Resident poll shows mixed feelings on living in Bay Area

Bay Area residents overwhelmingly think their lives are headed in the right direction, even as they see the region moving down the wrong track. That’s one of the key takeaways from the annual Silicon Valley Poll, released last week by local think tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley, with 81% of the 1,800 adults surveyed in mid-August saying their lives are good and 60% saying the Bay Area is heading downward. “I don’t think it’s a contradiction,” Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture, told San José Spotlight. “People are actually glad to be here for the economic opportunity, the warm weather and all the other good things. But at the same time, they’re frustrated by the high cost of housing, because we’re not addressing a basic human need. We’re not providing shelter.” Almost half — 46% — of surveyed residents in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties said they are likely to move away from the region in the next few years, which Hancock attr