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Orange County, California

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Official website: http://www.oc.ca.gov/

Location

Location of Orange County within California.

Government

Country

State United States

California

Board of Supervisors

District One

District Two

District Three

District Four

District Five

Lou Correa

Jim Silva

Bill Campbell

Chris Norby

Thomas Wilson

Formed

March 11, 1889

Geographical characteristics

Area 2,455 km²

Land 2,045 km²

Water 411 km²

Population

Total (2005) 3,056,865

Density 1,392/km²

Time zone Pacific (UTC−8)

Summer (DST) Pacific (UTC−7)

Orange County is a county in Southern California, United States. Its county seat is Santa Ana. Its population of 3,056,865 (2005 estimate [1]) is larger than that of 20 states. It is the second most populous county in the state of California, and the fifth most populous in the United States. The county is known for its wealth and political conservatism, although it is in reality neither as uniformly wealthy nor as homogeneously conservative as its stereotypical image suggests. In fact, the wealthiest areas in the county, such as Anaheim Hills, Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Villa Park, only account for 15% of Orange County's total population.[citation needed]

It is also famous as a tourist destination, as the county is home to such attractions as Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm, as well as sandy beaches for swimming and surfing, yacht harbors for sailing and pleasure boating, and extensive acreage devoted to parks and open space for golf, tennis, hiking, kayaking, cycling, and other outdoor recreation. It is at the center of Southern California's Tech Coast.

Thirty-four incorporated cities are located in Orange County; the newest is Aliso Viejo, which is also the only city in the county to incorporate since 2000.

Contents

1 Geography

1.1 Major Highways

1.2 Adjacent Counties

2 History

3 Demographics

3.1 Median Household Income by Community

4 Education

5 Points of interest

6 Sports

6.1 Defunct Orange County sports teams

7 Government

8 Politics

9 Transportation

10 Orange County in popular culture

10.1 Film and television

10.2 Music

10.3 Literature

10.4 Sports

10.5 Religion

11 Master Planned Communities

12 Notable residents

13 Constituent cities and communities

13.1 Incorporated cities

13.2 Noteworthy Communities

13.3 Unincorporated communities

13.4 ZIP Codes

14 See also

15 External links

15.1 Government

15.2 Media

15.3 OC Blogs

15.4 Others

Geography

Cities in Orange CountyAccording to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,455 km² (948 mi²), making it the smallest county in Southern California. Surface water accounts for 411 km² (159 mi²) of the area, 16.73% of the total; 2,045 km² (789 mi²) of it is land.

Orange County is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the north by Los Angeles County, on the northeast by San Bernardino County, on the east by Riverside County, and on the south by San Diego County.

The northern part of the county lies on the coastal plain of the Los Angeles Basin, while the southern half lies on the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. Most of Orange County's population resides in one of two shallow coastal valleys that lie in the basin, the Santa Ana Valley and the Saddleback Valley. The coastal plain gently rises into the Santa Ana Mountains, which lie within the boundaries of the county and of the Cleveland National Forest. The high point is Santiago Peak (5,687 ft/1,733 m), about 20 mi (32 km) east of Santa Ana. Santiago Peak and nearby Modjeska Peak, just 200 feet shorter, form a ridge known as Saddleback, visible from almost everywhere in the county.

The Santa Ana River is the county's principal watercourse. Its major tributary running through the county is Santiago Creek. Other watercourses within the county include Aliso Creek, San Juan Creek, and Horsethief Creek. The San Gabriel River also briefly crosses into Orange County and exits into the Pacific on the Los Angeles-Orange County line between 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.

The cities of Orange County are connected by a network of freeways, which residents typically call by their route number rather than their formal name (e.g., "The Fifty-five" instead of "The Costa Mesa Freeway"). One of the most important Orange County roadways is the north-south Santa Ana Freeway, or Interstate 5, which bisects the length of the county. It merges with another key north-south road, the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405) in Irvine. The 5 and 405 freeways meet at the El Toro Y, one of the busiest interchanges in the U.S. Another notoriously busy interchange is the Orange Crush, where the I-5, 22, and 57 meet.

Residents often divide the county into "North County" and "South County", as opposed to an East-West division characterized by coastal and inland cities; however, there may be significant cultural differences found on the coast than futher inland. There is no formal geographical division of North and South County, though a North-South border may be drawn somewhere along the Tustin-Irvine and Costa Mesa-Newport Beach city boundaries, or along the boundary between the 714 and 949 area codes. Orange County is part of the five-county Greater Los Angeles area.

Major Highways

Interstate 5

Interstate 405

California State Route 1

California State Route 22

California State Route 55

California State Route 57

California State Route 73

California State Route 74

California State Route 91

Adjacent Counties

Los Angeles County, California - north, west

San Bernardino County, California - northeast

Riverside County, California - east

San Diego County, California - southeast

History

Members of the Tongva and Juaneño/Luiseño nations long inhabited the area. After the 1769 expedition of Gaspar de Portolà, a Spanish expedition led by Junipero Serra named the area Vallejo de Santa Ana (Valley of Saint Anne). On November 1, 1776, Mission San Juan Capistrano became the first permanent European settlement.

A severe drought in the 1860s devastated the prevailing industry, cattle ranching, and much land came into the possession of Richard O'Neill, Sr. [2], James Irvine and other land barons. In 1887, silver was discovered in the Santa Ana mountains, attracting settlers via the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific Railroads. This growth led the California legislature to divide Los Angeles County and create Orange County as a separate political entity on March 11, 1889. It was named for its most famous product, but 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 Newport Beach and Santa Ana. The link made Orange County an accessible weekend retreat for celebrities of early Hollywood. It was deemed so significant that the city of Pacific City changed its name to Huntington Beach in honor of Henry Huntington, president of the Pacific Electric and nephew of robber baron Collis Huntington. Transportation further improved with the completion of the State Route and U.S. Route 101 (now mostly Interstate 5) in the 1920s.

Agriculture, such as the boysenberry which was made famous by Buena Park native Walter Knott, began to decline after World War II but the county's prosperity soared. 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. Orange County received a further boost in 1955 with the opening of Disneyland.

In 1969, Yorba Linda-born Orange County native Richard Nixon became the 37th President of the United States.

In the 1980s, the population topped 2 million for the first time. Orange County had become the second largest county in California.

A spectacular investment fund melt-down in 1994 led to the criminal prosecution of Orange County treasurer Robert Citron. On December 6, 1994, Orange County declared Chapter 9 bankruptcy, from which it emerged in June 1995; this was the largest ever municipal bankruptcy in the U.S. The county lost about $1.6 billion through high-risk investments in derivatives.

In recent years, the county has been characterized by conflict between the older northern and newer southern cities over development, the building of new toll roads, and a recently defeated proposal to build an international airport at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station that would have reduced operations at the existing John Wayne Airport.

Demographics

Historical populations

Census Pop. %±

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1890 13,589

1900 19,696 44.9%

1910 34,436 74.8%

1920 61,375 78.2%

1930 118,674 93.4%

1940 130,760 10.2%

1950 216,224 65.4%

1960 703,925 225.6%

1970 1,420,386 101.8%

1980 1,932,709 36.1%

1990 2,410,556 24.7%

2000 2,846,289 18.1%

2005 est. 3,056,865 7.4%

Orange County Density Map. Lighter shades indicate less dense areas, darker shades indicate denser areas.As of the census² of 2000, there were 2,846,289 people, 935,287 households, and 667,794 families residing in the county, making Orange County the second most populous county in California. The population density was 1,392/km² (3,606/mi²). There were 969,484 housing units at an average density of 474/km² (1,228/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 64.81% White, 13.59% Asian, 1.67% African American, 0.70% Native American, 0.31% Pacific Islander, 14.80% from other races, and 4.12% from two or more races. 30.76% are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

In 1990, still according to the census² there were 2,410,556 people residing in the county. The racial makeup of the county was 64.49% White, not of Hispanic origins, 23.43% Hispanic or Latino, 9.99% Asian, 1.62% African American, 0.36% Native American, and 0.11% of some other race.

The county's diverse racial makeup is under scrutiny and varied estimates by local minority group organizations, like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) charged the US census undercounted Orange County's small but fast-growing black population. Similar charges came from the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and Asian-American leaders on the percentage of Latinos and Asians in the county is inaccurate, unless there are accidental undercounts or their growth rate is phenomenal to keep up their accuracy.

There were 935,287 households out of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.9% were married couples 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.

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. 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.

It must be noted, that the Hispanic make-up is signifacantly larger than US Census numbers due to the vast number of illegal immigrants residing within county lines.

Median Household Income by Community

Unincorporated communities are included if their population is greater than 15,000.

Anaheim Hills: $120,852

Villa Park: $116,203

Tustin Foothills: $96,230

Irvine: $85,624

Newport Beach: $83,455

Laguna Niguel: $80,733

Yorba Linda: $79,593

Rancho Santa Margarita: $78,475

Mission Viejo: $78,248

Aliso Viejo: $76,409

Laguna Beach: $75,808

Laguna Hills: $70,234

Fountain Valley: $69,734

La Palma: $68,438

Lake Forest: $67,967

Huntington Beach: $64,824

Cypress: $64,337

San Clemente: $63,507

Dana Point: $63,043

Placentia: $62,803

San Juan Capistrano: $62,392

Brea: $59,759

Orange: $58,994

Tustin: $55,985

Los Alamitos: $55,286

Costa Mesa: $50,732

Buena Park: $50,336

Fullerton: $50,269

Westminster: $49,450

Garden Grove: $47,754

La Habra: $47,652

Anaheim: $47,122

Santa Ana: $43,412

Seal Beach: $42,049

Stanton: $39,127

Laguna Woods: $30,493

Education

Orange County is home to many colleges and universities, including:

University of California, Irvine

California State University, Fullerton

Chapman University

Laguna College of Art and Design

Vanguard University

Concordia University

Soka University

Irvine Valley College

Cypress College

Orange Coast College

Golden West College

Coastline Community College

Santa Ana College

Santiago Canyon College

Fullerton College

Saddleback College

Many Orange County residents commute to colleges in neighboring counties, including California State University, Long Beach, which is just miles from the L.A. county line.

Its county department of education also oversees 28 school districts.

Further information: List of school districts in Orange County, California

Points of interest

The area's warm Mediterranean climate and 42 miles 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. Other tourist destinations include the theme parks Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim and Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park. The Anaheim Convention Center is the largest such facility on the West Coast. The old town area in the City of Orange (the traffic circle at the middle of Chapman Ave. at Glassell) still maintains its 1950's image, and appeared in "That Thing You Do!" Little Saigon is another notable tourist destination, being home to the largest concentration of Vietnamese people outside of Vietnam. There is also a sizable Korean community, particularly in western Orange County.

Other notable structures include the Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse in Santa Ana, the largest building in the county; the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, the largest house of worship in California; the historic Balboa Pavilion [3] in Newport Beach; the Huntington Beach Pier; and the restored Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Some of the most exclusive (and expensive) neighborhoods in the U.S. are located here, many along the Orange County Coast. Large shopping malls exist throughout the county, such as the Irvine Spectrum Center, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Fashion Island in Newport Beach, The Block at Orange, and the recently remodeled Mission Viejo Mall in Mission Viejo.

Historical points of interest include Mission San Juan Capistrano (destination of migrating swallows), and the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace (the only privately controlled presidential library in the nation since the government began constructing these libraries in 1939) in Yorba Linda. The Nixon Home is a National Historic Landmark, as is the home of a very different character, Madam Helena Modjeska, in Modjeska Canyon on Santiago Creek.

Sports

The Major League Baseball team, the Anaheim Angels, won the World Series in 2002.

The county's National Hockey League team, the Anaheim Ducks, lost the 2003 Stanley Cup finals after winning three games in a seven-game series.

The Orange County Blue Star is a USL Premier Development League soccer club. They play at Orange Coast College.

The Anaheim Arsenal are a NBA D-League expansion team for the 2006-2007 season. They will play their home games at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The Women's Footy orange county bombshells.

Defunct Orange County sports teams

NFL football left the county when the Los Angeles Rams relocated to St. Louis in 1995. Anaheim city leaders are in talks with the NFL to bring a Los Angeles-area franchise to Orange County.

The county was the home of the Orange County Buzz basketball team of the American Basketball Association (ABA). In May 2006, the NBA Development League's L.A. Clippers-affiliated team announced their move to Carson, California.

The Anaheim Storm were a member of the National Lacrosse League. They folded in 2005 due to low attendance.

The Anaheim Piranhas were a Arena Football League team in 1996-97, but folded due to team board financial problems.

The Anaheim Bullfrogs were a Roller Hockey International team that had relative success lasted from 1993-99 and briefly revived in 2001.

The Anaheim Splash was a soccer team that played in the Continental Indoor Soccer League from 1993 to 1997.

Government

Orange County is a general law county of California; its seat is Santa Ana. Its legislative and executive authority is vested in a five-member Board of Supervisors. Each Supervisor is popularly 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 year the Supervisors select a Chairman and Vice-Chairman, but the administration is headed by a professional municipal manager, the County Executive.

Seven other public officials are elected at-large: the County Assessor, Auditor-Controller, Clerk-Recorder, District Attorney, Sheriff-Coroner, Treasurer-Tax Collector and Public Administrator.

Politics

Orange County Votes

by Party in Presidential Elections Year Republican Democratic

2004 59.7% 641,832 39.0% 419,239

2000 55.8% 541,299 40.4% 391,819

1996 51.7% 446,717 37.9% 327,485

1992 43.9% 426,613 31.6% 306,930

1988 67.7% 586,230 31.1% 269,013

1984 74.7% 635,013 24.3% 206,272

1980 67.9% 529,797 22.6% 176,704

1976 62.2% 408,632 35.3% 232,246

1972 68.3% 448,291 26.9% 176,847

1968 63.1% 314,905 29.9% 148,869

1964 55.9% 224,196 44.0% 176,539

1960 60.8% 174,891 38.9% 112,007

1956 67.4% 113,510 32.6% 54,895

1952 70.4% 77,548 29.6% 32,530

Orange County has long been known as a Republican stronghold and has consistently sent Republican representatives to the state and federal legislatures. Republican majorities in Orange County helped deliver California's electoral votes to Republican presidential candidates Richard Nixon (1960, 1968 and 1972), Gerald Ford (1976), Ronald Reagan (1980 and 1984), and George H. W. Bush (1988). Orange County has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1936 landslide re-election. Although Democrats have made inroads in the northern end of the county since the mid-1980s, Orange County politics are still dominated by Republicans. Five of the County's six U.S. Representatives, four of its five State Senators and seven of its nine State Assembly members are Republicans, as are four of the five members of the County Board of Supervisors.

According to the California Secretary of State, as of July 3, 2006, Orange County had 1,477,803 registered voters. Of these registered voters, 48.18% are registered Republicans, and 29.93% are registered Democrats. An additional 17.94% declined to state, and the remaining 3.95% are registered with minor political parties.

Orange County has produced such notable Republicans as President Richard Nixon (born in Yorba Linda and lived in San Clemente), U.S. Senator John F. Seymour (previously mayor of Anaheim), and U.S. Senator Thomas Kuchel (of Anaheim). Former U.S. Rep. Chris Cox (of Newport Beach), a White House counsel for President Ronald Reagan, is currently chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Orange County was also home to former Republican Congressman John G. Schmitz, a presidential candidate in 1972 from the ultra-conservative American Independent Party and the father of Mary Kay Letourneau. In 1996 Curt Pringle (currently mayor of Anaheim) became the first Republican to be elected Speaker of the California Assembly in decades.

While the growth of the county's Hispanic and Asian populations in recent decades has significantly influenced the culture of Orange County, 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 northern end of the county. When Democrat Loretta Sanchez defeated veteran Republican Robert K. Dornan in the congressional contest of 1996, she was continuing a trend of Democratic representation of that district that had been interrupted by Dornan's 1984 upset of former Rep. Jerry Patterson. Until 1992, Sanchez herself was a Republican, and she is viewed as having moderate or even conservative positions on many issues. Republicans have responded to the influx of ethnic immigrants by making more explicit efforts to court the Hispanic and Asian vote. In 2004, George W. Bush captured 60% of the county's vote, up from 56% in 2000, despite a higher Democratic popular vote compared with the 2000 election. Although Barbara Boxer won statewide, and fared better in Orange County than she did in 1998, Republican Bill Jones defeated her in the county, 51% to 43%. And while the 39% that John Kerry received is higher than the percentage Bill Clinton won in both 1992 and 1996, the percentage of the vote George W. Bush received in 2004 (60% of the vote) is higher than any presidential election since 1988, showing a still-dominant GOP presence in the county. Democrats receive their strongest showing in Santa Ana, Laguna Beach and Laguna Woods.

The county features prominently in the book Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right by Lisa McGirr. She argues that the county's conservative political orientation in the 20th century owed much to its settlement by Midwestern transplants, 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 1970's and 1980's, Orange County was one of California's leading Republican voting blocs and a sub-culture of residents to hold "Middle American" values that emphasized a capitalist religious morality in contrast to West coast progressive liberalism that well existed there.

Political jokes spoke of Orange County as a "white" racist bastion, where their city councils alleged to have ties to the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis, though they are mean-spirited rumors meant to generate controversy on the county's attitudes on the rising percentage of minoritiy groups moving into formerly homogeneous suburban communities.

After the 1990's and early 2000's, a large segment of Orange county voters switched loyalties to the Democratic party, especially in the wealthiest areas and coastal cities, where "left-leaning" Northeast transplants, young singles and urban professionals relocated into now high-cost housing tracts and apartments.

Newport Beach, once a stereotypically "WASP" hangout is now said to have one of California's largest Jewish communities, considered to register more in the Democratic party than Anglo-Saxon Protestants, a trend for similar demographics in wealth and ethnicity in liberal havens of Santa Monica, California, Palm Springs, California and San Francisco.

And for Santa Ana appearedly has a high portion of Republican voters from culturally conservative Asian-American, Middle Eastern and Latino immigrants, many came as refugees from wars and dictatorships, are strongly loyal to policies of the Republican party to defeat communism and radical Islamic terrorism.

Transportation

Surface transportation in Orange County relies heavily on several major interstate highways: the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5), the San Diego Freeway (I-405 and I-5 south of Irvine), and the San Gabriel River Freeway (I-605), which only briefly enters Orange County territory in the northwest. The other freeways in the county are state highways, and include the perpetually congested Riverside and Artesia Freeway (CA/SR-91) and the Garden Grove Freeway (CA/SR-22) running east-west, and the Orange Freeway (CA/SR-57), theCosta Mesa Freeway (SR/CA-55), the Laguna Freeway (CA/SR-133), the San Joaquin Transportation Corridor (CA/SR-73), the Eastern Transportation Corridor (CA/SR-261, CA/SR-133, CA/SR-241), and the Foothill Transportation Corridor (CA/SR-241) running north-south. Minor stub freeways include the Richard M. Nixon Freeway (CA/SR-90), also known as Imperial Highway, and the southern terminus of Pacific Coast Highway (CA/SR-1).

The three transportation corridors, typically referred to as "the toll roads" or by their number designations ("the 73", "the 133", "the 261", and "the 241"), were privately constructed and privately owned by a joint authority (the Transportation Corridor Agencies or TCA) in the 1990s. These toll roads were built to connect existing freeways (including the currently non-tolled portions of CA/SR-73 and CA/SR-133) to new South County developments, and to serve as alternate routes for crowded Orange County freeways. Tolls can be collected in cash or with the use of transponders for prepaid accounts. The median of the Riverside Freeway (CA/SR-91) also contains toll lanes known as the Express Lanes maintained by the Orange County Transportation Authority; users must maintain prepaid accounts to drive on these lanes.

Orange County's only major airport is the John Wayne-Orange County Airport (SNA). It is located in unincorporated territory surrounded by the cities of Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, and Irvine. Its modern Thomas F. Riley Terminal handles over 8 million passengers annually through 14 different airlines.

Transit in Orange County is offered primarily by the Orange County Transportation Authority. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) cited OCTA as the best large property transportation system in the United States for 2005. OCTA manages the county's bus network and funds the construction and maintenance of local streets, highways, and freeways; operates a coordinated taxicab system; maintains express toll lanes through the median of the Riverside Freeway (SR/CA-91); and works with Southern California's Metrolink to provide commuter rail service along three lines - the Orange County Line, the 91 Line, and the Inland Empire-Orange County Line.

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 LNG-powered vehicles, which already represent over 40% of the total.

Starting in 1992, Metrolink has operated commuter rail lines through Orange County, and has also maintained Rail-to-Rail service with parallel Amtrak service. On a typical weekday, 40 trains run along the Orange County Line, the 91 Line and the Inland Empire-Orange County Line. Along with Metrolink riders on parallel Amtrak lines, these lines generate over 12,000 boardings per weekday (Metrolink began offering weekend service on the Orange County Line and the Inland Empire-Orange County line in the summer of 2006). New stations have recently opened at Anaheim Canyon, Tustin, and Laguna Niguel, while Yorba Linda and Buena Park stations are proposed for future construction. Plans for a new light rail system along former railroad rights of way were scrapped in 2005 in favor of increased bus and road improvements.

A car and passenger ferry service, the Balboa Island Ferry, comprising three ferries running every five minutes, operates between Balboa Peninsula and Balboa Island in Newport Beach.

Orange County in popular culture

Film and television

Orange County has been the setting for numerous films and television shows:

It is best-known as the setting of the eponymous 2003 Fox Network television drama The O.C. which is set in the Orange County coastal harbor town of Newport Beach, California (although the series is actually filmed in Los Angeles County to keep production costs down). It is a very loose and locally criticized interpretation of the city and it's residents.

It is the subject and setting of the eponymous 2002 movie Orange County. However, the film was not actually filmed in Orange County.

It is also the setting of the (now canceled) sitcom Arrested Development. The series was not filmed in Orange County, but in Los Angeles.

The film Better Luck Tomorrow was shot and set in the cities of Cypress and Anaheim.

The film Life as a House was set in Laguna Beach, although it was filmed in Los Angeles County.

The film Brick was shot and set in San Clemente

MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County was filmed in the Orange County coastal town of Laguna Beach, California.

A key scene in the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan was shot and set at The Block at Orange in the city of Orange.

A plot line in the television drama The West Wing involved a dead liberal Democrat unexpectedly winning a Congressional seat from an Orange County district.

Orange County is the home of the late Republican President Teddy Bridges on the (now canceled) ABC drama Commander-in-Chief.

Sayid Jarrah from the ABC drama Lost was bound to go to Irvine, where his longtime friend Nadia lives. John Locke, another castaway from the series, is said to work in Tustin.

Orange County was the location of the 1994 Charlie Sheen movie The Chase.

The 2006 film A Scanner Darkly was set in the city of Anaheim. A freeway scene was shot along the Northbound I-5 in Tustin.

The show The Real Housewives of Orange County which is filmed in Coto De Caza (Next to Rancho Santa Margarita)

Orange County has also been used as a shooting location for several films and television programs. Examples of movies at least partially shot in Orange County are Tom Hanks's That Thing You Do, the Coen Brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There, and the Martin Lawrence movie Big Momma's House. All three of which were filmed in or around the Old Towne Plaza in the City of Orange.

Music

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Popular ska, punk rock and hardcore bands such as The Offspring, No Doubt, Sugar Ray, Social Distortion, Black Flag, Slayer, Lit, Stryper, O.C. Supertones, Save Ferris, Supernova, The Vandals, T.S.O.L., Ignite, Eighteen Visions, The Adolescents, Fear, D.I., Agent Orange, Throwdown, The Aquabats!, The Aggrolites, Reel Big Fish, Suburban Legends, Odd Project, Avenged Sevenfold, Bullets and Octane, Bleeding Through, Atreyu, Thrice, Rising Dissent, The Weirdos, Jeffries Fan Club, Something Corporate, Kottonmouth Kings all hail from Orange County

Notable punk label Geykido Comet Records is also based in Orange County.

The Militia Group headquarters is located south of Disneyland in Garden Grove

The punk scene in Orange County remains strongly influential.

Myspace celebrity musician Aria Jalali gained his popularity by releasing a satirical song which poked fun at Orange County's conservatism.

Bobby Hatfield of The Righteous Brothers, The Chantays of "Pipeline" fame, Berlin, also hail from Orange County.

The Pacific Symphony is located in Orange County.

Literature

A number of novels by best-selling fiction and horror author Dean Koontz, a resident of Newport Beach, are set in the area.

Several of the stories in Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon's collection, A Model World, are set in Orange County. Chabon studied creative writing at UC Irvine.

Orange County is the place in which Kim Stanley Robinson's Three Californias Trilogy is set. These books depict three different futures of the Orange County (survivors of a nuclear war in The Wild Shore, a developer's dream gone mad in The Gold Coast, and an ecotopian utopia in Pacific Edge). Philip K. Dick's novel A Scanner Darkly was also set in Orange County.

The modern fantasy novel "All the Bells on Earth" by James P. Blaylock is set in Orange.

On October 4, 2006, author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez wrote a book for young adults called Haters, which revolves around a young girl who moves to Aliso Viejo, California and attends the City's Aliso Niguel High School. Residents reacted angrily to the book and allegied that Valdes-Rodriguez portrayed the City and school in a negative and slanderous light. [4]

Sports

Orange County is home to the MLB Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and NHL Anaheim Ducks. And to the Women's Footy orange county bombshells.

Huntington Beach annually plays host to the U.S. Open of Surfing, AVP Pro Beach Volleyball and Vans World Championship of Skateboarding.[5]

Religion

Orange County is also the base for several significant religious organizations:

Association of Islamic Charitable Project

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange headed by Bishop Tod Brown.

Chuck Smith, father of the Jesus People movement, is headquartered at Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa.

Reverend Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral is in Garden Grove.

Trinity Broadcasting Network began as Channel 40 in Tustin, now in Costa Mesa.

The Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren and his Saddleback Church are in Lake Forest.

The Vineyard Christian Fellowship movement began in Orange County.

The Newport Beach LDS Temple serves the 50,000 Latter-day Saints in the county.

The Merage Jewish Community Center headquartered in Irvine.

Grace Lutheran Church in Huntington Beach is leading a Lutheran renewal movement. [6]

The Jewish Federation of Orange County.

Children of God, AKA "The Family" ,was founded in 1968 in Huntington Beach by David Berg.

The Islamic Center of Anaheim

The Islamic Educational School (TIES) [7]

The Islamic Educational Center of Orange County is based in Costa Mesa.

The mosque at the Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove serves one of the largest Muslim communities in the nation.

The Islamic Center of Irvine is one of the newest and largest Islamic Centers in the nation. [8]

The Baha'i Center of San Clemente was built by members of the Baha'i faith. [9]

It should be noted that among the Christian population, the majority of the population with German ancestry follows the various Protestant denominations while the ethnic Irish, Hispanic, and other populations follow Roman Catholicism.

Master Planned Communities

Orange County has a history of successful Master Planned Communities. Nearly 30% of the county was created as master planned communities, the most notable being the City of Irvine, Coto de Caza, Anaheim Hills, Ladera Ranch, Talega, and Mission Viejo. Irvine has become the model master planned city, encompassing many villages which were all planned under a master plan by the Irvine Company in the mid-1960's. Many communities within California and throughout the country (and even outside the country including China) have used these Orange County developments as models for their own planning. Elements such as community clubhouses, numerous community pools, pocket parks, horse trails, and active associations were first established in Orange County master planned communities and have been copied in numerous places throughout the United States. Many attribute the large housing boom in the county to the creation of these desirable communities in the 1990's.

Notable residents

Main article: Notable Orange County residents

Due to Orange County's close proximity to Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the United States, many film and media celebrities have moved or bought second homes in the county. Actor John Wayne, who lived in Newport Beach, is the namesake for Orange County's John Wayne Airport. Orange County has also produced many homegrown celebrities, including golfer Tiger Woods, basketball player Kobe Bryant, actor Kevin Costner, comedian/actors Steve Martin and Will Ferrell, actresses Michelle Pfeiffer and Diane Keaton, and singers Bonnie Raitt, Gwen Stefani, and Jeff Buckley.

The county's most famous resident was perhaps Richard Nixon, the 37th President of the United States, who was born in Yorba Linda and lived in San Clemente following his resignation.

Constituent cities and communities

Incorporated cities

As of August 2006, Orange County has 34 incorporated cities. The oldest is Anaheim (1870) and the youngest is Aliso Viejo (2001).

Aliso Viejo, incorporated in 2001

Anaheim, incorporated in 1870

Brea, incorporated in 1917

Buena Park, incorporated in 1953

Costa Mesa, incorporated in 1953

Cypress, incorporated in 1956

Dana Point, incorporated in 1989

Fountain Valley, incorporated in 1953

Fullerton, incorporated in 1904

Garden Grove, incorporated in 1956

Huntington Beach, incorporated in 1909

Irvine, incorporated in 1971

La Habra, incorporated in 1925

La Palma, incorporated in 1955

Laguna Beach, incorporated in 1927

Laguna Hills, incorporated in 1991

Laguna Niguel, incorporated in 1989

Laguna Woods, incorporated in 1999

Lake Forest, incorporated in 1991

Los Alamitos, incorporated in 1960

Mission Viejo, incorporated in 1988

Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906

Orange, incorporated in 1888

Placentia, incorporated in 1926

Rancho Santa Margarita, incorporated in 2000

San Clemente, incorporated in 1928

San Juan Capistrano, incorporated in 1961

Santa Ana, incorporated in 1886

Seal Beach, incorporated in 1915

Stanton, incorporated in 1956

Tustin, incorporated in 1927

Villa Park, incorporated in 1962

Westminster, incorporated in 1957

Yorba Linda, incorporated in 1967

Noteworthy Communities

Some of the communities that exist within city limits are listed below:

Anaheim Hills, Anaheim

Balboa Island, Newport Beach

Corona del Mar, Newport Beach

Capistrano Beach, Dana Point

El Modena, Orange

Monarch Beach, Dana Point

Newport Coast, Newport Beach

Olive, Orange

San Joaquin Hills, Laguna Niguel

San Joaquin Hills, Newport Beach

Tustin Ranch, Tustin

San Juan Hills, San Juan Capistrano

Unincorporated communities

These communities are outside of city limits in unincorporated county territory:

Coto de Caza

Dove Canyon

Ladera Ranch

Las Flores

Midway City

Orange Park Acres

Rossmoor

Santa Ana Heights

Silverado Canyon

Sunset Beach

Trabuco Canyon

Tustin Foothills

See also: List of neighborhoods and unincorporated communities in Orange County

ZIP Codes

Further information: Southern California ZIP Codes