Our new public opinion poll with Regional Plan Association (RPA) tracks attitudes in the NY region one year after COVID hit. Our survey shows that the region’s residents are resilient and feeling more optimistic than pessimistic, but also shows stark differences in perspective according to race, gender, and income.
The report features the debut of the RPA-GSG Metro NY Outlook Index at 57 (out of 100) – a score that averages attitudes among participants across eight core aspects of life to present one holistic metric for how residents are feeling one year after the pandemic first struck the region. These factors include having equal opportunity, the safety of local communities, the quality of public education, the quality of public transportation, the ability to find a satisfactory good-paying job, the direction the New York City area is headed in, the overall quality of life, and the ability to find satisfactory affordable housing.
Important takeaways from the poll data include:
- The high cost of living, crime, and high taxes are perceived as the biggest threats to the metropolitan area.
- Jobs and the economy are top issues New York metro residents want their leaders to focus on. This was particularly a priority for Black and low-income residents.
- The majority of New Yorkers believe the worst of the pandemic is over. But Latinx residents and parents are more likely to have a more pessimistic outlook.
- Most respondents believe quality of life will improve in the years to come.
