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( Poll: Some results are expected; others are more surprising FROM 1 tage. center, has raised two daughters in Newport Beach we were go- in the 11 years she's lived in ing to buy, but because of the to be on commissions and task Woodbridge Village. Even when (Irvine) schools we ditched it," they played on their own, she she said. forces, gaining university knowl- reran ranking: 1 edge and expertise you don't said, she always felt that thev When the family arrived in W-24. 7 nere-e. Irvine her son, who had attended find in a lot of communities." I I iranspoctatkn: 2 the assistant city manager said. "Tbere are mimming pools a private kindergarten in Pensa- and lakes that have lifeguards," cola, Fla., had to repeat that ;Fhe city has been a leader in Caronna said. "As long as grade at Turtle Rock Elemen- innovative social programs. It there's a lifeguard on duty, you tary School. "Even in a private runs a busing program for the can send the munchkins down to school," she recalled, "they handicapped, offers child care in tkg pool. So they can be indepen- were so far behmd." its civic center and has the dent within their own commu- The shinmg star of the lrvine arongest human rights law in nity." Unified School District isn't a the county. The law bans Lrvine didn't ,have the lowest kindergarten, though, but Uni- discrimination based on sex, crime rate; Yorba Linda did. versity High School. It had 26 race, age, disability, religion, But hepleced well above National Merit Scholarship sexual orientation or marital Santa Ana,whlchhadthe high xrmfists last year, more status. est crime rate. Figures released than any other public school in Now, in a novel approach t~ by state Rtgziu_ cf crii I the nation. bout 97 percent of the homeiess probiem, a gnrup Statistics lam year showed that its students continue their edu- of city and university officials in 1987. Yorba Linda had two cation after graduation. are discussing housing homeless crimes for every 100 people; Irvine also ranlied first in the families on UCI property. Irvine had four; Santa Ana bad educatid level of residents, Irvine also came in as a top have friends that can walk over. nine. with the typical resident having family town, third after Seal We're within a stone's throw of Inine ranked eecoad in enter- a college background. It came in Beach and Laguna Beach, be- the boys' and girls' dub, and tainment, which included the second, after North Tustin, in cause of its schools, low crime they can play on a hardwood number of movie and live the- the category of prestige, which rate and number of parks per basketball court. We have a aters per capita, and wmdin I -su& housing costs and the capita. dozen tennis axuts within thme transportation, which measured or'fm blocks. Tbem's a lagoon sociwconomic level of residents. "Our kids have a neighbor- freeway access and promirnity ., you mgasamgin." Brady said he believes the hood street, probably with as to John Wayne Airport. 1- -. , "town-gown relationship" in- strong an identity as the one I Jo Aan Caronna, 40, owner of has two freeways, tbe Santa Ada! voiving UCI and Irvine Valley grew up on," Price said. "TIE The Collection, a dothing shop (1-5) and- Diego (141, run- ; College gives the ci*an advan- kids can walk to scboohThey in Tbe hiarketplaa apPPlne ,-seepo~y3; Pkking a home If they could 1Ne anyvJhereinthe county, Orange County res)c)enls are most lkely to want a home in Newport Beach. The top 10 cholces Included a varfety of cornmnmes-scatteredmrougfiolltfh8 county
Poll: Analysis of communities '' offers some surprising-results
down their cars in their front In response to the puMic cri- yards or in their driveways," tique, The Irvine Co, had the , ,
is rated on 14 factors ..1 By Wd)yn federal aone standard. South I The Register- Coast Air Quality We- he Register's analysis ment District, A& ~uali?y . . j of Orange County com- Data 1987. Reiti estimated fig- T munities measured 14 ures based on data from Ana- factors adapted from the Rand heim, Costa Mesa, El Toro, McNally Places Rated Alma- Los Alamitos and La Habra. Other pollution loca- nac that influence how people - . pick a place to live. Factors tions of Superfund sites or ranged from the crime rate to toxic dumps, areas that had to the number of parks and be evacuated during the 1980s stores in a city. or areas within the Sad Onofre nuclear power plant's emer- Orange County residents ' were polled on how important _gency evacuation zow. all those factors are when fig- Socioeconomic - me uring out where to move, and dian honsehold income and the results were weighted ac- education level of residents. cordingly. For example, the Register marketing informa- poll revealed that low crime tion from Rezide, ZIP Code was most important, so a Encyclopedia and Claritas city's crime rate counted Corp., 1988 more than, say, the weather. W Convenience - distance Residents also were asked from the center of each city where in Orange County they to: would prefer to live, though The county's two major those results were not factored employment centers. These into the rankings. were mapped with the aid of Housing costs did not play a Gmbb & Ellis, Coldwell part in the overall ratings be- Banker and Newport Econom- cause the analysis was de- ics. They consist largely of signed to produce a "wish parts of Anaheim, Santa Aoa, list" of places where county Costa Mesa and Me. residents would most like to Recreational and cultural live. amenities. The nearest beach As a result, any bias in the and regional shopping center, survey~wouldtend to favor Orange County Perfo more &fluent towns. Arts Center, South a%ep Source material for the ertory Theatre, Anaheim Sta- project, which began in sum- dium, Anaheim Convention mer 1988, was the most recent Center, Orange County Fair- information available. grounds. Pacific. The following sources were Amphitheatre, Irvine Mead- used: ows Amphitheatre, Little Sai- Housing - average sell- gon, Las Angeles Cwnty. J ing price for a single-family 6 Transportation - num- home. TRW Real Estate Mar- ber of freeways, Amtrak sta- ket Information, prices as of tions and municipal June 1988. trwrtation systems in a Crime -number of city, and access to John cases of homicide, rape, rob Wayne Airport. bery, aggravated assault, bur- Shopping - number of glary, motor vehicle theft, supermarkets, drug stores and larceny and arson per 10,000 hardware stores per capita. residents. FBI Crime Index, 6 Pksan4 recreation - 1987, released June 1988; state number of public parks and Department of Finance Popu- swimping pools, tennis courts lation of California Cities, and golf courses. . . January 1988. Entertainment - num- ' 8 Schls-California ber of restaurants, movie the-. Assessment Program, third- aters, live theaters, museums, grade test scores; Scholastic . colleges and universities. -. Aptitude Test, 12th-grade After the data were col- scores (1W); and pupil- lected, the Register conducted teacher ratios (W-88)for Or- a pdU to see what factors were ange County school districts. most important to Orange California Department of Edu- Cwnty residents. cation. ns Weatber - number I$ ?s@er days on which heating or cool- ducted by The Chapman SUP ing is needed. National Oce- vey, a division of the mer anic and Atmospheric for Economic Research at Administration, Monthly Nor- Chapman,College. The survey mals of Temperature, Precipi- was designed and conducted tation, and Heating and by Karl Keia, professor of Cooling Degree Days 1951- mathematics and sociology, 1980. Statistician Karl Reitz and a team of Chapman fac- estimated figures for some Or- ulty and students. ange County cities based on The poll of SO1 residents was available weather data. taken Sept. 1822. The magin Smog-number of of error for the poll was 4.5 Convenience: Closeness counts By Msrllyn KaAus The Register Canven'knce towns hooting from the hip, tav- TOP ftve Bottom fhre em owner Robert "Zeb" Ziemer sees his home- 1. chsta &QXI 30. Yorba Linda I S 2. Newport town of Costa Mesa in relation to Beach 31. Dana Polnt the rest of Orange County tllis 3. Fountain Valley 32. San Juan Capstran, way: 4. Huntington Beach 33. Rancho Santa Margarita 5. Santa Ana 34. San Clement8 "We're halfway between ev- erything."
Figuring that a gGy like too congested for her. ROSS is so put off by that city's Ziemer, who has lived in Costa "I'm at the age where it crime and congestion that "I Mesa for about two dozen years, doesn't matter," said Lopez, 49, have relatives there, and I don't might be a bit biased, the Regis- with a laugh. "You know, when ever go visit them unless there's ter got out a map and a tape you're young, YOU have to have funeral," she said. measure. just the right scarf?." Then there are those who We looked at how far the cen- Fred Yeildingl long- hardly ever leave San Clemente, ter of each city is from one of time Sari Clemente resident, also period. the county's regional shopping Was filling his tank. malls, the beach, the employ- Yeilding and his wife, Lmise, Sitting under a blue and white ventured as far as the Shrine umbrella outside Eve's Kitchen ment centers, Anaheim Sta-, on Avenida del Mar, Craig dium. Irvine Meadows Auditorium in downtown Los h~eleslast week. They had McBride, a 37-year-old house Amphitheatre and half a dozen painter, said he has lived in San other major attractions. We tickets for Mikhail even threw in Los Angeles. Barps~nikov7sproduction of . Clemente for 19 years and only leaves to go to the mountains. comwtatiOnS en'sued' Ln the end. we wish we'd just "%Sddevelowr said Then he served up a pitch that taken Ziemer's word for it. he allowed two hours for the wasn't offered at the local cham- trip. ber of commerce: While not exactly "halfway "The freeways are so unpre- he, "There'sexcept no the entertainment beach,w between everything,'' Costa dictable," he mused, "you have Mesa was closer to most things to allow two hours for something McBride said. beach and than any other town. So it that will take an hour." ranked as the most conveniently the bars. But I quit drinking. So He said construction road- it's just the beach." located city in Orange County. blocks on the northbound San Sari Clemente, the picturesque Diego (1-405) Freeway funneled seaside village at the southern traffic into one lane for about IS tip of the county, is the least miles. So despite his best plans, convenient place to live. "We barely wolfed down our din- So what's a few extra miles? ner, and we were late for the Sometimes, it can change the show,w he said. way business is done. But Yeilding, who attended Robert Slayton, an assistant the University of California, professor of history at Chapman Santa Barbara, and said he College, said professional life is misses the culmre, has a special different in OranRe County than attachment to San Clemente, in Chicago, where he used to where he's lived for 30 years. work. "San Clemente is unique be- "Here, I find meetings are at cause it's bode& by open people's homes and dibner is space -permanently," he said. served," said Slayton, who lives "You've got 2O.somdd miles in Orange. "I thkit's because of oceanfront, and back country the trip is longer and there's a that will never be developed." need to use that forum for a pm That "back country" is Camp fessional as well as a pers~nd Pendleton Marine Corps Baw, function." and it's what brought Vivica Carole Lopez, who has lived in Ross to San Clemente. Her hug- h.ClemmW lor.the past 12 .band is stathed there. years, compensates for the in- "We always get stuck in no convenience in her own way. man's land," she gnped. But "I make every little move- Ross, 40, doesn't mind San Cle-
ment, every trip count," sald ' mente compared with !he out- Lop;ez, as she stood outside a pbst of Camp Lejeunenear Texaco Food Uart on a recent Jacksonville, NC. They were morning and pumped $15.24 stuck there, 2Y2 hours from the worth of superunleaded gasoline neerest freeway, for three into her powdcr bluc Mercury years. Cougar. San Clemente dso rates more bpz, a saleswoman at The favorably with Ross than does .'~mdwa~in the Isguna Hills Santa Ana, where she grew up. ' . Mall, said she doeao't bother to Though Santa ha,with the shop at South Coast Plaza any- popular Mainplace mall, is more. It's just too far away and more convenient for shopping, IUC UWU 3LI IWlo, Pal - ,I-, V r\Q
j Merityn KP)?vs 7 -e Reg1sfer . n a sunny Saturday marning beside the Seal Beach Pier, Pat :.,:ox sic: and her 21-month-old :. .~r, ,. ~\le~s!rad.dldthe-smooth- , L;UC of a seal. .SI?:Vthat I have a child," the : rxe: Sexce resident said. "I !,OK a; thlngs differently." hzuwski is a *year-old tex- .#: deilgner who moved to Seal :each from Los Angeles County : :ree months ago. She didn't inow that she was moving into .. hat the Register's computer .j lalp~sfound to be the best : ,ttn In the county for young f.~rnilies.But she fully agrees .; !th the finding. The famly-town category was r:ade up of three factors impor- :mt to people with children - i*~w crime, good schools and ;lenty of parks per capita. Seal Beach placed eighth in cqe.with three crimes for ev- t I-?' 100 people in 1987, according t-J figures released last year by :'It? state Bureau of Criminal 5 tatistics. Yorba Linda, with the --Rogbr*r I Jwest crime rate, had two Parsnts watch aa their children make use of a sandy playground on a sunny day in Ssel Beach. crimes per 100 people; Santa We don't have bars on the win- mawas the highest with nine dows." per 100. ~MinaCastillo of Santa Ana Family towns Seal Beach schools also were doesn't have bars on her win- Tw five BottomfiveJ among the top 10 in the survey. - dows, either. But the 39-yearald 30. !itate Department of Education widow, who lives in the south- 1. Seal Beach Orange figures last year showed that west part of town with her four 2. Laguna Beach 31. Stanton 5ral Ekach's third~gradeCali- children, instead has Bo - her 3. l~ne 32..Tustin fornia Assessment Program mpound guard dog. 4. Los Alamitos 33. Garden Grove !cores were 326 for reading and With its high crime rate and 5. Placentia 34. Sarrta Ana :18 for math In topranked low school-test sares, Santa , I vine, scores were 347 and 535 Ana placed last in the family- t 400. ut of a possible In Santa town category. part of town for 20 years. 1 problems...... rum, which cane in last in the "It's not safe," Castillo said. "The area I live in here, any- That mutual support wasn't !chool category, they averaged "There are a lot of drugs and a thing east of Grand and nonh of always there, he said. Twenty :82 and 292. lot of gangsters and a lot of un- First Street, I'd say, is dog- I Iazowski cited a few findings. a years ago, "we had a bard time I employed people. A lot of peo- gone gocd area," he said. getting the police to be friendly ! cbf her own. ple, they say, 'Santa Ana, that's Layman said he feels at ease to the public," he said. "'Kick "I've been surprised at how I the worst place.' They don't ex- taking his two granddaughters, tails and take names' was their Inany preschools there are," she aggerate. But what can we do?" ages 7 and 8, to Cabrillo Park. all aid. "And I know people who motto. They were treating of 1 Castillo also worriesabout the-- liYm can take them to the US like we were bad. have high-school age kids, and education her 9-year-old son re- "With the Police Depamnent I hey say the schools are very park and sit down with friends .wives at Diamond Elementary . 1.dand the parents are very -- and talk and you don't haye to SChod. - 100 . I a\~oived." -have your eyes on them per-. "He reads very badly.-He - - -oent of the time," k said. - - - The.LoZ4x~m-_ -w*~!Y~yf'sht?Siid~-- - 'jenlce primarily.becawe her- ---- Laj.-yii.hbTpreciousl$?j%m- llusband changed jobs and now don't how how he is in fourth southwest Santa ~naand .- lvorks in Inpine. grade. I think they (pass the visits friends there, thinks that merce, said his three But, Lozowski added, "One of children) because they want to area has been improving lately, were benefiting from the ethnic give them to another teacher, to to,-,. - ... -- .- .- - .-mix of.the Santa AmUnifi . - I ! I he Fasons is that now-we have. --- e --room." 0 i -.Y- ~irt,afaaortfrcsrrp~ :I family. It s ge~ing&3er claim No. 1 ranking for-- actionin- Orange Cou* -__ - _i______- - It'swtiere ( rnwlv .I art~sts'colo~ly, with morc than a hot spot. -5 art galleries and an annual._ " Lawns-is-it s-~~~count~ry,': the county's ( TSifilcf KfjSaj,af5;?geant of - said Creazzo, sltting on a low, the blasters. It also has a lal.ge wooden ladder outslde the Ruth -.homosemat-m~nmunit~ Mayer Gallery on Coast High- action is Main Beach is a jumble of way. "You see people down on half-court basketball and volley- the street comers playlng gui- By Marilyn Kaltus ballqamcs. Most of tl~~shops tars and trombones. Jugglers. The Register arc jammed into an area aht There's not so much of an atti- a mile square along Coast High- tude hang-up as In other cities." eidi Neal once piled a tvay. The Krishtia devotees pa- A: Renrlie the Bum's, a patron bunch of friends into her rade on Sundays past a descnbed what a "zoo" the res- black Suzuki Samurai H ' spot-tswear store that sells con- talirant hecnmes at 3 a.m and drove up and down Coast dom earrings. "There's all kinds. Drunks, Hlghway in Laguna Beach, bent People watchers call La'guna the street people," said Tommy. on ridding the town of tourists. They didn't mow them down. They just screamed at them. "We were yelling, 'Go home!' " said Neal, 26, who sells flowers in Laguna Village, a col- . lection of open-air shops and art- ists' studios overlooking the ocean. Top five Shooing away Laguna's @ , .-Bottom tie crowds is part of an all-night 1. Laguna Beach 30. Yorba Linda barhopping fest, an annual La- - -- 2. Costa Mesa 31. La Palma bor Day weekend tradition in -3.Brea which the locals reclaim the ..- 32. Notth Tmtin town. 4. Newport Beach 33. Rossmoor "Summertime, with the tour- 5. Fountain Valley 34. Rancho Santa MargaMa ists, just walking down the street you've got to wear shoul-- . I kparacinq a Wydar-old land- ! They stumble in hem. hwking der pads," quipped Dean scaper wearing a tiny, 3iI~er *ruffOpe!-: Ir'rhif~rimfi..And - Creazzo, a 24-year-old illustrator earring. "The bars close at 2. who has lived in Laguna for a I ( best Part of it is, tbere's no couple of years. I But this beachfront town of bronze bodies, boutiques and sidewalk cafes isn't just a hub in the summer. The Register com- puter analysis rates it as Or- ange County's No. 1 action town. Of course, there's action. And . .'9 , then there's ACTION. cover charge." t he1 e sr~:l~rrrhat dlffermtly. , "I think Newport Beach is - -Jesse- - - - Monaghan, -- a 24-year-old "1 don t prwlye laguw,t- your action town for partying real estate ini.esfmfilnks rhi- Beacl~r3 al: dCtl(Jn to~n," and restaurants," said Walter town serves up a b~tmore glam- the 35-)ear .old wtrlter. wlaxmg VI~-mlay,a Laguna seascape our than its dmer. on his sprawling \vh:te sofa aci artist. "This is more of a day- "VQU see a lot of celebrities hls klng'snake. Ruby. lolled lrl time, roam-around town for here," Monaghan sad on his !he nearby aquarium. "It's arm- : tourists." Way C6 play volieybnTrm rhr-;- a!ly > x!r*pp'l"tftfE6 mtre The Register survey counted beach. "~ndyou see a bt of .one of tbc rc.;tcrlns I ilve here." stores. restaurants, movie and fresh faces. You can meet any- live theaters, museums, and one you want to." It's certatnlv ~iotfor the shop - T. Jefferson P.arker, author of plng, he added. 1 ' parku.8nd recreation per capita. I : Other than a few notable ex- tlic.nnve1 ''Lsgtna Heat," lives "\'hen I uant clothes - un-/ ceptions, like Bennie the Bum's in a rancblfaruw fucked ftTtr> h -mr ram-~-~~~k~ : 2Qhour-a-day diner, Laguna guna Canyon. He looks at llfe I have to leave ~aguna:" , Beach doesn't exactly swing at night. The city is knowrrfor its Please see UOUNN5 Trwi L.9 UltMlw6Wgbt~ (;, Hobra roaldent Rocky Occhluto hugs 'hla doughtor, wallroes Unda McDomld, rrl Chry'o Femlly Reetauront. Owrser Joe CWry slta st tbcountcr. Db;a Habm: Residents a loyal breed Llnda Stewarl qurilitp of tllcir lives. Tho Rqlsler . . Ranking "I woultl never Ic:~vcI,:] lln. I . 1)rcl." W:lrltlt~ Clcrtty said. "I l~kc o what if Ln fhbra i~h' Ovornll rnnkliy- 34 ttlc srn~illncssof it. I'coplc ore long, hot hikc from the Schools: 25 fricr~dlptilid YOII knnw yoltr Trnnoprtotion. 34 ncight)ors. Wllcri wc livcd in :: Jwand Wanda Clcary had the Sboppir~:15 Lung Bcacl~.wc tlit111't know &uch. They prcfer Ln Ibbrn. Rncrootion: 15 nnytwdy." :. So what if its low housing Enlertolnmnl: 15 Only one of the Clcctrys' six 'prices contributed to n low sta- Srw~:32 adult children cl~osclo lenvc La Other pollullon: 11 .S .tus score in the Register ltubra. And that one, a Costa Tankings? Crime: 25.5 Incorn: 24 Mesa attorney, ~lillvisits cvcry "Wc've got the greatest Educntioml lovul: 28 weekend. 6uys." said Wanda Varncr, a Cllmle: 20.5 LA llabra hbusinf: is a.relntive Qntury 21 rcal estate salcs . . Convenlenca lo booch: 31 bargain, with an nvzragc sclling JQanager. "I live in La Habra, Coovenlenco lo omployrnenl: 25 price of about'~132.000.But pork in La Habra and love La benlenca to culluro: 27 while the prices draw people, , *bra." Family town: 27 . other factors make them stay. ;-So what if the town is among Overall convenlonw: 29 Susun and Phil Carey said Presliw: 31 . ;ihe smoggiest around during the they were drawn to the commu- :$ummer? Acth town: I7 Averege hwse pice: $132,237 nity three years ago by its af- 6,. "I never noticed the smog; fordable housing and have :&in& like that don't bother . 3 decidg to stay, even though' &,"Wanda Cleary said. they now can afford to move ,Thid is the way La-Habra ksi;'. 'La Habra residents and the city elsewhere. ,. :@ntrc viewed thenews-that their:'; -they love and expect to escape "If you're interested in a fa& ') rolw had ended up deed last, yo:: . *- unscarred. This is the town that moving, lots-pf-night-life city, La ' :a,the drkgs'of thk ~egister-': .,.-,;.' ',-drew thousands to the annual "I . , ..,*,.. Habra isnot a place for you,", ;, ;, .- .2'. - Love La Habra COmmunity Fes- '.\P;ahking. - - . ' said Susan Carey, president of. :,:, III,think your :key &&;*!;:;::. tival" a few weeks ago. .the La Habra Jaycees. "But~if - The Clearys left Long Beach jgid Vqer, -46,-\vho:moved,too?:.. .:yolt want a place to raise your, ,- mbra.in 1969. ':Our office ::$:- for La Habra, and 34 years later ' :children, ii~into your friends. I they say they have no-regrets. . 'at the market and a place when 'They raised six children, run a thire3 a-history, this is the.*. . : popular restaumt in the.center _ . t- .,. .-. of town and are pleased with the .:-'. ,:;.. . pl-- see LA,.* . .. . . La Habra: Residents-pooh-pooh low ranking 1 FROM- 6- .. .-. of place to live. A .; . . - . - i.@_test-sco~ess.-whi~!!.the. - .. -- -- "And if you're willing t6get -64 tf you're interested in - - - rating was based cannot tell the involved with the city, youIll be a fast-moving, lots-of- whole story. welcomed with open arms." *.I don't knoyabout this w- The city's entertainment and night-life city, La Habra is cey, but when people come to La recreational facilities rateda re not a placefor you. But if Habra in general, they look at. : ..-spectable 15 in the survey, - ou-want-;t9lace to raise- -omsctroolsdare~~,' --' Le Corn- iww)sted by the habrz your children, run into said Valle, chairman of special i munity Theater, the Boys Club education at Sanora High School and the Children's Museum at - your friends at the market in the FuUerton Joint Union I La Habra, the only museum of and a place where I-Qh School District. "There'a its kind in Orange County. there's a history, this is lot of positive things going on in At the bottom were the city's Ihe type of piace to iive. :he cIasumom." smog (32 j and transportation The schools face challenges (34) ratings. And if you're willing to uith their expanding Hispanic , "We're so far away from the 1 population, he mid. get involved with the city, freeways, which is a good thing "We have a lot of students in and a bad thing,'' said La Habra you'll be welcomed with elementary school that have not City Councilmag John open arms. 99 been m school before," Valle Holmberg, 32. ~uunany said. "We have a lot of immi- It means residents do not have La Habra Jaycees pres~dent grants and some of them have to tolerate the noise and traffic never held a pencil in their jams that freeways bring, he hands. We clo a lot with these said, but it takes them longer to they said this is an inevitable re students." get out of town. sult of being near larger urban La Habra residents even dis- Layal to a fault, several resi- I areas. apxd with the high ranking? dents went so far as to defend As for the survey's findings 1 The only drawback to the city, the acrid smog that descends on that La Habra's schools are not I residents said, was that they had , the town whose name means the county's finest -they rated to smot over to Brea to shop. "opening" or "pass through the a low 25 - La Habra City School So what if shopping was where hills." District board member Antonio Le Habra got one of its hghest Varner, for one, said the air Valle Jr., $1, said the standard- scores? quality being measured is not La Habra's alone, but a byprOduct of what floats above Fullerton, Brea and Whittier. Local historian Esther Cramer, 62, casts blame hyond the city limit for other factors in La Habra's low ratings. "Maybe outsiders are jud-ging La Habra by a few of the things - that are changing," she said. Among those changes, many residents agree, are drug traf- fickmg and gang infiltration, but -- -- . Costa Mesa: High rankings,--- -. A - -- low it prices make--_i. best ------_=- -____-- . - - . --- bargail- --1------. -- - - - By Marilyn Kalfus .---- Thg f?I#g*r--- --.------A -=------===-=-- =ram Costa Mf?sa t 4- 9- - - . -Ov-aal?imly~i:3x~~~;;~-~-~-the.%.~ieg@(l-405) and-the--- lke many-Orange countyL - Corona del hlar (73) - and the residents, Ernie Feeney Schools: 2 5 :.b' city is near John Wayne Airport. ivould be happy to move Transportat~on:1 , "It really is the most accessi- ::, shopping. 1.. .\errport Beach. Recreation: 17-- . ble'location." Mayor Peter HI:! Fpeney, whlityes nra Enterta~nment:6. - Buffa said. "I've said for a long iwr in Costa hIesa, is a realist. Smog: 2.5 time when you look at the ame- ..li I had to choose almost any Oiher pollution: 27.5 nities in a city of 100,000, it's : 21ty to live in, I can't think of Crtme: 30.5 2 . pretty amazing. I go to different inother one that I would choo.se lw?me- z,, anfciznces amii6 ;he miiiiw-, ;:.er COS?~Mes3,'' she said. Educatiorh &el. 17 Cltmate: 3.5 and you.talk to somebody in, you .Sot one that's within our know, Wyoming. A city of means. I mean, wouldn't every- Convenience to beach: 8 Conventence to empl0ymeR: 7 100,000 to him is a state capital. Jne lovc to live on (Newport Conven~enceto culture: 1 In cities of 100,000, people just Beach's) Linda Isle? But you're Fam~tytown: 18 don't have things like the Per- ralking about 2 (million dollar) Overall conventence: 7 . forming Arts Center and South and 3 million dollar homes." Prestige: 26 Coast Plaza. plus being five min- The city where Feeney has Act~ontown': 2 utes from the water." !~vedfor 21 years lacks the ca- Average house price: 5172.290 The city's worst feature, said :het of a beach town. And unlike Arlene Shafer, executive man- Seuprt Beach, the Register - ~ ager of the Costa Mesa Cham- Poll found, Costa Mesa is not fers her city's freewheeling ber of Commerce,is probably the . one of the places where county architectural styles to the re- summer beach traffic. reside ts most want to live. strictions imposed by Inine's "You can't get to Newport . ~eitostaMesa emerged as homeowners associations. Beach without going through the best bargain in the Regis- "Somebody (in Invine) told Costa Mesa," she yid. ter's survey. me not only did they have to It grabbed the No. 3spot - paint their house brown or tan, Another traffic problem: the behind Irvine and Ne~port but they had to be these precise Pacific Amphitheatre and its Beach - in the overall shades," she said: "It makes for rock concerts. rankings. But it ranked 2nd in a tidier community, but I think "When everybody converges housing costs, with an average it robs you of some of your origi- on Fairview, they're blocking selling price last summer of nality." our intersections, and our emer- S172.000, compared with New- Genis said she knows of a gency vehicles can't 'get port Beach's 5308,000. house in Costa Mesa painted hot through," said Feeney, who "For a long time it- was con- pink. It' not exactly her taste. lives about a mile north of the sidered the poor man's beach she sai&'but sometimes 1 get a amphitheater. "After the con- toun." said Karl Reitz, a Chap IitJle smile.when I go by." cert, the obscenities are dis- man College professor who Once nicknamed Goat Hill be- graceful." ranked the cities for the Regis- cause the animals roamed freely People who live outside Costa ter. "I think people are begin- across its farmland, Costa hlesa Mesa probably would rate it ning to realize that bargain is was incorporated in 1953. South higher than people who live in there." Coast Plaza opened 14 years the city, said Scott Williams, -- Costa Mesa also proves that later and today is one of the -- chairman of Costa Mesa's Gen---- cines don'r have to,be afnuent to- -world's 1argest.shopping ~err;----- eral Plan-Steering Committee.-- be liveable. The city emerged ters, with such upscale shops as "You can go to a concert and -3th of the 34 communities in Tiffany & Co., Cartier, Louis go shopping," Williams said, earnings, with a median house- Vuitton and Yves St. Laurent "but you don't have any of the hold income of 530,753. rive gauche. The South Coast problems that living next to a 91,891 Repertory Theater, Orange concert theater creates.. You can This city of residents is - . iiir iiijsi c.u;ivenierliiy iucaiei Coui~i!'A id~~c>f,i)c>i ~~IO.\\I; go iu iiic .4v.a11 rlluci, i~ui)OU town in Orange County. Its performing arts group. won a don't have to live with the traf- I schools are in the Newpon-Mesa 19% Tony Airard for regional fic." Unified School District, which - _ had student test scores second only to topranked Irvine. An,d whilc iio; esscriy on the oc%ari. ., it's close enough ta have many of the same benefits, such as less smog and moderate cli- mate. "C35t.2 Mesa appears ro Dc very overlooked." said Harvey Englander, a Newport Beach- based political consultant who 1 lives in Orange. "Most people don't have an image of its resi- dential character. They think of South Coast Plaza or the .Orange Couniy Performing Arts Cen- ter." - '--~~ine3tTifl3EEaTiEBXnhF- - best place to live in Orange . County, but Costa Mesa City Pn~~nrilwnmnnCanrlv Psnic nm Nrrm.rU --ma -Y I mu_frrn:(I Or--- Status IS what it's all about in priciest area That's one thing North Tustin zz- doesn't have - a beach. It also Frwn Fbth ust tin has no supermarkets. No mov- ICS. No rrstauranta. atncla DeAngelo wasn't I aware that she lives m What it has is status. Pthe most prestigious area Prestige in this survey was In Orange County, I measured by houhg costs, in- Of course, she might have had / come and educational level of a few clues. residents. - "There's tons of huge houses The most prestigious area in up in the hills," DeAngelo said, , Orwe Couoty atretcb north leaning on her kitchen counter from the Tustin city line into tk and gazing out the window as Mer situaSm is the one where wded area. here's an owl fmhills, *th mmmunities that, dusk painted the sky orange. there's more money, period." building a nest out there." have wch apropos names as "lt's amazing. I keep going like Real estate agent Phyllis You won't find picturesque Cowan Heights or Red Hill She her neck as Spivey said she believes North wildlife scenes in Stanton, a tiny she steered an -ry car. TUhn is special for its imk and industrial city whore typical res- mdge. None of those homes, how- feel, with its rambling houses ident hasn't gone much beyond The average sales price for ever, is larger than DeAngelo's atop step. green and high school in education. houm in North Tustin last sum- 522 million, 36,000-squarefoot horses graz~ngin white-fend Still, Donna Lancasrcr, a 51- rner was SZR2,47R, according to mansion. The Mdtem paddocks. yeardd mail-order clerk, said TRW. That is more tbtwice style home is Surrounded by "The am1 has a chard that is there's nowhere she'd rather as much as-the typical house in palm trees and waterfalls on a laclung in some of our Orange live in Orange County than Stan- Stanton. the tom at the bottom %acre estate. One swimming County communities," said ton. of the prestige pole. pool has caves; the other is de- Spivey, was too di~lomtic While shopping at an Alpha The typical Tugtin Hilla mi- signed for water volleyball only. to name Beta supermarket on Beach dent hsbeen to college. com- Eighteen sparkling Nautilus Caroline \Villsie, a &year-old Boulevard with the gang moni- padwth high school for the machines sit in the gym; on the North Tustin resident, put it an- ker "Crips" scrawled across one Stinton dweller, and the hills' floor below are two racquetball other way. : wall, Lancaster thought long ~&~IIIIhousehold income is oourts. Or, if the DeAngebs "You don't just see houses,. and hard to come up with any- $54,293, about twice the typical don't feel Like working up a houses, houses," she said. thing wrong with the town Stanton family's earnws. .sweat, they can just bathe in the "There's space and openness. I where she has lived for the past .glow of a fireplace, There's one. wdk the do;^ ever?' evening, and 23 Years. How muchddoes any of that re~tlymatter l In Orange in each of the 10 bedrooms... I walk half .3 block and I'm in a "Nothing," she said finally. Rut DeAngelo and her hus- County, it apparently counts for band, Michael, the foundmg chairman of the Clothestime "Orange County is very ma- chain of retail clothing stores, terialistic," obaerved Roben sey they're no longer content to Slapon, an assistant history watch the sun dance on the Pa- pdeseor at Chapman College who moved to Orange from the Midwest. "Do YOU know what moat people talk about in Chi- w?w pol~ticar.Hem, they talk about real estnte. Money. ~ndif you're defirung thingar mlely on the busis of money, the - andlocked Buena Park is convenient to the one Ranking n IN,a toxic leak at the Lbeach that makes waves Larry Fricker Co. in Ana- in tlus town Beach Boulevard. Omall ranking: 18 Ranking - ' Iheim forced the evacuation The road leads to a major ' schds:ae ot more than 7,000 residents. Overall ranking: 33 -amusement park, glamornus Transpcwtsbon: 12 A little more than a year ago, Schaok: 27 wax depictions of movie stars shoccrng: 8 a gas leak from the Stepan Co. Transpodation: 7 and dashing knights from days Rareatioo: 12 sent a dozen nearby residents to Shoppng: 2l of yore. Entecrainm: 7 Recreation: 24 Smog: 27.5 the hospital. A few months later. "Prestige? We have it!" said h pdlution: 115 chemical contamination forced Entertainment: 2l Barry XIuszik, general manager Smog. 245 Crime: 25.5 the closing of a water well. d of the 2i-yeardld Xiovieland Income: 2l Staying away from pollution is Other pollution: 33.5 Wax XIuseum on Beach Boule- 32 Cnrne: 30.5 Educabonal W: very important to Orange Income. 27 vard where Dudley hloore, cj~matb:n County residents, the Register Educational level: 30 . Jimmy Stewart and Roger ConvoniencetaW:23 Poll found, and Anaheim's inci- Cl~mate:21 . . hioore stopped to receive keys Cocrvoniei-mtoenpbyment: 17 dents \r.ith toxins helped pull the Convenience lo bead: 26 to the city. Not to mention the t2amwwem 10 CUM:15 Family tm: 2s city dpwn almost to the bottom Convenience to employment: 6 armored knights at the hiedi- axnenence: of the computer ranlung. Convenience lo culture: 11 eval Times enteltainment cen- OmaJl 19 Family town: 29 l'mtge: 30 If'ith seven serious crimes in a ter. Achon 6 Overall convenience: 12 tcun: year for every 100 residents, the Residents here aren't even Avorago harse pm: S147.0U7 city ranked 30th of 34 for crime, Prestige: 29 willing to settle for the very ACtKnl town: 22 re- another important factor to Average housing price: $185,623 spectable score of seventh for county residents. local entertainment. As these $*Thiscitv is chanmna for the b folks see it, the city's biggest known more and more as time trorse." said Dick ~imoush,53, competitor is a talking dent goes on." owner of a minimarket near dents were asked where in the uith big ears. But this city of 66,000 is not all L~ncolnAvenue. "I have prob-- county they would live if they "I thlnk Buena Park should be fun and games, which might ex- lerns all the time. Break-ins. could live anywhere, Anaheim, pretty high in the poll. \ire have plain why it got an overall rank- thefts. what have you." the county's largest city with quite a bit of entenainment in ing of 19 on the survey. Dennis Stafko has lived in the about 242,000 residents, was the city." said Gerald Sigler, a "There are areas I ddn't city on and off since 1955, and am$g the top 10. Buena Park Planning Commis- go at night," said Linda \?lip said he doesn't like the changes This, after all, is the city Walt sion member. "The city is pretty ple, a homemaker and mother he has seen in those 30-plus Disney chose for the "Happiest well-knoun throughout the US of two. "But the area we're in is vears. Place on Earth." It has the Los now because of Knott's Berry a very nice area to be living." "I think crimes have in- Angeles Rams, the California Fam. .. . We're going to be -Un68(r*rr(mceRegiq# creased maybe a hundred times Angels and one of the busiest compared to the time when we convention centers in the nation. just moved here," the SO-year- A report last week by the Or- old truck driver said. "I can still ange County Transportation remember vividly the years Commission said the Anaheim when we had a lot of orange Stadium area will be the biggest trees around. The air was filled employment center in the with citrus .smell. 'county by 2010, with almost , "I certainly wish something 100,000 jobs. could be done to improve the Nearness to jobs-and freeways .. uualih. of life here." was a common reason haheim But downtown resident Sally residents gave for their choice IIorron, 32,.fdthe ranlungs of-homdthatwes where too low and said she has found the city ranked highest in the the city very liveable. Register analysis. "Wc have some of the best "I live here because of my 1 parks amund," the eightryear emplo~mentLsaidStaflc~,t!~ -. .1 rrsident'said. "Kly;-husband trucker. "This is close to the ; -.I ...* r-r.~-~~:.. T-..II,.~-- n*. ,ra,'a JVllVD.. 111 L "I.... kVll, ..U :i~sn~jj,rsr-y -i,rciuciri." , mtia and Santa Ana and the James Doti, Anaheim WS naintenance falls short in those resident and acting president of )arks." Chapman College, said the over- 1 Others didn't care about the all ranking was probably fairly j -stings one way or another. accurate, given the low price of "hy ranking system that'd Anaheim's homes. If there were ;how Irvine as No. 1 has no more demand for Anaheim ' zredibility with me," said Coun- housing, he said, the prices :ilman Tom Daly, 33, a lifelong- would be higher. .Anaheim resident. "I'd give much more credence Many people in the county aP to the dollars people are,plyIk- ;wared to agree with Horton and -ing down on-a-home:' hc asld. i ',iy,iii~ilen Orange Couniy - toutsa woOihe F+egiitw?-/ CYPRESS- -- his city's motto used to n 1961; a young veteran be "Good Old Brea." And Ranking named John Kanel stumbled lr although the motto upon a quiet little dairy town 2hanges each year - this year, Overall ranking: 22 --!I-I > c..--. -- ...,.:,- L:-- I."..*" ".."I.----- ..,,,'*'' ucu.r....IC) - ~t's"Brea Our People Make - Schools: 10 for a new home ncar his sister - - the Difference" - the old motto Transportalron: 26 andbrother-in-law in Anaheim. IS the one people here still use in Shopping: 14 He and his wlfe had driven conversation. Recreafion:2 . Enterlainmentr 3 down from Los Angeles one Its no-nonsense, homespun weekend to check out a newspa- Smog: 32 Smog. 10 !one typifies the feelings resi- Ofher pollution: 11.5 per advertisement desdribing dents have about this city. new houses "near Knott's Beny C9t~iWolMion: 1f.5 Crime: 19.5 Crime: 195 "People move to Brea be- Income: 15 Farm." They fell in love with 16:12 ,cause it's a good place to raise Educalional level: 24 the model home and never Educational M:27 Climate: 29.5 looked back. Ci~mate:13 kids and enjoy life," Council- Convenience to beach: 33 man Ron Isles said. "When we "We looked at it and said, Convenieocelobeech: 15 Convenience to empbyment: 2) 'That's going to be a nice convenieoa,0ecrpbymsc+:19 have a council election, the win- Convenience to culture: 25 - P---^-^- .- -Am..l .. -home,' " -&lei aiJ. "Tile -I..LI.YIIW I-..-.-_ .. ning campaign themes are, Family town: 6 Famlly tom: 25 'Keep good old Brea's hometotvn Overall mven~enw:28 model was a small, convenient little home for a woman, her Overall oxmienm: 15 .. 3plrit.' " Prestrge: 21 Prestige, 22 Acton 3 husband and little boy." town: Actjon town: 16 Average house price: $190,326 The biggest news in town In the decades that passed, Average house price: Sl78.OSO these days is the arls basketball Kanel and Cypress both grew team at Brea-Olinda High up. Kanel now 59 and mayor School, whch recently won the aters and other leisure-time - Cypress has a mixture of activities. prostempore - said he loves the wuthem reRon California Inter- way his city evolved and can't housing types, professional and schlastlc Federation champion- "We don't have a Disnepland understand why it only ranked bluecollar people, and ethnic ihp and has beame the city's or a Knott's Berry Farm so p 14th of 34 in the Register's rat- backgrounds, Kmel said. "It's berolnes ple sometimes don't think of us ings or how it came in 27th in the kind of city where people get to know each other very well," When the girls play, "l'ou'll as a place with cr lot of enter- education or fourth in entertain- find the whole town there cheer- tainment," the councilman said. ment. he said. ' His town might model :ng them on." rallying behind "But we've got a lot of movie not be a theaters and a plethora of res- "Entertainment - that's ab city, but sxalled model aties !hem in their bid for the state surd." he said. "The only thing are overrated, Kanel said. "It :hampionslup. Lel-ton said. taurants. Brea's getting to be a we have is one moGe theater. connotes that eve* is per- , "That's the kind of totvn this is." . -place where people come at al- night to have dinner." We don't have any bowling fect, and there is no thmg as Isles said he would have liked leys, and we don't have a lot of perfection." :o see Brea rank higher than No. Mayor Gene Lepon said the nightclubs." -LoubrWodlheReekter 2,but he IS pleased with the pollidoe's not appear to have city's strong score as a family taken into account that Brea is a !ow. mwor employment center. He said a recent survey by the "That's not a surprisc to any- Southern California Association one who knows Brea," Isles of Governments showed that said. percent of the traffic coming to- The city also received high ward Orange County from the ranlungs for its schools, Inland Empire stops in Brea be recreation and entenamment. cause of the jobs there. Isles said he was pleasantly "During the day, Brea's popu- surprised by Brea's high marks lation jumps from 33,000 to for entenamment. which in- 100,000." the mayor said. c!uded restaurants. movie the- - tln Kdly The Reg~ster DANA POINT EL TQRO omc El Toro residents aren't the slightest bit en- ouncilwoman Ingrid 1 Ranking I hlcGuire was incredu- 1 S'vious that Inine placed I lous. No. 1 in a ranking of county c"Thirteenth?"McGuire asked. communities. "I can't believe it." . El Tom came in KO. 20. So "I'm very disappointed and what? Shw~ng7 surprised that Dana Point "\i7e could have lived in Invine 1 I ~~al~:30 ranked only as the 13th-best and that's just it. We moved Entertarnmer.~t) 1 I place. It's somewhat better than here," said Helen ii'ilson, who Smog 18 I OMerpolmon 335 the medium, but it's really not has lived in a home in wooded Crime 8 good enough." Lake Forest for nearly five Imme 9 . Councilman Mike Eggers and years. Educatwxal Iew 10 ' seemed other Dana Point residents dm Mvcsbonallevd:bS "It just a cozy, com- CLrrace 2l said they were confused by the CJ*mete:13 fonable place where you could C~nvcfberCsto beach 19 results. -to beech: 1.6 raise your kids," she said. Converuenar to "The whole thing staggers -mmpbmm:3) El Tom rated as the 16th-best weom to a=' 26 ' me." Eggerslsaid. family town, slipping that low in Fam~tytnrn 16 -toahue:x3 23 Residents criticized middle-of- Famb tM:11 part because it lacks parks and Overall Overair -: 31 pmW7 I the-md rankings in entertain- other recreation. Residents can't !cnn 23 Resbgo: 14 argue with that. !i1iIson said ACon ment, recreation and climate. Avmhouse W S159,708 Eggers moved to Dana Point Actm tovm: 15 recreation outside of the Lake after living in hlission Viejo and bar+, m:$1- Forest homes is "uitilul." San Juan Capistrano. He said he Neither is El T& a place Well, maybe np ~sn'tthe rigf hasn't found himself at a loss for with lots of action. word. After all, I;1 Toro 1s nes- things to do. - dominiurns to Wondollar "That's OK. N'e don't want it tled next to the t?famous El ' homes - he couldn't &saw to be," Wilson said. "We're a Tom "Y." where the Santa An Entertainment can be found at with the low ranbg given Dana bedmrn community. People and San I3ego freeways come local restaurants and resorts, Point on its convenience to em- rteed an escape. They work all together and traffic screeches / the harbor, the Orange County ployment. The seaside city is week and they want to come a halt. Marine Institute and the tucked away far from any fm home and relax." "We're fairly close to the fn. beaches. Fun and recreation ways, nhich bmght down its Besides, the Orange County way." wd Fred .\fcGmre, whc abound for this city of 26,000 res- rating. Performing Arts Center is just ' moted to El Tom from abssior idents. Eggers said. "If wenere all RW."he up the freeway in Costa hfesa. L'lejo. And that's good, he sald , Ed Conway, an I 1-year msi- said, "we Wdpmbably be No. she said. Residents can zlp up - "when ~t moves." I dent, said that although he loves for a doe CUINN. 1." there of - -,The w the totvn's diversity -from con- -JrnlLrborrTheRgstef w I ame a landmark in o there's a little smog. I - t And no, the beach isn't I Ranking -. 1 -- Samund the corner. But N Christopher Norby thinks most Valley cham& ofamrnerce sckds 29 . ... Fullerton residents are happier President John Collins said. Transporcatm. 10 to have their booksto~s.col- The city's lack of identity Skpprq. 16 leges, a law school and a makes it "the best kept secret in Recfeatlon: healthy dose of that intangible Orange County," Collins said. Emenanrent: 16 stuff that doesn't show up on a Smog: 10 demographer's yardstick: com- But without major landmarks ~r,t.ermrtuboo. 11 5 and with iD percent residential munity spirit. Cnm: 25 5 "\Ve haven't been built land, the city attracts few visi- I-: 8 just tors. So people can get the Educational level. 17 overnight as sort of a prefab, umng impression of Fountain Ckmte: 3.5 instant community. We have Valley, Collins said. ' Convenience to beach: 12 mots here," Korby said, rra Collins was surprised that Convenienca to empbymenl: 5 spondmg to the Register's nt- r--~- I? yrn2..-. ? lngs that put his city among the "family toun" - No. 23 - and least desirable in the county. Of course, Xorby is a city councilman and understandably biased toward his toun. But he's also a native who understands family events, such as the an- why residents ,nick around. nual community fiesta at Mile family one. But in the past two The presence of the 31cCoU en\ironmer,t ir. the county," ht Square Park and city recreation years, the city's sleepy nature waste dump dragged doun Ful- said. "\\'e've gct cne of cnly programs, he said. Small busi* has been changhg. Since WS7, lerton's raring on polluticn. But abut five optcretry schls ;: nesses and strip shopping cen- the City Council has approved : Sorb). discounted the irnpr- the ivhole f cstern Crircd ; ters generate most of the city's plans for a 1W.acre commercia tance of 3IcCoU and scud the States. I mean. ycu can go fm:j sales- and propewtax revenue. and business center called price of real estate in the inme- kz7derganen ail t.k nay to 6, ':It really is a sleepy little Southpark, a XIamott Courtyar diate area was evidence that nga lauser or an optomemst' toun llke something in the Midid- and Residence Inn and Hyunda newcomers werrn't,dete& by enhr hen. iq Fuilenon." I west or the East." he said. Motor America's national head It. I .&layorPro Tempore Laurann quarters. Cook called the city's "lf you're talking atwt du- Cook also said she was surprised overall So. 6 ra*g a "nice cation, we've got witht ques- at Fountain ValleY's scores as compliment." tion the &st ducaccnsl an action toun rather than a - Donna DavkThe Reg@ "We're not a utopia, we have With an aggressive city man- - ample .some, ....bad spots," Robertson agement staff, finally --,- ,,*=-ieeG G:&2i c;;,A,.. .-. mented by an aggressive City transition that's recycling many Council, the city has taken on of its resideatial ~eighbrhoods - what private ente+rise~vould . . and commercial spots. But not -at least not by itself. that's a very positive thing that - . . Today, buildings are bein%, .... . people seem to overlook." bulldozed mto history m down- Orange County's fourth-larg- HUNT~N~TONtown Hunhngmn Beach and est city always gets a bum rap, ground is bang broken on a half- GROVE Robertson said. bllllon ddlars worth of mslden- BEACH hal, retad, hotel, restaurant and The Register's analysis-only, I cultural ~roiects. I long a strip of Garden reinforces the image, he said. I . - Grove Boulevard and untington Beach is like The beach area will bring in Still others went to great an awkward teen-ager, A Brookhurst Avenue, store lenmhs to interpret the survey in millions in taxes. The city will signs in the distinctive Korean Hstriving to mature while get something more in return a positive light: waging an internal battle alphabet mark the presence of Told that Garden Grove had a than meter fees from beach Little Seoul. against often-conflicting and be- parking lots and bad publicity higher per-capita crime rate wildering forces. Rut unlike the Vietnamese of than other cities, Councilman J. from riots. Westminster's Little Saigod, Pushing the 200,000 population Tilman Williams offered: mark, it is the third-largest city Once and for all, city leaders most of the Koreans of Little "Maybe we've got too many po- hope, the city will get to exploit Seoul have only their businesses in Orange County. lice out there -and we're just But no one seems to notice. the beach that they see as its based in the city, not their lives, catching more criminals." greatest asset. said tlndrew Kim, spokesman Major opportunities for industry So how could his city hare and commerce have slipped - for the Korean-American Asso- ranked 26th? IViUiams jbst ciation of Orange County. away. couldn't see$. Developer Frank Mola was Kim lives in Fullerton because "hlaybe it wasa prejudiced he does not want his children go- honored just one year ago at a survey to begin with," he said. luncheon as a hometown boy ing to the Garden Grove schools. "We've got that Crystal Cathe- "Education is very important '1 made good. A few months ago, Overall ranking: 5 dral here in Garden Grove. Ev- he sold his Charter Center - the to most Asians, especially Kore- ery Sunday, (the Rev.) Bob Schmls:.. -. 4. ans," Kiln said. "Koreans seek most prominent building in the iranqmWon: 8 Schuller goes on television and city - and moved his operation out cities with the best schools." tells them: This is his home skpphg: 27 Kim's perceptions find statis- to Newport Beach. Recreation: 18 tical backing in the Register's Weiser Lock, once the city's Enfertainment: 22 analysis, which, based on test second-largest employer, has Smog: 2.6 scores and class sizes, ranked , left. Other pollution: 27.5 Garden Grove schools 32nd of Equally frustrating is the fact Crime: 19.5 Ranking that smaller neighbors have Income: 17 34. Fullerton's schools ranked Educational level: 17 14th. Overall rank~ng:26 grabbed many plums. Costa Mesa has South Coast Plaza and Cllmete: 1 "It is a city with great poten- Schools: 32.5 -0-6 the Orange County Perfonning Conven~to employmern: 13 tial to move ahead if its leaders Transpoltation: 11 Arts Center. Westminster has are willing to do more innova- Shopping.18 Conveoieoce to culcunt: 8 tive things with redevelopment, Recreat~on:20 the area's largest mall and the Farnib tom: 12 stopping crime and increasing Entena~nment:25 . branch courthouse. And Newport overall convenience: 4 ethnic harmony," Kim said. Smog. 21.5 Beach is, well, Newport Beach. Rest@: 13 Omer pollution: 11.5 Huntington Eeach, however, Acfion town: 19 Garden Gmve has great eth- Average harse pdm: SZB$e7 nic and racial diversity but, for Cnrne: 32 1 appears finally to be making its Income. 26 I move. the most part, those groups stay Educahonal bvel: 30 separate, he said. Koreans and Climate. 13 ,ather Asians frequent and sup Convenience lo beach: 16 port Little Seoul but few whites, Conven~enceto empco9ment. 9 mspanics or blacks do. Like- Convenience to culture: 7 wise, ~spanicskeep to them- Family town. 33 selves and support only the Overall convenience. 7 shops and businesses that cater Prestige: 32 Amon tmn: 20 to their ethnic backgrounds. . house price: IVhitespretty much stay with Average t136W mainstream businesses and cen- ters, Kim said, and crime is al- ways a problem in the city. Police Chief John Robertson agreed that the city's poor rank- mg on crime is correct - but said that's probably the only ranking that matches reality. c',i!'n~?ha!w disputcd Lagunn Ilills' ~.il~~hi~~gd.s 111~28ih:licdt Overall ranlung: 4 c!~minunityfor recreatioli. .' SchooC: 13- Kith Laguna Nihwel Regional Transpoctatlon: 25 . Park just south of the cornmu- ;1:1y. Lagum Hills residents hsve access to ;I park with acres 111 1.10lilnglii116. picnic areas and i:;iiur.c. Carruth said. Inside La- Other pollution: 11.5 z::;:Ii:lls. residents can takc Cnpe: 16 :!Jv;j!::agc of a community BEACH Imrne: 25 Educational bvd: 2 :>.irksi~tld Iglesin Park, a wild- f Brett Bond's parents ever Cllmate: 18 clod!. Ordhsaid she iiics ;;tnctuctn. she said. told her that her family Convenienca lo beech: 1.5 : can't thkof 10 place: There's plenty for aduits to would have to move away Convenietm to ern-: 28 M- or even one place - do, too. Carruth and Martin I Conven~enceto cunure: 28 she ~ouldrather raise her fam ~d.c\.ctl though Laguna Hills from Laguna Beach, she wouldn't be happy. Fanuty town: 2 ily. :'i:l~s!ied only 20th In entertain- "I would start crying." Brett. Owrall mw*:.a "I think Laguna IUls is per-' ::1cl?t 7, said defiantly. "I !r*ould run Prestqe: 7 fect." said Carmth. a cornmu-. .'Or1 Saturday nights when my Acton town: 1 nity activist and mother of four !~:!stlnndand I go out on a date." away." Average house price: S!Jl$79 Laguna Beach is the kind of small children. ZIartin said. "we usually go to town that evokes images of bas. So Carmth was surprised to :he !Roue here and then \sTego ketball by the sea. mhels in the learn that Laguna Hdls placed !o tlie Claim Jumper, one of our "raddest" place - to grow up, 11th in a Reaster suney rank- Pageant of the >lasters clad in not just in the county, but in tbe favorite restaurants." nothing more than gold paint ing Orange County's places to - Jami Leabow The Register world. 11ve. and other people's cars taking Travis Jacobson, 6, moved to up the last available parking Camth e .d 3%year residen Laguna Beach from San Jose: Ellen hknin said they and thtt spot on a sunny \reekend day. He said Laguna has more to do. But a surprise finding of the husbands searched for homes Ranking kfore settling on r-aguua H~lls 7 Register computer analysis was "It's more funner tmd there's dverrld rankin; 11 that Perego strollers and Rarbie a beach," said Travis, a first- "If we moved again." md I Martin, a homemaker and 1 Schools:-. 8.5 dolls might be equally valid im- grader. ; iransporlatcn 15 ages. The city ranked as the "The beaches are Fun because mother of two. "I'd say it wad Sho?plnq 11 county's second.best family you get to go sailing and go on be somewhere in Iaguna Ws %creallon 28 town, trailing only Seal Beach. boats and surf," said Jenna What sold both hiartin and Enleriainmen: 20 The ranking was based on a Henvson. 8. "hd you can play Carruth was the famdy+rientr Sqwq 16 low crime rate, good schools and balls at the beach and you can flavor of the community - de- aher pollutron 11 5 lots of parks and recreation per nvim at the beach and go on the spite its ranking as only the 15. Crrme 8 (Aiso) pier and look at whales. best place for families. Income 30 - ' capita. Educational level 11 The crowd of first- and sec- And you can get a suntan." "For people here, their lives certlnly revolve, for the most Cl~mste 13 ond-graders'at Bluebird Park - Xfike Farrell, 7, already Convenience 13 beach 1Q pan, amdtheir families," , THE place to be after 3 p.m. - knows why he always wants to Conven~enceto employment 27 agrwd with all that about parks said Carmth, a five-year resi;; Convenience !o culture 19 live in Lsguna Beach. He wants dent who is a leader in Lagum and playgrounds and nice teach- to be a surfer and a doctor. Fam~lytown 15 &Us' drive to ciwbd. ".'rheir Overall convenience 22 ers. But they added Boage Here, he figures, he can do Boards and the beach to the list ptulosophies are certrunly simI Prestrge 20 both. A&" of reasons they find Lepuna lar to ours." town. 24 Predse see-- USTn I Average house price. S225.068 Beach the best place - the I I O'Xtfal no lonpei spends 11 liours each way commutmg. He ,.- spends 2fz hours. "I get just abut every thin^ in 7. , 1 - -'-'But3t-isstiffnarthit;"he <... . here, Vietnamese. Mexicans, said: calling his cornmunit). "an PALMA-:, blacks, Indians." LAGUNA - - .I$ island within itself." 8. .- -In other words; many-gm"ps .- - --Witha planned-hoom-inw a:., , appear comfortable making rnerce and hnsiness. Laguna " n an anecdotal level. their home in La Palma, and .-evenif it ranked near the bot-----'- . . I Niguel is on the verge of moving residents can tell you aguna-Riguel is incon\-e--.'I up on the scale of Orange Coun- 0 that La Palma is the tom of the Register's computer - nient, residents concede. . ty's ideal places to live, Cindy -kind of place where you meet all analysis, residents give it high I And it doesn't have much:,:. .! O'Weal said. Imine Swctrum, -kinds atpxple.And there's an -- scores as a heterogeneous and in ttie way of entertainment ... mn actual university study to back homey place. I - , . just ashon up the freeway, ycr . -. . is expected to become the coun- them up. "hlost people like Cemtos, Just wait. residents said. The . ty's second-biggest employment. The city's population is 68 per- but Cerritos (housing) prim are Alann movie theaters are com- center by 2010, a recent county cent non-Hispanic white, accord- too much." said Sung Kim, j rng to 101171 with eight screens. . report sho\cs. . ing to tbr 19N census. But a manager of the Han Nam video . i study by hvo geography pmfes- store, which is lined with Ko- Soon. rhe area will even be a ; ,. . But Cindy O'Neal doesn't plan ! rnnnageable distance to jobs. '-. to wait that long. sors found that the city has one rean movie titles. "The LA area, j of the most diverse populations too much crime. This area, 1 "Five years from now, we're I Cindy O'Xeal said she only in the nation, with fairly even there's not too much crime." \vishcs the Register would rank - * going to be wonderful." she said. i - Jsrni Leabowlhe Reg~ster. .numbers of many ethnic groups. He's right. In 1987, La Palma Laguna Xiguel five years from . Its Asian-American population had three serious crimes for ev- now. includes Koreans. Japanese and ery 100 residents, one of the "We're son of a little lop - ' Indians. Its Hispanic population lower rates in the county. sided." she said. "\\'e've got too hails from Cuba as well as Xiex- Charlie Kim, who manages I many houses and not enough of ico. Its borders also include a the popular Han Nam Chain La everything else. But it's com- Overall ranktng. 8 significant mix of Filipinos, Palma Market, speculates that lng." most of the city's 16,600 resi- \\'hen she and her husband %~OIS17 5 blacks and several other groups. I, -re- ..-. -- 75' "It is unusual." said James dents are lookmg for the same moved from Northern California -,.- .- - I I S'WJPng 5 Allen, a professor at California thing: "Nice residential areas. SIS years ago, they hunted for a i Secreatior, 16 State University, Northridge, ii'a iiic iib ill# ill a s~r~aiicity in home until they found Laguna E?lertatnrreqt 30 5 who examined the ethnic a big city." Srgurl. Smog 10 makeup of cities with popula- While La Palma's residents , It d~dn'tmaner than Jerry Other pllu-an 11 5 tions of more than 10,000. "Na- have a high median income of O'Xeal's ne\v job was in Ingle- Cr~me8 tionally, it (La Palrna) ranks St6986 per household, a dearth svood - a dnve that tvas 112 Income 5 of places in which to spend it is ttt!urs then. Educat~onallever 3 5 16th (in ethnic diversity). In Or- Cl~mate 13 ange County, it's the only one the price they pay for their bed- They wanted to live in Labwna listed in our top group." room community. Sicuel. wth its roll in^ hills and Conventence to beach 7 Conven~emto ernploymenl 30 Arnold Hernandez didn't need . "Entertainment? No doubt i proanlty to the ocean. Conventem lo culture 30 a study to re11 him that. As the about it. it is lacking, as far as Dut times change, and Jerry Farn~lytown 14 any kind of stmctured entertain- manager of La Capilla Farmly ' Overall wnventence 26 Restaurant, he sen'es up Mexi- I Presttge 6 can food to a rainbow clientele: Actton town 26 I CAverage house price: S225.W * I Overall rankmg' 25 Sc~s:22 Transpatatmn: 23 Shopply: 32 ment," said Tom \\'right. vice - Recmat!on: 25 president of the La Palma Emeila~nment:30.5 Sm. Homeowners Association. 24 5 Although he and others agreed Olher Dollution: 11.5 with the Register's low rating of 30.5 and 32 in the entertainment Educational level: 24 and shopping categories; respec---- Climate. 21 tively, they quickly point out Convenience to beach: 22 that anything they might want to Conven~encelo employment: 21 do is nearby. Convenience lo cutture: 24 "La Palma is only 1.7 square Farnib Iwn: 19 miles." said Pcggie Turnage, Overall convenience: 29 Prestqe: 19 deputy city clerk. "It ~wldbe Amn town: 31 great to have a mall in our city, Average house pnce: 3147.047 but thenyou wouldn't have any mmfor homes." - Undo StewartRw Regcster \' ! fourth as a place to raise a far) ' II~.iiiih in dirks arid FCcT{iiti, / and sixth in schools. I ! --Take atray tk?.?-square-- . miles occupied by the Anmd : Forces Reserve Center rn Los ; -ztfarnifitli ond thecity betm' the thrrd smallect ~n-thecount. LOS after La Palma and Villa Park A strong. stay-at-homecom- avid Loren, a 29-yearald AMMITO$ munrty. Los rUamltos - aboirt Chicago transplant, en- four miles from the ocean - , Djoys taking crime-free here's no nlght llfe to also rntcd high ~ncnvtrcnmtl L,vcxnlngstrolls near Lake Mis- speak of in bsA~~~~~~ scores. wrth 11rtIesmog and ston Viejo with his girlfriend. NO movie theaters, drive- other pollution and a good c11- IT mate. Rut what does Mission Viejo ins. bowling alleys and not even offer after a few lake-view laps? one shopping mall. But the crty also came wt of' "That's my town, baby. We the ranklngs ~7thits share of "There really isn't that much may seem a little boring but we problems. It ranked 19th in to do." Loren said. "They roll up llke it that way. That's it in a cnme rate, lith m convenlenc the sidewalks." nutshell," City Manager Michael to culture and 20th m prom Graziano said. to employment centers. As an Even those who love life in Despite its size and subdued actlon town, the clty ranked Xlission Viejo concede that it personality. Los Alamitos came Zlth, just seven from the botto, rn~ghtbe just a teensy bit bor- in as the seventh-most-desirable "It's a ~cellnle tom and ing. Even so, the city came in place to live in Orange County. I've felt that way swe 1924," 1 12th of 34 county communities said res~denfLura Labourdent/I ranked for liveability. Los hlamitos - all 4.4 square miles of it - could be Beaver who wrnessrr! tbe aty's trans-[ I Cleaver's hometoun: It ranked 1 ~(easeseeL!ST[ "Regrettably, you have to go . ..I other places to have fun." said John Ben, a longtime resident who spends his volunteer time organizing community activi- trcs. "We need culture down here." In results that were a surprise ~~~vrnationfrom fields of sugar to no one who lives in Mission twets and wheat to tract horlrine --0 lriejo, the city rates as a family ::.lien. residences now average town, not an action town. The \250,103. action is on the baseball dia- YCIIhcr Labourdette nor monds, in the community swim- c;r:~rranowas surprised at the 1 ming pools and out on the golf , c it~tt~ Ranking links, not in the non-existent 1 I nrghtclubs and community thc- "It's right on point as far as ' Ovorall ranklng:7 aters. my feelings go," Graziano sard. Schools: 6 ..\Vesrea pretty middle-class Transportation.2B.5 "We want people to work and c.~)~nmunityas Opposed to mid. Shop9lng: 29 play in Mission Viejo. And ,Ilc class swingers. Therc's not a Recreation: 5 there's more to play than ath- And some M~ssionVicjo resr- IIII of inobilit). here. Entertainment: 30.5 lctic fields,"Mksion Viejo Cwn- dtms forget the freeways and Smog: 5.5 cilman Chris Kens said. turn to Loren for easy amuse- "We spend lots of time and OIhor pollulbn: 11.5 \ ment. He manages the entertain- :iloncy on community recreation Cnm: 19.5 But he was diplomath He ment emporium of the '80s: ;tnci most of our neighborhood Income: 10.5 irouldn't soy the city was bor- your neighborhood vidcorental watch programs and church Educational level: 14 ing. just a l~nlcunbalanced in store. functions are the real social Cl~mato:6 available activities. - Cheryl Downry~TheRegister c\scnts." Convenience to beach: 13 :. Convonienca to empbyment: 20 Kwno has begun to push for Convencenca to.arbre: 17 hitmc night life in Mission Viejo. Graziano said a recent pitch Fam~lytown: 4 Ranking for emergency volunteers illus- IIe has suggested building an I I Overall convenience: ?4 Overall ranking: 12 . trates the level of community Prmllgo: 10.5 outdoor nmphtheatcr for cul- commitment. Actlon towns: 27 tural cvcnts such as ploys and Schoolt: 11.5 ' 'a Avorage houso price: 8250.103 musical events as well encour- Transportation: 17 i' . -.. "We mailed out the flien to , u,:rng o highquality nightclub to Shopping:25 . ;111 12,000 people who live here ,I1 come to town. Recroatiin: 14 and expected maybe SO would Emorta~nment:18 rcspond. But we've got hundreds "One of the common com- - -- Smog: 16 back and they're still pouring in, plaints I hear all the time is Other pollution: 11.5 there's nothing to do in the eve- Crimo: 8 Now that's what I call down- Income: 3 home." ning." Keena said. "lt's as if Educational It&&7 - Donna CWW?m Register pcx~plethink everyone goes to Cl~mato:29.5 hcd at 10 o'clock. It'u not true. ~leocoto beech: !40 It's a very young community." Convenience to ompbyront:29 You want culture? "You go to Convenlom to cukuro: 29 Famity town: 8 Lo~unaBeach for that," Kocne Ovoroll convoolonce: 27 srtid. Prostigo: 8 fkn ~WYto the Orange Action tom: 25 (-'ounty IJcrformlng Arts Center Average house 518D.418 rn Costa h-Ic.4n. Loren and his frrends go lo Newport Beach or Ilrmnn Heach. BEACH he name Newport Beach has prestige -enough to T make many Orange County residents dream of living I ts residents probably could there. Irvc just about anywhere in Asked where in the county Orange County they wanted they would live if they could :p. They have among the highest pick any community, 11 perccnt :ncomcs and housing prices in named Newport Beach - mom !he count!.. thanmmed any other city. : The typical household income In the Register's analysis, the iP Xorth Tustin is nearly S,U.XO. F-nh .qv- hn3 !k !+:lt.=a-i!It;. L~stsummer, housing prices match. \\'ell. almost. It came in %re averaged S282,478. second as a dcgirable placc to : ';Personally, I'd like to live in live in the overall rankings. The bguna Beach. That's close to county's 10th-largest city not thc,beach," said Pat Smith, who i only has good schools and highly kwrtheless has lived in North educated residents, but is a con- f Win for 3 years.+ayna vcnicn! placc with good trans- e. h ''has a lot of spirit (even portation. close to regional izghgh) you'd probably go crazy centers for work, shopping,%ul- &th the tourists." turc and play, the Register's : North Tustin certainly is no data show. tpurist attraction. That's proba- However, Newport Beach 1y because it has no shopping, scored poorly on crime, ranking 3-'caters or other activit~es.hd 25th of the 34 communities. City ' .I,.; riot that close to the free- Manager Robert Wynn blamed "These rankings are under- .fays. the tourist crowds. standable and flattering but they ; So all in all. it raiiked No. 21. No longer the sleepy summer don't give a clear picture of I ;Li exclusively residential 'retreat that once shutdown where the city is going," ;,,.imunity such as North Tustin from Labor Day to Memorial Vandersloot said. $ ,~urticularlyinconvenient for Day, the city now is one of the yelen Kreutzkamp, a Newport :,,ung people, Smith said. most important West Coast fi- O .' Beach resident for more than "About 10 years ago when my nancial and business hubs. half her 77 years, mid she Len5 couldn't drive, (my hus- Mayor Don Strauss said the doesn't can: for the traffic con- 411ld and I) had to drive them city's overall excellent scores gestion that has accompanied where ... any place they were nothing new. the arm's growth. :drlted to go, like shopping, the "Life doesn't get much better "I've seen this place go from tcdcn," Smith said. than this," said Strauss, a city a slow and easy way of life to a : Smith agreed with her com- resident for more than 33 years. cosmopolitian atee with all its ; .dnity's ranlung in the bottom tie was surprised at the city's advantages nnd troubles. But I e;!+ ,~f,he 3.1 areas in the study. don't know when: else in the : a~tBrian Campbell wouldn't ratings of 14th in convenience to L. . .- employment centers and 16th for world I'd rather live." , Educational level 6 Convenience to beach. n Conven~encelo employment 4 a. That's The Register's Conven~enceto culture 12 right. Fz.n~lf1,wn 24 prehensive than ever, with 3rerall convenience 16 ional, national.,shte, regional . AS cltown 32 A.rr.qe house pnca $262.470 iL.. I FROM 14 seven children and 15 grandchil- dren live here too," Smith said. "You're talking abet-roots- - that's the nice t6ng about Or- 'angezthat-was nokeasured in _ the sun7ey. "I am not aualificd to talk I about other (orange ~oun&).cit- -ieS&CZuSP I've just been ktaCEMTtA,- through them," smith said. "But erry Taylor was not or lifelong residents like this city has identity." amused that her town Gene Smith and Fred Orange has Old Towne, a !anded ir! the lower eck F Barrera, there are some square mile in the dounto\\n Ion of Orange Cor!nty citgs. things that ranking statistics area with homes that Ccrc built "1 would pmbebly put it in the can't measure: roots and 'family at the turn of the century. top 10, only because these other values passed from one genera- places are getting so con- tion to another. "The ray I figure, any city: tolm or vlIlage ~t'sonly whnt I gested," said Taylor, 63. "You "There is something wrong - know, the older you get, the with the survey," Smith, 64,said the people makc it to be," Sm~th sald "A lot of people are just more you don't want this conges- of the Register analysis as he tion." tended his customers at his takers ... but how much do they gwe to thelr c~ty'" Taylor agreed with many of Nutshop. an organic food store the findings. There's no question on East Katella Avenue. As Smith'spoke, he he bagged that there's not a lot of shopping "My wife and I have lived S9.94 worth of dried fruit, can- or lively cultural goings-on in here all our lives and all my dies and nuts for Ethel Hight, town. But Placentia's 41,000 res- idents are hardly living on the edge of a desert. "As far as shopping and the cultural arts (are concerned), : another lifelong resident. there aren't any here," she said. Despite recent controversy "But we are so close to every- Ovt.r'how [oatCaTfli ?Tie ISWC thing else My husband and I. :i XK) daywbrkers who gather we are within two miles of Brea i' I. -along-EastChapman Avenue in-. Mall. We can shop in Fullenon, search of daily employment. Or- which is a mile away. And we ange is a community rich in eth- are very close to freeways, I - !nic navor, he aid. . --- . which makes other communities very accessible." I "I-have a Chinese skestore Taylor,whousedtoheadthe next to me, a Japanese restau- Welcome Wagon, admitted that rant, a'vietnamese beauty shop few of the people she meets nearby and an Lndian restaurant 1 moved to Placentia "just be- next block," Smith said. ' cause they wanted to." Most, , Barrera, who sits on the C~ty she said, were transferred to the 1 Council, said that because of its area by their companies. I varied ethnic makeup, the city But once they get there, they fiid a strung family town with plenty of parks and, by Orange County standards, an almost- continues tc attract newwmers bearable median home price of from every ethnic group. S163,840. "They are just like my mother -Dsm,Bonkafm~er who came here from Duranpo, 1 Ranking 1' Mexico, when stic was 4 years I Ovecall ranking: 24 old. " Schods: 15 Transpotlalion: 20 Shopping: 20 Recreation: 4 EnteRainment: 305 Smog 32 Other pollution: 11.5 Cnme: 8 Incane: 13 Educatiod lwe4: 19.5 Overan raflh?c-i(r"n. Qmate- Zl CHrnaie: 29.5 corremence to beam: 30 -. c.owmkmtom:32 Schools: 325 -. !t, %wf@cpd-3- Convtnrlonxt to er@oymm: 15 ... - T -9 to 9 c0oven)ence cunure: 18 Smng:12.5 locumUe. Famlty town: 5 Recreation: Zl -5 OYsrall cwwmhm: 2'5 Restqe: 18 Smog. 26 &clux, m:9 Actm tm:11) other potlutioo: 27.5 Aver3gs WNS~ pncP Slg.OC)4 Avorago house plce: S103,MO Crinle. 255 with all those conveniences,". said Bonnie Watson, whose farn- ily was among the fit50 to move in. "They don't move here because it's close to shopping: They don't move here because it's close'to the beach. They move here because they want to live here." . -. . inth? NINTH???!!! The fledgling planned commu- Whaddaya mean, tatistics tell a puzzling nity in the foothills east of Mis- Nninth? Why, people turn story about Rwcbo Santa sion Viejo is home to 8300 .. up their noses at Newpon Each SMargarita. residents, largely families to live here. When residents say the streets are wider. the tms It ranked the lowest of all wit'h ciuidren. - - south-county communities - No. T?K: average age is 32 and are taller and the lawns arc . 28 overall - but it ranked No. 3 more than half the home buyers greener here, they mean it. in prestige. So why do these edu- are purchasing their first home, State Supreme Court Chref Jus- cattd, wlidly middle-class pe according to the Santa Marga- tice Malcolm Lucas has dlgs ple want to live in an incomplete rita Co., developer of the com- here. Ninth? Get m! pltlnnd community with none of munity. 7hst's the prevailing attitude thc conveniences? Register marketing figures here towud the Register mdy "I moved from someplace show that the new town has a that found Kossmoor was the, median household income of ahem, ninth best place to live in . 81,640, the highest in the Orange County. county. The Santa Margarita Please see USTfl6 Co. puts the figure at W,WO for home buyers and $33,000 for apartment renters. The community is to have a balance of jobs, housing and sep vices when it is complete. But sat far, it consists of homes, apart- mentwand condominiums, a . ! growing business park, an -1- / cia1 lake and a beach club. And ! "Only ninth, heh?" said resi- one big element of Rancho Santa i dent Duane hlahlen, pondering Margarita life that the Register ' horc such a boneheaded thing statistics are too old to tell: In could have happened. hlahlen, February, the area's figro-' who moved here in 1959, just There's practically no com- cery store opened. two years after building began, merce here. A car wash, a dry "The idea is that it's going to cnn take one on a spoken tour of kleaner, a couple of gas stations, be a selfcontained community." the 3.~S0O-homecommunity and a restaurant or two. Even the said Art Sayles, 32, who Lives in point out numerous reasons for Hossmoor Shopping Center is )jigher r&im, .. .- - .. --... -. Rancho Santa Margarita with actually in Seal Beach. But that For one. there are the wider doesn't seem to bother the 10,000 his wife and two young daugh streets. hlahlen's not sure ex- ters. "Obviously it's not com- or so residents. They can walk, plete yet.' I and the other people actly how much wider than nor- : if they want, to stores in neigh- ma1 suburban streets, but wider -. out here are willing to wait. boring cities. for sure. And the home lots. And speaking of cities, from We've got a grocery store now They're bigger and the houses and we have a video store so, time to time there is talk about are set back farther than the av- incorporating or annexing to heck, what else do you need?" crage lot in, say, Huntington -chwVl-mReg(ster Seal Beach or Los Alarnitos. Beach. Again, statistics aren't Old-timers, however, try to hush rcadily available, but take his up that kind of talh right away.. Ranking word for it. 1-A LC*L;c rnm.,r I,..,- "What could anybody else pos- .MI.-..LC ) L I,,. - ...." , ,,...... l. ,.. sibly offer us?" Mahlen asked. 1.1c.c~.Practically a crime lo cur - Frank NMckwhm Rogislot t)ne down. Even if it's on a.park- I 1i.a). in front of your home 2nd ,$prooting the sidervalk. a spt- Ranking Enterlainmenl: 105 :la1 committee - whose mem. ( I smog: I6 ;llcrs were sworn in by Lucas - ; Overall ranking: 9 must give the OK. I Omer pollution: 115 Schools: 6 (%me: 8 It's those wide streets and big 1 Transporlalion: 2l Innme: 1 trees that brought former Mid- Shopping: 31 MucatbnalW:S icesterner Robin Bissonnette Recreation: 31 Climare: 295 and her family hcrc. FrrlManmon!:-, 30.5 ~bkurch:20 "lye wanted to he reminded of Smog. 5 5 CocNonbncab-:m home." she said. "It had more 1 ahor pollution: 11.5 Coclvenboat to culhlre: 31 trees, it was established and the ) Crcmo: 8 F8mlty town: 22 homes are older than other Income: 10.5 Overall crxm&me: 33 . places we looked." . Educational level: 14 I Fmap:3 i 3.5 Like many In Rossmoor, the ..:'-: Cllrnalo: Actfonborm:w Convonionca to beech: 10 ' j Avmge houm p(ce: 11m.701) Bissonnettes have upgraded .& Convoruenca to empbyronl: 24 their home instead of moving to. Convonconca to culluro: 23 a pricier locale. ' / Farn~lylown: 13 : "ii'e just finished addingon Overall convonconco: 17 bvo bedrooms and one bath. lVe Prostigo: 10 5 could have moved somervhere Acl~ontown: 33 else, but we didn't." Avcrsgo houw plco. $254.103 $AN CLEMENTE loyd Fukudu ftghts ftres t's a nice, family tom and lor n Itrrin~,nnd f~ghtlng . I along with the swallows it . tritffic in addttlon was i, has a comfonable climate to rliorc thi1t1 hc wilntcd to tekc on. hang around in and good shop 51,aftrr three ycurs of dnving / ping and recreational activities. Irotrl San Clrrnente, at Orange .: Just don't try leaving. ('c~i~nry'hvouthcrnmoht tip, to San Juan Capistrano, the city known for its famous mission and the swallows who return there each year, ranked a re- his job with the city of Los hge- spcctable 15th overall in the , I Ies, the 41-year-old firefighter I home for any cookiecutter -&cd ways':.. . ..- . .-. . ~ ...... neighborh6d in "plastic hat's the 1stiy most people Irvine." here feel about their little tom. "There's no question we do Clothing-optional beaches. air- hive our problems," mid Ro-- conditioned malls, you can have mero, a community activist who 'em. Give the folks here friendly was born in Santa Ana's Logan st Campbell, 77, spe bqrrio in 1934. "But our pmple Please see LIST118 who live hem in Santa Ana are real. 'l'he people here are wallhi Wherever you go, people stop and sty hello." "IT you cumc downtown on a neighbors, a clean stretch of Sunday, you'll see whole fam- and and a Main Street second ilies dresscd in their best clothes only to Disneyland's and they'll out for a stroll, tallung to their iiever want to leave. neighbors," said Romero, assis- Gleynis hlccants, horn in her rapt director of the non-profit mother's house in the Old Twcn Orange County Community section25 years ago, testifies: fibusing Corp. "You don't see .'I tried living in Relmont Shore tbt in places like Irvine. Santa and Huntington Beach but 1 hais a breathing, live city." couldn't stand to be away. I'm Wilson Hart, an attorney and backfos~.l-McCantsc~m- fmercouncUman, said he was !nutcs to Los Angeles, where she drawn to Santa Ana by the dl. works as a comedian. versity of its residents. Seal Beach's ranking as the j&AJt_th. .he me bn:& l iv- - county's No. 1 family tom, the ]masan attorney, Hart said he No. 10 town overall and the wouldn't think of moving to a dregs as an action town makes city like Irvine. perfect sense to Councilman I' ."Who wants to look at row af- i'ictor Grgas, who represents t& row of neatly trlmmed :he Old Town area. IIe wouldn't hitdges and earth-tone homes?" have it any other way. mrt said. "My God,that must "If Seal Beach had those gft to be tiresome." things (that make for an action , .Hart, who has three children town) I think our overall rank- ybunger than 7, said he believes ing would be higher, but our his children will benefit from ranking as a family town ~vould htaAnn's ethnic diversity. be lo\ver." Grgas said. "In ."I don't want my kids to think terms of what‘^ was looking for tIp whole world looks and talks in a place to raise a family. , just like them," he said. that's fine with me. . "Where else in Oronge County "There are a varietFof age i Ranking cgn you find a real Jewish deli, groups and income levels. It's Overall ranking: 10 a good Mexican restaurant, a not a homogenous group like good Chinese restaurant and a sGme communities. It's neat to Schools. 6 walk do&n the street and have Transportal~on:18 black Baptist church - all ShOpPIng: 30 w~thinblocks of one another?" my children see someone In Recrcatton 3 Iiilrt said. "Santo Ana has a their. Ms and say, 'How you do- Entena~nment:26 richness, a variety. It's the only ing?' I don't think you can do Smog. 2.5 real c~tyin Orange County." :hat in some communities." mhei pj:iution. 27.5 . Not all re~idcnrsof Santa Ana Kot that this tom of 26,000 Cnme. 8 irre nu enthuuiaetic, however. doesn't have its shortcomings. ; income 34 It's not a good place to raise a Its housing prices are the third- I Fducatlonal level 24 family. aid Marin Martinez. a highest in the count)., there's lit: ' C~4rnaIe 3 5 Lonvcnlence to teach 5- 47-yeor-old resident of Brook tle in the way of night life and to get to a major department store Convenww to wnpbymenr 22 ,%rwt, wtw used to chaw drug Conventence to cutlure. 22 dealers in her neighborhood residents go to Cerritos, Lake- Fam~lytown 1 with a bmom. \mod. Iiuntington Beach or Overall convenience 11 then.'^ so much crime, and \S1estminster. - Prestige 24 m mnny gang members and "I don't think you can buy a Ltlon town 28 dmgu," lid Martiner.;rtW .. . . refrigerator in Seal Beach," Average house pnce. $290,138 qwt her of wyen';-' Councilman Frank Lazlo said. - Erln K.#lrlhe Roglatw - Frank MlckadeltThe Register , have to go outside the city to qister Sunday, March 19, 1989 watch a movie." he complained. The combination of low scores on crime and recreation, plus a .medincre schnols ranking .gave- Tustin, known as a family town, a poor ranking-for family.lifel__ . "This doesn't reprexnt the viewed, Perez said his dream is Tustin I see," said Jim Ryan, a one day to save enough money resident of the town and princi- to move away from Stariton. olice Sgt. Jim Pcery just pal ot r'oothlll mgh Schoor- "I still want to move my fam- couldn't believe the num- nearby North Tustin. -- ily-to-1rvine.because of-their.-- bers he was seeing. They "I see Tustin as low-key. schools and to be close: to my' didn't square with the Tustin he quiet, comfortable community. job." he said. knnws..- . - .. - . Traffic here doesn't compare to ' The Tustin that Peery knows traffic you see in other commu- is a relatively affluent city. But nities. The shopping is not as the Register computer analysis frenetic. You can relax and es- showed it at No. 28 for income tablish a relationship with shop level. owners:. Peery's Tustin has linle crime Ryan, 51, moved to Tustin -on average, "one, maybe t\r~ from Palm Desert a couple of homicides a year." But the sta- years ago for his new job. With hear people say bad things about With the price of a house av- tistics show the city's per capita his wo children grown and out Stanton, I qsk then) how they crime rate tied with Santa Ana's of the house, he didn't share the .eraging Si21,000, Stanton is the %ow and usually they say they most affordable city in Orange for bottom place. concerns of Tunin's younger don't.know about it firsthand but "I've been a police officer families, but as an educator he County. heard it from somebcdy else. But its residents often concede here eight years," said Peery, was especially sensitive about That really bums me up." 32. "I lived in Chino before ... the quality of its scbls. Foot- that if they had the money, it - Wllllam BoyerThe Register I might be nice to move some but I moved here in '65 strictly- ttill High School is in the Tustin where with less crime and better from the standpoint that it's a Unified School District. schools. fairly crime-free city." "We were ranked too low," he said of Tustin's school district. ,*Imoved here about 2% years Ranking- I I I Peery said hc agmd uith "If they used CAP scores, we're ago because the deal I got on my Overall ranking: 29 house was just too good to pass Tustin's low recreation score. at midpoint; our SATs are way up," said Ann hlcCray, 34, a Schoois:30 . With two young children, he's above that. ... I think Tustin high-school drug counselor. Transportatton: 26-, always looking for recreational would have been at least at mid- "hlaybe everything else people Shoppng: 24 opportunities. But T~srinlacks point or above. There are a lot Recreatron: 32 parks and bike trails and "ym think about Stanton is true, but Entectainmenl: 24 at least I could buy a house." Smog: 21.5 Jose Perez, 35, bought a home Other pollution: 11.5 in Stanton nine years ago "be- ~nme:'25.5 cause it was the only place we Imme: 33 found that we could afford." Pe . Educatronal level: 33 of good school districts, hut rez, a machine shop operator in Cl~mate:13 I ( Ranking Convenience to beach: 17 we're a aood- school distnct I 1 1 Irvine, said he wanted to live in Convenience to emwwnt: 12 too." Irvine, but couldn't afford it. Convenience to cub?: 13 Nor could Ryan belleve that ''People misunderstand Stan- Famity town: 31 Tustin..wared fwnh .in shoppiw ton. It's really a nice, peaceful. Transporta'm: 6 Overall commnience: 10. . since it doesn't have a shopping. . mg.4 place. The schools aren't great, Prestrge: 34 i ..mall yet. Fiecream 29 but you can't have eventhing," Acilon town: 29 - He and Peen stood by their 1 Er;tWnmerrt- 11 Perez said. But echoing the Average house price: $121.156 image of the city.. smg.n5 thoughts of several others inter- "I'd say this is a gre?t place Other poil~:on. 11 5 1 toitm6TaaTd"rdEF any of'my fnends: If you can af, ;gj!z,,1,s ford a house in Tustin. buy it. , Climate: 24.5 1 You won't regret it." &lv~ence to beach: 24 - himWoo.fhe Reg~slr -1 -1 I Rease see US1 influx of Vietnamese refugees and the birth of Little Saigon. "If this survey was done gbout five years ago. we'd be neak'the bottom," Smith said. "'I7lest! re.- suits are very encouraging." Smith agreed that testmin- ster does have a crime problem n average house price of and its. low. rating in that ete- .- t3nrW+die4-- 937,500' It's a bargain, .4 for every 100 residents. "That's A Villa Park resident Bar- don't even tell people bara Dudman figures. why the council recently ap I'm from Westminster -provedptans to increasqoiioe Dudman, an elementary 1 if I can avoid it," resi- school teacher, said she and her manpower," he said. "I think dent H.J. Green said. you'll find our crime rates go husband looked for houses two . His city garnered a middling years ago in other communities down sigxificnntly in the next similar to Villa Park, including mnking of 15 overall, but Green few years." Sorth Tustin. yas surprised his city fared that Martin, a homemaker, ob "For the size of the house and well. jected to Westminster's low the lots we got more for a dollar The retiree moved to West- ranking for schools, however. here," she said. minster from Long Beach in "My daughter went through the \'ills Park does have large 1881, but said he disagrees so schools here and she received a houses and large lots - and it's strongly with the way the city is good education." also the most expensive town in managed that he hopes to move back. The streets are poorly Tony Lam, a restaurant o\iiner town. What it doesn't have are and vice president of the Viet- malls. local theaters, sidewalks maintained, he complained, and 5 namese Chamber of Commerce or street lights. 9 the percent tax on electricity, &is and other utilities is a bur- in Westminster, was the only "This is exactly how we like i &n. one intenrikwed who objected to it," said Lynn Nancy Fontanesi, I the rating of his adopted city. who has lived in the county's The city also hasbeen marked &rim the past year by some Westminster "is a good place least populous city with her fam. -, I ily since 192% iippakntly-rac&relateh prob- "Isolation is vep important to lems: Street signs pointine to- US." ward Little Saigon have been Thus, the countylvide rankings defaced and the family of an 1% didn't bother Fontanesi or some year-old man who was killed by other of Villa Park's 7,000 resi- 1 police have filed a civil-rights dents. suit against the city, claiming "Surveys like these don't the shooting stemmed from anti- mean anything to us." she said. fispanic sentiments in the po- "They don't represent commu- lice department. nity values." ; City officials and most resi- .bd community values and dents had little quarrel with friendly neighbors are what Jim Westmjnster's middleof-the- Brodsky likes most about Villa road ranking. Park. "It's more or less your typical -1t's the last of small-town at- he said. residential town. what wo~le mosphere (in Orange County) "I can stay here and say hi to iall a bedroom &mm;nit):," mid Ardith Martin, a 26-year where you know ever)'one," I e~eWOne,"he said, standing Brodsky said. outside the pharmacy and wav- Westminster resident. "It's no Brdsky, who owns Villa Park 1% at a couple pushing a gro- better or worse than a lot of cit- I ks here." Pharmacy in the city's only The city had its stmng points to raise a family," Lam said. shopping center, said he knows - of many people who could afford m the Register's computer rank- However, he said, the schools to move elsewhere if they ing. It's near enough to the needed improvement, including wanted. cery cart out of the supermarket beach to have relatively low i more discipline for students. "They don't want to leave," next door. "You don't find that smog levels, and it's conve- in too many places." niently located - near the San - Endquo RangeWhe Register ~iego-(1-405) and Garden Grove !22) freeways. Please see LIST120 Ranking,. ,Y . Mayor Chuck Smith said the / I "average" rating shows that ranklngr It-.----- Westminster has a tremendous potential to better itself and is proof that the city has improved bver the past few years. Its com- Recreation: 23 mercial base has grown ulth the Entertainment: 5 '.. Smca- 10 0mo; polkrtlbn: 27.5 Cnme: 25.5 -Income: 22 Mucatlonal W 30 Climate: 8 Ranking Income: 16 - honiena, to beach: 11 Ed-I level: 24 ' Conwnience to -: 11 Overall ranking: 18 .. .. Climate: 29.5 hewto wthiro: 6 Schools: 28 Condoce to be Famity tom: 28 Transportation:, 22 OvemJI axmmience: 6 Sh6ppmng: 12.5- -. .' CoRvernence-loculture: 14 proswe: 23 Recreation: 21.5 -- Famity town: 21 AMon torm: 12 Entenainment: 85 Overall convenience: 13 Averego house prlce: 5104.00 39 Presbge: 5 --: 10 .- Orher pollutidn: 11.5 . Crime: 8 Average house price: $437.500 FROM 20 I history professor at California As for the smog, a category State University, Fullerton. . - that many-cities in north Orange,. But Bob Cochran, a native of County choked on, Yorbe Linda , Yorba Linda who left Silverado residents are a bit befuddled by Tanl'on to move back into his all the fuss. If it's any smoggier, chldhood bome, likes his aty it's only by a matter of dems . fme, thank you very much, in a county swathed in the stuff, - - mamyismmmsrewar- --meyartrf -- ratings say. "I never sensed that there YQRBA ( "1 don't put much weight in was a particular pmblem in polls, whether it's Gallup's or Yorba hnda," Hansen said. the Register's," be said. --DmvnBonkwmRsgbtsr LINDA As far as he's concerned, Yorba Linda is a well-kept se orba Linda bas what Or- cret, a place where traffic and R.nklng ange County residents congestion are light compared 30 Y want most: low crime. with the rest of the county. Overall ranking. The lowest crime rate in the On some counts, though, Coch- SdDds23 county. ran and the survey agree. Yorba Twtlon.31 Oh, but Yorba Linda in the Linda lacks action when it m"e summertime. Hot. Smoggy. As Aecracmon comes to theater, movies, res- Ew&rtainmem 305 far from the beach as you can taurants or entertainment. get in the county. -31 "I think they've always felt cum po~lutlon11.5 True enough, said Arthur Han- they could get those resources in Ctime 1 sen, a lrtyear resident. But what Fullerton and Anaheim." Han- Income 6 didn't show up in the ratings, he sen said. MumtodImei (16 said, is what this city of 46,000 Check back in a few years, the Wlme 34 residents doesn't have and lbcals urge. Like many mi- Comna,tobMdl54 sorely needs a soul. dents, Hansen thinks things will Cornwntence to empbymsn.18 - " corn- m artwe a "There's still not a clear seitse change as the city develops east- Famly town 37 of wht Yorba Linda stands for ward into the hills and recently Orsm1 a\nvsm 30 and what it means to be a Yorba annexed temtov, With a new ProJtrse 9 Lindan. Maybe we've stretched pop,ularion, the city's base of Adum m:30 geographidy too far to have a entertainment might grow, he Averase house s224m strong identity." said Hansen, a said, I Conclusions: ~ - FROM 1 - ..~... -- -. -. . . - ~ housing.Some people' want to ( Conclusions: What live in enclaves of, say, retirees 1 , =-or.-yq-nthpr.ri~e . . .. on diversity. I we didn't consider I But the survey did not mea- sure the mix of ages or ethnic Bym- groups for each city. - -fkcause of that, Santa Ana o how seriously In aesponse Mayor ban Young found the cri- should you take the We all know that num teria superficial and the conclu- Register's com- . .- bers don't tell the whole sions hurtful to cities such as his puters- analysis? story of a community. A with large mhority populations. Look at it this way: Of hundred factors can go "These things are very trou- Into cbnga place to - blinato me, the= kit*: cf -te- the three people who corn- gories," Young said. "I think piled the rankings a re- live - oc sometimes one - very Important factor. they just very unfairly rank porter from Orange, an You might find your . communities. I just don't think editor.from Laguna Beach I somebody's quai~tyoi iiie IS to oommuntty the pcettlest and a pollster from Yorba place to live in Orange be found in a statistical chart. I Linda - no one is pulling County or its best-kept think people in Santa Ana and up stakes for No. I-ranked secret. Write and let us Fullerton are just as happy to know I Irvine. why you live We know there are plenty where you do, and we'll 1 of decisions that go into publish your replies. choosing a home that might Send your thoughts to ¢, cio The Orange not be reflected in the County Regtster. PO rankings. LC I thlnk they just very unfalrly rank communltres I Box 1 1626, Santa Ana rust don't think somebody's quality of life IS to be For one thing, the survey 9271 1. ' looked at the total city or fomin a statistlcat ch;m t-thinp-peopteirr~amaAna - community, not neighbor- and Fullerton are just as happy to be llvrng in thelr hoods. And small, unincor- And the Register analysis 1 communities as people In Vllla Park and Laguna , porated communities did not measure house or 1 Hills. 99 weren't rated at all. lot sizes, or tally trees. It The categories that were 1 did count the number of I Santa Ana may6 used were adapted from the parks, but did not examine be living in their communities as local community," he said. Rand McNally Places how big they are or what people in Villa Park and Laguna Rated Almanac, chosen be- they offer. Then, there was the question i Hills." of housing costs. Obviously, cause they were considered h IrTcr, !~l!hp &c*! QIc!?e Dn+nr ALnllnr n n--nw.L.. 1 -.-...... -.,U eWt).Upl,, I hciiski p~cesdstiziiiine :,k important to the widest Chapman College professor, , professor at the Universfty of choices for most of us. But the range of Orange County were bookstores ~Wnted. Miami and an eipert on Amen- Register's survey specifically residents. "For me, the most im- ca's suburbs, disagreed that eliminated housing price as a The Register gathered such a survey IS Inherently rac- I portant aspect of (culture) category for the overall thousands of statistics for is bookstores," said Robert 1 ist. rankings. That's because the this survey and, to reduce Slayton, an assistant his- "You people are simply a mir- -analysis was designed to pro- - ror that's reflecting back to your any bias, weighted those , tory professor who lives in ' duce a "wish list" of the best figures according to what Orange. "Do I have access residents say they want to the books hat t want? most in a community. For me, I don't want just i But other factors wen Robert hdam. I don't i not available or could not want to sound elitist. -pure~awof r2OsL-y- be counted. There's nothing wrong with Pollster Karl Reitz, who con- For example, a city what's sold at B Dalton; I ducted the.sun7ey and ranked might have a high crime just want that and more." rate, but some neighbor- Beyond that, there was ' 1 hoods in that & might be no accountxig for taste. cluded, any has would be to- among the county's safest. ward more affluent hother city rmgbt have Tens of thousands of pep- communities. mediocm schools, but yw ple prefer the uniform "What we did was to put to- -= might have moved to yw - homes in Inine and other gether the best possible ranking neighboM LXXCUSC 'ht planned communities ; 0th in terms of what we had," he ow school had the perfect ers cannot abide look-ahke said. But even among the cate- gories rated, there were pmb program for your child. Pbaseseevj I lems. As an example, he cged---- con- >I venience rankings, in which the number of mdes from one plae/ or lack of it - is an even factor, he said.