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Mission Viejo, California

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City of Mission Viejo
City
The Saddleback Mountains as seen from Lake Mission Viejo
The Saddleback Mountains as seen from Lake Mission Viejo
Official seal of City of Mission Viejo
Seal
Location of Mission Viejo within Orange County, California.
Location of Mission Viejo within Orange County, California.
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyOrange
Government
 • MayorTrish Kelly
Area
 • Total19.0 sq mi (49.3 km2)
 • Land18.7 sq mi (48.3 km2)
 • Water0.4 sq mi (1.0 km2)
Elevation
397−500 ft (121 m)
Population
 (January 1, 2010)
 • Total100,725
 • Density5,401/sq mi (2,085.4/km2)
Time zoneUTC-8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-7 (PDT)
Zip Code
92690, 92691, 92692, 92694
Area code949
FIPS code06-48256
GNIS feature ID1661045
Websitehttp://www.cityofmissionviejo.org/

Mission Viejo (Template:Pron-en) is a city located in southern Orange County, California in the Saddleback Valley. It was named the safest city in the United States in a 2007 Morgan Quitno crime statistic survey (compiled from FBI data). In 2009, it was named the safest city in California and third safest in the nation, according to CQ Press. Mission Viejo is considered one of the largest master-planned communities ever built under a single project in the United States, and is rivaled only by Highlands Ranch, Colorado in its size. On January 1, 2010, the city had a total population of 100,725.[1]

Mission Viejo is suburban in nature and culture. The city is mainly residential, although there are a number of offices and businesses within its city limits. The city is planned and features a very large number of single-family homes, some condominiums, a two-year community college and a regional mall, The Shops at Mission Viejo.

The city's name is a reference to Rancho Mission Viejo, a large Spanish land grant from which the community was founded. There is no Spanish mission in Mission Viejo, and the name is an ungrammatical use of a masculine adjective with a feminine noun. The correct Spanish term meaning "old mission" is "misión vieja".

Services

Mission Hospital is the largest hospital in south Orange County and serves as the area's regional trauma center. It also offers one of two Children's Hospital of Orange County locations providing care for children.

Recreation and tourism

Recreational activities abound; the city has numerous recreational areas such as the newly[when?] remodeled Norman P. Murry Community and Senior Center there are about two parks per square mile. The city has three golf courses, The Mission Viejo Country Club, Casta del Sol Golf Course, and the Arroyo Trabuco Golf Club. At the center of the city is a man-made lake, Lake Mission Viejo, a private association for Mission Viejo residents with custom waterfront homes, condominiums, boat rentals,and swim beaches.

History

Mission Viejo was a hilly region primarily used as cattle and sheep grazing land, since it was of little use to farmers. This city was one of the last regions of Orange County to be urbanized due to its geologic complexity. Mission Viejo was purchased by John Forster, a Mexican also known as Don Juan. During the Mexican-American War, Foster provided fresh horses to United States military forces which were used on the march of San Diego to retake Los Angeles.

In 1960, early developers dismissed most of the land in Mission Viejo as simply "undevelopable". Donald Bren, an urban planner who later became the president of the Irvine Company, drafted a master plan which placed roads in the valleys and houses on the hills, and contoured to the geography of the area. The plan worked, and by 1980 much of the city of Mission Viejo was completed. During the late 1970s and the 1980s, houses in Mission Viejo were in such high demand that housing tracts often sold out before construction even began on them. The houses and shopping centers in the city are almost uniformly designed in a Spanish mission style, with "adobe"-like stucco walls and barrel-tile roofs. Many point to Mission Viejo as the first and largest manifestation of Bren's obsession with Spanish architecture. Bren's company was also the creator of the developments in Irvine, and Newport Beach suburbs. The company expanded its operations and went on to build the Lakes project in Tempe Arizona, Mission Viejo Aurora in Colorado and was the initial master planner of Highlands Ranch, both suburbs of the Denver Metropolitan area.

Seal

The Seal of the City of Mission Viejo was designed and drawn by Carl Glassford, an artist and former resident of the city.

Geography

Mission Viejo is located at 33°36′46″N 117°39′22″W / 33.61278°N 117.65611°W / 33.61278; -117.65611Invalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (33.612739, -117.656038)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 49.3 km² (19.0 mi²). 48.3 km² (18.7 mi²) of it is land and 1.0 km² (0.4 mi²) of it (1.94%) is water. A significant portion of the surface water is held in Lake Mission Viejo, an artificial lake stretching approximately one mile from Olympiad Road to Alicia Parkway along Marguerite Parkway.

It is bordered by Lake Forest on the northwest, Trabuco Canyon on the northeast, Rancho Santa Margarita and Ladera Ranch on the east, San Juan Capistrano on the south, and Laguna Niguel and Laguna Hills on the west.

Climate

Mission Viejo experiences a borderline semi-arid/Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification BSh/Csa).

Climate data for Mission Viejo
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Source: [2]

Demographics

Historical population
CensusPop.Note%±
197011,933—
198050,666324.6%
199072,82043.7%
200093,10227.9%
source: [3][4]

At the 2000 censusTemplate:GR, there were 93,102 people, 32,449 households and 25,212 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,926.4/km² (4,990.1/mi²). There were 32,986 housing units at an average density of 682.5/km² (1,767.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 79.7% White, 1.6% African American, 0.4% Native American, 8.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 6.2% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.9% of the population. There were 32,449 households out of which 39.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.1% were married couples living together, 8.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.3% were non-families. 17.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.84 and the average family size was 3.22.

Age distribution was 27.1% under the age of 18, 6.6% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.

According to a 2008 estimate, the median household income was $93,330, and the median family income was $113,439.[5] Males had a median income of $74,703 versus $53,196 for females. The per capita income for the city was $41,459. 1.9% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 6% of those age 65 or over.

Top employers

According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,[6] the top employers in the city were:

# Employer # of Employees
1 Saddleback College 2,196
2 Mission Hospital 1,349
3 Unisys 1,000
4 Quest Diagnostics 500
5 Coldwell Banker 410
6 Saddleback Valley Unified School District 400
7 Nordstrom 300
8 Macy's 275
9 City of Mission Viejo 260
10 Bristol Farms 250

Politics

Of the 56,286 registered voters in the city, 31,090 (55.2%) are Republicans, 14,319 (25.4%) are Democrats, 8,790 (15.6%) declined to state political affiliation, and the remaining 2,087 (3.8%) are registered with a minor party.

In the state legislature Mission Viejo is located in the 33rd Senate District, represented by Republican Mimi Walters, and in the 71st Assembly District, represented by Republican Jeff Miller. Federally, Mission Viejo is located in California's 42nd congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of R +10[7] and is represented by Republican Gary Miller.

Sports

Mission Viejo has a major youth athletic facility, Mission Viejo Youth Athletic Park. The park consists of eight baseball fields and five soccer fields. It is host to Little League District 68 [1], AYSO Region 84 [2] and four competitive soccer clubs: Pateadores Soccer Club, Mission Viejo Soccer Club, West Coast Futbol Club, and Saddleback United Soccer Club.

The Mission Viejo Nadadores Swimming and Mission Viejo Nadadores Diving Team won a string of national championships and produced a number of Olympians and world record holders in the 1970s and 1980s. Olympians included Shirley Babashoff, Brian Goodell, Larson Jenson, Maryanne Graham, Nicole Kramer, Casy Converse, Marcia Morey, Dara Torres, and Greg Louganis.

Mission Viejo hosted the Road Cycling Events during the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. The old O'Neill Road was renamed Olympiad Rd. in honor of the Olympic events in 1984.

There is also a soccer facility, now used by the town's youth soccer program, that was used as a training field by the United States men's national soccer team before and during the 1994 FIFA World Cup, hosted by the United States. Mission Viejo is the largest AYSO Region in the country.

The Saddleback College ballpark hosted the Mission Viejo Vigilantes minor league baseball team of the Western Baseball League from 1996-2001. Now the ballpark has a semi-pro collegiate team, the Orange County Fire.

Mission Viejo is also the hometown of New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, New York Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes, and Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Adam LaRoche.

Education

Mission Viejo is served by two school districts, the Capistrano Unified and Saddleback Valley Unified School Districts. Capistrano Unified serves the eastern, northeastern, and southern portions of the city with eight schools. As of 2006, all high school students in the Capistrano Unified portion of Mission Viejo attend Capistrano Valley High School. Students from western Mission Viejo (north of Oso Parkway and west of Marguerite until Alicia Parkway) attend Saddleback Valley's Mission Viejo High School. Far northern Mission Viejo attends Saddleback Valley's Trabuco Hills High School, though most of that school has students from Rancho Santa Margarita and Lake Forest.

Silverado High School, Mira Monte High School, and Pathfinder are continuation and adult schools within the city. Silverado High School provides a day school environment while Mira Monte, which shares the same campus, is strictly independent study.

Saddleback College, near The Shops at Mission Viejo and Capistrano Valley High School, is a large community college in the southern half of the city. In addition, the University of California, Irvine, Chapman University, Soka University of America, and California State University, Fullerton (El Toro Campus), are nearby in adjacent cities.

La Tierra Elementary shut down in June 2009 due to budget cuts. It was chosen due to its small size and minimal student body. The school will remain closed until further notice. Mission Viejo residents refer to La Tierra as "The Little School With a Big Heart." Students there are reassigned to Del Cerro Elementary.[8]

O'Neill Elementary, the city's first elementary school, closed in June 2009 also due to budget cuts in SVUSD. Students in the Deanne Home community surrounding the school will be moved to nearby De Portola Elementary. Students living in the homes north of the lake will be moved to Melinda Heights Elementary in Rancho Santa Margarita.[9]

Elementary

Capistrano Unified

Saddleback Valley Unified

Private

Middle school

High school

College

Notable natives and residents

References

  1. ^ California Department of Finance. "E-1 City / County Population Estimates — January 1, 2009 and 2010." California Department of Finance. May 2010. Retrieved on June 24, 2010.
  2. ^ "Mission Viejo historic weather averages". Intellicast. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  3. ^ "CENSUS OF POPULATION AND HOUSING (1790-2000)". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2010-07-17.
  4. ^ 1970 & 1980 census figures were enumerated prior to incorporation.
  5. ^ http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-context=st&-qr_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_S1901&-ds_name=ACS_2008_1YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=st&-tree_id=307&-redoLog=false&-geo_id=16000US0648256&-format=&-_lang=en
  6. ^ City of Mission Viejo CAFR
  7. ^ "Will Gerrymandered Districts Stem the Wave of Voter Unrest?". Campaign Legal Center Blog. Retrieved 2008-02-10.
  8. ^ http://www.ocregister.com/articles/school-tierra-children-2276846-year-close
  9. ^ http://www.ocregister.com/articles/mission-viejo-oneill-2332580-saddleback-school

Schools

College

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