By now you’ve probably read about David Shoutyh Hwang and Sheila Sikat, the newlywed couple from Rancho Santa Margarita, CA who were recently charged with multiple counts of sexual molestation and a single count of torture of an adult, all captured on videotape. Between this high profile case, last year’s kidnap-murder of Samantha Runnion, and the more recent attack on a group of Marines in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County probably doesn’t look like a very safe place to be.

In fact, Orange County as a whole is an extremely low-crime area. Rancho Santa Margarita, where Mrs. Xrlq and I reside, is one of the safest neighborhoods in the country, if not the world. I lock the doors out of habit, but only because I’ve lived most of my life in areas where crime was a much bigger problem than it is here. Indeed, the people who sold us our house told us they were only aware of one crime in the neighborhood during the entire time they had lived here. That crime consisted of a teenager, apparently from outside the area, who smoked a joint in his parked car.

So if you are thinking of moving to Orange County, especially the southern half (read: almost anywhere in the 949 area code), don’t let stories like these three scare you away. By singling out the 949 area of Orange County, I intend no sleight to my brethren in the north. I have nothing against 714 people. Some of my best friends live in the 714 area code. I had that area code myself back in college. Seriously, though, there are plenty of areas in the 714 area that are every bit as nice as South County. Take, for example, Brea, Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills, and Huntington Beach (which Dana Rohrabacher represents). However, 714 territory also incldues some pretty sketchy areas, such as Stanton, Santa Ana and Garbage Garden Grove (which Loretta Brixey Sanchez represents). The worst neighborhood I’ve encountered in the 949 area is Lake Forest, a.k.a. El Toro, which is really not that bad. A bit 1970s-tacky, perhaps, but hardly a place I’d be afraid of visiting at night.

Think of it this way: the arrest of serial killer Richard Ramirez came as a huge relief to everyone, but did not make a statistical dent in the homicide rate, let alone the overall crime rate, of the greater Los Angeles area. I like to think that Rancho Santa Margarita’s crime rate just plummeted as a result of the recent arrest of two of its allegedly sickest members, but perhaps I’m being overly optimistic here. Only time will tell.

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