San Joaquin Valley Speaks Town Hall Report

February 27, 2024

Data for Social Good Logo in Color with transparent background

Data for Social Good (DSG) was commissioned by Mobilize, Organize, Vote, Empower (MOVE) the Valley, a coalition of civic engagement organizations to conduct a survey across the San Joaquin Valley. This survey was conducted from November 9 to December 3, 2023 with a total of 2,616 respondents from Fresno, Merced, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Madera, Kings, Kern, and Tulare counties.

Key Issues

Across the San Joaquin Valley, the three main issues that people had were:

  • Affordable housing (42.5%): particularly among Latino and Black communities, women, Democrats, and those not affiliated with a political party (NPP) as well as those between the ages of 18-35.
  • Local infrastructure such as streets, sidewalks, and streetlights (20.2%)
  • Lack of opportunities for youth and young adults (13.5%)

With residents who are most concerned about affordable housing:

  • 80% believe that rent and home prices are too high
  • 55.8% are between the ages of 18-35 years old followed by 43.7% of residents between ages 36-45 years old

The prioritization of respondents’ top 3 issues varies by age.

  • Younger respondents (18-35) are the most concerned about affordable housing issues, citing rent prices as a motivating reason
  • Respondents aged 36-45 were the age group most likely to select lack of opportunities for youth and young adults as their top issue
  • Older respondents (66+) are more concerned about local infrastructure than any other age group

Reparations

The poll also asked respondents about their likelihood of supporting the reparations movement in California. Reparations were defined as compensation provided to address past government wrongs. These can include any of the 5 forms: Restitution, Compensation, Rehabilitation, Public acknowledgment, and Guarantee of non-repetition. Results show that San Joaquin Valley residents are split in their support:

  • 39.6% supports the reparations with respondents mainly being people of color, specifically Black and Latino, women, younger adults, and Democrats
  • 38% did not support the reparations mainly consisting of white respondents, men, older adults, and Republicans

Interested in reading this study? We’ll send you a copy!