While the Los Angeles area will feel the impacts from the Palisades and Eaton fires forever, a vast majority of residents will feel comfortable remaining at home.
According to a study from the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, fewer than one-quarter of L.A. County residents have considered moving away in the aftermath of the fires.
That figure was just at 23% according to the poll. The amount of county residents that are “very seriously” considering a move is at 9%.
Polling was conducted between Feb. 16-26 with an overall margin of error of 2%.
“This huge tragedy affected a lot of people in the county, and yet, the overall measures on the quality of life in Los Angeles are positive,” said Mark DiCamillo, the director of Berkeley IGS poll, via The Times. “It’s the California lifestyle. A lot of people like it.”
The poll found a sharp divide between political ideologies in the data. Of those responding to the poll, about 39% and 28% of those who identified as either strongly or somewhat conservative respectively said they were considering moving. That’s compared to 75% and 72% of those identifying as strongly or somewhat liberal that said they were not considering moving.
“It’s an interesting dichotomy,” DiCamillo said. “What you’re seeing is a lot of Republicans, conservatives and Trump voters who say, ‘I kind of like where I live, but I don’t like the county.’”
Tens of thousands of structures were destroyed in the Palisades and Eaton fires in January.
