According to the annual CityBeat poll conducted by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, a full third of San Franciscans think the quality of life in the city is on the decline. The cost of home ownership also ranked as the #1 concern of local voters, beating out "homelessness/street behavior" for the first time in years.

In addition to home ownership and homelessness, San Franciscans' biggest concern is, as you might have guessed, the rising cost of rent. On a hyperlocal level, however, the vast majority of people think their neighborhoods are either improving (30%) or at least staying the same (53%). Hardly anyone (15%) thinks their neighborhood is actually getting worse.

Of course, these Chamber of Commerce polls are hard to take seriously. The sample size is a mere 500 people, all of whom were surveyed because they were willing to speak with someone from a research firm on an actual landline phone. (Like anybody has those anymore, much less wants to talk on them.) The survey, which has a margin of error of plus/minus 4.4%, also claims a mere 51% of San Franciscans support a $0.02 tax on sugar sodas, a bill that requires support of two-thirds of the city to pass. Supervisor Scott Wiener, who is pushing for the tax, told the Chronicle the poll was a fluke.

On the bright side for the Chamber of Commerce, 250 of their poll respondents — an even 50% — think the city is "going in the right direction." And for what it's worth, the Chamber of Commerce promised to work toward the goal of making San Francisco more affordable, for both workers and businesses.

The full results of the poll can be found here [PDF warning].

Previously: San Franciscans Love Mayor Lee, Says Insignificant Chamber Of Commerce Poll
[Chron]