Farmers Field Downtown Stadium Plan Supported by Vast Majority of Angelenos, Says New Poll

The survey by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates says 72 percent of Angelenos want to see the thing built and that 45 percent "strongly" support it.

The folks who are the most gung-ho?

Those who would be living right in the backyard of what its would-be developer, Anschutz Entertainment Group of Staples Center fame, is calling Farmers Field.

82 percent of 250 people living within a 2-mile or so radius of the project strongly support it. The survey notes that a majority of these folks (58 percent) are Latino.

The survey looked at a main sample pool of 500, which would have an error rate of 4.5 percent.

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John Fairbank, founding partner of the survey firm, says:

The primary support is residents' confidence that this project will create jobs and stimulate economic growth throughout the City. More than two-thirds of residents believe the project will have a positive impact on both 'the condition of the City of Los Angeles economy' (72%) and on 'the number of good paying jobs in the City of Los Angeles' (67%). This is especially important because 78% of residents say 'the loss of local jobs is an extremely or very serious problem; the highest ranking in the City.

Farmers Field would be a $1.2-billion-plus, 72,000-seat venue built atop the old West Hall of the L.A. Convention Center, which would be replaced by the project and then some.

AEG says no tax money would be used to build the stadium, but it is asking for more than $300 million in City Hall-backed loans that it says it would pay back.

The corporation has been trying to fast-track its stadium plans but faces a hurdle that a competing NFL venue proposal in Industry also has to deal with: The lack of an NFL team in L.A.

[Added at 3:25 p.m.]: The survey, conducted last year, was commissioned by AEG.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]