O.C. Is Best Place to Live in Continent, Book Says

By BONNIE HAYES

Dec. 12, 1996 12 AM PT

Life doesn’t get any better than this.

Orange County, declares the latest edition of the Places Rated Almanac, is the greatest place to live in North America.

By comparison, that neighboring metropolis Los Angeles County ranked 34th with this blunt observation from the book’s authors: “extremely abnormal.”

But for great weather, top-notch universities and superior arts, few other metropolitan areas topped Orange County’s scores in this book, which went on sale Wednesday.

Add a near-perfect rating in the job growth forecast and Orange County stands out as “a thriving, exciting, desirable area in which to live,” said Almanac co-author David Savageau.

“Quite frankly, you’re the best,” he said, noting that Orange County has consistently landed among the top 25 most livable areas since the Almanac’s inception in 1981.

Savageau and a half-dozen researchers spent nearly two years putting together the 1997 Almanac, which is the fifth edition of its kind. By using nine criteria--predicted job growth, climate, higher education, arts, health care, recreation, transportation, crime and cost of living--Savageau ranked 351 metropolitan areas from best to worst in livability.

What likely nudged Orange County into first place, however, is its 99.97 rating in job growth. Only one other city, Atlanta, has a better job picture, Savageau said.

“Orange County is an island of employment growth in a sea of lackluster prospects in the surrounding areas,” Savageau said, noting the county’s low unemployment rate and the estimated 90,000 new jobs that will be created here by the year 2000.

Crime and cost of living were the worst categories for Orange County, which Savageau deemed one of the most expensive areas to live. In fact, it’s cheaper to live in 97% of the other metropolitan areas listed in the book. But the authors saw crime as a much bigger problem in Los Angeles, with only a slightly better cost of living index.

Economist James Doti, president of Chapman University in Orange, said the book’s statistics and ranking system support much of his data on the county’s economic future.

Even the recent bankruptcy and fiscal woes “couldn’t wrinkle Orange County’s plans to prosper,” Doti said.

“We are rebounding in construction activity, defense spending and international trade,” he said. “For the first time in many years, we’re really firing on all cylinders. Economically, expect to see Orange County perform significantly above average these next few years.”

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Good Living

Top 10 places to live according to the latest edition of Places Rated Almanac:

(Rank: Region)

1. Orange County

2. Seattle/Bellevue/Everett, Wash.

3. Houston

4. Washington, D.C./Maryland/Virginia

5. Phoenix/Mesa, Ariz.

6. Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn.

7. Atlanta

8. Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Fla.