City, Orange County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 92653, 92654
Upscale
bedroom community. Built over gentle hills south of Interstate 5 and Lake
Forest. Population 33,421. Census placed 30 percent of residents under age 21.
Median age of residents is 38. Family town maturing. www.mccormacks.com
Saddleback
Unified School District. In state rankings, elementary schools in Laguna Hills
score generally in the 70th to 90th percentile; Laguna Hills High, in the 90s.
Several schools have won state and national awards for academic excellence. Under
construction in 2007: a stadium for the high school. Will seat 4,200 and
include an all-weather track and a sports field with artificial turf. See Schools.
Saddleback
Unified is seeing its enrollment decline and is warning parents that it might have
to change attendance boundaries and close schools.
Click for regional or detailed map
Zero
homicides in 2005, one each in 2004, 2003, zero in 2002. Preceding years, one,
one, zero, zero, zero, zero, one. See Crime.
The state
in 2008 counted 11,153 housing units, of which 5,873 were single detached,
2,183 single attached, 2,880 multiples and 217 mobile homes. Housing units run
75 percent owner-occupied, 25 rentals.
The Laguna
Hills area, built mainly for the rich and for professionals, started to develop
in the 1960s when land grants were broken up into master-planned communities. www.mccormacks.com
At that
time, this area was under control of the county government. In 1991, to get
political muscle, residents incorporated the town as a legal city and took over
planning. All or almost all of the neighborhoods are semi-governed by homeowner
associations.
In 1995,
the new city snaked its way in a narrow strip to a west neighborhood and
annexed it. In housing history, the city built 1,200 units in the 1960s, about
5,000 in the 1970s and 3,900 units in the 1980s, and 1,200 in the 1990s.
Handsome
town that still comes across as new. In design, suburban modern — utility
lines buried, residential streets buffered from arterial traffic, parkways to
freeways. Trees and shrubs have filled out. Much care. Clean. Some homes
opulent, almost all upscale.
Regional
mall (Sears, Penney's, Macys) near freeway. About 18 parks, almost all run by
homeowners association. Horse country; trails throughout. “Mansions and
Masterpieces” tour of homes raises funds for Children's Hospital.
Old
fashioned in pleasant way: Daddy-daughter dinner-dance. Park with skating,
soccer fields and playgrounds. Farmers' market. Community center and sports
park near high school. www.mccormacks.com
Short
drive to Pacific and to attractions of region: UC Irvine, performing arts
center, Nordstrom, Saks, restaurants, etc.
Interstate
5 borders the city on north and east. Toll freeway runs along south border and
connects with Newport Beach.
Chamber of
commerce (949) 635-5800.
• City
hall has allocated $474,000 for public art, much of it to be displayed at the
civic center. Murals and sculptures to tell story of local history.
• Laguna
Hills is building a “downtown” on 240 acres near the mall, Saddleback Memorial
Medical Center and city hall. Among new additions to area, a community center. Project
to include buildings with stores on bottom and apartments on top.
City web
site: www.ci.laguna-hills.ca.us
