KID-FRIENDLY T.O. SUITS FAMILIES; STUDY SHOWS CITY PLACES HIGHLY ON ISSUES GOVERNING QUALITY OF LIFE.Byline: Gloria Gonzales / Daily News Staff Writer Good schools, low crime rates, high incomes and clean air make Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. and Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. great places for children to grow up, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a study released Tuesday by the Washington D.C.-based Zero Population Growth. The two Ventura County cities ranked 14th and 15th, respectively, out of 219 cities analyzed by researchers at the nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. dedicated to controlled population growth. Oxnard, which ranked 109, was the only other Ventura County city included in the analysis. The 219 cities range from No. 219 - Gary, Ind., a former steel town now plagued by crime and pollution - to top-ranked Naperville, Ill., a middle-class Chicago suburb boasting high incomes and low high school dropout (1) On magnetic media, a bit that has lost its strength due to a surface defect or recording malfunction. If the bit is in an audio or video file, it might be detected by the error correction circuitry and either corrected or not, but if not, it is often not noticed by the human rates. Ventura County parents, children and city leaders were pleasantly surprised by the rankings, although all had considered their cities family-friendly long before the release of the study. ``It's something the city has worked on. The goal in Thousand Oaks has always been to create a family-friendly atmosphere,'' said Mayor Judy Lazar. ``People move here for that reason and for all the things that are good for kids . . . a strong school system, lots of open space, plenty of recreational facilities Noun 1. recreational facility - a public facility for recreation recreation facility facility, installation - a building or place that provides a particular service or is used for a particular industry; "the assembly plant is an enormous facility" and safe streets.'' Both Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks had low crime rates, low high school dropout rates, low unemployment, high median incomes and low juvenile crime rates. For example, both cities have unemployment rates of 6.2 to 6.5 percent, compared with Gary's 13.6 percent rate. In Gary, 42.9 percent of children live in poverty, and 28.3 percent of teens become pregnant. In Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, 3.4 and 4.3 percent of children live in poverty, respectively, and 5.9 and 4.2 percent of teens become pregnant. ``It's a great place for kids,'' said Vanessa Haney of Simi Valley, as she shopped with her 5-year-old son, Dylan. ``There is none of the blight blight, general term for any sudden and severe plant disease or for the agent that causes it. The term is now applied chiefly to diseases caused by bacteria (e.g., bean blights and fire blight of fruit trees), viruses (e.g., soybean bud blight), fungi (e.g. you see in downtown L.A. - no adult stores, no gangs. There are parks and residential areas and good schools.'' Researchers used statistics in 15 areas and combined them to create an index dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. the Children's Environmental Health Index. The highest possible index, or highest ranking, is 10 and the lowest is 1. Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks had indexes measured at 8.16 and 8.28, respectively. ``We had planned to move here when we started a family,'' said Jeanie Oldenburg, 30, who moved to Simi Valley soon before the birth of her son. ``We lived in Burbank, and it's a nice city if you're going to live in the Valley. But we wanted to move to a family-oriented neighborhood in an area with good schools.'' Oldenburg shopped with her sister at Kmart on Tuesday, her 6-month-old son, Chad, on her hip. ``I feel like here, we'll be able to let him play out in the front yard when he older, without having to worry,'' the new mother said. In turn, concerned parents and strong schools and communities help young people avoid the minefields of teen pregnancy and incomplete high school educations. ``The quality of life available for a child in Simi Valley is so high,'' said Linda White '''Linda Marie[1] White''' was Alpha Kappa Alpha's twenty-sixth International President, who served from 2002 to 2006. She was born in Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in political science from Clark College, and attained a Master of Arts in political , executive director of the Simi Valley Boys and Girls boys and girls mercurialisannua. Club. ``The community, the schools, plus all the youth groups, athletic leagues, family services - and the family-centered neighborhoods - all make this a great place to raise a child.'' A community's vigilance helps keep communities ``kid friendly,'' said Brian Dixon Brian Dixon can refer to:
``I remind people that Naperville, Ill., the No. 1-ranked city, is about an hour's drive away from Gary, Ind., the city with the lowest ranking,'' Dixon said. ``Not long ago, a city like Gary was a bustling bus·tle 1 intr. & tr.v. bus·tled, bus·tling, bus·tles To move or cause to move energetically and busily. n. Excited and often noisy activity; a stir. and thriving place, a good place to live. ``Even the highly ranked cities can work on improving, and can learn by looking at what has happened in these urban centers,'' he said. ``If not, in 10 years, will people in these suburbs be asking themselves whether they have to move another 10 miles west?'' CHILDREN`S ENVIRONMENT Zero Population Growth's Children's Environmental Index ranked 219 cities with populations of more than 100,000 using 15 indicators of children's well-being. They were combined to create a single numerical score ranging from 1 at the low end and 10 at the high end. Thousand Oaks' overall score is 8.28, while Simi Valley's score is 8.16, with the cities ranking 14th and 15th, respectively. Here's how the cities scored in the 15 categories. Category Simi Valley Thousand Oaks Infant mortality rate infant mortality rate n. The ratio of the number of deaths in the first year of life to the number of live births occurring in the same population during the same period of time. 6.2 deaths 6.2 deaths per 1,000 births per 1,000 births Percentage low birth weight infants 5.4 percent 5.4 percent Percentage teen births 5.9% 4.2% Family practice/general practice physicians per 1,000 3.14 3.14 Student/teacher ratio 25.2 to 1 26.8 to 1 Percentage of high school drop-outs 9.2% 5.2% Unemployment rate 6.5% 6.2% Percentage of children living in poverty 3.4% 4.3% Median annual family income $56,756 $62,641 Violent crimes per 1,000 2 2 Property crimes per 1,000 25 23 Juvenile arrests per 1,000 1 1.8 Number of bad air days 31 31 Lbs. of toxic releases per 1,000 7 0 Toxic sites listed on EPA's National Priorities list 0 0 CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Chart PHOTO (1--color--ran in Conejo edition only) Megan Anderson carries her son, Logan, 4, while pushing her daughter, Lacey lac·ey adj. Variant of lacy. , 20 months, front, and nephew Carl Engstrom, 16 months, in Newbury Park on Tuesday. (2--color--ran in Simi edition only) Eleven-year-old Brendon Hoover catches massive air Tuesday afternoon off a ramp at in-line skate camp in Rancho ran·cho n. pl. ran·chos Southwestern U.S. 1. A hut or group of huts for housing ranch workers. 2. A ranch. Tapo Community Park. Tina Gerson/Daily News CHART: CHILDREN`S ENVIRONMENT (see text) SOURCE: Zero Population Growth |
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