City, Orange County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 92708, 92728
Compact
bedroom community built on flat land between Santa Ana and Huntington Beach.
Solid suburban middle-class address. Built out. Added about 1,300 residents in
the 1990s. Population 57,925. www.mccormacks.com
Median age
of residents is 38. About 27 percent are under age 21. Mature family town with
many empty nesters.
Proud of
being a planned community at the beginning of its modern era. Well-rounded
complement of city services.
Click for regional or detailed map
Large
urban park, called Mile Square because it’s just that. Second golf course, 18
holes, opened at the park in 2001. Park was recently expanded by 23 acres for
more playing fields.
Served by
Fountain Valley and Ocean View Elementary districts, Garden Grove Unified
School District and Huntington Beach High School district.
Rankings
are difficult to break out because kids from outside Fountain Valley may be
included. Scores at Fountain Valley High, compared to school statewide, are
generally in the 80th and 90th percentiles. Fulton Middle School often wins the
county academic pentathlon. See Schools. www.mccormacks.com
The
Fountain Valley Elementary District is spending about $30 million to modernize
its schools. Most of the work was done in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, Huntington
High district passed a $238 million bond to fix its schools.
In 2005,
the Fountain Valley district sold closed schools to raise money for salaries
and programs. Complicated deal that ran into opposition, especially over
playing fields at schools. Several of the fields were saved for sports.
Overall
crime rate low. One homicide in 2005, zero in 2004, 2003 and 2002, one each in
2001, 2000 and 1999, two in 1998, zero in 1997 and 1996, one in 1995, and for
preceding years, one, three, zero, two, zero, one and one. See Crime.
The state
in 2008 counted 18,785 housing units, of which 12,393 were single detached,
2,200 single attached, 3,794 multiples and 398 mobile homes. Housing units are
divided 75 percent owner occupied, 25 percent rentals. www.mccormacks.com
Back in
1957, when Fountain Valley had fewer than 400 homes, it incorporated as a city.
This gave local residents, not the county government, control over planning and
development.
City
leaders, many of them farmers, knew that growth was inevitable so they drew up
a master plan to build in accordance with local wishes. Following this plan,
Fountain Valley built about 40 percent of its current housing stock in the
1960s and 42 percent in the 1970s. Then as empty land dried up, housing starts
dropped. In the 1980s, the city built about 1,900 units. In the 1990s, housing
starts fell to about 800 units.
All cities
plan. The difference is one of degree. Modern “planned” cities decide in
advance where parks, schools and shopping clusters will be located. They pay
close attention to traffic movement and try to shield residential streets from
arterial traffic, which is usually faster and heavier.
Like
Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley divided its city into squares surrounded by
walls. Inside the walls are the housing tracts, one and two stories, three and
four bedrooms. In single homes, the four-bedroom unit is the most popular.
Also
within each square is usually a park or a school or both. This gives the kids a
place to play and serves as a unifying force for the neighborhood. Evening
strolls or jogs will often lead past or through the park. Picnics and birthdays
will be celebrated there. Block parties are popular. Clean city. Homes, condos
and apartments well-maintained. Lawns mowed, shrubs and trees planted and
trimmed. Apartments near the freeway. www.mccormacks.com
Seventeen
parks, movie complex, bowling alley, recreation center. New seniors center
opened in 2005; has computer and meeting rooms and an art studio and serves hot
meals. Coastline Community
College. Ocean and beaches only a few miles away. Every spring, parents and
volunteers host baseball tournament that draws about 1,200 players and 115
teams.
Mile
Square is an urban park with playing fields, tennis and basketball courts,
picnic grounds, trails, two golf courses. Impressive. Boys and Girls Club.
According to newspaper, the state recommends that cities set aside three acres
of park per 1,000 residents. Fountain Valley has 12 acres per 1,000.
In 2007
the city is opening a performing arts center in converted movie theater that
closed years ago.
Two
medical centers, Coast Memorial and Fountain Valley Regional. Costco. Fry's
Electronics. Furniture stores on the east side. Some high-tech firms, including
Kingston.
Interstate
405 cuts across Fountain Valley. Four access points to freeway. Commute rail in nearby Santa Ana.
There's talk of widening Interstate 5. www.mccormacks.com
Chamber of
commerce (714) 668-0542.
• Every
year they get fewer but as of 2005, there were about 40 acres of strawberries
within city limits.
• About 20
acres of Mile Square Park are being converted into the campground that will be
made available to groups such as the Girl Scouts, the Boy Scouts and the YMCA.
• Orange
Coast Medical Center wants to add a seven-story building to replace three small
buildings. Hospital says patient numbers, especially elderly, are increasing.
• City
council in 2007 passed ordinance setting limits on home expansions. Some
residents had complained about monster homes being built on small lots.
City web
site: www.fountainvalley.org
