TOP REASONS FOR OPTIMISM IN 2011

By Miriam Raftery

December 29, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) –Good news often gets overlooked by the media amid headlines blaring the latest catastrophic news. We’ve scoured the globe to bring you the most important news trends that give reason for optimism in the coming year.

1. Suicide attacks are down: According to the Dept. of Homeland Security the number of suicide attacks from 2009 to 2010 fell from 299 to 121 – and the number of lives lost dropped from 3,177 to 1,270. That continues a two-year trend, since numbers in 2008 were significantly higher than 2009 or 2010.

2. World hunger has fallen: The United Nations reports that the number of malnourished people worldwide fell in 2010 for the first time in 15 years, due partly to poorer nations experiencing economic growth. But 925 million people remain undernourished, hungry for reforms.
 

3. Foreclosure rates are down: Foreclosure filings nationwide were down 21 percent in November from the previous month and down 14.4 percent from the year before. It's the largest drop in more than five years, according to RealtyTrac 's U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. While much of that may be due to a freeze because of the robo-signing scandal, in California, the improvement is even more dramatic. In California, where one in every 233 homeowners faces foreclosure, the foreclosure rate in November 2010 fell 13.68% from October—and a whopping 22.46% from November 2009.

4. CleanTech jobs are growing: San Diego County is emerging as one of the most successful clean-tech centers on the planet. San Diego’s Clean-Tech Cluster is now ranked number 7 in the world by Sustainable World Capital, a green investment firm. Over 250 clean-tech companies are now located here, thanks to commitments made by local government and entrepreneurs. Local companies are developing algae-based diesel fuel for jets and making ATM machines that let you recycle used electronic devices for cash. San Diego has attracted $445 million in venture capital in the past 5 years for clean-tech businesses—and is projected to add 5,400 to 27,000 more jobs in the near future, a report by San Diego Foundation finds. Many of those are jobs that also pay well: $20 to $30 an hour, in many cases—all good news for our local economy.

5. Medical advances: Here are some of the top medical breakthroughs of 2010, in case you missed this news: bionic eyes for the blind have successfully been tested in humans, a new vaccine has delayed the onset of Diabetes in mice, cheap insulin from safflowers engineered to contain human genes, use of fat cells to regrow breasts after a mastectomy proved effective in pigs, and scientists have made strides towards developing an AIDS vaccine.

6. Crime is down: San Diego has the third lowest violent crime rate among all U.S. cities with populations over half a million people. On a CQ Press rating of the 400 most dangerous cities in America, San Diego ranked 221. El Cajon ranked 194 (an improvement from 178 the prior year), and East County’s other cities –La Mesa and Santee—were so safe that they didn’t even make the list. The list doesn’t count petty crimes such as purse snatchings, but when it comes to violent crimes, we’re living in one of the safest urban areas in the nation.

7. Drought Relief: As of late December, the Sierra Snowpack measured nearly double the normal depth for this time of year. Runoff from the Sierra is an important water source. Local reservoirs are also nearly full from the December rains. While it’s still early in the winter rainy season, some easing of watering restrictions may be on the horizon in 2011—and possibly even a reduction in water rates.

8. Chinese New Year rings in on Feb. 3 with the Year of the Rabbit: According to www.YearoftheRabbit.info, the coming year is forecast to be “a peaceful year, very much welcomed and desired after the fierce year of the Tiger.”