ORANGE COUNTY’S BIGGEST PROBLEM

Orange County has become a place dominated by two major problems--traffic congestion and development. Half the county’s residents name traffic as the most important problem while another quarter point to population growth and development. Both concerns have been growing steadily since 1985.

While traffic is clearly the dominant of the two, growth takes a greater toll on perceptions of the quality of life in the county now and what residents think will happen in the future. Among those who consider growth the major problem, 21% say things are going badly now; just 8% of those who cite traffic agree. Similarly, 73% of those who think growth is the big headache believe Orange County will become a worse place to live in the future. The comparable figure among those who name traffic----50%.

ORANGE COUNTY’S BIGGEST PROBLEM

Problem Percentage Traffic congestion, transportation 50% Population growth, development 23 Immigration 8 Housing 6 Crime 6 AIDS 5 All others 2 TOTAL 100%

Source: 1987 Orange County Annual Survey by Mark Baldassare, UCI. % NAMING TRAFFIC, GROWTH BY HOUSEHOLD INCOME

Traffic Population Congestion/ Growth/ Household Income: Transportation Development More than $80,000 52% 28% $80,000-$66,000 61 20 $65,999-$50,001 54 25 $50,000-$36,000 59 16 $35,999-$25,000 43 25 $Less than $25,000 41 23

%NAMING TRAFFIC, GROWTH BY REGION

Traffic Population Congestion/ Growth/ Region Transportation Development North 52% 19% West 46 27 Central 39 22 South 58 26

Regions include: North: Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Orange, Placentia, Vill Park, Yorba Linda Central: Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, Tustin, Tustin Foothills West: Cypress, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Midway City, Rossmoor, Stanton, Seal Beach, Westminster South: Capistrano Beach, Dana Point, El Toro, Emerald Bay, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Silverado, South Laguna Source: 1987 Orange County Annual Survey by Mark Baldassare, UCI. % NAMING TRAFFIC OR GROWTH AS MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM 1985: 46% 1986: 58% 1987: 73% Source: 1987 Orange County Annual Survey by Mark Baldassare, UCI. MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM 1985 Traffic: 33% Growth: 13% 1986 Traffic: 38% Growth: 20% 1987 Traffic: 50% Growth: 23% QUALITY OF LIFE, PRESENT AND FUTURE Worse Place to Live Traffic: 50% Growth: 73% Going Badly Traffic: 8% Growth: 21%