The City of Santa Clara has been recognized with an A-minus ranking for kid-friendliness in a recently released report, which examines the quality of the lives of children in American cities. The report is compiled and released by Zero Population Growth, Inc., a national nonprofit organization "working to slow population growth and achieve a sustainable balance between the Earth's people and its resources." Santa Clara continuously participates in studies of this nature and responds to surveys and requests for information to assist in our benchmarking of Santa Clara's programs, services and quality of life.

Of the 239-cities studied, other cities in our region also ranked included San Jose (received a "B" ranking in the Major Cities ranking category), Sunnyvale (received a "A"), and Fremont (which also received the A-minus ranking). Indicators used for the ranking include population, health, education, public safety, economics, environment, and other issues which have the largest impacts on the quality of children's lives.