City and Community, Orange County
© McCormack's Guides
Zip Codes: 92658, 92659, 92660, 92661, 92662, 92663
Newport
Beach is a prestigious community, its name in California synonymous with
wealth, its housing a mix, from the modest to the opulent but almost all
showing a high level of care. Population 84,554. www.mccormacks.com
With
little land zoned for housing, the city is inserting condos in an industrial
area near the airport.
Newport
Beach is on the Pacific and in possession of a bay that creates water vistas
all around the town and a harbor for boats and yachts but many of the homes
look inland, toward Irvine and the Santa Ana Mountains. The town borders the
University of California at Irvine and, at its north end, John Wayne Airport.
Click for regional or detailed map
Small for
passenger airports, John Wayne is the largest serving Orange County. Airport
forbids the noisier airplanes from landing and restricts operations from 10 p.m
to 7 a.m.
The county
government has given Newport Beach veto power over a second commercial runway,
in effect, severely limiting the airport’s growth. As of 2006, the airport was
handling 9.6 million passengers a year; its limit is 10.3 million.
Many
residents wanted to transfer operations to El Toro, the Marine Corps base
closed in 1999, but after years of arguing El Toro went to homes and a giant
park. www.mccormacks.com
In recent
years, Newport Beach annexed, on its south side, a large development of condos,
townhouses and single homes called Newport Coast. Built on hills that overlook
the Pacific, Newport Coast is gated and golfed and in parts luxurious. Newport
Coast covers 9,432 acres, about 7,000 of which will be left in open space or
golf courses (at least two).
Children
in Newport Beach are educated by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, (32
schools, 21,000 students) which also serves Costa Mesa. Some children in
Newport Coast attend this district, the remainder attend the schools of the
Laguna Beach Unified School District.
All the
schools in the Laguna Beach district and many in the Newport-Costa district are
scoring in the 80th and 90th percentile, the top 15
percent in the state. The Newport-Mesa district opened Newport Coast Elementary
in that neighborhood. Also new to this section, a private elementary school. See Schools.
In 2000,
residents passed a $110 million bond to renovate all schools in the
Newport-Mesa district. The bond will also pay for new or improved science
facilities at all schools. In 2005, the district passed yet another
construction bond, for $282 million.
In 2003,
Newport High School was forced to close a large building because it was deemed
unsafe. Students were moved to portables. The new bond will pay for a new
building. Other jobs include buildings to separate middle school kids from the
high school students, and a performing arts center for Corona del Mar High
School. www.mccormacks.com
See Laguna Beach for more on its schools.
Much
attention to schools. Parental and community efforts raise money for them. With
Newport Coast, the developer put up money for the school.
Although
part of Newport Beach, Newport Coast, new and distinct, is frequently spoken of
as separate community and in some ways it is separate. Gated, it has higher
security and more privacy than the rest of the town, and its amenities, which
will include a park and a community center, are owned and managed by the
homeowners association and limited to Newport Coast residents.
In greater
Newport Beach, which was developed before gated communities took hold, the
parks and community facilities are public. Residents are responsible for
maintaining their lawns; the city for public grounds (the exception, at least
small gated neighborhood built around a golf course.)
In Newport Coast, the homeowners
association does much of the maintenance. www.mccormacks.com
Newport
Coast does some of its convenience shopping in a small mall with
supermarket on Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway. But close to downtown
Newport Beach and its mall, the neighborhood generally shops and eats out with
the rest of the town
The
Newport Coast development calls for time-share villas and two resort hotels and more
stores, near the Pacific Coast Highway. One hotel, a Marriott, is up and
running but still building. The other projects are also under construction.
As
residents move into Newport Coast, they are taking an interest in development and
government affairs and may force some changes in the original plans.
The 2000
census, which did not include the recent annexations, put the median age of
Newport Beach residents at 41. Those under 21 comprise about 18 percent.
Translation: mature, many singles and empty nesters.
Crime rate
suburban average. More shops mean more thefts, the most common crimes. Three
homicides in 2005, one in 2004, zero in 2003, two in 2002, zero in 2001, two in
2000, zero in 1999,1998, 1997 and 1996, two in 1995 and for preceding years,
three, three, zero, zero, two, six, zero. See Crime. www.mccormacks.com
Newport
Beach’s reputation gets a little in the way of its reality. It’s a lovely and
an expensive town. The great majority of the homes sell for over $1 million.
But Newport Beach is also a town that has been building since the early 1900s.
So you’ll find a variety of housing styles, including our old friend, the
three-bedroom home. And many apartments.
Many cottages. Many beach homes were
built on choice but small lots. There’s a lively trade in home rentals. Also,
condos and one mobile home park (on city land). The 2000 census put the
percentage of owner-occupied homes at 56, rentals at 44.
The state
in 2008 counted 42,711 housing units, of which 19,267 were single detached,
7,166 single attached, 15,415 multiples, and 863 mobiles. These numbers include
Newport Coast.
Some of the nicest housing can be found in Corona del Mar, a
neighborhood built in late 19th century. Even in the fabled Corona, many homes
are small (but well appointed). For the unusual: island homes. One island has
29 homes, another 107. John Wayne lived on one.
City is
broken out into neighborhoods. Views and proximity to ocean influence price.
Some of the choicest homes are on bluff overlooking bay.
Home to Fashion Island, one of Southern
California's toniest shopping malls (Nordstrom, Bloomindales). And around the
mall and near the airport, many office buildings. Large firms have set up in
office-research parks near the university and the airport. The town also boasts
large and small hotels, many restaurants and shops popular with tourists.
Traffic on Balboa island and the residential islands can be a bit of a bear. www.mccormacks.com
Newport
Beach is sort of tidying itself up. Although concerned about development, many
sections are built out and the town has turned its energy into small projects
that fix up this or that street or store or office complex.
Old stores are
giving way to new. When Macys consolidated several years ago, it closed its
store at Fashion Island Mall. This store is being demolished and replaced by a
department store or stores.
The Fun Zone, a carnival strip on Balboa Island, is
being ousted by a nautical museum (Ferris wheel retained) and shops and
restaurants that probably will aim at the affluent. Also coming in this
section, more housing to replace industrial uses. Many of the mobile homes are
being ejected, to be replaced by a park and boat slips.
In the
housing way, the airport sector, which has offices and hotels. City wants to
build about 2,200 condos and houses.
In
recreation and activities, too many to list but includes three golf courses, a
large park-ecological preserve, environmental nature center, nine separate
beaches, boating and water sports, and neighboring University of California,
which enriches the cultural life. Through its extension program, the university
offers a great variety of college-level classes to the public.
Six
community centers, youth center, seniors center. About two dozen parks,
including a large sports park. Two community gyms, one of which is shared with
school district. Aquatics center and another pool. Summer camps. After-school
programs. Many activities and programs — dance, surfing, rock climbing,
nutrition, Yoga, computers, etc. — sponsored by city.
The city
has built a path along Highway 1 extending beyond city limits and in many
places running near the Pacific. At almost an hour of the day, you will find
residents and visitors hiking or jogging this path (and pausing for coffee and
refreshments.) www.mccormacks.com
Little
theater productions. Several libraries, one new. Usual sports. Teen center.
Jazz festival. Film festival that draws 25,000. Art museum. Annual surfing
competition.
• Home to
some celebs and movie stars. John Wayne is buried in Pacific View Memorial
Park. His grave used to lack identification but in 1998 a small marker was
erected. Ringed with a lariat, it shows Wayne on horseback with what looks like
the Alamo in the background.
• Toll
expressway from Newport Beach to South County. If moving near the highways,
check out the noise.
• Rich
trivia: Newport Beach is home to the
number one Mercedes-Benz dealership on the globe and the most expensive
auto dealership, $70 million, on the planet. Nearby, the nation’s number two
BMW dealership.
• Bonita
Canyon, 2,138 homes, is one of the newest neighborhoods in Newport Beach. Much
of Bonita Canyon faces the Santa Ana Mountains. www.mccormacks.com
• One of
few towns to present debutantes. Charity ball. Dance with dad and make your
bow.
• Dog-poop
bags. Dispensers scattered around town.
• Whale
Ho! In their annual migration from Baja California to the Bering Sea off
Alaska, whales pass close to the Orange County Coast, particularly Newport
Beach. Many sightings of gray whales and their calves. In 2002, about 20 orcas,
usually shy, approached a fishing boat and hung around for about 15 minutes.
• Annual
sailing race between Newport Beach and Ensenada, 125 miles. Often exhausting
but party inevitably follows.
• Blubber
non grata! About 15 sea lions, some weighing over 500 pounds, cruise the harbor
and bark at all hours. Neighbors not amused. The lions also climb on moored
boats to sun bathe, slime them up, and make a mess. www.mccormacks.com
• If it
were not for dredging, upper Newport Bay would grazing cows or housing. Work
began in 2006 to remove sand and silt from the bay.
• Mormon
temple opened in 2005. It rises 90 feet and is topped by a statue of the angel
Moroni.
•
Tradition: every New Year's Day, bicyclists take to the Pacific Coast Highway
to ride from Long Beach to Newport Beach. No official organizers, the ride just
happens. As pack nears Newport Beach, many more riders join in.
• How good
can it get? One elementary school is right on the Pacific. Whales and dolphins
in the school “yard.”
• The
Newport-Mesa school district runs a “middle college high school” at Orange
Coast Community College in Costa Mesa. This program enrolls juniors and seniors
and places them in a college setting with the hope that they will be inspired
to go to college. With new funding, the district in 2006 started a similar
program with freshmen at Coastline Community College in Fountain Valley. www.mccormacks.com
• Hold
that match! In 2004, the city council outlawed smoking on beaches, piers and
public vistas. For health and because people are tired of butts in the sand.
• Kids
passing notes in the classroom ... how retro! In 2004, thanks to a state grant,
the school district gave middle schoolers their own hand-held computers. When essays
are assigned in class, the kids clack away at the computers then “send” them to
the teacher's computer for grading.
• In the
works, wi-fi for the town. The nodes, a sort of antennae, to placed on street
lights around town.
• Hoag
Hospital to build a cancer-neuroscience building.
• Irvine
is building large condo complexes near the airport. Tustin and Newport Beach
are suing to force Irvine to provide more parks and better roads. www.mccormacks.com
• On Feb.
7, 1990, the American Trader, an oil tanker, ran over its anchor, punctured its
hull and spilled 416,598 gallons of crude off the coast of Newport Beach and
Huntington Beach. A jury and out-of-court settlements rounded up $27 million
for various projects in the two towns and other places and in 2006 Newport
Beach spent the last of its spill money — $500,000 for a science center on
Newport Bay.
•
Residents passed ordinance that in effect makes it difficult to large or high
buildings in the city. These projects must be approved by voters.
• Local
millionaires fund various projects at the university. One fellow who has a
speech disorder put up a $1 million to study stuttering. Another contributed
$10 million to stem cell research with the hope of treating spinal cord
injuries. Still, a third, a baseball fan, put up about $2 million or so for a
clubhouse at Anteater Stadium.
• Another
millionaire founded a sports museum with a wing that exhibits the golf clubs of
the presidents: Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, two Bushes.
Chamber of
commerce (949) 729-4400.
City web
site: www.city.newport-beach.ca.us
