Irvine Gets an ‘A-’ for Children’s Safety

Poor education, traffic congestion, air pollution and economic inequality put Los Angeles behind most major U.S. cities as a safe and sound home for children, according to a ranking by a national environmental group released Tuesday.

But among the nation’s suburbs, Irvine ranked in the top 10.

“The ongoing policy of the city is that we really believe it’s important for us to support our families,” Irvine Mayor Christina Shea said on learning that the city’s overall grade was “A-”. “Our kids are given a sense of security and family,” she said. “I think this is important for youth.”

City Manager Alison Hart said: “One of the most important thing we do is listen to kids. We find out what they want and respond to that.”

Los Angeles received a “C-” grade in the Kid-Friendly Cities Report Card issued by Washington-based Zero Population Growth, which lobbies for causes ranging from a national population control policy to fighting urban sprawl. That mark placed L.A. 17th among 25 major cities ranked in the study. Seattle, San Francisco and San Jose were the leaders.

Southern California suburbs scored mixed results, with Irvine and Santa Clarita among the top 10 of 92 suburbs studied. But the bottom 10 included four Southland cities--Inglewood, Pomona, El Monte and San Bernardino.

Unlike lifestyle or business-oriented surveys that evaluate cities as places to buy a house, the Zero Population Growth study seeks to promote “social, economic and environmental justice,” said Priscilla Y. Gonzalez, the report’s principal researcher.

Cities with populations above 100,000 were judged by 14 criteria, including teenage pregnancy rates, infant mortality, preschool enrollment, crime rates, air quality and public transit use.

Cities lost points for large gains or losses in population. Rapid growth hurts cities by outstripping their ability to provide education, public works and social services, said Peter H. Kostmayer, a former congressman who heads Zero Population Growth. On the other hand, population declines shrink the local tax base, he said.

Although the survey results produced the expected pronouncements of pride among high-ranking towns, others just as predictably criticized the study’s methodology and questioned the fairness of trying to capture complex social realities in simple letter grades and numeric rankings.

Kostmayer acknowledged that rankings do not present a complete picture, but defended his study’s usefulness. “It’s really not the rankings, but the information that’s important. It tells cities how to improve the quality of lives for children,” he said.

Local officials and others who research area social and economic conditions said much of the information underlying the rankings is outdated and pulled down the ranking of several cities.

Los Angeles, for example, got an “F” for economics. The poor grade came from 1990 Census figures for the proportion of home ownership and children in poverty, and a 1996 unemployment figure--numbers that reflected a crippling national recession.

Last-place San Bernardino says it too was hurt by bad data. The report lists the city’s unemployment rate at 10.4%, but San Bernardino marketing director June Durr said the city estimates its unemployment rate at 5.7%.

Santa Clarita, the only Southern California city to get an overall “A,” had a shot at the top spot but fared badly in the public transportation category, for which it got an F. Less than 1% of its residents use public transportation.

Times staff writers David Colker, David Haldane and Daryl Kelley and correspondents Richard Winton and Kristiane M. Ridgway contributed to this report.

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Kid-Friendly Cities

A report released Tuesday by Zero Population Growth rated American cities for 14 quality of life indicators such as economics, education, environment and health. Major cities were ranked separately from suburbs.

RANKING OF MAJOR CITIES

RANKING OF SOUTHLAND SUBURBS

* Source: Zero Population Growth