Archeological evidence shows the area to have been inhabited beginning about 9,500 years ago.[10] At the time of European contact, the northern area of what is now Orange County was primarily inhabited by the Tongvaindigenous people, a part of Tovaangar, while the southern area of the county, below Aliso Creek, was primarily inhabited by the Acjachemen.[11][12] Both groups lived in villages throughout the area. Large villages were sometimes multiethnic and multilingual, such as Genga, located in what is now Newport Beach. The village was shared by the Tongva and Acjachemen.[13] The village of Puhú was located in what is now Black Star Canyon and was shared by multiple groups, including the Tongva, Acjachemen, Serrano and Payómkawichum.[14]
The mother village of the Acjachemen was Putiidhem and is now located in San Juan Capistrano underneath Junipero Serra Catholic High School.[15][16] For the Tongva, north Orange County was at the southern extent of their village sites.[17] In coastal villages like Lupukngna, at least 3,000 years old located in what is now Huntington Beach, villagers likely used te'aats or plank boats to navigate the coastline, with fish and shellfish being more central to the diet.[18][19] In inland villages such as Hutuknga, rabbit and mule deer were more central, in addition to acorns from oak trees and seeds from grasses and sage bushes common everywhere.[20]
Spanish mission period
From 1776 to 1833, there were 4,317 baptisms and 3,153 deaths of native people recorded at Mission San Juan Capistrano (pictured in 1921).
SaintJunípero Serra y Ferrer and the early components of the Portolá Expedition arrived in modern-day San Diego, south of present-day Orange County, in mid-late 1769. During these early Mission years, however, the early immigrants continued to rely on imports of both Mexican-grown and Spanish-grown wines; Serra repeatedly complained of the process of repeated, labored import.[24] The first grape crop production was produced in 1782 at San Juan Capistrano, with vines potentially brought through supply ships in 1778.[24]
19th century
Viticulture became an increasingly important crop in Los Angeles and Orange Counties through the subsequent decades. By the 1850s, the regions supported more than 100 vineyards.[25] In 1857, Anaheim was founded by 50 German-Americans (with lineage extending back to Franconia) in search of a suitable grape-growing region.[26] This group purchased a 1,165 acres (4.71km2) parcel from Juan Pacifico Ontiveros's Rancho San Juan Cajon de Santa Ana for $2 per acre and later formed the Anaheim Vineyard Company.[27][25] With surveyor George Hansen, two of the wine colony's founders, John Frohling and Charles Kohler, planted 400,000 grapevines along the Santa Ana River; by 1875, "there were as many as 50 wineries in Anaheim, and the city's wine production topped 1 million gallons annually."[25] Despite later afflictions of both Phylloxera and Pierce's Disease, wine growing is still practiced.[28]
After several failed attempts in previous sessions, the California State Legislature passed a bill authorizing the portion of Los Angeles County south of Coyote Creek to hold a referendum on whether to remain part of Los Angeles County or to secede and form a new county to be named "Orange" as directed by the legislature. The referendum required a 2/3 vote for secession to take place, and on June 4, 1889, the vote was 2,509 to 500 in favor of secession. After the referendum, Los Angeles County filed three lawsuits to prevent the secession,[citation needed] but their attempts were futile.[citation needed]
On July 17, 1889, a second referendum was held south of the Coyote Creek to determine if the county seat of the new county would be Anaheim or Santa Ana, along with an election for every county officer. Santa Ana defeated Anaheim in the referendum. With the referendum having passed, the County of Orange was officially incorporated on August 1, 1889.[31] Since the incorporation of the county, the only geographical changes made to the boundary was when the County and Los Angeles County traded some parcels of land around Coyote Creek to conform to city blocks.[when?]
The county is said to have been named for the citrus fruit in an attempt to promote immigration by suggesting a semi-tropical paradise – a place where anything could grow.[32]
In 1919, the California State Legislature redefined the county's boundary with Los Angeles County to no longer follow Coyote Creek but instead along Public Land Survey System township lines instead.[33]
20th century
Advertisement for the Valencia orange, which became the major industrial crop by the 1920s
Other citrus crops, avocados, and oil extraction were also important to the early economy. Orange County benefited from the July 4, 1904, completion of the Pacific Electric Railway, a trolley connecting Los Angeles with Santa Ana and Newport Beach. The link made Orange County an accessible weekend retreat for celebrities of early Hollywood. It was deemed so significant that Pacific City changed its name to Huntington Beach in honor of Henry E. Huntington, president of the Pacific Electric and nephew of Collis Huntington. Transportation further improved with the completion of the State Route and U.S. Route 101 (now mostly Interstate 5) in the 1920s.
Orange County map, 1921
In the 1910s, agriculture in Orange County was largely centered on grains, hay, and potatoes by small farmers, accounting for 60% of the county's exports. The Segerstroms and Irvines once produced so many lima beans that the county was called "Beanville".[34] By 1920, fruit and nut exports exploded, which led to the increase of industrialized farming and the decline of family farms. For example, by 1917, William Chapman came to own 350,000 acres in northeastern Orange County from the Valencia orange.[35] Around the 1910s and 1920s, most of the barrios of Orange County, such as in Santa Ana, further developed as company towns of Mexican laborers, who worked in the industrial orange groves.[36] Poor working conditions resulted in the Citrus Strike of 1936, in which more than half of the orange industry's workforce, largely Mexican, demanded better working conditions. The strike was heavily repressed, with forced evictions and state-sanctioned violence being used as tactics of suppression.[37]Carey McWilliams referred to the suppression as "the toughest violation of civil rights in the nation."[30]
The Los Angeles flood of 1938 devastated some areas of Orange County, with most of the effects being in Santa Ana and Anaheim, which were flooded with six feet of water. As an eight-foot-high rush of water further spilled out of the Santa Ana Canyon, forty-three people were killed in the predominately Mexican communities of Atwood and La Jolla in Placentia.[38] The devastation from this event, as well as from the 1939 California tropical storm, meant that Orange County was in need of new infrastructure, which was supported by the New Deal. This included the construction of numerous schools, city halls, post offices, parks, libraries, and fire stations, as well as the improvement of road infrastructure throughout Orange County.[39]
Mendez v. Westminster (1947) overturned racial segregation in California schools. The case was initiated when Sylvia Mendez (pictured) was turned away from enrolling at a primary school in Westminster.
School segregation between Mexican and white students in Orange County was widespread in the mid-1940s, with 80% of Mexican students attending 14 segregated schools. These schools taught Mexican children manual education – or gardening, bootmaking, blacksmithing, and carpentry for Mexican boys and sewing and homemaking for girls – while white schools taught academic preparation.[40] The landmark case Mendez vs. Westminster (1947) desegregated Orange County schools, after the Mendez family were denied enrollment into the 17th Street School in Westminster in 1944, despite their cousins with lighter skin being admitted, and were instead told to enroll at the Hoover Elementary School for Mexican children.[41]
In the 1950s, agriculture, such as that involving the boysenberries made famous by Buena Park native Walter Knott, began to decline. However, the county's prosperity soared during this time. The completion of Interstate 5 in 1954 helped make Orange County a bedroom community for many who moved to Southern California to work in aerospace and manufacturing.[42] Orange County received a further economic boost in 1955 with the opening of Disneyland.
In the late 1970s, Vietnamese and Latino immigrants began to populate central Orange County.[44]
In the 1980s, Orange County had become the second most populous county in California as the population topped two million for the first time.
In the 1990s, red foxes became common in Orange County as a non-native mesopredator, with increasing urban development pushing out coyote and mountain lion populations to the county's shrinking natural areas.[45][46]
In 1994, an investment fund meltdown led to the criminal prosecution of treasurer Robert Citron. The county lost at least $1.5billion through high-risk investments in bonds. The loss was blamed on derivatives by some media reports.[47] On December 6, 1994, the County of Orange declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy,[47] from which it emerged on June 12, 1996.[48] The Orange County bankruptcy was at the time the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.[47]
Land use conflicts arose between established areas in the north and less developed areas in the south. These conflicts were over issues such as construction of new toll roads and the repurposing of a decommissioned air base. El Toro Marine Corps Air Station was designated by a voter measure in 1994 to be developed into an international airport to complement the existing John Wayne Airport. But subsequent voter initiatives and court actions caused the airport plan to be permanently shelved. It has developed into the Orange County Great Park and housing.[49]
In the 21st century, the social landscape of Orange County has continued to change. The opioid epidemic saw a rise in Orange County, with unintentional overdoses becoming the third highest contributor of deaths by 2014. As in other areas, the deaths disproportionately occurred in the homeless population. However, deaths were widespread among affluent and poorer areas in Orange County, with the highest at-risk group being Caucasian males between the ages of 45–55. A 2018 study found that supply reduction was not sufficient to preventing deaths.[50]
In 2008, a report issued by the Orange County Superior Court found that the county was experiencing a pet "overpopulation problem," with the growing number of pets leading to an increase in euthanasias at the Orange County Animal Shelter to 13,000 for the year alone.[51]
Following the 2016 presidential election, Santa Ana become a sanctuary city for the protection of those immigrants who worked around the legally established process of becoming a legal resident in Orange and other California counties. This created an intense debate in Orange County surrounding politics toward unlawful immigration, with many cities opposing pro-immigration policies.[52]
Implementation of renewable energy and climate change awareness in Orange County increased, with the city of Irvine pledging to be a zero-carbon economy by 2030 and Buena Park, Huntington Beach, and Fullerton pledging to move to 100% clean energy.[54] Residential solar panel installation has rapidly increased, even among middle-income families, as a result of the state's residential solar program which began in 2006.
In the 2010s, campaigns to conserve remaining natural areas gained awareness.[55][56] By the early 2020s, some success was found, with the conservation of 24 acres in the West Coyote Hills of a total 510 acres and the Genga/Banning Ranch project moving forward, conserving some 385 acres, which was part of the Tongva village area of Genga.[55][56][57] In 2021, the commemorative 1.5 acre Putuidem village opened after years of delays and campaigning by the Acjachemen.[58]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 948sqmi (2,460km2), of which 791sqmi (2,050km2) is land and 157sqmi (410km2) (16.6%) is water.[59] It is the smallest county by area in Southern California, being just over 40% the size of the region's next smallest county, Ventura. The average annual temperature is about 68°F (20°C).
The northwestern part of the county lies on the coastal plain of the Los Angeles Basin, while the southeastern end rises into the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. Most of Orange County's population reside in one of two shallow coastal valleys that lie in the basin, the Santa Ana Valley and the Saddleback Valley. The Santa Ana Mountains lie within the eastern boundaries of the county and of the Cleveland National Forest. The high point is Santiago Peak (5,689ft (1,734m)[60]), about 20mi (32km) east of Santa Ana. Santiago Peak and nearby Modjeska Peak, just 200ft (60m) shorter, form a ridge known as Saddleback, visible from almost everywhere in the county. The Peralta Hills extend westward from the Santa Ana Mountains through the communities of Anaheim Hills, Orange, and ending in Olive. The Loma Ridge is another prominent feature, running parallel to the Santa Ana Mountains through the central part of the county, separated from the taller mountains to the east by Santiago Canyon.
The Santa Ana River is the county's principal watercourse, flowing through the middle of the county from northeast to southwest. Its major tributary to the south and east is Santiago Creek. Other watercourses within the county include Aliso Creek, San Juan Creek, and Horsethief Creek. In the North, the San Gabriel River also briefly crosses into Orange County and exits into the Pacific on the Los Angeles-Orange County line between the cities of Long Beach and Seal Beach. Laguna Beach is home to the county's only natural lakes, Laguna Lakes, which are formed by water rising up against an underground fault.
Regions of Orange County
Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley from over Costa Mesa
Orange County is sometimes divided into northern and southern regions. There are significant political, demographic, economic and cultural distinctions between North and South Orange County.[61] A popular dividing line between the two regions is the Costa Mesa Freeway.
Northern Orange County, including Anaheim, Fullerton, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, was the first part of the county to be developed and is culturally closer to neighboring Los Angeles County. This region is more Hispanic (mostly Mexican) and Asian (predominantly Vietnamese and Korean),[62] more densely populated (Santa Ana is the one hundredth and one most densely-populated city in the United States with a population of over 300,000), younger, less wealthy and with higher unemployment. It has more renters and fewer homeowners and generally votes Democratic. There are notable exceptions to these general trends, such as strongly Republican Yorba Linda and affluent Anaheim Hills, North Tustin, and Villa Park.[61] Northern Orange County is predominantly flat, giving way to the Santa Ana Mountains in the Northeast.
Southern Orange County is wealthier, more residential, more Republican, predominantly non-Hispanic white, and more recently developed. Irvine, the largest city in the region, is an exception to some of these trends, being not only a major employment center, but also a major tech hub and education center with UCI. Furthermore, the city is an Asian plurality (both South and East Asian), and votes reliably Democratic in recent years. Southern Orange County almost always includes Irvine,[63]Newport Beach, and the cities to their southeast, including Lake Forest, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Beach, Mission Viejo, and San Clemente. Alternatively, Irvine and Newport Beach are sometimes seen as Central Orange County, acting as a transition zone between north and south; when this viewpoint is taken Tustin is also considered to be in Central Orange County. Costa Mesa is sometimes included in South County,[64] although it is located predominantly to the west of the Costa Mesa Freeway and is part of the even street grid network of northern Orange County.[65] Irvine is located in a valley defined by the Santa Ana Mountains and the San Joaquin Hills, while much of Southern Orange County is very hilly.
Older cities in North Orange County like Santa Ana, Anaheim, Orange and Fullerton have traditional downtowns dating to the late 19th century, with Downtown Santa Ana being the home of the county, state and federal institutions. However, far more commercial activity is concentrated in clusters of newer commercial development located further south in the county's edge cities. The three largest edge cities, from north to south, are:
A contiguous strip of commercial development (an edge city) stretches from Disneyland through to MainPlace Mall along the I-5 Santa Ana Freeway,[66][67][68][69][70] straddling the city limits of Anaheim, Garden Grove, Orange, and Santa Ana, and in fact stretching between the original downtowns of those four cities.
Retail complexes include Anaheim GardenWalk, Anaheim Marketplace (claiming to be the largest indoor swap meet in Orange County with more than 200 vendors), MainPlace Mall, Orange Town & Country, and The Outlets at Orange, originally a mall named "The City" which was the centerpiece of a planned, 1970s mixed-use development by the same name. There is commercial strip-style development including big box retailers along West Chapman Avenue in Orange, along Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove, and around Harbor Boulevard and Chapman Avenue in Anaheim.
Major hotels line Harbor Boulevard from Disneyland south to Garden Grove. The Orange County Transit Authority studied the corridor as the possible route for a streetcar, a proposal that was dropped in 2018 due to opposition from Anaheim and other city governments.[71]
In addition to suburban-style apartment complexes, Anaheim's Platinum Triangle is undergoing transformation from a low-density commercial and industrial zone into a more urban environment with high-density housing, commercial office towers, and retail space. Anaheim envisions it as a "downtown for Orange County".[72] The 820 acres (330ha) area undergoing this large-scale redevelopment includes the city's two major sports venues, the Honda Center and Angel Stadium of Anaheim.[73]
Orange County, California – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
The Hispanic and Latino population is predominantly of Mexican origin; this group accounts for 28.5% of the county's population, followed by Salvadorans (0.8%), Guatemalans (0.5%), Puerto Ricans (0.4%), Cubans (0.3%), Colombians (0.3%), and Peruvians (0.3%).[92]Santa Ana with its population reportedly 75 percent Hispanic/Latino, is among the most Hispanic/Latino percentage cities in both California and the U.S., esp. of Mexican-American descent.[93]
Among the Asian population, 6.1% are Vietnamese, followed by Koreans (2.9%), Chinese (2.7%), Filipinos (2.4%), Indians (1.4%), Japanese (1.1%), Cambodians (0.2%), Pakistanis (0.2%), Thais (0.1%), Indonesians (0.1%), and Laotians (0.1%).[92] According to KPCC in 2014, Orange County has the largest proportion of Asian Americans in Southern California, where one in five residents are Asian American.[94] There is also a significant Muslim population in the county.[95]
Out of 935,287 households, 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% married couples were living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.6% were non-families. 21.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.00 and the average family size was 3.48.
Ethnic change has been transforming the population. By 2009, nearly 45 percent of the residents spoke a language other than English at home. Whites now comprise only 45 percent of the population, while the numbers of Hispanics grow steadily, along with Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese families. The percentage of foreign-born residents jumped to 30 percent in 2008 from 6 percent in 1970. The mayor of Irvine, Sukhee Kang, was born in Korea, making him the first Korean-American to run a major American city. “We have 35 languages spoken in our city,” Kang observed.[98] The population is diverse age-wise, with 27.0% under the age of 18, 9.4% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 20.6% from 45 to 64, and 9.9% 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $61,899, and the median income for a family was $75,700 (these figures had risen to $71,601 and $81,260 respectively as of a 2007 estimate[99]). Males had a median income of $45,059 versus $34,026 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,826. About 7.0% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.
Residents of Orange County are known as "Orange Countians".[100]
Tourism remains a vital aspect of Orange County's economy. Anaheim is the main tourist hub, with the Disneyland Resort's Disneyland being the second most visited theme park in the world. Also, Knott's Berry Farm gets about 7million visitors annually and is located in the city of Buena Park. The Anaheim Convention Center holds many major conventions throughout the year. Resorts within the Beach Cities receive visitors throughout the year due to their close proximity to the beach, biking paths, mountain hiking trails, golf courses, shopping and dining.
Food culture
As recently as the 1990s, award-winning restaurants in Orange County consisted mostly of national chain restaurants with traditional American or Tex-Mex comfort food.[citation needed] The Orange County Register states that the "tipping point" came in 2007 when Marneaus founded Marché Moderne (since moved to Crystal Cove), and Top Chef chef Amar Santana opened a branch of Charlie Palmer (closed 2015),[112] both at South Coast Plaza. Santana followed opening restaurants Broadway in Laguna Beach and Vaca in Costa Mesa. Other Top Chef chefs followed with their own restaurants including Brian Huskey (Tackle Box), Shirley Chung (Twenty Eight), Jamie Gwen of Cutthroat Kitchen, and from The Great Food Truck Race, Jason Quinn (Playground), who also opened three stands at the 4th Street Market[113]food hall in Downtown Santa Ana in 2016.[114]
In 2019, the Michelin Guide awarded stars for the first time to Orange County restaurants, awarding Hana Re and Taco Maria one star each.[117] In 2021, Knife Pleat in Costa Mesa was awarded one Michelin star as well.[118]
Arts and culture
1965 aerial photo of Anaheim Disneyland, Disneyland Hotel with its Monorail Station. The Disneyland Heliport, surrounding orange groves, Santa Ana Freeway (now I-5) and the Melodyland Theater "in the round," and part of the City of Anaheim. Anaheim Stadium can be seen under construction near the upper left.
The area's warm Mediterranean climate and 42mi (68km) of year-round beaches attract millions of tourists annually. Huntington Beach is a hot spot for sunbathing and surfing; nicknamed "Surf City, U.S.A.", it is home to many surfing competitions. "The Wedge", at the tip of The Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, is one of the most famous body surfing spots in the world. Southern California surf culture is prominent in Orange County's beach cities. Another one of these beach cities being Laguna Beach, just south of Newport Beach. A few popular beaches include A Thousand Steps on 9th Street, Main Street Beach, and The Montage.
Other tourist destinations include the theme parks Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim and Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park. Due to the 2022 reopening of Wild Rivers in Irvine, the county is home to three water parks along with Soak City in Buena Park and Great Wolf Lodge in Anaheim.[119] The Anaheim Convention Center is the largest such facility on the West Coast. The Old Towne, Orange Historic District in the City of Orange (the traffic circle at the middle of Chapman Avenue at Glassell Street) still maintains its 1950s image, and appeared in the movie That Thing You Do!.
Little Saigon is another tourist destination, home to the largest concentration of Vietnamese people outside Vietnam. There are also sizable Taiwanese, Filipino, Chinese, and Korean communities, particularly in western Orange County. This is evident in several Asian-influenced shopping centers in Asian American hubs like Irvine. Popular food festival 626 Night Market has a location at OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa and is a popular attraction for Asian and fusion food, as well as an Art Walk and live entertainment.[120]
In 2014, the county had 1,075 religious organizations, the sixth-highest total among all US counties (matching its status as the sixth-most-populous county in the US).[122]
Orange County is the base for several religious organizations:
Beth Jacob Congregation of Irvine, the largest Orthodox Jewish synagogue between Los Angeles and San Diego, serving several thousand families.
Temple Beth El of South Orange County, located in Aliso Viejo, and built in 2001 to serve the fast-growing Jewish community in Orange County, this 65,000sqft (6,000m2) synagogue can seat 1,400 congregants and is the largest by size in Orange County, and is one of the largest places of worship in the state in terms of size. Temple Beth El is affiliated with both the Reform and Conservative Judaism denominations.[123]
Temple Bat Yahm of Newport Beach, is the largest Reform synagogue in Newport Beach and serves more than 500 families.
Chabad of Orange County, serves more than 100,000 Jewish families at more than of a dozen of its synagogues and community centers located in Irvine, Laguna Woods, Newport Beach, Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, North Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Yorba Linda, Tustin, Dana Point, Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach. These synagogues adhere to the Chabad-Lubavitch school of Orthodox Judaism, but all Jews are welcome to worship regardless of denomination or background.[124]
Temple Beth Emet of Anaheim, is the only synagogue in Anaheim and was the first Conservative Jewish synagogue to open in Orange County back in 1955.
The Islamic Educational Center of Orange County (IECOC), located in Costa Mesa[129]
Forty Martyrs Armenian Apostolic Church,[130] located in Santa Ana is one of two Armenian Apostolic Church, otherwise referred to as "Armenian Orthodox Church" or "Gregorian Church" in Orange County.
St. Mary Armenian Church,[131] located in Costa Mesa is one of two Armenian Apostolic Church, otherwise referred to as "Armenian Orthodox Church" or "Gregorian Church" in Orange County.
Street banners promoting the county's two major league teams, the Ducks and the Angels
The Major League Baseball team in Orange County is the Los Angeles Angels. The team won the World Series under manager Mike Scioscia in 2002. In 2005, new owner Arte Moreno wanted to change the name to "Los Angeles Angels" in order to better tap into the Los Angeles media market, the second largest in the country. However, the standing agreement with the city of Anaheim demanded that they have "Anaheim" in the name, so they became the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This name change was hotly disputed by the city of Anaheim, but the change stood, which prompted a lawsuit by the city of Anaheim against Arte Moreno, won by the latter. Prior to the 2016 season Moreno and the club officially dropped the Anaheim moniker now simply going by the Los Angeles Angels.
The Toshiba Classic, the only PGA Champions Tour event in the area, is held each March at The Newport Beach Country Club. Past champions include Fred Couples (2010), Hale Irwin (1998 and 2002), Nick Price (2011), Bernhard Langer (2008) and Jay Haas (2007). The tournament benefits the Hoag Hospital Foundation and has raised over $16million in its first 16 years.
Each of the five members of the board of supervisors is elected from a regional district, and together, the board oversees the activities of the county's agencies and departments and sets policy on development, public improvements, and county services. At the beginning of each calendar year, the Supervisors select a chair and Vice Chair amongst themselves. The chair presides over board meetings, and the Vice Chair presides when the chair is not present. The Board appoints the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, the County Counsel, the Performance Audit Director, and the Director of the Office of Independent Review. The Board also appoints the County Executive Officer to act as the chief administrative officer of the county and the manager of all agencies and departments not under the sole jurisdiction of an elected county official nor the sole jurisdiction of one of the four aforementioned officers appointed by the Board.[139]
The County Department of Education is wholly separate from the County government and is jointly overseen by the elected County Superintendent of Schools and the five-member Orange County Board of Education, whose trustees are popularly elected from five separate trustee areas.[138]
As of January2023[update], the six elected officials overseeing the Orange County Department of Education are:[137][140][141]
Superintendent of Schools: Stefan Bean, Republican
Pension scandal
On July 12, 2010, it was revealed that former Sheriff Mike Carona received over $215,000 in pension checks in 2009, despite his felony conviction.[142] A 2005 state law denied a public pension to public officials convicted of wrongdoing in office, however, that law only applied to benefits accrued after December 2005. Carona became eligible for his pension at age 50, and is also entitled, by law, to medical and dental benefits.[143][144] It was noted that the county's retirement system faces a massive shortfall totaling $3.7billion unfunded liabilities, and Carona was one of approximately 400 retired Orange County public servants who received more than $100,000 in benefits in 2009.[145] Also on the list of those receiving extra-large pension checks is former treasurer-tax collector Robert Citron, whose investments, which were made while consulting psychics and astrologers, led Orange County into bankruptcy in 1994.[146]
Citron, a Democrat, funneled billions of public dollars into questionable investments, and at first the returns were high and cities, schools and special districts borrowed millions to join in the investments. But the strategy backfired, and Citron's investment pool lost $1.64billion. Nearly $200million had to be slashed from the county budget and more than 1,000 jobs were cut. The county was forced to borrow $1billion.[147]
The California Foundation for Fiscal Responsibility filed a lawsuit against the pension system to get the list. The agency had claimed that pensioner privacy would be compromised by the release. A judge approved the release and the documents were released late June 2010. The release of the documents has reopened debate on the pension plan for retired public safety workers approved in 2001 when Carona was sheriff.[148]
Called "3 percent at 50," it lets deputies retire at age 50 with 3 percent of their highest year's pay for every year of service. Before it was approved and applied retroactively, employees received 2 percent.[149] "It was right after Sept. 11," said Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach. "All of a sudden, public safety people became elevated to god status. The Board of Supervisors were tripping over themselves to make the motion." He called it "one of the biggest shifts of money from the private sector to the public sector." Moorlach, who was not on the board when the plan was approved, led the fight to repeal the benefit. A lawsuit, which said the benefit should go before voters, was rejected in Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2009 and is now under appeal.[148] Carona opposed the lawsuit when it was filed, likening its filing to a "nuclear bomb" for deputies.[citation needed]
During most of the 20th century and up until 2016, Orange County was known for its political conservatism and for being a bastion for the Republican Party, with a 2005 academic study listing three Orange County cities as among America's 25 most conservative.[151] However, the county's changing demographics have coincided with a shift in political alignments, making it far more competitive in recent years. In 2016, Hillary Clinton became the first Democrat since 1936 to carry Orange County in a presidential election and in the 2018 midterm elections the Democratic Party gained control of every Congressional seat in the county.[152][153][154][155] Although Democrats controlled all congressional districts in Orange County at the time, Republicans maintained a lead in voter registration numbers (although it shrunk to less than a percentage point as of February 10, 2019,[156] as compared with over 10% on February 10, 2013).[157] The number of registered Democrats surpassed the number of registered Republicans in the county in August 2019. As the number of Democrats increased, the number of voters not aligned with a political party increased to comprise 27.4% of the county's voters in 2019.[158] Republicans held a majority on the county Board of Supervisors until 2022, when Democrats established a 3–2 control of the body. Seven out of the 12 state legislators from Orange County are also Republicans.
Political history
From the mid-20th century until the 2010s, Orange County was known as a Republican stronghold and consistently sent Republican representatives to the state and federal legislatures—so strongly so, that Ronald Reagan described it as the place that "all the good Republicans go to die."[152] Republican majorities in Orange County helped deliver California's electoral votes to Republican nominees Richard Nixon in 1960, 1968, and 1972; Gerald Ford in 1976; Reagan in 1980 and 1984; and George H. W. Bush in 1988. It was one of five counties in the state that voted for Barry Goldwater in 1964.
In 1936, Orange County gave Franklin D. Roosevelt a majority of its presidential vote. The Republican nominee won Orange County by double digits in the next seventeen presidential elections. Orange County's Republican registration reached its apex in 1991, 55.6% of registered voters.[159] But with the 2008 election it began trending Democratic until Hillary Clinton won the county with an eight-point majority in 2016.[160][161] In 2020, Joe Biden further improved slightly on Clinton's 2016 margin of victory.[162][163] In 2023, the Republican party's registration was 33%, while the Democratic party's registration was 37.5%.[159] In 2024, Orange County again voted for the Democratic nominee and California native Kamala Harris, though Harris only won a plurality and by a much closer margin than Biden or Hillary Clinton.
United States presidential election results for Orange County, California[164]
The Republican margin began to narrow in the 1990s and 2000s as the state trended Democratic until the mid- to late-2010s when it voted for the Democratic Party in 2016 and in 2018, when the Democratic party won every United States House District anchored in the county, including four that had previously been held by Republicans.[166] This prompted media outlets to declare Orange County's Republican leanings "dead", with the Los Angeles Times running an op-ed titled, "An obituary to old Orange County, dead at age 129."[152][153][154][155][167] While Republicans were able to recapture two of the seven U.S. House seats in Orange County in 2020, Democrats continued to hold the other five, Biden won the county by a slightly greater margin than Clinton had, and Democrats received a majority of the votes in each of the seven congressional districts.[163] Republicans still carry more weight at the local level, and in 2020 for the State Assembly elections, they won 50.2% of the vote and four out of seven seats of the county.[168] In the 2022 midterm elections, no congressional districts flipped, though Republicans performed strongly in Orange County, with every statewide GOP candidate carrying it.
The 40th, 45th, 46th, and 47th districts are all centered in Orange County. The 38th has its population center in Los Angeles County, while the 49th is primarily San Diego County-based. 132, 154, 188 In the California State Senate, Orange County is split into 7 districts:[169]
According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Orange County has 1,591,543 registered voters. Of these, 34% (541,711) are registered Republicans, and 33.3% (529,651) are registered Democrats. An additional 28.5% (453,343) declined to state a political party.[156]
While the growth of the county's Hispanic and Asian populations in recent decades has significantly influenced Orange County's culture, its conservative reputation has remained largely intact. Partisan voter registration patterns of Hispanics, Asians and other ethnic minorities in the county have tended to reflect the surrounding demographics, with resultant Republican majorities in all but the central portion of the county. When Loretta Sanchez, a Blue Dog Democrat, defeated veteran Republican Bob Dornan in 1996, she was continuing a trend of Democratic representation of that district that had been interrupted by Dornan's 1984 upset of former Congressman Jerry Patterson. Until 1992, Sanchez herself was a moderate Republican, and she is viewed as somewhat more moderate than other Democrats from Southern California.
In 2004, George W. Bush captured 60% of the county's vote, up from 56% in 2000 despite a higher Democratic popular vote statewide. Although Barbara Boxer won statewide in the simultaneously held senate election and fared better in Orange County than she did in 1998, Republican Bill Jones defeated her in the county, 51% to 43%. While the 39% that John Kerry received is higher than the percentage Bill Clinton won in 1992 or 1996, the percentage of the vote George W. Bush received in 2004 is the highest any presidential candidate has received since 1988, showing a still-dominant GOP presence in the county. In 2006, Senator Dianne Feinstein won 45% of the vote in the county, the best showing of a Democrat in a Senate race in over four decades, but Orange was nevertheless the only Coastal California county to vote for her Republican opponent, Dick Mountjoy.
The county is featured prominently in Lisa McGirr's book Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right. She argues that its conservative political orientation in the 20th century owed much to its settlement by farmers from the Great Plains, who reacted strongly to communist sympathies, the civil rights movement, and the turmoil of the 1960s in nearby Los Angeles — across the "Orange Curtain".
In the 1970s and 1980s, Orange County was one of California's leading Republican voting blocs and a subculture of residents with "Middle American" values that emphasized capitalist religious morality[clarification needed] in contrast to West coast liberalism.
Orange County has many Republican voters from culturally conservative Asian-American, Middle Eastern and Latino immigrant groups. The large Vietnamese-American communities in Garden Grove and Westminster are predominantly Republican; Vietnamese Americans registered Republicans outnumber those registered as Democrats, 55% to 22% as of 2007, while as of 2017 that figure is 42% to 36%. Republican Assemblyman Van Tran was the first Vietnamese-American elected to a state legislature and joined with Texan Hubert Vo as the highest-ranking elected Vietnamese-American in the United States until the 2008 election of Joseph Cao in Louisiana's 2nd congressional district. In the 2007 special election for the vacant county supervisor seat following Democrat Lou Correa's election to the state senate, two Vietnamese-American Republican candidates topped the list of 10 candidates, separated from each other by only seven votes, making the Orange County Board of Supervisors entirely Republican; Correa is first of only two Democrats to have served on the Board since 1987 and only the fifth since 1963.
Even with the Democratic sweep of Orange County's congressional seats in 2018, as well as a steady trend of Democratic gains in voter registration, the county remains very Republican downballot. Generally, larger cities–those with a population over 100,000, such as Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Irvine – feature a registration advantage for Democrats, while the other municipalities still have a Republican voter registration advantage. This is especially true in Newport Beach, Yorba Linda, and Villa Park, the three cities where the Republican advantage is largest. As of February 10, 2019, the only exceptions to the former are Huntington Beach and Orange, while exceptions to the latter include Buena Park, Laguna Beach and Stanton.[156]
Similarly, despite Orange county supporting Democratic candidates for president in 2016, and 2020, there are still several smaller municipalities in the county that have continued to vote Republican for president. In addition to the aforementioned Newport Beach, Yorba Linda, and Villa Park, the cities of Huntington Beach, Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, and San Clemente also supported Republican nominee Donald Trump for president twice.[170]
The Orange County Department of Education oversees 28 school districts.
Media
Orange County is served by media in Los Angeles, including its TV and radio stations. Two television stations—KOCE-TV, the main PBS member station in the Southland and KDOC-TV, a Tri-State Christian Television (TCT) owned-and-operated station—are located in Orange County.
There are a few radio stations that are actually located in Orange County. KYLA 92.7 FM has a Christian format. KSBR 88.5 FM airs a jazz music format branded as "Jazz-FM" along with news programming. KUCI 88.9 FM is a free form college radio station that broadcasts from UC Irvine. KWIZ 96.7 FM, located in Santa Ana, airs a regional Mexican music format branded as "La Rockola 96.7". KWVE-FM 107.9 is owned by the Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. KWVE-FM is also the primary Emergency Alert System station for the county. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim also own and operate a sports-only radio station from Orange, KLAA. KX 93.5 FM[180] broadcasts out of Laguna Beach and features an eclectic mix of mostly alternative rock.
County-wide politics and government coverage is primarily provided by the Orange County Register and Voice of OC. OC Weekly was an alternative weekly publication, and Excélsior is a Spanish-language newspaper. A few communities are served by the Los Angeles Times' publication of the Daily Pilot. Orange Coast was established in 1974 and is the oldest continuously published lifestyle magazine in the region. OC Music Magazine is also based out of Orange County, serving local musicians and artists.
The Orange County Plain Dealer (January 1898 to May 8, 1925), was a mostly Anaheim-based newspaper, and successor to The Independent, bought by James E. Valjean, a Republican and edited by him, a former editor of the Portsmouth Blade (Ohio).[181][182]
Other newspapers were: Anaheim Daily Herald, Anaheim Gazette, Anaheim Bulletin.[183]
The bus network comprises 6,542 stops on 77 lines, running along most major streets, and accounts for 210,000 boardings a day. The fleet of 817 buses is gradually being replaced by CNG (Compressed natural gas)-powered vehicles, which already represent over 40% of the total fleet. Service is operated by OCTA employees and First Transit under contract. OCTA operates one bus rapid transit service, Bravo, on Harbor Boulevard. In addition, OCTA offers paratransit service for the disabled (OC ACCESS), also operated by MV.
Since 1992, Metrolink has operated three commuter rail lines through Orange County, and has also maintained Rail-to-Rail service with parallel Amtrak service. On a typical weekday, over 40 trains run along the Orange County Line, the 91/Perris Valley Line and the Inland Empire–Orange County Line. Along with Metrolink riders on parallel Amtrak lines, these lines generate approximately 15,000 boardings per weekday. Metrolink also began offering weekend service on the Orange County Line and the Inland Empire-Orange County line in the summer of 2006. As ridership has steadily increased in the region, new stations have opened at Anaheim Canyon, Buena Park, Tustin, and Laguna Niguel/Mission Viejo. Plans for a future station in Placentia are underway and is expected to be completed by 2020.
OC Streetcar, formerly known as the Santa Ana/Garden Grove Fixed Guideway Project, is a streetcar line connecting Downtown Santa Ana to the Depot at Santa Ana which is currently under construction and expected to open in 2023.[185] OCTA has also proposed connecting the two systems via Harbor Boulevard and the West Santa Ana Branch corridor.[186][187] Plans for a streetcar for Harbor Boulevard in Fullerton, Anaheim, and Garden Grove — the Anaheim Rapid Connection — were shelved in 2018.
Sea
A car and passenger ferry service, the Balboa Island Ferry, comprising three ferries running every five minutes, operates within Newport Harbor between Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island in Newport Beach. The Catalina Flyer connects the Balboa Peninsula to Avalon with daily round-trip passage through about nine months of the year. The Catalina Express connects Dana Point to Avalon (with departures from two greater Long Beach ports also connecting to Two Harbors).
Air
Orange County's only major airport is John Wayne Airport; its abbreviation (SNA) refers to Santa Ana, the closest large town in the early 20th century. The airport is located in unincorporated territory surrounded by Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, and Irvine. On destination monitors with flights to SNA, the airport is usually described as "Orange County, CA" or "Santa Ana/Orange County". In 2014, its Thomas F. Riley Terminal handled over 9million passengers annually and as of 2019, seven airline brands provide scheduled service.
Orange County was featured by Huell Howser in Road Trip Episode 109.[188]
Popular television series set in Orange County include the Fox drama The O.C. (2003–2007), the Fox sitcom Arrested Development (2003–2006), and the Bravo reality show The Real Housewives of Orange County (2006–present). The three programs share a common focus on the extravagant lifestyles of the county's upper class.
Southern California is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area as well as the Inland Empire. The region generally contains ten of California's 58 counties: Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Imperial counties.
Santa Ana is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, California, United States. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census. As of 2023, Santa Ana is the third most populous city in Orange County, the 14th-most populous city in California, and the 65th most populous city in the United States. Santa Ana is a major regional economic and cultural hub for the Orange Coast.
Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, with the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County at its center, and Orange County to the southeast. The Los Angeles–Anaheim–Riverside combined statistical area (CSA) covers 33,954 square miles (87,940 km2), making it the largest metropolitan region in the United States by land area. The contiguous urban area is 2,281 square miles (5,910 km2), whereas the remainder mostly consists of mountain and desert areas. With an estimated population of over 18.3 million, it is the second-largest metropolitan area in the country, behind New York, as well as one of the largest megacities in the world.
Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about 40 miles (64 km) southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime industries. Today it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island draws visitors with a waterfront path and easy access from the ferry to the shops and restaurants.
Seal Beach is a coastal city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,242, up from 24,168 at the 2010 census.
The Irvine Company LLC is an American private company focused on real estate development. It is headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with a large portion of its operations centered in and around Irvine, California, a planned city of more than 300,000 people mainly designed by the Irvine Company. The company was founded by the Irvine family and is currently wholly owned by Donald Bren.
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the transportation planning commission for Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. OCTA is responsible for funding and implementing transit and capital projects for the transportation system in the county, including freeway expansions, express lane management, bus and rail transit operation, and commuter rail funding and oversight.
Curtis L. "Curt" Pringle is an American politician from the U.S. state of California. He is the most recent Republican to have served as the Speaker of the California State Assembly. He is a former mayor of Anaheim and a former chairman of the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Since leaving office, Pringle has operated a public relations and government affairs firm, Curt Pringle & Associates.
The Orange County Register is a paid daily newspaper published in California. The Register, published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digital First Media News subsidiaries.
California's 48th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California that covers East County, San Diego as well as the Temecula Valley. Major cities in the district include Temecula, Murrieta, and portions of Escondido. It is currently represented by Republican Darrell Issa.
California's 47th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors is the five-member governing body of Orange County, California, along with being the executive of the county.
The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) is the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) of six of the ten counties in Southern California, serving Imperial County, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and Ventura County. San Diego County's MPO is the San Diego Association of Governments, which is an unrelated agency.
The Orange County Employees Association (OCEA), located in Santa Ana, California, is a public employee labor union in Orange County, representing about 18,000 employees. OCEA was founded in 1937.
Occupy Orange County is a Southern California chapter of the Occupy movement, which began with a rally of over 1,000 people at Irvine City Hall on October 15, 2011. Occupy OC has helped victims of what they called "fraudclosure" to delay their evictions. Members regularly protest political fundraisers, for example as the satirical "Billionaires for Romney."
Sports in Orange County, California includes a number of sports teams and sports competitions. Within Orange County, the city of Anaheim currently hosts two major league sports teams — MLB's Los Angeles Angels and the NHL's Anaheim Ducks — and used to host two others.
The 2018 Orange, County, California District Attorney election took place on June 5, 2018, for the first round. Because no candidate received a majority in the first round, a runoff took place November 6, 2018, to elect the Orange County, California District Attorney. County-level elections in California are officially nonpartisan. Because no candidate received a majority, a runoff was held on November 6, 2018.
The 2022 Orange County Board of Supervisors elections were held on June 7 and November 8, 2022. Three of the five seats of the Orange County, California Board of Supervisors were up for election. This was the first set of elections held after the 2020 redistricting cycle. County elections in California are officially nonpartisan. A two-round system was used for the election, starting with the first round in June. Runoffs were held in all three districts, as no candidate managed to reach the 50% + 1 threshold.
↑ Do, Anh (May 24, 2016). "In Little Saigon, some Latinos are learning Vietnamese to get ahead". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 18, 2022. Retrieved February 8, 2022. Vietnamese and Latinos, mostly of Mexican descent, began populating the starter tracts of Central Orange County in the late 1970s and early '80s—the Vietnamese fleeing the Communist government after the war and Latinos looking for better economic opportunities. Vietnamese at first settled largely in Westminster and Latinos in Santa Ana.
↑ Orange County, California Grand Jury (2008). Final Report. Orange County Superior Court. pp.190–194. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
↑ "South Orange Co. definition". Los Angeles Times. October 18, 1986. p.67. Archived from the original on September 28, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020– via newspapers.com.
↑ Garreau, Joel (1991). Edge City. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. ISBN9780307801944. Archived from the original on August 2, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
1 2 3 4 5 6 U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B02001. U.S. Census websiteArchived December 27, 1996, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
↑ U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B03003. U.S. Census websiteArchived December 27, 1996, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
1 2 U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B19301. U.S. Census websiteArchived December 27, 1996, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
↑ U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B19013. U.S. Census websiteArchived December 27, 1996, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
1 2 U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B19113. U.S. Census websiteArchived December 27, 1996, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
↑ U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. American FactFinderArchived September 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
↑ U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B01003. U.S. Census websiteArchived December 27, 1996, at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
↑ Luna, Nancy (January 22, 2016). "Food hall shake up? Playground's Jason Quinn closing three 4th Street Market food stands; four new restaurants coming".
↑ "Social Capital Variables Spreadsheet for 2014". PennState College of Agricultural Sciences, Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development. December 8, 2017. Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
↑ "Assembly Bill No. 1044"(PDF). Legislative Counsel: State of California. Archived(PDF) from the original on August 19, 2014. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
↑ Jepsen, Chris (September 17, 2018). "The Orange County Plain Dealer". Orange County History Roundup. Archived from the original on March 19, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
↑ Schultz, Jason; Mabe, Jon; Maya, Chris. "Orange County Plain Dealer". Yore Anaheim. Archived from the original on May 31, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
↑ Schultz, Jason; Mabe, Jon; Maya, Chris. "About". Yore Anaheim. Archived from the original on October 5, 2022. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
Mike Heywood, A History of Orange County: Twelve Decades of Extraordinary Change, 1889 to 2010. n.c.: Aardvark Global Publishing, 2010.
Doris I. Walker. Orange County Then and Now (Then & Now). Thunder Bay Press, 2006.[4]
Philippe Jorion and Robert Roper, Big Bets Gone Bad: Derivatives and Bankruptcy in Orange County. San Diego: Academic Press, 1995.
Rob Kling, Spencer C Olin, and Mark Poster, Postsuburban California: The Transformation of Orange County since World War II. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991.
Orange County Historical Society, Orange County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2005.
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