UCI

Thirty percent of Orange County residents name crime as the most serious problem, followed by schools (12%), traffic (11%), the El Toro airport controversy (9%), the economy (6%), and growth and immigration (5% each). Other issues receiving fewer mentions include the environment, housing, race relations, poverty, drugs, health care, values, taxes and government regulations.
Graph: Most Important Public Policy Problem: 1998

Since 1993, crime has repeatedly been named the top issue by Orange County residents. On average, 26% mentioned crime in the 1993-97 surveys (29%, 31%, 21%, 27%, 24%). This year's results are generally consistent with recent years.

Crime is mentioned more often by Latinos (45%) than by Asians (33%) and non-Hispanic whites (26%). However, all of these racial and ethnic groups mention crime more often than any other issue. Crime and the El Toro airport controversy are tied as the top issue in South County (22% each), while crime is by far the most frequently mentioned problem in North County (34%). Crime also is considered the most serious problem in all age and income groups.

The crime rates in Orange County have been on the decline for the past few years. Thus, it is surprising that residents still consider crime to be the most serious public policy concern. Perhaps the mention of crime reflects some real personal concerns about safety, or perhaps it is driven by the amount of attention that crime news receives in the media. For this reason, we asked a question to gauge how safe people felt walking alone in their neighborhoods at night.

Fewer than half of Orange County residents say they feel very safe (46%), while about a third feel only somewhat safe (37%) and about one in six feels unsafe (17%) at night in their local areas. A considerable number of Orange County residents thus continues to be worried about being a victim of crime in their neighborhoods. Still, Orange County residents are much more likely to feel very safe walking alone at night in their neighborhood than are people living in Los Angeles County (46% vs. 24%).
Graph: Crime Fears
(Percent who feel "very safe" walking alone at night in their neighborhood)

Non-Hispanic whites (52%) are more likely to feel safe in their own neighborhoods than are either Latinos (32%) or Asians (45%). Those with household earnings of $80,000 or more are much more likely to feel very safe in their local area than are those living in households with less than $36,000 (64% vs. 35%). Residents are more likely to feel very safe in South County than North County (63% vs. 39%). There are no differences by age.