HOT PROPERTY: Safe cities and cleaner air...

HOT PROPERTY: Safe cities and cleaner air are among the reasons Ventura County is such a desirable place to buy a home. . . . “I think Ventura County has always been a great place to live, and it continues to be very popular,” said Mary Hall, president-elect of the Conejo Valley Board of Realtors. . . . Residential real estate sales jumped 5.4% in 1993 from 1992, a sign that the market may be pulling out of a slump.

BIG TOP: Fillmore merchants displaced by last month’s earthquake are scheduled this week to move into a big tent erected in a downtown park. The tent will house 11 merchants until they can rebuild or relocate. But that may take awhile. . . . It took three years to relocate businesses housed in tents after a 1989 earthquake ravaged Santa Cruz. “We look back and laugh that we thought it might take six months or even a year,” said Patricia Calvert of Santa Cruz’s downtown association. “And there’s still a lot of people struggling.”

PRIVATE LESSONS: There is no marching band or Friday night football at La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks. Just a no-nonsense approach to discipline and academics (B6). . . . The Catholic school--the only all-girls school in the county--recently beat out 14 other Ventura County schools to win its third mock trial championship. . . . “You can become something here, where you might be swallowed up in a school of 2,000,” English teacher Betsy Potts said.

RADIO WAVES: A radio campaign, airing on 22 stations statewide, including Oxnard-based KCAQ, is trying to reach young adults in need of advice and care on family planning matters. . . . “The campaign lets people know that there is a caring, low-cost, confidential resource that can help them prevent unintentional pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases,” said Lynne Barnett of the state Office of Family Planning. . . . Since the radio spots started airing earlier this month, more than 1,200 calls a week have come in to the office’s toll-free information line.

Owner-Occupied

Percentage of owner-occupied housing units in Southern California counties: Riverside: 67.3% Ventura: 65.4% San Bernardino: 63.3% Orange: 60.0% Kern: 59.3% Santa Barbara: 54.7% San Diego: 53.8% Los Angeles: 48.1% Source: U.S. Census