Local News in Brief : Countywide : Prosperous Future Forecast for County

Orange County will prosper economically at a faster rate than the Los Angeles basin, California, or the United States, according to county planners’ latest projections.

The county’s population and housing will increase in proportion to job growth, according to the projections released Thursday.

The county’s population is expected to rise from the current 2.3 million residents to about 2.8 million by 2010. The number of houses is anticipated to increase from 864,500 to 1.1 million in the same period, and the number of jobs will grow from 1.3 million to about 1.9 million, according to the projections, which are updated every three years.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to adopt the projections next week.

County planners have projected more growth in the south coast area than was previously anticipated, but say that the area “will have a significant amount of land available for development throughout the (22-year) period of these projections (and it) . . . will retain substantial recreational resources.”

The report concludes that “the county will remain a job-rich area throughout the projection period. . . . There will be a continued market of home buyers of an appropriate income range to sustain demand for housing in Orange County.”

The report projects that the county will not be completely developed until the year 2020.

Also, the report shows that most of the county’s population increase will come from new births.