Diversity Turns O.C. Into Mixer

Orange County residents are more likely today than 10 years ago to shop, bank or go to movie theaters alongside a person of a different race or ethnic background, an analysis of the 2000 census data shows.

In every encounter, those odds are now better than 50% in 16 Orange County cities, up from 11 cities a decade ago.

Among Orange County cities, Stanton is the most diverse, with a diversity index score of 76, meaning that any two people picked at random within the city limits would be of a different race 76% of the time.

Santa Ana was a close second at 75% and Buena Park ranked third at 73%.

Newport Beach, whose population is 90% white, was the least diverse community, just below Laguna Beach. With a diversity index score of 18, more than four times out of five, the next person you might encounter in Newport Beach would be white.

Such calculated probability, however, is not everyday reality, some experts cautioned.

“It sheds light on the probability that people [of a different race] will bump into each other,” said Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography at USC. “But people can share the same space and live in different worlds.”

Indeed, census 2000 data has shown Orange County is becoming more a mosaic of race than a melting pot. Whites have left the county or migrated heavily to South County, while Latinos and Asians have gravitated toward the north.

Still, the rise in the diversity index was welcomed by community activists and government officials.

“The walls are breaking down slowly but surely every day,” said Van Tran, the first Vietnamese American elected to the City Council in Garden Grove, which has the county’s largest Vietnamese population at 35,406.

O.C. State Ranking Up From 19th to 14th

The diversity index has also increased for the county as a whole over the last decade, a trend also seen in many parts of the nation.

Orange County’s index, 64, now ranks 14th in the state, up from 19th in 1990, and ahead of its southern neighbor, San Diego, which slipped a notch to 19th with 61. Los Angeles County ranked the highest in California, with a 79% probability of interacting with a person of another race or ethnicity.

Garden Grove’s diversity index is 73, fourth-highest in the county. It is among the county’s most ethnically balanced--with whites, Latinos and Asians each making up roughly one-third of the population.

Tran said officials in his city now have “greater awareness that we need to cater more fully to all the groups.”

Others say the census, which categorizes people only by major racial groups and Hispanic origin, may mask greater diversity in the communities.

“It doesn’t have to be just race, but also religion [and] immigrant status” said Mary Anne Foo, executive director of the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance. “We have Russians and Armenians who are classified as whites, but as immigrants they may have more similarities with Asian immigrants.”

Whether increased diversity will lead to better relations is an open question, but based on his city’s experience Stanton City Councilman David John Shawver is optimistic. In 10 years, the 3.5-square-mile municipality has gone from a city with a slim white majority to one without a dominant ethnic or racial group.

Shawver, a 32-year resident, said he remembers a not-too-distant past when the city was informally segmented, with racial minorities keeping mostly to themselves.

Today, he sees more interaction. Not only is the city more diverse, but so are the neighborhoods and blocks, said Shawver, who habitually bicycles through the city.

“In a bigger city, they can pick and choose” where to settle, Shawver said. “When you have a smaller area, people blend in more.”

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Rankings

An analysis of Census 2000 data shows that today’s Orange County residents are more likely to bump into someone of a different race or ethnicity than 10 years ago. The Diversity Index calculates the probability, from 0 to 100%, that two randomly picked people in a given community will be of either a difference race or ethnicity.

2000 diversity index rankings, by city

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Rank City Diversity Index 1 Stanton 76 2 Santa Ana 75 3 Buena Park 74 4 Garden Grove 73 5 Anaheim 73 6 Tustin 69 7 Westminster 68 8 Fullerton 67 9 La Habra 65 10 La Palma 64 11 Placentia 62 12 Orange 60 13 Cypress 58 14 Costa Mesa 57 15 Fountain Valley 55 16 Irvine 54 17 San Juan Capistrano 50 18 Brea 49 19 Lake Forest 48 20 Los Alamitos 47 21 Laguna Hills 46 22 Aliso Viejo 42 23 Huntington Beach 42 24 Yorba Linda 38 25 Rancho Santa Margarita 38 26 Mission Viejo 36 27 Laguna Niguel 34 28 Villa Park 34 29 San Clemente 33 30 Dana Point 32 31 Seal Beach 25 32 Laguna Beach 18 33 Newport Beach 18 ORANGE COUNTY 64

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Reporting by RAY HERNDON/Los Angeles Times