UCI

Orange County way of life receives record high satisfaction rating in UC Irvine survey

Confidence in economy and government on rebound, according to 1998 Orange County Annual Survey

Irvine, Calif. - Satisfaction with the Orange County way of life is at an all-time high, undiminished by urbanization, according to UC Irvine's 1998 Orange County Annual Survey.

In the 17th year of the survey, the number of those who say things are going well in Orange County reached 91 percent, positive ratings of the county's economy jumped 13 points over last year to their highest point ever, and ratings of local government showed improvement for the first time since the county's bankruptcy.

Rapid growth and changing demographics apparently have not altered the suburban character that Orange County residents prize. Indeed, in its first-ever comparison with Los Angeles County, the survey shows Orange County residents consistently are more positive than their neighbors to the north about their housing, finances, public services, schools, traffic, job opportunities and public safety (see Los Angeles sidebar).

"It's almost a golden age in Orange County. In the time I've been conducting the survey, we really haven't had a period like this, when people feel so good about the economy and the quality of life," said Mark Baldassare, UCI professor of urban and regional planning and senior fellow of the Public Policy Institute of California, who conducted the survey with research associate Cheryl Katz.

Residents are bullish on the Orange County economy-76 percent rate it as being in excellent or good shape. They're optimistic about the future-36 percent say Orange County will be a better place to live, and 39 percent expect it to be about the same. They're beginning to regain confidence in county government-38 percent say county government is doing an excellent or good job in solving county problems, up from 26 percent last year. And their satisfaction with their work, housing and finances; parks, police, roads and schools, and personal happiness, is unchanged or improved in the 1990s.

The orange, however, is not unblemished. Sixty-one percent of residents are worried that Asia's financial crisis will affect the Orange County economy within the next year or so, the high cost of housing continues to be a problem, traffic congestion doesn't seem to be getting any better, and the county's fastest growing minority populations-Latinos and Asians-haven't kept pace economically or politically with non-Hispanic whites (see Latino/Asian sidebar).

The 1998 telephone survey of 2,002 Orange County adults was conducted Sept. 1-13. This year the survey was conducted in three languages-English, Spanish and, for the first time, Vietnamese. The survey's margin of error is plus or minus 2 percent. Following is a summary of the survey's key findings.

County Attitudes
The economic turnaround is reflected in spectacular jumps in the 1998 survey's ratings. The number rating the county's economy as excellent or good is up 32 points since the 1996 survey and 57 points since 1992. Those in households with incomes of $80,000 or more are even more ebullient-92 percent give the economy good or excellent ratings

In terms of personal satisfaction, 58 percent say they are very satisfied with their house, 55 percent with their work, 54 percent with leisure and 28 percent with finances.

Although 61 percent expect the Asian financial crisis to affect Orange County's economy, only 15 percent see it as having a great deal of impact.

Local Government
For the first time since the bankruptcy, ratings of county government improved. Thirty-eight percent now think the county government does an excellent or good job in solving county problems, a 12-point increase from a year ago. Sixty-three percent (compared with 56 percent last year) say county government pays a lot of or some attention to what the people think, and the number who say county government wastes a lot of tax money declined from 40 percent last year to 36 percent this year.

Orange County residents give high marks for their local public services. Seventy-eight percent say their parks, beaches and public recreation and police protection are good or excellent.

Public Schools
Most Orange County residents are happy with their public schools. Fifty-seven percent rate local public schools as excellent or good, a 15-point improvement over 1996 ratings.

The public schools approval rating has doubled since 1991, and parents with children in public schools are even more likely (69 percent) to give good-to-excellent ratings to local schools. People with incomes of $80,000 or more are more likely than people with incomes below $36,000 to rate schools excellent or good (65 percent vs. 50 percent).

"There is more money for schools and class sizes in the lower grades are smaller," Baldassare said. "The general feeling is that the state is being more generous with funding, and there is more and more attention to good public education."

Still, education ranked second among the county's most serious problems, and there is strong support for school reforms. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed favor tax-supported vouchers for private school tuition, and 80 percent support recent legislation that eliminates social promotion and requires students to meet specific academic standards before they are promoted to the next grade.

"As schools get better, they get better ratings," Baldassare said. "But people think education is so important that it's still a concern. To make sure the next generation is prepared for life in a high-tech society, we don't need just good schools. We need excellent schools."

Despite the positive ratings for public schools, tax increases to pay for school improvements remain unpopular. Only 45 percent would be willing to raise local taxes to help schools, and a bare majority of 50 percent favor changing the two-thirds majority voting requirement for school construction bonds to a simple majority.