The University of Massachusetts McCormack Institute poll, June 17-25, 1998 : [survey questionnaire]

18 Pages·1998·0.47 MB·English

by  John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs

THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS MCCORMACK INSTITUTE POLL
/
June 17-25, 1998
* UMASS/AMHERST *
TOTALSAMPLE= 474 (+/-5%)
GENERALELECTION SAMPLE=401 (+/- 5%)
31EDbt. QEflS ETIM 7 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY SAMPLE= 322 (+/-6%)
1. First, forhowmanyyearshaveyou lived at your currentaddress?
10% 1. less than 1 year
16 2. more than 1 but less than 3
11 3. more than 3 butless than 5
19 4. more than 5 butless than 10
13 5. more than 10butless than 15 GOVERN' ENT D0CUMEfii5
32 6. 15 ormore .
COLLECTION
7. notsure/don'tknow
2. Which ofthe followingbestdescribesthecityor town whereyou live? qqj 2 3 1998
17% 1. an urban areawith more than 100,000people Massachusells
16 2. urban areawith between 50 and 100,000people University cf
Copy
21 3. small citywith between 25 and50,000people Defosilorv
17 4. asuburban area
24 5. small town with less than 10,000people
2 6. other
3 7. : notsure/don'tknow
3. Howwouldyou describe theavailabilityofhousing in yourcommunityforsomeonelikeyou, would you say
thereare:
19% 1. alotofhouses available
46 2. enough houses
30 3. notenough houses available
6 4. not sure/don'tknow
:
4. Wouldyou describe thecostofhousing in yourcommunityforsomeonelikeyou ashigh, moderate, orlow?
39% 1. high
50 2. moderate
6 3. low
5 4. notsure/don'tknow
5. Whatkindofbuilding doyou livein, isita: ?
57% 1. singlefamily
21 2. two tofour family
7 3. condocomplex
14 4. apartmentbuilding (5 ORMOREUNITS)
2 5. other
0 6. : notsure/don'tknow

I
6. Doyou own orrentyour home?
64% own
1.
35 2. rent
1 3. notsure/don'tknow
7. Was thepurchaseprice:
38% 1. less than $100,000
19 2. between 100 and $149,000
14 3. between 150 and $199,000
7 4. between 200 and $249,000
4 5. between 250 and $299,000
2 6. between 300 and $349,000
3 7. more than 400K
13 8. : not sure/don'tknow
8. Did you getanyfinancial help tobuyyour home from alocal, state, or federal governmentprogramotagency?
11% 1. yes
85 2. no
4 3. notsure/don'tknow-I
9. Whatis yourmonthlyrent, withoututilities, isit:
28% 1. less than $500
30 2. between 500 and $699
21 3. between 700 and $899
7 4. between 900 and $1,100
8 5. more than $1,100
7 6. : notsure/don'tknow
10. Has theamountofrentyou payincreasedin thepast twoyears?
41% 1. yes
56 2. no
3 3. notsure/don'tknow i
11. Does anylocal, state, or federal governmentprogram oragencypayaportion ofyourrent?
12% 1. yes
88 2. no —
3. notsure/don'tknow
12. Whatprogram or agencyprovides theassistance? Is thatalocal, state, or federal governmentprogram?
5%
1. Social security
HUD
10 2.
AFDC
5 3.
5 4. Home City
15 5. Federal govemment-n.s.
35 6. Section *
5 7. Local government
10 8. Don'tknow
5 9. Refused
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13. Would you liketoown yourown home?
67% 1. yes
31 2. no
2 3. notsure/don'tknow
14. Which ofthefollowing is thegreatestobstacle toyourowning yourhome?
23% 1. lackofadown payment
14 2. lackofgood credit
27 3. don'tearn enough money
5 4. can'tafford alargeenough homeformysizefamily
0 5. interestratesaretoohigh
14 6. monthlymortgagepaymentwouldbe toohigh
9 7. : other
8 8. : noneofabove
0 9. : not sure/don'tknow
15. Does theamountofyourmonthlyhousingpayment (MORTGAGEORRENT)makeithardforyourfamilyto
makeendsmeet?
25% 1. yes
73 2. no
3 3. notsure/don'tknow
16. Have youbeen late in making amonthlyhousing payment (MORTGAGE ORRENT) in thelast year?
11% 1. yes
86 2. no
3 3. notsure/don'tknow
17. Now turning tosomequestions aboutpubliclyassisted housing. To thebestofyourknowledge, is thereany
housing in yourcommunityforpersons with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities?
60% l.yes
22 2. no V
18 3. notsure/don'tknow
18. In your opinion, does this typeofhousing improve, devalue, ormakenodifferencetothequalityoflifein your
community?
25% 1. improve
7 2. devalue
65 3. makenodifference
4 4. notsure/don'tknow
19. Arethereshelters for thehomeless in yourcommunity?
36% l.yes
45 2. no
19 3. notsure/don'tknow

20. In youropinion, does yourcommunityneedmorehomeless shelters?
36% l.yes
49 2. no
15 3. not sure/don'tknow
21. Tothebestofyourknowledge, is thereanypublichousing in your community, thatis, housing which isonly
available tolowincomeresidents?
"67% 1. yes
20 2. no
1
14 3. notsure/don'tknow
22. In youropinion, does this typeofhousing improve, devalue, ormakenodifferencetothequalityoflifein your
community?
19% 1. improve
17 2. devalue
56 3. makenodifference
7 4. notsure/don'tknow
23. In youropinion, howlong shouldqualified families whocan'taffordprivatehousing bepermitted tolivein
publichousing?
38% 1. as long as theycan'tafford tomove
19 2. iftheyhavechildren, stayuntil thechildren growup
30 3. for a fixedperiod oftime, for example, 3-7 years
13 4. : notsure/don'tknow
24. In youropinion, shouldeverycommunityhavesomepublichousing that is, housing which ispubliclyassisted?
84% 1. yes
12 2. no
5 3. notsure/don'tknow
25-30. I'm going toreadalistofproposalsfor governmenthousing assistanceprograms. Pleasetellmeifyou ^
stronglyfavor, favor, oppose, or stronglyopposeeach one.
strong strong don'tknow
favor favor oppose oppose notsure
25. assistfirsttimehomebuyers w/down paymentandclosing costs 35% 45 11 2 6
26. assistallhomeowners with lowerrates interest 25% 54 12 3 5
27. assistlowincomebuyerswith lowinterestrates 27% 62 6 1 4
28. assistprivatedevelopers tobuildaffordablehousing 18% 56 15 4 6
29. assistlowincomerenters topaytheirrent 17% 54 20 2 7
30. assistpeople65 andover topayfor theirhousing 28% 54 12 1 6

31. Here's aquestion on a slightlydifferent topic. Homeowners can deduct theirmortgage interestandlocalreal
estate taxes from theirfederal taxableincome. Doyou consider thisdeduction aform ofgovernmentsubsidy?
41% 1. yes
50 2. no
9 3. notsure/don'tknow
32-34. Hereare somestatementsabout landlords, and I'd likeyou totell meifyou stronglyagree, agree, disagree,
or stronglydisagree with each statement. Thefirststatement is: (stronglyagree, agree, disagree, or strongly
disagree).
strong strong don't
agree agree disagr disagr know
32. ifaperson has goodcharacter
references, good credithistory, and 36% 39 18 4
theabilitytopay, alandlord should
belegallyrequired torent to that
person
33. landlords shouldhave theright
torentornot torent towhomever 13% 50 24
theyplease
34. landlords shouldhave theright
toreject tenants with children 28 37 19 8
35. Turning tosomequestions about the UniversityofMassachusetts. Howmuch would you sayyouknowabout
thefivecampus UniversityofMassachusetts system, would you sayyou knowagreatdeal, knowquiteabit, know
something, or thatyou knowpracticallynothing about it?
6% 1. greatdeal
13 2. quiteabit
40 3. something
39 4. nothing
3 5. noopinion/don'tknow
36. Howwould you describethequalityofeducation at the fivecampuses ofthe UniversityofMassachusetts
system? Is itexcellent, good, notsogood, orpoor, or isthat something that you don'tknowmuch about? •
15% 1. excellent
44 2. good
3 3. notsogood
1 4. poor
38 5. don'tknow/notsure
37. Somepeoplesaythathaving ahigh percentageofworkers with acollegeeducation is goodforastate's
economy. Howimportant totheMassachusettseconomydoyou think it is tohaveahigh percentageofworkers
with acollegeeducation?
45% 1. veryimportant
40 2. somewhatimportant
8 3. notveryimportant
3 4. notat all important
4 5. don'tknow/notsure