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Is California a healthy place to live?
The state often conjures up images of pristine beaches and yoga-perfected bodies.
But a new study on public attitudes toward health and wellness suggests the answer isn’t so obvious.
For the study, conducted by the Field Research Corporation, a polling company, nearly 2,200 Californians were interviewed by phone about whether they viewed their communities as healthy or safe places to live.
Poll questions delved into issues like access to medical care and stores that sell affordable, nutritious food as well as the cleanness of the air and tap water.
The results showed that one region led in its negative self-perceptions — the Central Valley.
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Among the five California regions compared in the survey — including Los Angeles County, the South Coast, the Inland Empire and the San Francisco Bay Area — respondents in the valley were the most likely to say their communities felt polluted, unsafe and unhealthy. (In all three areas, Los Angeles County residents were close behind.)
Asked to rate whether their community was a “healthy place to live,” 45 percent of the valley’s residents chose “fair, “poor” or “very poor.” For residents of the South Coast, by comparison, the rate was 19 percent. Statewide: 34 percent.
The Central Valley was also the region most likely to take a fair or worse view of pollution — 55 percent, compared to 42 percent statewide — and public safety — 56 percent, compared to 46 percent statewide.
Troublingly, only about half of the valley’s residents thought they had good access to clean tap water. Environmentalists have for years sounded alarms over leaching fertilizers in the agricultural region’s groundwater.
The report, which also showed stark disparities in attitudes about health and safety along racial and income lines, was commissioned by the California Wellness Foundation, which promotes public health.
The foundation said it hoped the data would help policy makers target the root causes of health inequality.
“Where we live, work and play shouldn’t determine our health and wellness,” Judy Belk, the foundation’s president, said in a statement.
Ballot Countdown: 18 Days
See reporting in The Times on the Nov. 8 ballot initiatives: Proposition 51 (school bond) | Proposition 53 (megaprojects) | Proposition 54 (legislative transparency) | Proposition 56 (cigarette tax) | Proposition 57 (prison sentencing) | Proposition 58 (bilingual education) | Proposition 60 (condoms in adult film) | Propositions 62 and 66 (death penalty) | Propositions 65 and 67 (plastic bag ban).
And dig into analyses of all 17 statewide measures by the Legislative Analyst’s Office, CALmatters, KQED and Ballotpedia.
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California Online
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Noah Berger for The New York Times
• “Lions hunting zebras”: Former Wells Fargo employees said immigrants, college students and Native Americans were targeted for fake accounts. [The New York Times]
• California promised public employees generous retirements. Will the courts give the government a way out? [Los Angeles Times]
• Unintended consequences: How did an entire state price itself out of the market for entry-level home buyers? [Builder Magazine]
• After five years of drought, forecasters said California is once again headed for a warm and dry winter. [Los Angeles Times]
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Direct Action Everywhere
• Animal advocates released a video of a “cage-free” egg-producing barn in Farmington that showed disturbing images of dead and injured chickens. [The New York Times]
• Many small marijuana farmers, as it happens, see Proposition 64 as a threat to their way of life. [Los Angeles Times]
• Already reeling from a sex-misconduct scandal, the Oakland police force said another officer was charged with soliciting prostitution. [East Bay Times]
• The Black Panther Party, founded in Oakland, recently turned 50. A look back at how The Times told its story. [The New York Times]
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Ken Bohn/San Diego Zoo Global, via Associated Press..
• The San Diego Zoo Safari Park announced its newest arrival, a baby Western Lowland gorilla. [NBC 7]
• The Cubs took a three-games-to-two lead over the Dodgers in the N.L.C.S., pushing them closer to their first World Series since 1945. [The New York Times]
• The Los Angeles Sparks won their first W.N.B.A. title in 14 years with a thrilling triumph over the Minnesota Lynx. [The Associated Press]
• Two Pixar animators explored the depths of grief and guilt in the animated short “Borrowed Time.” [Los Angeles Times]
And Finally ...
Proposition 52 may be one of the most wonky of the measures on the ballot next month.
But supporters say that without it the state will lose billions of dollars in funds that pay for health care services for children, seniors and low-income families.
The measure would extend the current fees that hospitals must pay to receive roughly $3 billion in federal matching Medicaid funds and prevent the State Legislature from using the money for other state programs.
Supporters of the measure, which include a coalition of hospitals and medical clinics, say the money will also help prevent local hospitals and emergency rooms from closing or cutting back services.
Medi-Cal now covers one in three California residents. Supporters say that getting the federal matching funds is essential to pay for the program for the poor, which has expanded rapidly under the Affordable Care Act.
There has been little organized opposition to the measure. But Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West argues that there is not enough accountability or oversight in the proposition and that there is no guarantee that the money will go to pay for health care for the poor.
Instead, they argue, it would more likely be spent on perks and salaries for hospital executives and their lobbyists.
— Jennifer Medina, a national correspondent based in Los Angeles
California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com.
The California Today columnist, Mike McPhate, is a third-generation Californian — born outside Sacramento and raised in San Juan Capistrano. He lives in Davis. Follow him on Twitter.
California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and attended U.C. Berkeley.
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