Los Angeles Guide
Orange County
Now that the abundant citrus groves that inspired its name are long gone, ORANGE COUNTY has more of a reputation for insular, suburban conservatism than it does for fruit. These days Orange County is no more bland and homogenous than any other part of metropolitan LA. In fact, the county has since the 1980s become multicultural, with rising numbers of Latino immigrants transforming cities like Santa Ana, and other newcomers from Southeast Asia, India, and Eastern Europe developing their own urban communities as well.
The original heart of the 1940s and 1950s suburbs, inland Orange County is famous as the domain of Mickey Mouse and Knott's Berry Farm, with the other handful of diversions too spread out to be handily seen by public transit. More appealing, the Orange County coast is a collection of relaxed seaside towns with both easygoing "surfer-dude" attitudes and upscale, beach-condo snootiness. It's hard to identify the southern limit of the coastal cities: they just blend into even more housing colonies as you head further south – a seemingly endless exurban stretch between LA and San Diego. The fractured social landscape of libertarian beach cities, reactionary old-line suburbs, burgeoning immigrant districts, and hordes of itinerant tourists is bound together by the ubiquitous freeway system.