Orange

City, Orange County

© McCormack's Guides

 

Zip Codes: 92856, 92857, 92859, 92863, 92865, 92866, 92867, 92868, 92869

Well-maintained older suburb that’s rejuvenating itself by improving its downtown and by annexing thousands of acres in its east hills. Population 140,849. www.mccormacks.com

Lot of the old, lot of the new and more coming, about 4,000 units in the east hills. Home to Chapman University, which in recent years has expanded campus. Toll highways take some pain out of the commute.

Centrally located in the county, right about the middle. Good commute to several job centers, including Irvine, Disneyland and John Wayne Airport.

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Served by Orange Unified School District, which also operates schools in Anaheim, Villa Park and Santa Ana.

Academic rankings for the Orange schools go from the 20th to the 90th percentile, a wide range but many schools score in the top 20th percentile. Private school offerings include a large Lutheran high school. See Schools.

Two homicides in 2005, one each in 2004, 2003 and 2002, zero in 2001, two in 2000, one in 1999, one in 1998, twelve in 1997, one in 1996 and for preceding years, six, eight, three, nine, five, five, six and three. See Crime. www.mccormacks.com

The state in 2008 counted 44,319 housing units, of which 25,129 were single detached, 5,218 single attached, 12,633 multiples and 1,339 mobile homes. The housing units are divided 63 percent owner-occupied, 37 percent rentals, census reported. Census placed 31 percent of town under age 21. Median age of residents is 33. Family town.

Orange can be divided roughly into three neighborhoods: the first, the old town and its 1950s-1970s tracts. Second, east Orange and the new neighborhoods east of Highway 55. Third, a commercial-retail-entertainment section west of the Santa Ana River that takes in the Block at Orange (mall).

Incorporated as a city in 1888, Orange well into the 20th century was a small town surrounded by miles of orchards. By 1940, it had 2,000 homes and apartments. In the Forties it added about 1,100 units, and by 1950 was a bustling little city of 10,027 residents.

Then the great boom hit. The population jumped to 26,444 by 1960, to 50,930 by 1970 and to 89,473 by 1980.

In number of residential units, the count went from about 3,000 in 1950 to 8,500 ten years later, to 20,500 by 1970 and to 30,700 by 1980 — a mix of mostly single homes and apartments. www.mccormacks.com

In the 1980s, Orange, moving into the east hills, built 6,300 units and in the 1990s, about 5,000 units. Between 2000 and 2006, the city constructed 1,658 units, most of them in the east hills. The city is also filling in empty lots.

To get a sense of the first neighborhood and these tracts, start in the old town with its traffic circle (Chapman Avenue and Glassel Street) and fountain and quaint bungalows and Victorians. Cafes, benches, small shops, antique stores. Many shade trees. Drive north, crisscrossing back and forth but staying west of the freeway (Highway 55).

Although some styles are mixed, gradually the buildings will get newer, the Fifties styles will move up to Sixties, and these designs will graduate into the Seventies. Many of the homes will be three-bedroom, two-bath, but four-bedrooms are also popular. Mostly one-story. The great majority nicely kept. Security doors here and there but not many. Many older homes have been remodeled or fixed up.

Off Tustin Avenue, a commercial strip, you’ll find the “Mall of Orange,” with a Wal-Mart, J.C. Penny, Sears and Trader Joe's.

Tall office buildings and hospitals are located in and near Main Street and the downtown. Also in this section is Chapman University, well-known in California. It has branch campuses throughout the state. www.mccormacks.com

In the 1970s, Orange got a second wave of development on its east side. About this time, suburbia was stepping up into larger and better-appointed homes — two stories, four and five bedrooms, three bathrooms, smaller lots but larger closets, fancier kitchens, more windows and natural light. Wood and composite shingles gave way to fire-retardant tile, usually terra cotta, the mission look.

Developers paid more attention to freeway access, to parking and to the placement of shopping sections, movies and restaurants.

Compared to the tracts around the downtown, east Orange, the second neighborhood, comes across as decidedly more modern. To get the flavor of this neighborhood, drive Nohl Ranch Road and Chapman Avenue.

Most of the housing is aimed at the affluent middle class but here and there you will find ranchettes and upscale homes for the more affluent and on some choice hills or knolls, estate homes.

Old Orange was built mainly on flatlands. East Orange rolls over hills, mesas and ravines. In the middle of East Orange sits the small city of Villa Park — many large and well-cared-for homes, and this helps push east side up the scale. Although the hammers are pounding on the east side, it still has a good amount of open space and four large regional parks, which gives the section a country feel. www.mccormacks.com

The further east you go, the newer and more modern the homes become. In the early 1990s, at Newport Boulevard, a large community college — Santiago Canyon — was constructed, a pleasing addition to the city.

In the distance, the Santa Ana Mountains, in the winter often mantled with snow. Close by, an older prestige neighborhood, Cowan Heights.

Turning west to the third neighborhood, more oriented to Disneyland and Angel Stadium than the rest of Orange. This section drapes over a “V” formed by intersection of Interstate 5 and Highway 22. The neighborhood takes in the Block at Orange (movies, bookstore, restaurants, shops, skate park, exercise club), the UC Irvine Medical Center, government and office buildings, medical offices and three large hotels.

The Block area just about borders Anaheim stadium (Angels baseball) and a section that Anaheim is being developed for high-rise condos.

Turning back to the old town. Suburban cities often have problems with their old towns because they are located away from the freeways and lack shopping opportunities (malls) that modern suburbanites like. But city councils and civic groups are reluctant to give up on old towns. They’re quaint, they’re historic and often the more influential old-timers have financial interests in the older sector. Deserted areas can be a crime problem. www.mccormacks.com

So, usually through redevelopment (a taxing-infrastructure program), countless cities up and down the state try to flog some life into their old towns — decorative sidewalks, old-fashioned lamps and so on.

In its efforts, Orange may pull off a winner. For one thing, its downtown is located next to a freeway interchange. For another, it’s got medical complexes, Chapman University and office buildings that pump foot traffic onto local streets.

The result is a downtown that seems to have zip: homes are kept up, some of the Victorians have been divided into offices, the restaurants are varied and inviting. City is paying more attention to trees, flowers and shrubs, and rebuilding its Old Towne Plaza and giving it a 1930s and '40s look.

International street fair in downtown closes out Labor Day weekend. Live entertainment, about 350 food and vendor booths. Draws about 800,000.

Chapman University, located just north of city hall, helps with the charm. It has law and business schools and film studios. Students, professors and staff patronize the downtown shops and through events and talks and participation in civic affairs enrich the town's life. www.mccormacks.com

For the unusual, Chapman, in its Freedom Plaza, has plunked down 2.5 tons of what used to be the Berlin Wall. The university stages an annual film festival and uses the profits to help people learn to read and write.

In 2006, Chapman opened a film school. Although greatly overshadowed by Hollywood and West L.A., Orange County is strongly grounded in the arts and in entertainment (Disneyland, etc.). A film school at a small private university might not seem to make sense but in the context of Orange County, it probably does.

Just south of the downtown, in Orange and Santa Ana, is a large mall complex that includes a Nordstrom and a Macys. A short drive beyond the mall will take you to the arts district of Santa Ana.

All in all, in homes and shops, Orange offers a good deal of variety, many choices.

Main library and two branch libraries. seniors center, about 16 municipal parks, one with a pool and one with a section set aside for dogs. City hall runs sports and activities for kids and adults. Movies, restaurants, about 60 antique shops in downtown. Skating rink in the downtown. Short drive or bus ride to Disneyland (many jobs) to pro baseball (Angels) and NHL hockey (Ducks), and large ice arena. Regional parks in hills to east; miles of trails. www.mccormacks.com

For commuters, the city’s reputation is foreboding because of an infamous interchange, known as the Orange Crush — Interstate 5, Highway 22 and Highway 57. Seemingly always being improved and maybe that’s its fate because it is expected to carry more and more traffic. If you live locally, you will soon figure out its access ramps. About three miles to the east of the Crush, another freeway, Highway 55, crosses the town.

The east side skirts Highways 261 and 241, the toll roads leading to Irvine and John Wayne Airport and to the freeway to Riverside County and Corona. Several wide arterials run through the town and into the hills.

The downtown also has a Metrolink station.

Put everything together and you get a typical Orange County town that is over dependent on the car but recognizes this and builds up the freeways. For the many who work locally or within 20 miles, the commute at times will be irritating but tolerable.

• Chapman is gutting an old building near the downtown, retaining the façade and converting the structure into offices and classes for its physical therapy program. The people who want to perpetuate the old town look applaud the move. www.mccormacks.com

• For new housing, in Orange and nearby communities, take a look at plans for or visit the land between Jamboree Road and Highway 241.

• In 2004, Orange school district voted to drop year-round calendars at five elementary schools and return to traditional calendar (summers off).

• Before 2004, you could not park your RV in your driveway. Thanks to the city council, now you can. Only one.

• Downtown library added a wing in 2007 — story room, children’s garden, teen zone, 100 computers.

• In 2006, Officer Armando Plascencia arrested 325 people on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI). By himself, he accounted for over half the Orange Police Department’s arrests for DUI and, it turned out, made more DUI arrests than any officer in the state. This so impressed Mothers Against Drunk Driving that they gave him an award. www.mccormacks.com

• Get Tough Issue for 2007 — graffiti. Task force formed, laws enacted, arrests elevated, cleanup-removal expedited. New laws: kids can be cited for possessing graffiti tools (some exceptions), utility firms must remove graffiti right away.

• In late 2006 and early 2007, major brush fires in the hills. In the 2007, residents of about 2,700 homes were asked to evacuate voluntarily. At least a few stayed behind to fight the fire if it reached their homes. In the end, one home damaged, two outbuildings destroyed. New homes are designed to survive fires — wood shingles a thing past, retardant tiles used now. Forewarned, many people clear brush away from around them homes. Last resort, if you really have to flee: toss the china into the pool — advice from one homeowner.

Chamber of commerce (714) 538-3581.

City web site: www.cityoforange.org