Making It in the Bay

Bay Area Residents Less Happy Than Last Year: Report

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Housing, traffic and the climate are all among the things making people who live in the Bay Area very unhappy these days, enough to think about moving.

Even though some studies say the Bay area is one of the healthiest, happiest places around, one local survey says there’s lots of issues.

“I think traffic is out of control,” said Jessica Heinzer from San Jose. “After twenty years, it's gotten worse."

Traffic is bad, but according to a survey by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Bay Area News Group, the housing situation is worse.

“The housing prices, for sure, being a young professional, it's kind of unattainable,” said Traci Pickering from San Jose.

The survey says 89% of Bay Area residents call homelessness the biggest issue. Followed closely by housing prices, the high cost of living, traffic, and environmental concerns.

Three out of every four people responding to the survey say the quality of life in the Bay is worse than last year. 

“Nearly one in 10 of us are thinking about leaving,” said Carl Guardino, CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group. “We are planning to leave the Bay Area in 2020, period, stop, we're gone."

More people than ever citing homelessness as our most serious problem.

“At its core, all of this is caused by a lack of affordable housing and a rise in the cost of living,” said Ray Bramson from Destination Home.

In this election year, 60% of people surveyed mentioned division between political parties as one of our top problems.

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