Jobs keep 'em coming to Dallas Most in survey say lives are better here 03/04/2001 By Victoria Loe Hicks / The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News surveyed 500 people 18 and older in Dallas, Denton, Collin, Rockwall and Tarrant counties. The random telephone interviews took place Jan. 8-18.
The maximum margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. That means that, in theory, responses should differ by no more than 4.5 percentage points in either direction from what would be obtained by interviewing all residents of the survey area. The margin of error for subgroups is larger.
Differences in wording, order of questions and other factors can cause results to vary.
The poll was supervised by Kristina Carlson and Julie Landers of The News' Research Department.
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Whether people like Dallas or not, just about everyone in the area agrees that it's a good place to make a living, according to a poll by The Dallas Morning News.
Plus, most people like it.
Almost nine in 10 people polled endorsed the notion that "the Dallas area provides plenty of opportunities for anyone who wants to work." That idea was shared by an overwhelming majority of people in every racial, age, geographic and income group.
Respondents also embraced the idea that "Dallas is a place where if you work hard you can get ahead."
"Necessity" brought Tina Ochoa to Allen from the New Orleans area five years ago. The move paid off.
"I don't think I could have gone as far in my job in Louisiana," said Ms. Ochoa, who works for Chevron, checking gas stations to see that they are operating correctly.
"My whole life has turned around."
Her story would come as no surprise to Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk.
"People live in Dallas because it's a great place to build your career," he said.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents – including a majority in every group – said the Dallas area is a better place to live than where they lived before.
"I consider this home now," Ms. Ochoa said.
Most of those surveyed said their lives had gotten better during their time in the region. And most said they expected their lives here to improve further over the next 10 years.
Available jobs
Employment was the reason most often cited for choosing to live in the Dallas area. Thirty-seven percent of respondents said they settled here because they or their spouses were offered jobs.
John Tucker of Garland moved for a time to rural Hunt County. He returned because jobs – he works for a plumbing company – and housing were easier to find in Garland.
But he still dreams of living in the country "every morning when I drive to work."
Only 5 percent of poll respondents said they lived in the Dallas area because "I find this region of the country attractive." And only 7 percent said they preferred it to other cities.
"People don't come here to be near the mountains or the ocean," Mr. Kirk said. Nonetheless, more than half of those polled said they planned to stay in the Dallas area after retirement. Respondents were almost evenly divided between people who have lived here for at least 20 years and those who have come more recently.
Thirty-one percent have arrived within the last 10 years. That was consistent with national data showing that, among all U.S. cities, only Los Angeles and Atlanta gained more residents in the 1990s than the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
The News randomly surveyed adults by telephone in Dallas County and parts of Denton, Collin, Tarrant and Rockwall counties. The poll was conducted in January.
Sixty-eight percent of respondents were white, 15 percent were black, 9 percent were Hispanic, and 6 percent classified themselves as "other." Those percentages roughly reflect the population of the survey area.The poll's margin of error is 4.5 percentage points, meaning results may vary by that much in either direction. The margin of error for subgroups within the sampled population is larger.
Respondents were asked to rate the importance of several urban issues and to assess how well local officials were handling each of them.
Crime topped the list of concerns, with 69 percent rating it "very important." Public education was next; 64 percent felt it was very important.
Pollution was considered very important by 50 percent, racial relations and taxes by 46 percent and growth by 29 percent.
The only significant difference between people who live in Dallas and those who live in the suburbs was on the issue of growth. Thirty-six percent of city dwellers said that was a very important concern, compared with 26 percent of suburbanites.
High marks on economy
Respondents gave government the highest marks on managing the economy. Nearly two-thirds said local officials were doing a good or excellent job of that.
People were least satisfied on the issues of pollution and taxes. On those matters, nearly two-thirds said local officials were doing a poor or fair job.
Dallas residents were more content than suburban residents with government handling of mass transportation. They were less satisfied with the state of the public schools.
Thirty percent of city residents said local officials were doing a poor job of managing the schools. Only half as many suburbanites were equally critical.
Opinions about government performance varied little among demographic groups. However, blacks were less satisfied than whites with the handling of crime, schools, the economy, pollution, racial relations and taxes.
Streets and libraries
Asked how the city of Dallas should spend its money, respondents expressed greater support for bread-and-butter items such as streets and libraries – and even programs to help the poor – than for elaborate undertakings such as wooing major sporting events or beautifying the Trinity River.
The least popular item was "building stadiums and arenas." Forty-four percent said the city should spend less on such projects.
Mr. Kirk said that stick-to-basics sentiment didn't come as news to him.
"I've always said that local government is ... the most challenging because it's the most pedestrian," he said. "We don't even get to have a conversation about the Trinity or the arena unless we've taken care of basics."
City residents also were asked which things they personally would be willing to support through higher taxes or the sale of bonds.
Supporting schools
More than 80 percent said they would pay more for street maintenance, public schools and public safety.
Three in four said they would pay more for libraries, efforts to revitalize neighborhoods and programs to aid the poor.
Most said they would tap their pocketbooks to revitalize downtown, plan for future growth, provide incentives to businesses and support public housing.
The most striking consensus of racial and ethnic groups coalesced around the issue of public education. Eighty percent of blacks, 77 percent of Hispanics and 75 percent of whites favored increased spending on schools.Great cities don't just happen. They take a collective imagination and a collective will. Today, we offer our readers "The Global City," a bold 40-year vision for the Dallas-Fort Worth region written by two urban experts. In Sunday Reader, we take a look at the progress we've made as a city and region since publication of The Peirce Report in October 1991. And we have a special area on DallasNews.com, "The Global City Online." Share your thoughts about this report at a special e-mail address, .
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