Orange County at a Glance

© McCormack's Guides

 

Located on the Pacific between San Diego and Los Angeles counties, Orange is a bedroom-business-tourist county of 3,098,121 residents, famous for its beaches, its weather and its amusements, foremost Disneyland.

Roughly rectangular in shape, Orange County covers 798 square miles, about two-thirds the size of Rhode Island, the smallest state in U.S.

The northeast side of the county rises into the Santa Ana Mountains. In the winter, Santiago, the county’s highest peak, 5,687 feet, occasionally dons a mantle of snow. The southwest side descends to the Pacific and to about 42 miles of beaches used year-round but the water is often chilly. Wetsuits are favored attire.

In population, Orange County ranks among the top ten counties in the nation and within California, third, way behind Los Angeles and slightly behind San Diego. There are two “Oranges” — the county and the City of Orange, one of 34 cities in the county.

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Before the freeways and suburbia, Orange County was famous for oranges. Orange and lemon trees are still plentiful but the days of the great groves are gone. Once there were 65,000 acres in commercial cultivation; now there are fewer than 100. Nonetheless, farming pops up in the oddest places. In some towns, tall office buildings sit side by side with strawberry fields.

What nourished the orange now delights the residents and the visitors — the weather.

In many parts, the sun shines during the daylight hours over 75 percent of the year. In an average year, rain limits itself to 10-13 inches. Orange has its scorching days but they are few and often softened by breezes from the Pacific. Summer temperatures for most of the communities land generally in the 60s, 70s and 80s. Orange has its humid days but also few in number and not remotely as uncomfortable as the humidity of the East, South and Midwest.

In a good year, about 45 million people visit Orange County to delight not only in Disneyland (which was joined by a new theme park) but Knott's Berry Farm and to root for the county's professional teams, the Angels (baseball) and the Ducks (hockey). Or to attend a convention.

Or to visit the beaches, many easily accessible. Or to see the television Orange County, the setting for the soaps and docudramas; “The O.C,” “Laguna Beach” and “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”

In their travels throughout the county, tourists spend about $8 billion annually, an oh-so-pretty penny.

Many people come to visit — and then stay. Orange County is home to several universities and many high-tech businesses and is a key player in the California economy.

In many cities, crime has dropped and air quality, thanks to controls imposed by the government, is cleaner than it has been in decades (but smog is still a problem.)

Cities and Towns

In California, there’s a big difference between cities and towns. Cities are legal entities with precise boundaries and specific political powers, foremost planning and zoning. Cities are run by city councils.

All Orange County cities have their own police departments or they hire the county cops — called sheriff’s deputies — to run a local police program.

Towns are “unincorporated.” They have few formal powers and are administered legally by the county government, which provides police protection (sheriff’s deputies) and does the planning and zoning. The term unincorporated may also be applied to a neighborhood under the county’s jurisdiction.

Santa Ana is the county seat (where the county government and many of the courts are located) and the most populous city, 351,322 residents.

Anaheim, where Disneyland and the new California Adventure are located, is probably the most famous city. It’s also the sports center of the county, home to the Angels and the Ducks.

Richard Nixon was born in Orange County (Yorba Linda). His home has been preserved, located next to a presidential library and a historical center. An interesting place, even if you were not a fan of R. N.

Villa Park is the least populous city, 6,218 residents.

Education, Culture, Activities

Orange County is home to a University of California (at Irvine), a California State University (Fullerton), nine community college campuses, several private colleges and about 50 outreach university programs. Soka University, dedicated to the Buddhist approach to life, opened in 2001 in the City of Aliso Viejo and graduated its first class in 2005.

Many of the county's schools score among the highest in the state.

Movies, plays, symphonies, chamber music, opera, exhibits, college classes open to the public, numerous classes and activities offered through adult schools and city recreation departments — Orange County has them in abundance. In many ways, it is a well-organized, well-educated metropolitan county.

By reputation, Orange is considered by many to be insular, more Midwestern in its beliefs than East Coast metropolitan (San Francisco's reputation). The county favors the traditional; it named its major airport after John Wayne, a longtime resident and local hero-celebrity in the ideal of the rugged individual.

But in actions and experience Orange County is more cosmopolitan than given credit, and its libertarian bent encourages tolerance. Many gays live in the county. So do many actors and people in Hollywood arts and entertainment. Laguna Beach is famous for its artists. UC Irvine has its Nobel winners and its cutting edge technology. Costa Mesa in 2006 opened a large music hall that seats 2,000; the place adjoins a performing arts center.

Because of the mild weather, residents are more tuned to the outdoors than they possibly would be elsewhere. On weekends and evenings, many people take to the beaches or trails for a stroll.

Baseball, basketball, golf, hockey, soccer, gymnastics, ballet, softball — these are some of the more popular sports, especially for the kids. Swimming, surfing, boating and fishing are also popular — all that ocean. Orange Coast Community College, with a fleet of 50 boats (all donated), teaches sailing and navigation and other nautical necessities to thousands annually.

Diverse

Every major California county these days is much more ethnically diverse than it was 10 or 20 years ago. In a recent study, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that Orange, among counties in the nation, ranked fourth in Asian population, sixth in Hispanics and 16th in percentage of residents born outside the U.S.

According to the 2000 census, the county has an ethnic makeup of 1,458,978 Caucasians, 875,579 Hispanics, 386,785 Asians, 47,649 African-Americans and 19,906 American Indians.

Orange County has its Little Saigon. It has its Hispanic neighborhoods. And it has its arguments over immigration, bilingual instruction in public schools and how to treat day laborers, many of them immigrants.

At the same time, schools, businesses, government agencies and civic groups have worked to integrate the newcomers into the larger society. Many cities routinely celebrate ethnic holidays. Schools offer classes in English as a Second Language. Adult schools give classes in Spanish. Newspapers cover ethnic events and encourage tolerance and acceptance.

For their part, the immigrants have introduced Orange County to a wider, more diverse world. The local cuisine is more varied, the nuances of differences more appreciated, the importance of the outside world more understood. Orange County is home to many foreign or multinational firms. Disneyland and other amusements draw visitors from all over the nation and the world. Many Orange County residents are well-traveled.

Politics

Every Republican since at least Thomas Dewey has carried Orange County in the presidential vote. Ronald Reagan used to skunk any Democrat by a margin of three to one. George Bush won handily in 2004.

On the other hand, Bob Dornan, fiery Republican — he once called Bill Clinton, a “nerdy little flower child” — was beaten in 1996 and 1998 for his congressional seat by Loretta Sanchez, Democrat, an indication that the county is edging slightly toward the middle.

Capitalist the county is and entrepreneurial and antigovernment in a certain way. It favors a strong military and for decades benefited from defense contracts. When residents needed municipal services, they did not hesitate to form city governments and many of the new neighborhoods employ homeowner associations with their covenants and restrictions, another form of government.

But the county has never thought of government as a creative or dynamic force, as something that of itself could build a healthy society or economy. Rather, many residents think of it as a necessary evil, to be viewed with suspicion and restricted in size and power.

About 1978, Californians voted in Proposition 13, which severely cut school funding. In the late 1980s, Northern California took note of its deteriorating schools and started to pass renovation and construction bonds.

In Orange County, until 1998, no district passed a bond — until 1998, the Buena Vista district. The great majority of districts, knowing voter animosity to tax increases, did not even attempt a bond. Since then — and because the law was changed to make it easier to pass bonds — many local school districts have passed construction bonds.

Orange remains tax averse, to the dismay of many parents who would like to pass parcel taxes (needing two-thirds approval) to pay for salaries, books and elective courses, such as music and art. Residents just say no to these taxes. To remedy this, parents have set up educational foundations to support the schools. If you are a parent with school kids, you should expect to pay up, through the foundations, to support the schools — in effect, a parental tax.

In some ways, Orange can be innovative. Like many counties in California, Orange suffers from traffic congestion. Unlike every other county, it turned to the private sector, in the form of toll highways, to secure relief.

Problems

A sizable number of schools have low academic rankings.

Home prices and rents rose sharply between 1998 and 2000 and slowed in 2001 and in some places dropped but then they firmed up again and rose higher and higher. Not too long ago, Orange provided jobs for its residents and dispatched commuters to Los Angeles County for its jobs. Now, Orange has become a commute destination, mainly from Riverside and San Bernardino, where homes are priced much lower.

In 2006, the housing market started to soften and in 2007 the home-loan sector trade, popular in Orange County, suffered major losses.

Like almost all of California, Orange County has seen its crime drop but crime in a few cities is still a major worry. Between 1993 and 1997, despite an increase in population, the county's homicides dropped by over 50 percent, from 212 to 105 and in 1998 dropped again, to 85. In 1999, homicides nudged up to 92 but in 2000 dropped sharply to 56. In 2001, they rose to 63. And in 2002, up again, to 77. In 2003, Orange recorded 64 homicides and in 2004, the number was 81. The count for 2005 was 77.

Orange County is enjoying a slight easing of freeway jams. For well over a decade, the state has been adding overpasses, lanes and access ramps, straightening out intersections and in general improving the freeways. Some work remains to be done but the county's freeways are moving more traffic better and faster than they have in years. Private firms, especially in the south county, have built toll highways and lanes that have taken thousands of cars off the freeways — a great help. Buses and commute rail (Metro) are also making the daily commute easier.

Nonetheless, for many people traffic and congestion is the number one headache. More people mean more cars — simple and depressing as that.

Growth and development have become touchy issues. Some cities allow developers to construct only a few hundred homes a year and a few are looking to the sky to fit in more people: condo and apartment towers. Another trend: mixing homes with retail and commercial.

Plans are being put together to build a more effective rail system. Throughout California, transit officials, realizing that the great days of freeway construction are over, are studying ways to move more people faster and safer and with less pollution. One innovation that soon will be gracing the diamond lanes on the freeways: larger and more comfortable buses.

Winter rains erode hillsides and occasionally send a few homes crashing into ravines or the Pacific.

Every once in while, a coyote rambles in from the brush and eats a dog or cat.

Summer sun dries out the countryside and creates conditions ideal for fires. In 1993, brushfires destroyed about 365 homes, many of them in Laguna Beach. Since then, building codes have been tightened, firebreaks cut and reservoirs constructed.

Beaches occasionally are closed for short periods because of storm drainage or some breakdown in water quality. Or for invasions of plankton. When the beaches close, merchants, hotels, surfers and swimmers and many others communicate their unhappiness to city hall and other agencies.

Strong tides are washing away some beaches (but sand and stone are being hauled in to replenish them.)

History

Orange County’s history can be divided into what happened before 1940 and what happened after 1940.

Spanish soldiers explored the region in the late 1800s. A mission, San Juan Capistrano, was built in 1776. The Native Americans, their numbers greatly reduced by European diseases, ultimately were driven from their lands. Great estates were carved out for the descendants of the first colonists.

After California came into the United States, these estates passed to other hands and some were broken up into large farms and orchards. Grapes were planted, then after a blight, walnuts became popular, and finally oranges took over. The rails came and tied the local economy into national trade.

Oil was discovered, causing a minor boom in the early 20th century.

By 1940, Orange County boasted 130,760 residents. Santa Ana was the most populous city, 31,921 residents, followed by Anaheim, 11,301.

No major battles had been fought in the county. Outside of the mission at San Juan Capistrano, no buildings of note had been constructed (and it had been allowed to fall into ruin before it was rebuilt.) The county was noted for growing tasty oranges.

In 1941, there began the first of three Pacific wars the United States was to fight over the next 35 years. Millions of soldiers, sailors and marines shipped out from and returned to the West Coast and fell in love with the place, the sunshine, the beaches, the mild weather. After discharge, many came back.

In the 1950s, the U.S., as a defense measure, built freeways all over the country, rapid transit of the most flexible kind. This made possible the construction of cities removed from job centers — the suburbs.

By 1950, the Orange County population had jumped to 216,224, and in that decade, it exploded, hitting 703,925 residents by 1960. Orange groves disappeared literally overnight. In the 1970s, the county added over 700,000 people and in the 1980s, it finally slowed — only 478,000 more. In the 1990s, Orange boosted its population by 435,733, much of the growth coming in the south county.

In the 1970s, laws were changed to allow more immigration and enforcement of immigration laws were relaxed in response to economic demands. Much of the current growth in Orange County and in California comes from immigration.

Housing

When you shop for homes, condos and apartments in Orange County, you’ll find a little of the old and an awful lot of the new, the fairly new and the distant new (1950s).

The 2000 census reported that 16 percent of all the county’s housing was built in the late 1940s and in the 1950s. The 1960s weighed in with 23 percent, the 1970s with 28 percent and the 1980s with 18 percent. In the 1990s, the county added 138,000 residential units or 14 percent of its current total. To state this another way, about 95 percent of everything was built after 1950, and about 60 percent of everything was erected over the last 30 years.

Since then, between 2000 and 2006, according to state estimates, Orange County has added about 54,000 residential units off. This changes the above percentages but not by much.

California and western cities often surprise visitors with their cleanliness. The reason: they are new.

The state in 2006 tallied within Orange County 1,018,330 residential units, of which 515,777 were single homes, 127,375 single attached, 342,935 apartments or multiple units and 32,293 mobile homes.

In its modern life, Orange County built from north to south. Time and topography influenced housing patterns.

The north and central sections of the county run to flatland and gentle hills. This area — Santa Ana, Anaheim, Fullerton, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Westminster, Orange — boomed residentially in the 1950s and 1960s, when the favorite model was the three-bedroom-two bath, one-story, tract home. Plain but sturdy, this home was snapped up by veterans who got their financing through the G.I. Bill. You will find these homes by the tens of thousands in the north and central county.

About 1970, as the prosperity of the nation increased, a market emerged for larger homes. Many were purchased by people who took the equity out of their first homes and bought up. In the 1970s homes, the garages got bigger and a second story, a fourth bedroom and half-bathroom were often added.

Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley were among the first cities to feature this style.

Also by the 1970s, planning was getting more sophisticated. Cities started to pay more attention to moving cars quickly to freeway ramps.

By the 1970s, much of the northern and central parts of the county were carpeted with homes. Developers now turned to the south county where large blocks of land, part of the Mexican land grants, were coming on market.

With Irvine, the county got its first large-scale master-planned community (Fountain Valley also claims this title). Before anything was built, a plan was drawn up for the entire community or large chunks of it. Park and school sites were identified, the road network laid out, and so on. Irvine is a special case; its plan was quite ambitious and included a University of California. See Irvine in city profiles. Rancho Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel are examples of master-planned towns. East Orange, East Anaheim and parts of Yorba Linda and San Clemente contain large master-planned neighborhoods.

Except for beach homes and parts of Fullerton, rarely will you find a view home in the north and west county. South of Irvine and Newport Beach, however, the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains and coastal hills rumpled the terrain, creating hills and valleys and tall mesas. Yorba Linda, east Orange and east Anaheim also travel over hill and dale and mesa. Many homes have views of the countryside.

In the 1980s, gated neighborhoods increased in popularity. Many of them are located in the south county. In a recent twist, gated has become dated and costly to maintain, and some developers have given up on them.

Also in the 1980s, as the homes grew bigger, the lots got smaller. Dad and mom became co-breadwinners; less time to tend lawns. Land prices went up. If you want a big yard, often you have to search the older towns.

People who like a housing mix, who favor the old and funky, should look to the towns that started as farming villages or coastal resorts, then moved into suburbia. With the exception of the master-planned communities, almost all the cities in the county have old downtowns where the housing runs to cottages and bungalows.

For the present, if the development is new, chances are it will be found in or below Irvine-Newport Beach, on the southeast side of the county. The exceptions: the older cities where some industrial plants (Fullerton) or a military base (Tustin) were closed and the land turned over to residential. Also in east Orange and East Anaheim where developers did not get rolling until the 1980s.

In recent years, Orange has discovered the high rise, especially around John Wayne Airport and in Irvine and Santa Ana.

Some Place Names

• Anaheim. German for “home by the river.” The original settlers were Germans who set up a community near the Santa Ana River.

• Brea. Spanish for tar, which oozed out of the ground.

• Costa Mesa. This city, located near the coast (costa), is built on a mesa or a plateau or table land.

• Dana Point. After Richard Henry Dana who as a young man shipped out on a whaler and wrote about life in early California — “Two Years Before The Mast.” Whales frolic off the shores of Dana Point.

• Fountain Valley. Originally part bog with water easily accessible through artesian wells.

• Fullerton. Two brothers bought land that would increase in value if the rail route could be changed. The fellow who could do the changing was named Fullerton, a railroad engineer. The rerouting was done; the brothers said thanks in the form of naming the new station (town) after Fullerton.

• Huntington Beach. Henry Huntington ran the first rail line through this city.

• Irvine. After landowner, James Irvine.

• Laguna Beach. After the Native American, “lagonas” for lakes, a reference to two freshwater lagoons.

• La Habra. Spanish for “A pass through the hills.”

• Mission Viejo. After the land grant, “Rancho Mission Viejo.”

• Placentia. Latin for “pleasant place,” which is how it appeared to early settlers.

• San Juan Capistrano. After an Italian saint; name chosen by Father Junipero Serra.

• Stanton. After Columbus Stanton, early landowner.

• Westminster. The Rev. Lemuel P. Webber, an early landowner, greatly admired the Westminster Confession, a 16th century set of tenets that defined much of the doctrine of the Presbyterian church.

• Yorba Linda. Bernardo Yorba was a civic leader and landowner. That’s the Yorba part. Linda is Spanish for “pretty.”

El Toro Dead - John Wayne Elevated

One of the bitterest battles in recent years ended in 2002 when Irvine struck an agreement with the Navy to take over the former Marine Air Station at El Toro, 4,315 acres, between Irvine and Lake Forest.

Currently, Orange County is served by John Wayne Airport, which borders Newport Beach, Costa Mesa and Irvine (on its west side). Small and cramped, John Wayne was limited by court order to no more than 10.3 million passengers (By a recent count, it was handling about 9.7 million).

John Wayne has sensitive neighbors, foremost the residents of Newport Beach, a deep-pocket group that does not hesitate to send lawyers forth to wage battle. Down through the years, complaints from Newport Beach and other communities forced John Wayne to suppress jet noises.

With the departure of the Marines in 1999, Newport Beach and other nearby cities said, aha, now's the chance to curtail or shut down John Wayne and get rid of or reduce its noise. Business and civic leaders noted that within a short time Orange County would need to come up with airport facilities to handle 20 to 25 million passengers.

And so ... the campaign to convert El Toro into an international airport. At first, it seemed that pro airport people would win. But if El Toro were converted, it would route commercial airlines over the south county. The towns affected included Irvine, Mission Viejo, Lake Forest, Rancho Santa Margarita, Aliso Niguel, Laguna Beach and Laguna Woods.

No way, said these towns, many of which incorporated themselves as legal cities to secure more political clout. In the courts and the ballot box, they fought to overturn the county's decision. In 2002, opponents won a county-wide vote against conversion to an airport — and for turning the land into a giant park.

At this point, it looked like the battle would shift again into the courts and go on forever. But in 2002, those clever people at Irvine struck a deal with the Navy, which wanted to unload the property fast. The Navy agreed to sell the property only to developers who would agree to deed 80 percent of the land to Irvine for a giant park. The remaining land would be used for 3,600 housing units and for stores, offices, research and commerce.

Miscellaneous:

• Orange County has three area codes, 562 for a few communities on the northeast side, 714 for Yorba Linda, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Anaheim, Tustin, Fullerton and the north side of Costa Mesa, 949 for the south half of Costa Mesa and for Irvine, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo and all the towns down to San Clemente.

By 2008, another area code may be added.

• One scenario envisioned by planners: By the year 2020, Orange County essentially will be built out. The population will be hitting 3.5 million and about 146,000 new homes will have been added.

• John Wayne. For many people, the Duke, who died in 1979, lives on. Orange County, where Wayne resided, has become a mecca for fans of the Big Guy. Each year the Hollywood Cowboys, a fan group, dress in cowboy regalia, and visit his grave where they pray and recite poems. John Wayne Airport has a tall statue of the Duke, his right hand within easy reach of his six gun.

• A word on shopping. If you go to a large and old city — San Francisco, Los Angeles — you will find stores not found in the old or modern towns of Orange County. But not that many stores. The people have moved to the suburbs; the stores have followed.

In some cases, suburbia surpasses the big cities. Department stores in the big cities often close early; no shoppers. Big-city downtowns have had trouble attracting the large discount stores, such as Home Depot, Lowes and Costco. Orange County, with few exceptions, loves these stores. Over the last 10 years, suburban supermarkets have become larger and more diverse in their choices. Many feature a pharmacy, a deli, a natural foods section, and fine wines costing over $50 and sometimes $125.

Within Orange County, some cities outdo others in certain categories. Laguna Beach excels in art. Newport Beach beats the south county in restaurants. But upscale restaurants are slowly moving into the south-county towns.

The South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is probably the most opulent mall or shopping area in the state, easily the match for Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

• Light up. For several years, anti-smokers have been convincing city councils to ban the demon weed from public parks. In 2006, the county government, on a split vote, said What’s the harm and kept the smoking lamp lit.

• Image vs. reality. The image, as suggested by the television shows, loose, glitzy, obsessed with looks and sex. The reality: Orange County is fairly demure and conservative. When kids at one high school indulged in suggestive “freak” dancing, the school administration, backed by parents, quickly cracked down. “There will be no warnings,” said the school directive. “Any student who is dancing inappropriately will be escorted out of the dance.”

If you try to open a topless bar or an adult sex store in Orange County you're in for a fight (but there are few out there, located in commercial zones). Residents see their towns and neighborhoods as family environments.