American Dream is alive here, poll finds

The Big Dig is a mess. People are leaving the state. Housing values are dropping, even as they remain out of reach for many.

And yet, when 600 local residents were asked a simple question -- "Do you feel you personally are achieving the American Dream?" -- 68 percent answered yes.

By asking the question, the poll, to be released today by the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, sought to measure how satisfied area residents are with their lives and how hopeful they are about the future. The results, the United Way officials say, showed that residents here feel more optimistic than people nationwide.

"The glass is half full here in Greater Boston," said Milton Little Jr., president and chief executive of the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. "This is a community where there is the strong belief that if you work hard, you can get results."

The outlook is not the same among all ethnic groups. Latinos in Eastern Massachusetts were more positive about their lives than black and white residents. Latinos surveyed were more likely than black and white respondents to agree that the American Dream is alive and well. They also, by large margins, agreed more strongly with statements that "America is the land of opportunity" and that "if you work hard and play by the rules, you can live a comfortable life." Black respondents were far less optimistic than the other two groups.

The poll, commissioned by the United Way and conducted by the Cambridge polling firm Opinion Dynamics Corp. and taken in early October, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.

The poll did not provide a specific definition of the American Dream, but allowed those surveyed to offer their own. The most common definition offered, by 40 percent of respondents, was a secure job and financial success.

Latinos in Eastern Massachusetts, many of whom are immigrants, view life here more favorably because of the contrast to the nations from which they came, said Miren Uriarte, director of the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

"Usually, immigrants coming from Latin America have less education, and in contrast to the kind of life they had in their countries of origin, the US is seen as very positive," she said. "For a lot of people coming from the Third World, the United States is incredibly impressive, and people feel very lucky to be here."

The optimism is less strong among the children of immigrants or when immigrants start comparing themselves with their neighbors here, Uriarte said.

The things respondents saw as obstacles to achieving the American Dream varied. Black respondents said crime and violence, the lack of well-paying jobs, and scarcity of affordable housing were the biggest hurdles. Latino and white residents both ranked the cost of higher education and the inability to get out of debt as their two biggest obstacles.

Survey director Chris Anderson of Opinion Dynamics said the favorable view of life in Eastern Massachusetts is a function of the relative affluence of residents here compared with other areas of the country. A national poll by the Aspen Institute taken this past summer found that 61 percent of respondents said they were not achieving the American Dream.

Indeed, the United Way poll found some worries about the future.

While most of those surveyed said they were achieving the American Dream, three-quarters of respondents also said they believe it is harder to achieve that dream than it was 10 years ago. Three-quarters also said it will be harder for the next generation to meet their levels of achievement.

"It's the tunnel at the end of the light," said Anderson. "People think they're doing pretty good, and they're happy with their lives, but they're concerned it's getting increasingly difficult to achieve."