ORANGE COUNTY SURVEY

 				INTRODUCTION
	Orange County experienced considerable growth in the decade of the 1970's 
and is presently faced with the impacts of population changes as well as 
changes in economic conditions. The Orange County Annual Survey was 
under-taken by the University of California at Irvine to assess these 
changes and their effects on residents' perceptions of community problems 
and the quality of life in Orange County. In this first year of the Annual 
Survey, the focus is on issues of growth and mobility. Issues in 1983 and 
1984 include air quality, new immigrants, crime, the elderly, and public 
attitudes towards government policies.
	The specific issues addressed each year are determined through the 
col-laboration of the study director and faculty members at UCI. Also, an 
advi-sory committee serves as consultants to the survey. The outcome is a 
focus on public concerns, which are salient to academicians as well as 
business and political leaders.
	This project was developed according to certain basic themes and 
guide-lines. One was a general concern not only for issues, which are 
problematic for Orange County residents, but also for groups that are most 
vulnerable to community problems. Thus, in examining perceptions of 
community life or quality of life, attention is paid to how population 
groups differ in their assessments and which groups report particularly 
negative evaluations. The survey is structured to reflect a range of both 
current and long-term inter-ests. Certain basic demographic questions are 
to be asked each year of the survey. Other questions will be repeated to 
monitor changes in important community conditions such as growth, housing, 
and transportation. Additional questions over time include quality of life 
items often found in nationwide public opinion polls, which are used to 
measure personal satisfaction. In addition, half of the survey is devoted 
to the faculty's thematic issues for that particular year. Finally, each 
year items are reserved for subjects of current public controversy or 
debate.
	The 1982 Annual Survey focuses on the themes of "Growth and Mobility" (see 
Appendix). The survey begins with questions on residential moving patterns 
and preferences. Next, items on housing are asked. The questions following 
focus on evaluations of the community in terms of social life, noise, 
smog, and crime. Respondents are then asked to rate their basic local 
services. These questions are followed by opinions about growth con-trols 
and the transportation system. Items on general satisfaction with life are 
asked subsequently. Travel to work items is introduced, focusing on 
commuting patterns and problems. Questions on government and politics are 
interspersed throughout the interview. Demographic characteristics are 
concentrated toward the end of the survey.
	A number of important questions guided the development of items and the 
analysis of data for each of the areas above. The findings of the report 
are organized around these issues. In addition, special topics are 
reported by the faculty investigators in a later section. The questions are 
as follows;
	What are the demographic characteristics of the population of 
	Orange County at present?
	
	What proportion of people desire to stay in Orange County and what 
	proportion want to move out of the County? What reasons are given and by 
	what groups?
	
	What is considered ideal housing by Orange County renters? How 
	many renters think they will be able to obtain their housing preference?

	What are the characteristics of those who think they will and those who 
	think they will not?
	
	How serious are problems with transportation in the County? Who is 
	most affected by these problems? What solutions are favored and by what 
	groups?
	
	What are residents' evaluations of local services and how do these 
	compare with other parts of the country? Which services are seen as best, 
	which worst? In what areas and among which population groups are services 
	rated most poorly?
	
	How much anti-growth sentiment is there in Orange County? What are 
	the dominant reasons for desiring to limit growth?	

	Which groups favor, which reasons for growth control?
	
	What is the distribution on political preferences and parties in 
	Orange County? How many support further tax cuts despite service cuts? 

	What is the assessment of local governments' effectiveness?
	
	How do Orange County residents assess their quality of life? How 
	do evaluations compare with the national population? Which groups are 
	lowest in satisfaction and happiness?