Survey finds many would consider moving away

By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY — Weary from traffic congestion and wary of ever-increasing housing prices, a majority of respondents in a recent survey of San Diego County residents say they have considered packing up and moving away.

Fifty-six percent of the 900 respondents in a telephone survey of randomly selected households countywide said the current median house price of $593,000 has them pondering a move out of the region. That's up from 39 percent in a similar survey conducted in 2002.

The latest survey, commissioned by the San Diego Association of Governments and conducted in May, found that while housing costs loom large, the No.1 concern for county residents continues to be highway congestion.

"The survey validates that housing and traffic continue to be the top concerns," said Gary Gallegos, executive director of the association of governments, the region's transportation planning and funding agency. "There's also less satisfaction and optimism about the region as a whole."

The association of governments earlier this year reported that motorists on the region's freeways spent nearly 50 hours sitting in traffic during peak commute times in 2004.

The effect of recent local scandals involving elected leaders also emerged in the survey, in which 13 percent cited concerns about confidence in their government representatives, up from 3 percent in 2002.

An 85-page survey report will be detailed in a gathering for reporters Wednesday and presented to the association's board of directors on Friday.

The survey attempts to gauge public opinion in a variety of areas that include environmental and economic issues, transportation, housing and public safety.

Thirty-nine percent of the respondents said they believed San Diego County would be a worse place to live in the future while 18 percent expressed confidence it would improve.

Among 13 specific issues, survey respondents said the most important was an adequate water supply followed by reducing crime and protecting beaches from pollution.

There are other signs that traffic congestion is changing the way business is conducted.

A San Diego firm, TalentFuse, is opening an office in Carlsbad on Wednesday solely because of the difficulties motorists face each day in traveling from North County to San Diego.

TalentFuse provides information technology workers in the high-tech industry and was forced to open the office in North County, said Brian Margarita, the firm's chief executive officer.

"Two or three years ago we didn't need that, but today employers in San Diego won't even consider a resume from North County," he said.

The market for information technology specialists is so hot, he said, that after a couple of months of working in San Diego someone living in North County will become so frustrated with the daily commuting grind that they quit for a similar job closer to home.

"Our San Diego clients say they don't want any resumes from someone north of the 5-805 merge," Margarita said.

The survey also underscores that housing costs are equally important in worker recruitment, according to Ted Owen at the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce and Gary Knight of the San Diego North Economic Development Council.

"When we talk to businesses about relocating here their greatest concern is affordable housing and how people can get to work," Knight said.

Owen said he recently talked with the leaders of two biotechnology companies who said they each had to spend $3 million to $4 million in unplanned housing subsidies in order to convince workers they considered vital to move here.

"Recruitment is totally tied to the price of housing," Owen said.

Poway Mayor Mickey Cafagna, chairman of the association board of directors, said he fears the survey's suggestion of an overall declining quality of life may represent a battle that has already been lost.

"I had always hoped we could figure out a way to control traffic congestion and housing affordability, but every area of the country seems to reach a point where the quality of life regresses and people begin to leave," he said. "I'm afraid the same thing could happen here."

Other survey findings include:

- 80 percent of respondents would telecommute if their employers allowed it.
- 79 percent of commuters who responded drive alone.
- Flexible work hours were considered the best solution to reducing traffic.
- 48 percent of respondents favor "smart growth" development that locates housing close to transportation centers and jobs.
- 54 percent of commuters said they would pay to use a toll road.

The $35,000 survey was conducted by True North Research and has an error rate of plus or minus 3 percent, the association's Karen Lamphere said.

To get a look at the survey in detail, log on to http://www.sandag.org and click on publications.