L.A. Gets Middling Grade on Children's Quality of Life

By JOHN L. MITCHELL

Aug. 21, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Los Angeles ranked below most other major cities in a new study that examined the quality of children’s lives in U.S. cities, a national environmental group said Tuesday.

A relatively high rate of teenage pregnancy, poor air quality and below-average library use were among the factors cited as reasons that Los Angeles received a C on the Kid-Friendly Report Card issued by Washington-based Zero Population Growth, a nonprofit organization that lobbies against rapid population growth.

That mark ranked Los Angeles 19th among 25 major cities. Portland, New York City and San Francisco, among others, ranked higher. Two years ago, the group gave Los Angeles a C-minus and placed it 17th out of 25 cities.

“We hope that people will take pride in areas where cities are doing well and focus on the areas where their cities are not doing well,” said Peter H. Kostmayer, a former congressman who heads Zero Population Growth.

Kostmayer said the report card grades cities for the quality of community life, economics, education, environment, health, population change and public safety. Under the grading system, cities with large population spurts, for example, lost points because they generally were unable to keep pace with the demand for education, public works and social services, he said.

Los Angeles received good marks for having a relatively stable population and crime rate in the two years since the last survey, but was hit hard for its poor air quality. The city also was hurt by data showing that children borrow fewer books from the library than in many other cities. “But that may be because Los Angeles has so many children who speak languages other than English [and] these books are not available in other languages,” Kostmayer said. “Libraries and parents have to develop programs that draw children into reading.”

The results for other Southern California cities varied. Huntington Beach and Thousand Oaks were among the highest rated, but others, including San Bernardino, El Monte and Inglewood, were in the bottom ranks of the 239 cities surveyed.

Apart from the listing of 25 major cities, the study also ranked 140 smaller cities, with Burlington, Vt., ranking first and San Bernardino last. In a third list of 74 suburban cities, Moreno Valley placed last, a ranking that didn’t please its mayor.

“How did they choose their cities?” said Bonnie Flickinger. “We are proud of our record. Moreno Valley is definitely known as a family-oriented city. Drive through here on the weekend and all our parks are full of kids and families.”

Pasadena, which two years ago got a D and finished 66th among suburban cities, showed a remarkable turnaround in the Zero Population Growth assessment, chalking up an A-minus.

Thousand Oaks, an affluent, white-collar city in Ventura County, scored the highest possible grade--an A-plus--for its stable population, minuscule violent crime rate, sprawling parkland and high participation in child-focused programs. It ranked eighth among 74 similar-sized cities across the country, according to the survey.

Oxnard ranked 66th on the list and received a C in child-friendliness--the same grade as urban Los Angeles. Contributing to the low score, according to the survey, was the working-class city’s high unemployment rate, shortage of parks and low library-book circulation among children.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Dan Del Campo said it was no surprise that his city ranked high in providing for children. “Everyone is here for the benefit of their own children or the benefit of all children in this community,” he said. “The parents are so focused and devoted to the quality of upbringing their children, it transcends to the quality of life we have here.”

But officials in Oxnard said the report doesn’t accurately depict what life is like for children in their city and questioned how the information was collected.

“We invest a large amount of resources [in] the quality of life for our children,” said City Manager Edmund F. Sotelo. “I’m astounded we would get a C.”

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Not Very Friendly

In a survey of 25 large cities’ “kid-friendliness,” Los Angeles ranked toward the bottom. California cities are in boldface.

1 Portland

2 Seattle

3 Minneapolis

4 New York

5 San Francisco

6 Boston

7 Denver

8 Fort Worth

9 Houston