Debunking the Blog Post That Says Thousand Oaks is the 2nd Snobbiest City

Over the last few days I've noticed quite a bit of buzz about a recent blog post on a real estate website called "These Are The 10 Snobbiest Mid-Sized Cities in America." The reason people have been sharing the post is that Thousand Oaks is ranked #2 on the list.

Huh? Snobby? I feel compelled to respond.

How do they define snobby? According to Merriam Webster online, a snob "is someone who tends to criticize, reject, or ignore people who come from a lower social class, have less education, etc."

But how do you actually measure this in order to to determine which cities are the "snobbiest?" The blogger chooses eight "sorts of things snobs would like." She decides that a city is snobbier if residents have higher incomes, higher home prices, more education, private schools, art galleries, performing arts and country clubs and less fast food eateries per capita.

Talk about arbitrary.

She looks at these factors only "for 100 mid-sized cities." Why just 100 cities? What is mid-sized? 50,000 people? 100,000? She doesn't say. Given there are well over 9,000 cities in the U.S., limiting yourself to just 100 is also arbitrary. From what I could gather, the 100 cities are roughly in the range of 125,000 to 210,000 residents. That leaves out cities like Beverly Hills, Calabasas and Santa Barbara. And well over 9,000 other cities.

If I were measuring snobbyness, a survey of residents would be in order. This blogger did no such thing. Fast food restaurants? Somehow out of the 100 cities on the list, Thousand Oaks ranked 16th lowest in terms of fast food eateries per capita. But the underlying data from "the 2010 Census" is not provided. I can count at least 50 fast food places in the Conejo Valley. I'd love to see her underlying data. Heck, we've got 3 McDonald's,10 Subways, 2 Chick-fil-A's. How is that snobby?

How could a city with a Chuck E. Cheese's be called the 2nd snobbiest "mid-size" city!!??And how could a city with both a Chuck E Cheese's and a Hooters be the 2nd snobbiest city?

Each of the eight factors are equally ranked. Thousand Oaks ranked 3rd out of 100 in median home price and household income. Yes, it costs a lot to live here in paradise, which means we need to earn more to pay for it. Does that make us snobbier? Fully 25% of the ranking is based on these two factors. Six of the "top 10" cities on this "snobbiest" list are in California...largely because, yes, it costs more to live here. Does that make us snobby?

One of the 8 factors is "country clubs per capita." Sheesh, most people I know have never been to the Sherwood Country Club or North Ranch Country Club. Yet we are called snobby because they are situated here.

And of course we are ranked 8th lowest in terms of percentage of residents with college degrees. Obviously more education equals snobby, right? Most college graduates I know show no signs of snobbyness. Heck, I don't think I became a snob, or snobbier, when I received my master's degree. Or maybe I did!? Hmm, I'll have to ponder that as I look for my Grey Poupon.

Movoto is a real estate website that generates traffic with nonsense posts like this one. The fact that I'm writing about it means they are doing a great job at attracting attention.

COMPILATION OF FUN LOCAL TRAILS AND HIKES IN VENTURA COUNTY

California Minimum Wage Earners to Receive 12.5% Raise on July 1, 2014

Since January 1, 2008, the minimum wage in California has been $8 per hour. Effective July 1, 2014, the minimum wage will be $9 per hour, increasing to $10 per hour on January 1, 2016.

The coming increase on July 1st represents a 12.5% increase. Wow, sounds pretty good, doesn't it!? But wait. If the minimum wage was tied to inflation, $8 in 2008 equates to $8.81 in 2014, which is pretty darn close to where it will be next month.1

If you are a California sheepherder, however, since January 1, 2008, your minimum monthly salary has been $1,422.52. This will be raised on July 1, 2014 to $1600.34 also a 12.5% increase) and to $1777.98 effective January 1, 2016. Based on a standard 2080 work year, sheepherders' miniumum wage will be $9.23 on July 1st, or 23 cents more than non-sheepherding professions. Gotta love our California laws.

The Federal minimum wage has stood at $7.25 since July 24, 2009. $7.25 in 2014 dollars equates to about $6.56 in 2009 dollars.

To learn more about California minimum wages, visit www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_minimumwage.htm. Federal minimum wage laws are at www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/minimumwage.htm.

Looking for a job that perhaps earns more than the minimum wage? Check out THIS LIST of nearly 300 employers in Ventura County and surrounding areas.

1. Calculated using Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator at www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm.

Thousand Oaks, Other Ventura County Cities Rank Among Safest in the Nation in 2012

Each year the FBI releases its annual Uniform Crime Report that compiles crime data from law enforcement agencies throughout the United States. The data includes violent crimes, consisting of murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault, and property crimes such as burglaries and thefts. Overall, the data has shown continuous improvement since 1993, with a violent crime rate that has dropped by nearly 50% in 20 years (3.87 incidents per 1,000 people last year) and property crime rate drop of 40% (28.59 incidents per 1,000 people in 2012).

Based on this FBI data, the City of Thousand Oaks recently announced that for 2012, the City was ranked the #1 safest city in California and the 4th safest city in the United States out of 279 cities with a population over 100,000. Great news! Simi Valley ranked 3rd in California (Irvine was 2nd) and 7th in the U.S. Oxnard was the 34th safest large city in the country! Nice!

But WAIT! The FBI published 2012 crime data for nearly 9,500 cities throughout the U.S. and, guess what...there are other cities in Ventura County with crime rates that are even lower than Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley!*

• Moorpark: 10.57 (total crimes per 1,000 residents)

• Fillmore: 14.51

• Camarillo: 15.28

• Thousand Oaks: 15.44

• Simi Valley: 16.24

• Santa Paula: 22.78

• Ojai: 23.01

• Oxnard: 23.16

• Port Hueneme: 24.03

• Ventura: 38.66

Overall, in 2012 the 10 cities of Ventura County had an average of 21.43 total crimes for every 1,000 residents, which is about 33% lower than California and U.S. rates. And in 2012, violent crimes stood at 2.03 occurrences for every 1,000 residents, roughly half the California and national rates. Always room for improvement but, way to go, Ventura County!

Nearby cities of Calabasas (10.71 crimes per 1,000 residents), Agoura Hills (12.00) and Westlake Village (the L.A. County side) (18.68) also fared well. Interestingly, in 2012 Santa Barbara was higher than the national average for both violent crime and property crime rates perhaps because it is such a popular tourist destination.

* The FBI cautions comparative use of this data for drawing conclusions by making direct comparisons between cities. Comparisons lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents. Keep this in mind when reviewing this data, which is summed up here for informational purposes only.

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Minimum Wage Rates in California and U.S.

On September 25th, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law AB10, providing for an increase in the California minimum hourly wage from the current $8 per hour established January 1, 2008 to $9 on July 1, 2014 and $10 on January 1, 2016.

California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement provides the following history of minimum wage rates going back to 1916, when it was 16 cents per hour:

In California, there is an exception for "learners,"who may be paid not less than 85% of the minimum wage during their first 160 hours in a job where they have no previous similar or related experience. So if you are a learner, technically you can be paid as little as $6.80 at the current $8 minimum wage level for your first four weeks of full-time employment.

And if you are a sheepherder in California, and I know most California sheepherders are CVG fans, you have your own minimum monthly salary of $1,422.52 that was set in 2008.

The current $7.25 per hour Federal minimum wage was set on July 24, 2009. There are currently 19 states with minimum wages higher than the Federal minimum wage.  California is currently tied with Massachusetts as the 7th highest minimum wage state in the country.

The top three minimum wage paying states as of 2013 are Washington ($9.19), Oregon ($8.95) and Vermont ($8.60). These states all peg their annual rate increases to inflation, which to me is kind of a no brainer. Only 10 states do so.

There are currently four states, Georgia ($5.15), Wyoming ($5.15), Minnesota ($5.25) and Arkansas ($6.25), with minimum wages lower than the Federal minimum. However, the higher of the state or Federal rate applies...unless you work at a business with under $500,000 in annual revenue that is not involved in interstate commerce.

The City of San Francisco has the highest minimum wage rate in the country, at $10.55 per hour, fully 15% higher than in the state of Washington. And San Francisco increases its minimum wage rate for inflation each year. The city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is on SF's heels with its "Living Wage" rate of $10.51 that was established March 1, 2013 and is also adjusted for inflation each year.

I think that's probably about all you could ever want to know at this point about minimum wages. If your goal is to find a job in and around Ventura County that earns MORE than minimum wage, then perhaps you should check out the Local Jobs section of CVG and review these resume submission tips.

Burger King Introduces SATISFRIES™ Reduced Fat, Reduced Calorie French Fries

Image courtesy of Burger KingYesterday, Burger King introduced a new french fry called SATISFRIES™ that have "40% less fat and 30% fewer calories than the leading French fries." Although I'm not a big fast food consumer, this caught my attention!

What do they consider "the leading French fry?" That would be McDonald's. I found that to be slightly odd that they are using the competition as the reference point rather than their own fries. But that's ok. I'll go with it.

Burger King claims that 70 grams of SATISFRIES™ has 6.3 grams of fat as compared to 11.2 grams of fat in 70 grams of McDonald's fries. Similarly, there are 150.5 calories in 70 grams of SATISFRIES™ as compared to 226.8 calories in 70 grams of McDonald's fries.

How do they do it make a French fry with less fat? According to Burger King,"Just like most French fry recipes, SATISFRIES™ are made with thinly battered real whole potatoes. The difference is that the SATISFRIES™ recipe ensures that the French fries absorb less oil – only enough to keep each great tasting crinkle crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside." Basically a new batter that keeps more oil from saturating inside the fry. Interesting concept.

Burger King is asking folks to post their own S pictures on Instagram, some of which are shown at www.bk.com/en/us/satisfries.html.

How do SATISFRIES™ compare to Burger King's own French fries? A small order of SATISFRIES™ is 270 calories, 70 calories, or about 20% less calories than in its standard fries. A small order of SATISFRIES™ has 11 grams of fat as compared to 15 grams in its standard fries, or about 27% less fat.

So let's see how this adds up. If God forbid you normally eat one small order of Burger King French fries each week, with the exception of say Christmas week and Thankgiving week, and decide to switch to the new SATISFRIES™, over the course of a year you would eat 3,500 less calories. According to www.howmanycaloriesinapound.com, there are 3,500 calories in one pound. So switching to SATISFRIES™ equals 1 less pound of body weight in a year. If you're looking to lose weight, perhaps a better approach would be to swap out your fries for the apple slices that Burger King offers up.

Visit www.bk.com for more information.

Ventura County Schools in U.S. News 2013 Ranking of Nation's Top High Schools

This past April, U.S. News & World Report published its 4th ranking of the nation's best public high schools. The study covered nearly 22,000 public high schools across the country.

Schools again were ranked based on: (1) how well students tested in state-level reading and math proficiency, factoring in disadvantaged students, who tend to score lower on tests; and (2) college readiness, based on how well schools prepare students for college-level work via Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) programs.

The median college readiness, measured on a scale of 0 to 100, was 14.8 (it was 16.3 in 2012). A readiness index of 100 means that all 12th graders took and passed at least 1 AP or IB test. (More on the methodology)

There were 2,039 California high schools and nearly 2 million students enrolled during the 2010-2011 survey period. To be ranked in California, schools must receive either a gold (top 500 nationally) or silver (top 501 to 2,290 nationally) medal. 501 Callifornia schools received gold or silver medals.

Rankings of local high schools in the Conejo Valley, Ventura County and adjacent areas and summarized in the table below. There were 15 local schools that received gold or silver medal status and thus were ranked nationally and in California.

We compared the 2013 rankings and ratings with those published last year. I will say once again that I find the ranking methodolgy to be perplexing. For example, Royal High has college readiness and academic performance scores of 21.3 and 775 and was not nationally ranked, yet Fillmore High and Buena High received lower scores, and were nationally ranked. Why? Because the national rankings use "risk adjusted" indices to factor in an "achievement gap" of disadvantaged/minority students. So do take that into account when reviewing the information.

Foothill Technology High School in Ventura leaped to the top spot in local area rankings and 38th in the state of California, driven by a 22% jump in college readiness scores. Westlake High stayed steady while Malibu High dropped from 1st to 3rd in the rankings due to a drop in college readiness...though still a solid 74th in the state!

Oak Park High showed a huge improvement in college readiness that boosted its ranking to 75th in California! Calabasas High narrowly missed the top 100. The overall mean scores for the 23 schools on this list improved from a year ago, from 28.3 to 30.1 in college readiness and 794 to 803 in academic performance. Way to go, local students!

While the rankings and underlying detailed information are interesting and informative, before coming to any conclusions, do check out the detailed school information available at www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/california.

You May be Eligible to Receive a Rebate for Apple In-App Purchases Made by Your Kids

Apple was sued recently by a group of plaintiffs who claimed Apple was at fault for their kids' in-app purchases on Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Apple did not admit fault, but opted to settle the litigation by offering up a rebate for certain in-app purchases.

To receive a rebate (subject to court approval of the settlement in the fall), you must prove that, before May 2, 2013, a minor purchased in-app items on games like Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Temple Run and a host of other game apps in your iTunes account without your knowledge or permission and you did not receive a refund from Apple for the charges.

I can relate to this issue. My kids got ahold of my 1st generation iPad a few years ago and began playing games like those mentioned above. It was all fun and good for awhile, until I began receiving emails from iTunes about various purchases. I thought maybe my iTunes account was hacked. I asked my wife, "who's buying stuff from iTunes?" She didn't know. Then l logged in to discover my youngest was buying virtual items via in-app purchases in the game. He didn't realize he was spending my money, to the tune of over $100.

My boys apparently enjoyed Battle Bears a bit TOO much with these in-app purchases.

I was able to get a refund for most of these "inadvertent" purchases from Apple and I also learned how to block in-app purchases made without use of a password. Learn more about Apple parental controls at support.apple.com/kb/HT4213.

But in the meantime, Apple is contacting iTunes customers to let them know about this proposed settlement. To learn if you are eligible, visit www.iTunesInAppPurchaseSettlement.com (catchy URL, eh?) for details.

If you are eligible for a settlement and the settlement is approved by the court, Apple will give you either a $5 iTunes Store credit or an iTunes Store credit totaling all unapproved charges made to your account within a single 45-day period by your kid. Ouch, for some that might be a pretty large amount! If your claim exceeds $30, or if you no longer have an iTunes account, you can opt for a cash refund.

The big winners in all of this may be the attorneys...the judge has approved $1.3 million from Apple for attorney fees and costs.  And the five Class Represenatives, or plaintiffs, will each receive a $1,500 payment from Apple.