THE TIMES POLL : Recreation Views Divided by Income, Race, Geography

Although most Ventura County parents are pleased with the quality of their community parks, more than one-third say they cannot pay for their children’s play in local recreation programs, according to The Times Poll.

About eight of every 10 parents rate as good or excellent the parks and recreational facilities in their communities. Seven of 10 say their communities support youth activities well.

But the poll also reveals a chasm down lines of race, income and geography, especially when parents consider whether they can afford the pay-for-play approach now standard among recreation districts and youth sport leagues.

Whites are much more upbeat than Latinos, the affluent more positive than the poor, the east county more pleased than the west.

“There is really a difference between the people who live in the east and those who live in the west,” said Susan H. Pinkus, assistant director of the Los Angeles Times Poll. “There’s one kind of Ventura County for one group of people and another kind of county for the others.”

A key poll finding: Seventy percent of white parents can afford most or all of the activities in which their children want to participate; 56% of Latino parents can afford only some or none of those activities.

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In the east county, parents were exceedingly pleased, 95% endorsing the quality of public parks and recreation. That compares to 78% in the west county.

“The Conejo parks and recreation district really has a strong program,” said poll respondent Kathy Ray, 35, a saleswoman and Thousand Oaks mother of three. “If you can’t find something your kid is interested in, maybe you should take a look at your kid. It’s costly, but that’s probably why it is so strong.”

In Ventura, nursing student Carmen Perez, 45, is also impressed with the lists of recreation classes her children bring home.

“They’re not outrageously priced,” said the unemployed clerk, whose husband is a psychiatric technician. “But I would have to say nothing is real affordable for me right now.”

Oxnard parent Glenda Johnston, 35, said she and her truck driver husband simply cannot squeeze recreation fees out of their tight budget.

“I have one daughter who likes dance. I have another daughter interested in the karate class, and another interested in a drawing class,” said the disabled machine operator. “I have to say, ‘You know honey, I don’t have the money.’ ”

The Times Poll interviewed 1,224 parents and 460 children between the ages of 12 and 17 in Ventura County. The poll, conducted July 29 through Aug. 7, has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for parents and plus or minus five percentage points for children.

The poll documents parents’ overall satisfaction with parks and recreational facilities. And it shows that county teen-agers think recreational facilities are among the best things about growing up in Ventura County.

“You can do all sorts of things,” said John Landeros, a seventh-grader at Fillmore Middle School.

John spends his spare time hauling down runners as middle linebacker for the Raiders youth football team. In the winter and spring, he plays youth basketball and baseball.

There is a difference, however, between the way parents of young children and of teen-agers see the quality of parks and recreation. About one-fifth of the parents of the older kids say the quality is not good, compared to 12% of parents of younger children.

“While I’m happy my son is in a safe environment, we in Thousand Oaks want children to disappear at about 10 years of age,” said Cathy Severson, mother of a 14-year-old son. “We built a Teen Center, and we want them to go there. As a community, we don’t want to deal with teen-agers. They’re too noisy and obnoxious.”

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In a telling feature, the poll reveals parent perspectives that often break between the county’s affluent white majority and its poorer Latino minority--and similarly between families who live east of the Conejo Grade and those who live west of it.

East county residents are 81% white and 12% Latino, while those in the west are 57% white and 35% Latino. According to the U.S. census, the average income for a local white household was about $56,000 in 1990, while the typical Latino household earned about $41,000. The two groups make up more than 90% of all county residents.

Ruben Rojo, 37, straddles the line between east and west. He lives in a new subdivision in Fillmore, a predominantly Latino city that is one of the county’s poorest. But he works as building maintenance supervisor for the Conejo recreation district in Thousand Oaks, one of the county’s richest cities.

“The recreational opportunities in Fillmore are difficult,” said Rojo, a father of four. “You’re talking about a situation here where there is the rich and the poor, and the poor work long hours and can’t get involved.”

Nor is there much money from Fillmore City Hall or youth groups to go around, he said. There is only a small Boys & Girls Club. And dozens of teams play football, soccer and softball on the same worn set of fields.

“When you’ve got money in the community, you’ve got businesses that can help you,” Rojo said. “The AYSO [youth soccer] in Thousand Oaks can afford to pay lots of money to the district for fields. But here they can’t afford that, so the fields are going to be crappy.”

Part of the difference too is how recreation is underwritten: In Fillmore support comes from the city’s cash-poor general fund, in Thousand Oaks from a slice of the property tax dollar outside the grasp of the City Council. Simi Valley’s parks and recreation district gets support from property taxes as well, and is generously funded compared to most other local park agencies.

That may be why 44% of east county parents say their parks and recreational facilities are excellent, compared to a 19% excellent rating in the west.

Contributing to that sense of satisfaction is that 71% of east county parents--compared to 53% in the west--say they can afford most or all of the recreational activities in which their children are interested.

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Poll respondent Fan Kung, a 33-year-old father of two who lived in Los Angeles County before moving to Westlake six years ago, said he is repeatedly struck by how many classes are offered by the Conejo district--and by how much use local parks get from appreciative residents. “In the morning and even in the late evening we can still see our neighbors walking around the park,” Kung said of nearby Russell Park.

Sometimes the differences between facilities in the east and the west are as clear as the contrast between the freshly lined tennis courts of Thousand Oaks and the crumbling blacktop beneath Oxnard’s basketball hoops.

But Oxnard park officials say they have instituted a program to refurbish all basketball and tennis courts every few years and to improve other youth programs and facilities.

Some Oxnard residents say they have noticed the effort.

“Our little local park is pretty nice,” Glenda Johnston said. “And [nearby] College Park is real nice.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ventura County Parks and Recreation

A Los Angeles Times Poll of Ventura County parents and children found that local families are generally please with the quality of their parks and recreational facilities. East county parents are more pleased than those from the west, however. And many parents say recreation programs are not affordable.

Parents

Q. How would you rate the parks and recreational facilities in your community?

WHITE

Good: 89; Not good: 11

LATINO

Good: 73; Not good: 24

WEST

Good: 78; Not good: 20

EAST

Good: 95; Not good: 5

ALL

Good: 84; Not good: 15

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Q. What kind of importance do you think your community places on local youth recreational activities?

WHITE

Good amount: 76; Not much: 22

LATINO

Good amount: 56; Not much: 38

WEST

Good amount: 62; Not much: 34

EAST

Good amount: 84; Not much: 14

ALL

Good amount: 70; Not much: 27

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Q. Are you able to afford all the youth recreational activities in which your children want to participate, most of them or only some of them or none of them?

WHITE

Most: 70

Only some: 26

LATINO

Most: 38

Only some: 56

WEST

Most: 53

Only some: 41

EAST

Most: 71

Only some: 25

ALL

Most: 60

Only some: 35

How The Poll Was Conducted

The Los Angeles Times Poll contacted 4,848 adults living in Ventura County by telephone July 29 through Aug. 7. Interviews were conducted among 1,224 parents and 460 children between the ages of 12 and 17. Telephone numbers were chosen from a list of all exchanges in the county. Random-digit dialing techniques were used so that listed and unlisted numbers could be contacted. Interviews were conducted in both English and Spanish. The sample was weighted slightly to conform with census figures for sex, race, age and education. The margin of sampling error for parents is plus or minus 3 percentage points and for children, plus or minus 5 percentage points; for certain sub-groups the error margin may be somewhat higher. Poll results can also be affected by other factors such as question wording and the order in which questions are presented.

Some columns do not add up to 100% because of multiple responses or “not sure” and declined responses. Also, only the top answers are listed for some questions.