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More than half of Bay Area residents hold a less-than-favorable view of Bay Area economic conditions. Based on the 2017 Bay Area Council poll, about 70% of residents do not believe the area is doing better than six months ago, the San Francisco Business Times reports. Nearly half of respondents expect the economy to decline within the next three years.
The poll surveyed 1,000 registered voters across the nine-county region earlier this year and asked about housing, economy, transportation, growth, education and the workforce.
During the 2014 survey, 53% of respondents said the economy was doing better compared to the previous six months. In the 2017 survey, 24% said the economy would improve in the subsequent six months. Millennials expressed the lowest confidence in the economy, but economic confidence lagged across every group.
"The Bay Area economy is still strong, but we've just come off of two soft months in employment growth and we're hearing more frequently from employers about how housing and traffic are making it difficult to grow here and attract talent," Bay Area Council CEO Jim Wunderman told the San Francisco Business Times.
Respondents were most concerned about housing and traffic. Of Millennials surveyed, 33% said the high cost of living is the biggest issue and 65% of them cited it among the top three problems in the region.
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