Keep Jobs In LA, Create Green Opportunities

We asked thousands of residents how government should respond to the economic and environmental crisis.
Overwhelmingly, community members said they want our local economy to grow through green investment.
The city should be at the forefront of creating cleaner and healthier communities.
This economic recovery must benefit ALL communities in Los Angeles.

Community Members want Green Solutions

83% of residents want city leaders to bring green manu-
facturing to create jobs in South Los Angeles.

85% feel that the local government, with its purchasing
power, should buy local, environmentally safe products
to help create and save local jobs.

87% feel that jobs could be created by cleaning, conserv-
ing & upgrading our water systems.

84% feel that jobs could be created by upgrading homes
to be more water and energy efficient.

There is broad support for green investment across race

“...I have lived in South Los Angeles for 20 years. I have seen all the good paying jobs leave my community.
It’s time to invest in South Los Angeles and create good-paying jobs in our green industry for our youth and
people like myself.” – Oria Green, South Los Angeles community resident & leader

Who did we talk to?

Over the course of 4 weeks in the Fall of 2009, 12,000 Los Angeles area residents were surveyed
on statewide tax and fiscal policy issues. Of those surveyed, 7,500 answered questions about lo-
cal economic development issues.

Civic Engagement: Most of the survey respondents were Democrats (79%). Almost all voted in
recent elections — 31% always voted, 46% were “occasional” vot-
ers and 18% were “new” voters.

Demographically, the residents we surveyed were just over half

female (57%) and majority African American (53%). Latino (both
US-born and Foreign-born) comprised 21% of the total respon-
dents, the second largest race group surveyed. Residents of all
ages were surveyed, but just under half (48%) were seniors, aged
55 and above.

SCOPE Fall 2009 Community Survey Report

Where do they live?
We surveyed a variety of residents from low-income communities in Los Angeles and some of the surrounding cities. We focused primarily on clus-
ters of Los Angeles residents in South Los Angeles, Watts, Mid-city, Hollywood and Silver Lake neighborhoods as well as residents of Compton, Car-
son and Inglewood.

“We’re surrounded by freeways, our children have asthma —

invest in green development to clean up our community.”

About SCOPE
Since 1993, SCOPE (Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education) has been working to build grassroots power to eliminate the
structural barriers to social and economic opportunities for poor and disenfranchised communities. SCOPE combines community organizing,
leadership development, strategic alliance building, research, training and capacity building, and policy advocacy to pursue its mission at the
local, state and national levels. Since 2006, SCOPE has convened the Los Angeles Apollo Alliance — a coalition of over 24 community, labor,
and environmental groups working to revive the local economy and win policies to build a clean, green, equitable economy that benefits all
Angelinos and creates a pathway out of poverty for inner city residents.

SCOPE’s civic engagement work has helped to shape a powerful community voice in public policy decisions. Over the course of numerous
issue and civic mobilizations SCOPE has reached over 100,000 residents in low-income communities of Los Angeles.

For more information about our work, please visit our website at www.scopela.org or call 323.789.7920.

SCOPE Fall 2009 Community Survey Report · 1715 W Florence Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90047 · 323.789.7920 (p) · 323.789.7939 (f)