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Overall Mood
Even as talk in the nation has turned to prospects of an economic recession,
overall attitudes about Orange County remain very upbeat. Ratings of
the county economy and quality of life are basically the same as in
the past few years.
Today, 74 percent of residents give the county economy an excellent
or good rating; 21 percent say it is fair, and 4 percent say it is in
poor condition. The bullish attitudes toward the economy have persisted
since the 1998 survey. They stand in stark contrast to the trends of
the early 1990s: When the state and nation were in a deep economic recession,
only two in 10 residents gave positive ratings.
As for quality of life, nine in 10 residents say that things are going
very well (36%) or somewhat well (54%), and only 10 percent say things
are going badly. Prior to 1998, Orange County's quality of life ratings
were never quite this high. During the early 1990s, at a low point,
about 60 percent of residents said things were going well in the county.
The positive ratings of the county's economy and quality of life tend
to increase with higher income. Non-Hispanic whites give higher ratings
of the economy than do Latinos or Asians, but there are no differences
across racial and ethnic groups in the county's quality of life ratings.
Table:
"In general, how would you rate the economy in Orange County today?"
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