City and Neighborhood, Orange County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 90720, 90721
Although
separate, Los Alamitos (known among locals as “Los Al”) and Rossmoor are so
entwined that they will be covered together here. www.mccormacks.com
Los
Alamitos, population 12,191, is a city. It is governed by a city council and
provides many of its own services, including police protection and recreation.
Rossmoor,
population about 10,000, is an unincorporated neighborhood, theoretically under
the jurisdiction of the county board of supervisors. In fact, much local
control has been turned over to a citizens group or services district that
raises taxes for park and street maintenance and street cleaning.
Click for regional or detailed map
Rossmoor
doesn’t have a recreation department. Occasionally, the services district
contracts with Los Alamitos to provide a certain program.
Rossmoor
doesn’t have a police department. It is protected by the county’s policing
agency, the sheriff’s department.
In
Rossmoor, owner-occupied units outnumber rentals 89 percent to 11. Loads of
single-family homes. In Los Alamitos, rental units outnumber owner-occupied, 55
percent to 45. www.mccormacks.com
These
differences aside, Los Alamitos and Rossmoor generally shop at the same stores
and participate in many activities together. Rossmoor residents are free to
sign up for any sports and recreation programs in Los Alamitos.
The county
government, for economical and planning reasons, is nudging Rossmoor to annex
to Los Alamitos but this idea is going to take time sell, if it sells at all.
Some residents want Rossmoor to form its own city.
Children
from both towns attend Los Alamitos district schools — six elementaries,
two middle, one continuation high, one regular high. One elementary, Weaver,
runs a year-round calendar and starts the instructional year in early August.
School
rankings generally land in the 80th and 90th percentiles, quite high, and
reflect the demographics of the towns, middle-class plus. See Schools.
Money
problems have forced cutbacks in some programs. Parents are fund raising to
keep class sizes small in the lower grades. School district hopes to secure
state bond money to renovate many of its schools. www.mccormacks.com
Overall
crime rate for Los Alamitos is about suburban average on the low side. One
homicide in 2005, zero in 2004, 2003 and 2002, one in 2001, zero in 2000 and
1999, one in 1998 and 1997, zero in 1996 and 1995 and for preceding years,
zero, zero, zero, zero, one, zero, zero and one. See Crime.
The FBI
doesn’t track unincorporated neighborhoods but Rossmoor’s stats, if anything,
will be lower mainly because most of the stores are in Los Alamitos. Stores
mean thefts, the most common crime.
Concerning
Los Alamitos, the state in 2008 counted 4,422 housing units, of which 1,945
were single detached, 269 single attached, 2,079 multiples, 129 mobiles. Median
age of residents is 37; under 21 make up 29 percent of the population.
Los
Alamitos and Rossmoor are just about built out. In 1990s, Rossmoor gained 405
residents and Los Alamitos lost 140.
Concerning
Rossmoor, the 1990 census tallied 3,705 housing units, of which 3,174 were
owner-occupied single homes, 98 owner-occupied condos and remainder either
vacant or rentals (home, condos or apartments). The 2000 census counted 3,715
units, an increase of just five units over 1990. www.mccormacks.com
About 90
percent of Rossmoor was built in the late 1950s and the 1960s. One-story homes
dominate. About two thirds of the homes have three bedrooms, and 20 percent
four bedrooms. Tall trees, many lawns of almost putting-green quality. Homes
painted and spruced up. Lot of sparkle. Very well-kept. Pretty.
Rossmoor
started off by attracting many retirees but has since evolved into a family
town, on the gray side. Median age of residents is 42 years; those under 21
make up 29 percent of residents.
Los
Alamitos entered suburbia in the 1950s and really rolled in the 1960s and
1970s, when it built about 62 percent (2,700 units) of its current housing. In
the 1980s, new housing units dropped to 500, in the 1990s to 300.
Generalizations
about Los Alamitos housing are difficult because it’s scattered. The larger
tracts that include Bonita Street and Harrisburg Road are walled to shield out
arterial traffic. The homes are one- and two-story, well-maintained. Here and
there three-car garages pop up. Off Maple, some newer housing can be found:
two-story, wood shingles, two-car garages.
Los
Alamitos includes the Joint Forces Training Base, which covers 1,200 acres and
employs about 800. On some weekends, several thousand reservists and National
Guard train at the base. The Army runs the base. Helicopters. Check out noise. www.mccormacks.com
One park
in Rossmoor, nine parks in Los Alamitos. Community center, youth center in Los
Alamitos. Library and movies in nearby Seal Beach. Aquatic center at the
military base; used by some local groups. Activities for all ages and usual
sports. Several golf courses in or near the city. The Los Alamitos Racetrack is
famous for its quarter horse racing. It also has harness racing. A small golf
course borders the raceway.
Easy
access to freeways, Interstates 405 and 605. Many businesses have set up in
Cypress, to the immediate east, and to a lesser extent, in Los Alamitos, to the
west of the racetrack. Local jobs means a short commute for many.
Chamber of
commerce (562) 598-6659. Rossmoor Community Services (562) 430-3707.
• From
Horses to Dogs. Each year, the Los Alamitos track and a restaurant chain
sponsor the Wienerschnitzel National, a race that draws 10,000 spectators and
pits 64 dachshunds against one another over a 50-yard course. The winning dog
(and owner) go home with $1,000 and a doghouse. The proceeds go to the Seal
Beach Animal Care Shelter. The winner in 2006: Princess Smoochy Gucci, 7.1
seconds.
• City has
secured $1.4 million from state to build a park under power lines near the San
Gabriel River. Negotiations underway to secure land. www.mccormacks.com
• National
Guard, on its Los Alamitos base, is opening a military school for drop-outs.
Teens are to be confined to base, except for supervised trips.
City web
site: www.ci.los-alamitos.ca.us
