Five Valley cities ranked among state’s most family-friendly

Most of the best- and worst-place lists (usually the worst) that Valley cities make with frequency can’t be taken very seriously, but that doesn’t stop folks from getting fired up about them.

The latest we’ve seen is from the ranking and review website Niche.com, which included five communities in Stanislaus, Merced and south San Joaquin counties among the “best towns to raise a family in California.”

Niche, founded in 2002 by Carnegie Mellon University students as CollegeProwler.com, says it uses “insight from everyday experts” to help students and families make “big life decisions. Every year, we help millions of people find their niche and thrive within it.”

The local communities making its family-friendly list include Waterford and Patterson in Stanislaus County, Escalon in San Joaquin County, and Los Banos and Merced in Merced County. Escalon was the highest ranked, at 37, with Patterson 73rd, Waterford 80th, Los Banos 83rd and Merced 85th.

The cities were ranked based on grades they were given in crime and safety, education, access to libraries, community (statistics that capture an area’s involvement and investment in the community), housing, residents ages 35 to 44 and residents 9 and younger, access to day care, and access to grocery stores.

The rankings were brought to our attention by Waterford City Manager Tim Ogden, who said in an email: “We feel Waterford has much to offer, with one of the best-rated schools in the county, access to the river and a small-town feel. We would rank Waterford much higher than 80th!”

On Facebook, The Bee asked readers to share their thoughts on the rankings. There were plenty of comments along the lines of “lol” and “what a joke,” but also residents standing up for their towns.

“Love living in Escalon!” wrote Teresa Pearce Kennedy. “Grew up here from age 6 to 20; moved away for a few years, and then moved back when I had kids. Escalon home prices are high, and we do have a cap on how many homes can be built each year to keep our town on the lower end of the population – but cannot beat the small-town feeling, the great schools, the low crime rate. It is a great place to raise a family!”

“No place is perfect,” wrote Diane Griego. “But having been born and raised in San Jose, (I) can from experience say that Patterson is heaven compared to the Bay Area.”

Merced resident Charles Reyburn said, “So we can make the top 2 most drought stricken, top 8 in most crime and top 5 most boring cities in California, but it’s a great place to raise a family.”

Waterford got love from several who live there: “I was raised here in Waterford and raised my kids here so yes it’s a good place,” “Happy to be in my town of Waterford” and “The test scores show it, Waterford has great schools!”

But others derided it as “the tweak capital of the state,” “the meth capital” or “laughable.”

“Waterford doesn’t have good schools and there’s tweakers everywhere,” wrote Alysia Ott of Atwater. “Thank goodness we moved from that place; the only one that deserves to be congratulated is Escalon.”

But Waterford resident Megan Mudd posted, “Every town has its areas that are not that great, but Waterford has a pretty good small community that is nice if you have children. Good schools and people that care. Felt much safer here than I ever did in Modesto.”

Ogden said what he liked about the Niche report “is that it uses data to compute its conclusions, not dated perceptions by a vocal minority. Those who have lived in Waterford for decades are entitled to their perceptions, but to project them as accurate today is just not accurate. Facts are stubborn things, right? And perceptions take time to change. Highest-ranked school is a fact. So are the crime stats.

“Waterford has undergone a significant metamorphosis over the last several years and is defined by so much more than a dozen tweakers whose revolving-door releases are a systematic issue of our state and county.”

Other than a couple of insults such as, “You couldn’t pay me to live in Waterford or Patterson,” the latter city was spared criticism by the Facebook posters.

“Love living in Patterson,” wrote Gabriel Perez. “Have good family and friends move here also, great to raise a small family. Made great new friends who are like my family. You have good and bad everywhere. I highly recommend people to move here. Love it!”

Patty Garcia summed up a lot of the commenting in this way: “It’s funny how there is so many people that will talk about other towns without even stepping foot in that town. I will not speak about Waterford, Los Banos, Escalon because I never have taken the time to know what the town offers. But let me tell you about Patterson. I have lived 30-plus years in Patterson and it’s a great place to raise a family, there is plenty of sports and recreational activities to do. … Our high school is top notch. Our housing authority camp is full of hardworking people. I myself grew up there and now I’m a teacher and run the soccer program that has 600 kids playing. … Patterson has its issues, but that’s like Modesto, Oakdale, Ripon and many other places. … I will leave you with a saying that was taught to me a long time ago: ‘If you have nothing good to say, then don’t say it at all.’ I love my boring town and accept the congratulations with pride!”

To read the rankings and see details of each city’s grades, go to https://local.niche.com/rankings/towns/best-places-for-families/s/california.

This story was originally published June 28, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Five Valley cities ranked among state’s most family-friendly."