UCI

1999 Orange County Annual Survey
University of California, Irvine

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University of California, Irvine
© 1999 UC Regents

OVERALL MOOD: THE FUTURE

Looking to the future, 39% expect Orange County to be a better place to live, while 24% think it will be a worse place, and 37% expect it to be about the same as it is today. Optimists outnumber pessimists by a 15-point margin -- the biggest gap in the history of the Orange County Annual Survey.

Opinions about the future are comparable to last year. Since the 1995 survey, optimists have consistently outnumbered pessimists in Orange County. The number of people who think the county will be a worse place to live in the future has dropped by 20 points since the 1990 survey.

There are no major differences by age or income in optimism about Orange County's future. However, Latinos are more likely than non-Hispanic whites to think Orange County will be a better place in the future (56% to 33%). North County residents are more likely than those in the South to say the county will be a better place (43% to 30%), while South County residents are more likely to think there will be no change (42% to 35%).

"In the future, do you think Orange County will be a better place to live than it is now, a worse place to live, or there will be no change?"
Year Better Worse Same
83 40 35 25
84 37 37 26
85 43 35 22
86 28 47 25
87 26 54 20
88 35 38 27
89 28 47 25
90 29 44 27
91 25 47 28
92 32 32 36
93 29 36 35
94 27 30 43
95 34 28 38
96 36 28 36
97 36 26 38
98 36 25 39
99 39 24 37