Irvine 3rd best US city for families

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Irvine 3rd best US city for families

Irvine was ranked as the nation?s third-best big city in which to raise a family while San Bernardino was ranked eighth-worst and the lowest-ranked of 29 California cities.

Source: WalletHub analyzed 48 economic and demographic factors to create relative scores for 182 cities in five key criteria ? family fun, health and safety, education and child care, affordability and socio-economics.

Details
Rankings like these are part science and part art, but if you take a bigger picture view, you see California did well in this study.

My trusty spreadsheet tells me the average overall ranking for 29 Golden State cities in this scorecard was 75th place ? 20 spots higher than the No. 95 average for the other 153 cities in the rest of the nation. It broke down like this ?

Family fun: California?s average rank was 51 spots higher ? (No. 49 vs. 100). There are lots of things to do in this state.

Health and safety: California 54 spots higher ? (No. 46 vs. 100). Less crime, good health facilities.

Education and child care: California 28 spots higher ? (No. 68 vs. 96). Better than most.

Affordability: California 48 spots lower ? (No. 132 vs. 84). Nobody should be surprised.

Socio-economics: California 32 spots higher ? (No. 64 vs. 97). A surprising conclusion.

The question every family has to ask: ?Is California worth the price??

Caveat
California did have 11 cities in the bottom half of the rankings ? Anaheim, Riverside, Oxnard, Fontana, Fresno, Ontario, Moreno Valley, Santa Ana, Oakland, Stockton ? plus San Bernardino.

Bottom Line
You might conclude that families do best outside big cities. Just look at the top five cities.

No. 1 Overland Park: suburb of Kansas City (No. 84).No. 2 Fremont: outside of San Francisco (17).No. 3 Irvine: down the freeway from Los Angeles (83).No. 4 Plano: outside of Dallas (130).No. 5 Columbia, Md.: between Baltimore (172) and Washington, DC (44).

And note the bigger cities at the bottom of this scorecard: Detroit then Cleveland, Memphis, Hialeah, Fla., and Newark, N.J.

Quotable
?Irvine has the fewest violent crimes (per 1,000 residents), 0.64, which is 30.7 times fewer than in Detroit, the city with the most at 19.65,? WalletHub noted.

Post Script
Here?s how cities in the four counties covered by the Southern California News Group fared ?

No. 3 Irvine: No. 17 for fun; No. 1 for safety; No. 3 for care; No. 57 for affordability; and No. 9 for socioeconomics.

No. 12 Huntington Beach: No. 64 for fun; No. 10 for safety; No. 4 for care; No. 96 for affordability; and No. 12 for socioeconomics.

No. 31 Santa Clarita: No. 85 for fun; No. 4 for safety; No. 16 for care; No. 114 for affordability; and No. 76 for socioeconomics.

No. 32 Rancho Cucamonga: No. 68 for fun; No. 48 for safety; No. 32 for care; No. 102 for affordability; and No. 10 for socioeconomics.

No. 53 Garden Grove: No. 38 for fun; No. 15 for safety; No. 15 for care; No. 173 for affordability; and No. 38 for socioeconomics.

No. 66 Glendale: No. 45 for fun; No. 11 for safety; No. 18 for care; No. 171 for affordability; and No. 73 for socioeconomics.

No. 83 Los Angeles: No. 1 for fun; No. 41 for safety; No. 63 for care; No. 176 for affordability; and No. 120 for socioeconomics.

No. 88 Long Beach: No. 16 for fun; No. 20 for safety; No. 17 for care; No. 178 for affordability; and No. 124 for socioeconomics.

No. 92 Anaheim: No. 34 for fun; No. 14 for safety; No. 73 for care; No. 174 for affordability; and No. 54 for socioeconomics.

No. 110 Riverside: No. 71 for fun; No. 55 for safety; No. 125 for care; No. 156 for affordability; and No. 47 for socioeconomics.

No. 116 Fontana: No. 32 for fun; No. 67 for safety; No. 158 for care; No. 165 for affordability; and No. 34 for socioeconomics.

No. 128 Ontario: No. 46 for fun; No. 72 for safety; No. 128 for care; No. 170 for affordability; and No. 68 for socioeconomics.

No. 131 Moreno Valley: No. 40 for fun; No. 53 for safety; No. 176 for care; No. 166 for affordability; and No. 74 for socioeconomics.

No. 133 Santa Ana: No. 91 for fun; No. 18 for safety; No. 69 for care; No. 180 for affordability; and No. 49 for socioeconomics.

No. 175 San Bernardino: No. 15 for fun; No. 157 for safety; No. 174 for care; No. 177 for affordability; and No. 154 for socioeconomics.
https://www.ocregister.com/2021/06/...amilies-san-bernardino-8th-worst-survey-says/
 
Dang, Irvine dropped down to number 5.
https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-places-to-live/32619

This list is dominated by Cali cities... especially up north.

Overall Rank | City | Total Score | Emotional & Physical Well-Being | Income & Employment | Community & Environment
1 Fremont, CA 77.13 1 46 2
2 Columbia, MD 71.64 3 161 5
3 San Francisco, CA 71.15 4 1 44
4 San Jose, CA 71.00 2 6 55
5 Irvine, CA 70.38 5 16 12
6 Madison, WI 68.10 10 11 19
7 Seattle, WA 67.67 6 2 99
8 Overland Park, KS 67.46 12 54 13
9 Huntington Beach, CA 66.43 9 51 43
10 San Diego, CA 65.82 14 18 25
 
I will be comparing schools curriculum that is advertised on the Internet in a different thread.
(Time frame tbd, maybe this weekend)
 
Ranking Irvine high on "fun" seems like a real stretch (No. 17).  Yet, it falls just short of places like Long Beach (No. 16) and San Bernardino (No. 15).

How in the world did they quantify "fun" for this ranking?
 
Well, from experience, Irvine is one of the few safest places where you can find multiple pick-up basketball games any day of the week...that's fun. :)
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Well, from experience, Irvine is one of the few safest places where you can find multiple pick-up basketball games any day of the week...that's fun. :)
Click to expand...

Very true... That is a good thing Irvine has going for it.

This survey ranks Los Angeles #1 for family fun and Las Vegas #2.  I think the criteria is janky.
 
Liar Loan said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Well, from experience, Irvine is one of the few safest places where you can find multiple pick-up basketball games any day of the week...that's fun. :)
Click to expand...

Very true... That is a good thing Irvine has going for it.

This survey ranks Los Angeles #1 for family fun and Las Vegas #2.  I think the criteria is janky.
Click to expand...

Sit at the tables or sports betting and drink while family is watching shows and eating. Lots of family fun!
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Dang, Irvine dropped down to number 5.
https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-places-to-live/32619

This list is dominated by Cali cities... especially up north.

Overall Rank | City | Total Score | Emotional & Physical Well-Being | Income & Employment | Community & Environment
1 Fremont, CA 77.13 1 46 2
2 Columbia, MD 71.64 3 161 5
3 San Francisco, CA 71.15 4 1 44
4 San Jose, CA 71.00 2 6 55
5 Irvine, CA 70.38 5 16 12
6 Madison, WI 68.10 10 11 19
7 Seattle, WA 67.67 6 2 99
8 Overland Park, KS 67.46 12 54 13
9 Huntington Beach, CA 66.43 9 51 43
10 San Diego, CA 65.82 14 18 25
Click to expand...

I'm from MD, I really don't see how Columbia of all places in MD is ranked #2.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
Well, from experience, Irvine is one of the few safest places where you can find multiple pick-up basketball games any day of the week...that's fun. :)
Click to expand...
I used to play a lot at Heritage Park in the early 90s when it was a very ..mixed crowd and the competition was always good to way beyond my ability to hang. It was an awesome scene. Then one Saturday an Irvine cop was stationed at the entrance, asking for ID and informing non residents they couldn't play there. That may fly at Lacy Park in San Marino but Irvine?? I was shocked and am even more so today looking back on that blatantly racist maneuver.

How is the ethnic mix of players these days at those pickup games in Irvine?
 
@OCtoSV:

That may have been in response to some fight that involved a gun if I remember correctly.

It's very tame there usually... even today... although I don't think the Heritage Park Saturday morning game has got back to pre-Covid levels (many of them are playing at different courts, like the Great Park).

I might have played with you back in the day.

Also: Lots of fun biking and hiking trails in and around Irvine.
 
bkimxmd said:
irvinehomeowner said:
Dang, Irvine dropped down to number 5.
https://wallethub.com/edu/happiest-places-to-live/32619

This list is dominated by Cali cities... especially up north.

Overall Rank | City | Total Score | Emotional & Physical Well-Being | Income & Employment | Community & Environment
1 Fremont, CA 77.13 1 46 2
2 Columbia, MD 71.64 3 161 5
3 San Francisco, CA 71.15 4 1 44
4 San Jose, CA 71.00 2 6 55
5 Irvine, CA 70.38 5 16 12
6 Madison, WI 68.10 10 11 19
7 Seattle, WA 67.67 6 2 99
8 Overland Park, KS 67.46 12 54 13
9 Huntington Beach, CA 66.43 9 51 43
10 San Diego, CA 65.82 14 18 25
Click to expand...

I'm from MD, I really don't see how Columbia of all places in MD is ranked #2.
Click to expand...

Did a business trip to tri-state a number of years ago. Drove into Maryland and to Annopolis Naval Academy. The drive was green and beautiful tranquil. Fun, not really. The suburbs are nice but I would not rank it as #2.

Maybe, I'm just a Irvine4ava dude.
 
IHO - I bet we did if this was 91-93 timeframe as I was there almost every night and Sat. By the mid 90s once I could afford it I was playing at Sporting Club Lakeshore Towers - Thursday nights were awesome when you'd see everyone 3 hrs later at Twin Palms. Good memories. I quit hoops ~ 10 yrs ago to avoid injuries that would impact golf/surfing/snowboarding. But I sure miss it.
 
OCtoSV said:
How is the ethnic mix of players these days at those pickup games in Irvine?
Click to expand...

I forgot to answer this.

It's actually a pretty good mix. Depends on where you go... there are a few courts that are just certain Asian descent but most courts are potpourri,
 
Any survey that ranks San Fran as #3 best US city for families has to be flawed.  That's just plain ol' f'ed up.
 
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