I saw the best minds of my generations getting the hell out of Orange County the moment they turned 18 or realized that Yorba Linda is still among us. Colonies of talented OCers exist across the U.S., with Austin, San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, and Portland being the ones most of the people I know who left now live.
Maybe it's because I'm a coffin dodger now, but I thought that trend had finally finished, that young naranjeros were finally being like us lunatics and deciding to fight in the belly of the OC beast instead of bouncing for progressive paradise. Shows how much I know: U.S. Census figures shows that we've lost over 50,000 residents in the 18-44 age range, making us age at a faster rate than California or the nation. And a bunch of Brave New Urbanists want your ideas to help stop this.
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Late last month, something called the Urban Land Institute launched MyPlaceOC, a website that seeks the ideas of young people to make OC cooler for them.
“While some may view this departure from OC as anecdotal, or merely a 'phase' where young people will 'eventually come back to settle down', data shows us we are not bucking this trend,” said Phyllis Alzamora, Executive Director, ULI Orange County/Inland Empire. “This trend will impact the quality of life in communities in Orange County. It is great to see that the media, school administration, health care, planning officials and the non-profit sector are finally joining in the conversation about this issue.”
I'm skeptical of the group, because they gave Don Bren an award–and anyone who hails Satan offends my religious beliefs. But they did survey 1,649 participants–yet, by their own press release, “the average participant profile is 38-year old female from Irvine and Newport Beach areas.”
What?! What do they know about young people? All that demographic wants is to hang out at Gulfstream and snag a sugar daddy–don't you read our listicles?
Email: ga*******@oc******.com. Twitter: @gustavoarellano.
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