidewalks, street lights (12.5%); and air quality/environment (10%).
In 2023, MOVE upped its information-gathering efforts by partnering with Data for Social Good (DSG) to conduct a survey across the San Joaquin Valley. From November 9 to December 3, 2023, 2,616 respondents from Fresno, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Madera, Kings, Kern, and Tulare counties completed the survey by email or phone, making it the largest and most exhaustive Central Valley study conducted in two decades.
When asked to choose which issues have most negatively impacted their household from a field of choices, respondents top three picks were: affordable housing (42.5%); local Infrastructure (20.2%); and a lack of opportunities for youth and young adults (13.5%). Following is more information gleaned from respondents who chose those categories as their greatest concerns.
Affordable Housing:
- 80 percent said rent and home prices are too high in their community.
- Homeowners accounted for 55.4% of respondents, in line with the California state average of homeowners (55.6%).
- White, male, and Republican respondents were statistically more likely to own a home
- Homeowners claim the greatest benefit to owning a home is financial stability and the ability to accumulate wealth.
- Non-homeowners cite home affordability and current income as barriers to homeownership
- Respondents 18-35 were statistically more likely to rent or live with their family.
Local Infrastructure:
- 65.8% are concerned with the amount of potholes in their community.
- 15.6% believe that the sidewalks in their neighborhood are inadequate 1.
- 2.6% find the lack of functioning streetlights concerning.
Lack of Opportunities for Youth and Young Adults:
- 7.8% believe that their education system fails to prepare students to transition into the workforce.
- 28.3% do not think there are enough entry-level jobs to support the youth within their community.
More results from the most recent Fresno Speaks survey can be found at www.movethevalley.org/sjvspeaks. More results from the larger 2023 survey can be found at TK.
