Horrors! We’ve Slipped to 185th Among Most Livable Spots : Desirability: Not only does Orange County trail Fargo and Kokomo, 52 and 83 respectively, it’s even (gasp!) behind <i> Los Angeles.</i>

Orange County continues its roller coaster ride on the annual Money magazine list of livable places this year, screaming down to 185th place in the nation and ninth in California.

On its list of 300 cities and metropolitan areas, the magazine relegated Orange County well behind the likes of Fargo, N.D. (52nd), Wausau, Wis. (80th) and Kokomo, Ind. (83rd).

But what may be hardest to swallow for Orange County residents who fled Los Angeles is that the magazine judges consider La-La Land better--by far. It came in at 58.

The magazine’s list has been an up-and-down ride for Orange County over the last four years. After being ranked 33rd in 1990, the county dropped to 150th in 1991 before climbing to 89th last year.

Yet, this year’s precipitous drop took some by surprise.

“Wow. My God,” were the first words out of Tom Wilck, chairman of the board of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce. Then, collecting himself, Wilck took the offensive.

“I think it’s just an absolutely stupid survey,” he said. “I don’t know how those people voted, but I’d just say, come out to Orange County and see for yourself.”

Wilck laughed hard when he was told that the top three places on the list were Rochester, Minn.; Madison, Wis.; and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

“That makes my point,” he said. “Ask them in December.”

The magazine asked 253 subscribers to rate 43 factors in evaluating a city. Readers ranked clean water, a low crime rate and unpolluted air as most important, followed by plentiful hospitals and doctors, strong state government and housing appreciation. Money then compiled the list--which appears in its September issue--by weighing statistics about each metropolitan area against the readers’ preferences.

The West Coast had only one metropolitan area in the top 30--Seattle, which moved from 22nd to 11th place. The top California city, San Diego, was 36th, down from 21st last year.

Richard Eisenberg, an assistant managing editor at the magazine, said the West Coast and the Northeast ranked lower because of slumping economies.

“Those parts of the country are still hurting so much,” he said. “It’s hard for them to make the top 10.”

County Board of Supervisors Chairman Harriett M. Wieder said perceptions of California’s problems probably colored the judging of Orange County. Also, the county’s boom period makes its down period appear even more serious, she said.

“We were up so high in the ‘80s,” she said. “We’ve had a greater distance to fall.”

Orange County did not fare well even in California. It fell in at ninth place behind San Diego, Los Angeles-Long Beach (the magazine lumped them together), San Francisco, Ventura, San Jose, Oakland, Riverside-San Bernardino and San Luis Obispo.

“My question is, where’s Fresno?” asked local comedian Jim Hope.

He sounded relieved when told the Central Valley city was 225th. He also took heart at Bakersfield lagging behind at 244th.

“As long as we stay ahead of Bakersfield, we have nothing to worry about,” Hope said. “That’s the big litmus test.”