Most Californians think the state is on the wrong track and don't like the budget approved by the Legislature and Gov. Gray Davis in July.

But a growing number believe the overall quality of life in California will improve soon, according to a Field Poll released Tuesday.

More than three-quarters of poll respondents said California was on the "wrong track," compared to 16 percent who believed it's headed in the right direction. Two-thirds said they were dissatisfied with the budget approved in July.
And an overwhelming 83 percent believe that California is going through bad times, compared to 6 percent who perceive good times.

By contrast, more than one-third responded that life will get better in the next couple of years. That's an increase from 23 percent in April and 20 percent in 2001.

"Things have all moved in a negative direction compared to last year," said Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo. "But the outlook for the next couple of years improves a bit."

That conclusion may be related to the Oct. 7 recall election. Voters who support the recall, think it will succeed in removing Davis from office and intend to vote for a Republican were more likely to have a sunny outlook than recall opponents, DiCamillo said.

In years past, public optimism has become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy in helping to lift the economy and the state budget out of the doldrums.

As the state approached its last downturn in 1989, the public's outlook darkened even before the economy soured, DiCamillo said. After four years of gloomy assessments of the future, the tide of opinion turned -- followed shortly by an actual recovery.

"Usually, their outlook is a good gauge of what's going to happen," he said.

On the other hand, 36 percent of respondents in 2002 believed that the economy would improve in the next 12 months -- an increase from 14 percent in 2001. Their hopes were unfounded, however, with the number who said that the economy was in "bad times" shooting up from 56 percent a year ago to 83 percent in the most recent survey.

"They didn't foresee this last year," DiCamillo said.

Almost half of the poll respondents said that California is "one of the best places to live." The response to that question hasn't changed much in recent years but is far below the 70 percent or more who put California at the top between 1967 and 1985.

The telephone survey was conducted Aug. 10-13 and included interviews with 629 registered voters. The results are subject to a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.