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VI.
Conclusions
In this paper we set out to examine the role of homeownership in forming individual
attitudes about public policy and quality of life. We anticipated that because of the difficulty an
increasing number of people have in purchasing a home that this factor might serve as a cleavage
point in the southern California region. Drawing upon a six county survey of residents in the
area, we analyzed the effect of homeownership status upon attitudes regarding five different
public policy areas and overall quality of life. In three of the five policy areas, and for the
quality of life estimate, homeownership had a statistically significant influence on attitudes. In
all cases, homeownership was a source of more positive assessments – either for the grades
granted or the value given for quality of life. On the whole, these results show that
homeownership is a measure that helps us to understand how attitudes are formed.
Interestingly, with a single exception, we did not see evidence that members of each
racial group had significantly different attitudes than did Whites, among those who owned their
homes. That is to say, homeowners appear to be more alike in the public policy and quality of
life assessments than are the racial/ethnic groups of which they are a part. Our data show that
African American, Asian Pacific Islander and Latino homeowners are not significantly different
from White homeowners on these dimensions.
However, for renters differentials do appear across several of the attitudes we study here.
Among renters there are significant differences between members of minority groups and
Whites. The sign on these coefficients vary, but more often indicate that minority renters are
more pessimistic than White renters.
Understanding the role of homeownership in forming opinions is important, at least in
regions of the country where housing crises are pervasive. In southern California, our data show
Convention