Best City to Live In

1. Irvine

cityofirvine.org

There are plenty of reasons why more than 300,000 people call Irvine home. The city boasts more than 17,000 businesses and 275,000 jobs across a wide variety of industries. For 16 years in a row, it’s been ranked as the safest U.S. city with a population of over 250,000, based on FBI data.

Irvine also has consistently drawn praise for its park system. There are 22 community parks and 40 neighborhood parks and 141 athletic fields in the city, plus more than 400 miles of on and off-street bike trails. It’s also home to Great Park, for which 200 acres of a planned 1,300-acre space have already been developed. In addition, despite decades of development, there are still tens of thousands of acres of native habitat cared for by Irvine Ranch Conservancy and its partners.

It’s a city that’s earned accolades for its commitment to the environment, which is demonstrated through its Green Business program, which offers assistance to those businesses wanting to improve their sustainability, the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan that it began to develop last year and its efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030.

The city also boasts that it has the largest amount of affordable housing in Orange County. Of the 4,853 units of affordable housing that currently exist, 80% are for those who earn less than half of the county’s median income.

PAUL BERSEBACH, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER People ride scooters past the balloon at the Great Park in Irvine, voted best city to live in.

— Liz Ohanesian

2. Costa Mesa

costamesaca.gov

“I think Costa Mesa has more variety and more attractions than really any, any city that I’m aware of,” says Mayor John Stephens.

The “City of the Arts” is home to Segerstrom Center for the Arts, South Coast Repertory, Noguchi Sculpture Garden and Costa Mesa Playhouse, as well as Pacific Amphitheater and other music venues. Orange County Museum of Art will christen its new venue on the Segerstrom campus on Oct. 8 with a free, 24-hour grand opening.

Costa Mesa is also a shopping destination, where you can peruse designer boutiques at South Coast Plaza, head over to The Lab to stock up on zero waste products at Eco Now or dig for vinyl at Port of Sound Record Shoppe before grabbing lunch or dinner at one of the city’s many beloved restaurants.

But, there’s more to Costa Mesa than the activities. “It’s a very supportive community,” says Stephens, mentioning their First In-Family program for students who are the first in their family to attend college. There’s also the city’s attention to infrastructure — it has redone all of its alleyways over the past decade — as well as its new library and community center and highly staffed public safety departments.

“There’s a lot going on in Costa Mesa,” Stephens says.

Mayor Wendy Bucknum describes Mission Viejo as a family-friendly city and there are a lot of reasons for that. For one, it’s ranked as one of SafeWise’s safest cities in California. Its also has multi-generational appeal. Between the city library, local arts and culture programming and Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Center, says Bucknum, “there’s lots of activities geared towards our 55 and better population.”

Youth sports and parks are plentiful. It’s home to the Mission Viejo Nadadores swim school team, which maintains the Marguerite Aquatic Center and has had swimmers compete in every Olympics since 1968.

Mission Viejo also has its own animal services department with a nokill shelter and a large volunteer group, DAWG, that supports animal welfare.

“The volunteerism in Mission Viejo is amazing,” Bucknum says, “and the love of the city by the residents, and the pride, is something to behold.”

3. Mission Viejo

cityofmissionviejo.org