Long Beach ranked amongst the worst cities for families
A study done by WalletHub, a social media and finance site, placed Long Beach city amongst one of the worst places to raise a family.
The survey ranked Long Beach 209th out of 240 cities within California considering four major categories at 25 points each:
family life and fun, education, health and safety, and, affordability and socioeconomic environment. Long Beach had a total score of 43.3.
In most categories, Long Beach ranked well below average. The city ranked 100th for families with children younger than the age of 18, 137th for quality of school system and 201st for median family salary (adjusted for cost of living).
In other findings, Long Beach ranked poorly on the following:
Number of playgrounds: 143rd
High school graduation rate: 186th
Unemployment rate: 189th
Percentage of families below poverty level: 191st
Violent-crime rate per capita: 193rd
Housing affordability: 215th
Divorce rate: 220th
Data in this research was obtained from the U.S. Census, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the FBI, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Renwood RealtyTrac LLC, and websites such as: SchoolDigger.com, Yelp, Tripadvisor, and Wallethub research.
Recent resident David Loza, 30, disagreed with the results by saying, “There are many factors that can be reviewed to determine California’s best cities. I don’t believe divorce rates and playgrounds with close proximity determine the city as good or bad. What this research forgot to mention is that cities that are closer to the beach are a magnet for young adults and families. Who wouldn’t want to live near the beach, you know? Besides, Long Beach has the Queen Mary, Shoreline Village, and other awesome attractions. As a matter of fact, I can foresee Long Beach becoming a Venice Beach in the near future.”
Folsom, a city notorious for the Folsom State Prison just about 30 miles away from Sacramento, ranked best place to raise a family with a total score of 77.91.
“Well yeah, it makes sense for Folsom to be the best city to live in. But what if there’s a major prison break? Don’t they have some pretty bad guys locked up over there? I’m sure in that scenario it would be dead last.” Loza said.
The city of Long Beach prides itself for being one of the most affordable beaches with historical attractions and landmarks.
Kerry Gerot, spokeswoman for Long Beach City said in a statement, “we find it hard to take serious a for-profit financial services corporation that is looking to create news to sell loans and insurance. We are very proud of what Long Beach has to offer families and we believe our residents would agree. Long Beach has been recently recognized nationally for its award-winning school district, award-winning parks, and our city is currently experiencing our lowest unemployment rate since 2008.”
Louis Velasquez, a father of two said, “I would definitely continue raising my family in Long Beach because I see there’s diversity throughout the city and I would love to instill certain types of values in my children of being equal with different ethnic groups. But as far as low high school graduate rate, I believe that’s the parents’ role to not only influence but also encourage them to continue their education, not the city’s.”
While there are many factors that determine what city is the safest, the interviewees agreed that there is no substantial evidence to determine which is best or worse for family life.
Surrounding cities such as Cerritos at 68th, Lakewood at 91st, and Downey 157th ranked respectfully higher than Long Beach on the chart. Paramount followed closely at 216th while Huntington Park marked the lowest at 240th.
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