US News & World Report finds Mission Viejo is one of the Top 10 communities in America for political involvement by its residents. It cited the City as a “particularly healthy” place for political activity.
The survey found places where residents have the greatest interest in political affairs, noting it was often more common where there is a strong diversity of opinion. The report stated:
Other important factors that play into political participation are the quality of education in a community and the level of incomes. Cities on this list tend to be more educated and well off than nearby cities or the country as a whole. They also tend to be residential suburbs of cities with service-based economies. Those characteristics lead to greater political interest not only because wealthier people with children tend to care more about public affairs. Such interest also stems from the fact that prosperous, tight-knit communities are natural breeding grounds for political activity.
“Residents of these cities tend to have plenty of contact with their neighbors and the time and leisure to act on political interests.” according to Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate at American University.
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My guess is that having a very dysfunctional city council, like Mission Viejo, helps to stimulate community involvement.
Good for Us!
My initial reaction was happiness at the recognition of activism in Mission Viejo, as demonstrated by the Dispatch, but I wonder. US News did not specify how it arrived at its list. Mission Viejo is affluent and politically active, for sure, but Laguna Niguel was also listed. It seems to be a fairly well run city that has set aside reserves for a new city hall and civic center as opposed to Mission Viejo going into deep debt and depleting general fund reserves for its gilt-edged city hall and library. Maybe politically active means general and not necessarily related to city hall.
We should keep in mind a lot of the “Best of” lists are very arbitrary and poorly researched. For example, when Mission Viejo wanted to revamp La Paz and Marguerite as Brea did with its downtown, I made two trips up north and found the new downtown virtually empty despite incessant Register hype. It didn’t stop Sunset Magazine from glamourizing downtown Brea with a story quoting city brass and a tight photo of a couple of isolated shoppers on a Sunday afternoon, rather than a pan shot of empty sidewalks.
I contend the L-word for the media is “lazy” more-so than “liberal.”