Garden Grove

Garden Grove is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 171,949 at the 2020 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city in an eastwest direction. The western portion of the city is known as West Garden Grove. The city was founded by Alonzo Cook in 1874. It was noted for its crops of oranges, walnuts, chili peppers and later strawberries. In 1956, Orange County Plaza (now The Promenade) was opened at Chapman and Brookhurst, and upon its expansion in 1959, it had 60 stores, including a J. C. Penney, 2 variety stores and 2 supermarkets, and billed itself as both the largest and the first regional shopping center in Orange County. The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival is one of the largest community festivals in the western United States, attracting an estimated 250,000 visitors each Memorial Day weekend. In commemoration of Garden Grove's 50th anniversary, the city painted some of its fire hydrants with a design that featured a strawberry, recognizing the festival as a big part of the town's history. The town has a rugged set of boundaries with many panhandles. Other neighboring cities include Cypress and Anaheim to the north, Orange to the east, and the cities of Seal Beach and Los Alamitos to the west. At 27% this was the highest concentration of any city in the United States for adjacent Westminster, California.

History

Garden Grove was founded by Alonzo Cook in 1874. It remained a small rural crossroads and farming community until the arrival of the Pacific Electric Railroad in 1905. The post-World War II boom led to rapid development, and Garden Grove was incorporated as a city in 1956 with about 44,000 residents. In 1956, Orange County Plaza (now The Promenade) was opened at Chapman and Brookhurst, and upon its expansion in 1959, it had 60 stores, including a J. C. Penney, 2 variety stores and 2 supermarkets. It billed itself as both the largest and the first regional shopping center in Orange County. In 1933, much of the town's central business district was destroyed by the Long Beach earthquake, and one person was killed at the high school. It was noted for its crops of oranges, walnuts, chili peppers and later strawberries. The town is now home to the Orange County Museum of Art, which was founded in the 1930s. It is also the home of the Garden Grove High School, which opened in the 1950s and is located on the banks of the Santa Ana River. The Garden Grove Public Library was opened in 1959. It has a collection of more than 2,000 books, many of which were written by Garden Grove residents. It also has a museum of photographs, including some of the city's most famous images. The city's main square is called Garden Grove Plaza, and it is home to a variety of shops and restaurants.

Strawberry Festival

The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival is one of the largest community festivals in the western United States. It began in 1958 and celebrates the city's agricultural past, which includes cultivating crops such as chili peppers, oranges, walnuts and strawberries. Part of the festivities include the cutting of the world's largest strawberry shortcake, carnival rides, food vendors, live music, and a celebrity-filled parade. In commemoration of Garden Grove's 50th anniversary, the city painted some of its fire hydrants with a design that featured a strawberry, recognizing the festival as a big part of the town's history. The festival is held over Memorial Day weekend and attracts an estimated 250,000 visitors. The city's Strawberry Festival takes place over the weekend of May 28-31. It is free and open to the public, but donations can be made by calling Garden Grove at (858) 756-5100.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 46.5 km² (18.0 sq mi), 0.10% of which is water. The West Garden Grove neighborhood is west of Beach Boulevard and is largely separated from the rest of Garden Grove by the city of Stanton. A panhandle in the southern part of the town's borders situated between Westminster's Ward Street and Santa Ana's Euclid Street creates a small border with Fountain Valley. Other neighboring cities include Cypress and Anaheim to the north, Orange to the east, and the cities of Seal Beach and Los Alamitos to the west. The city is located in the Central Coast region of Southern California. It is located on the Santa Ana River, which flows into the San Diego River and the San Francisco Bay. It has a population of 2.2 million (as of the 2010 U.S. Census), making it one of the most populous cities in the state. Garden Grove is the largest city in Orange County, California, with 2.3 million residents. The population of Orange County is 2.7 million (as of the 2000 U.N. Census). Garden Grove has the highest percentage of residents of any California city, with 1.8 million residents (up from 1.9 million in 2000). The city's population was 2.4 million in 2010, up from 2.1 million in 1990. It was the fourth most populous city in California in 2000, after Anaheim and Los Angeles.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Garden Grove had a population of 170,883. The racial makeup of Garden Grove was 68,149 (39.9%) White, 2,155 (1.3%) Black, 983 (0.6%) Native American, 63,451 (37.1%) Asian, 1,110 (0,6%) Pacific Islander, 28,916 (16.9) from other races, and 6,119 (3.6) from two or more races. Vietnamese Americans numbered 47,331 of the population, the highest concentration of any city in the U.S. except for adjacent Westminster. The median household income was $59,988, with 15.5% of the residents living below the federal poverty line. There were 47,755 housing units at an average density of 2,659.1 per square mile (1,026.7/km²), of which 26,240 (57.0%) were owner-occupied, and 19,797 (43.0) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.6%. 96,308 people (56.4%) lived in owner- occupied housing units and 72,634 people (42.5%)lived in rental housing units. The average household size was 3.67; the average family size was3.94; the median age was 35.6 years. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 7.7 males.

Government

Garden Grove uses a council-manager form of government. The city council consists of mayor Steve Jones, Phat Bui, George S. Brietigam III, John R. O'Neill, Thu-Ha Nguyen, Stephanie Klopfenstein, and mayor pro tem Kim B. Nguyen. In August 2019, the city of Garden Grove entered into a 10-year contract with the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) for fire and rescue services. In the United States House of Representatives, Garden Grove is split between California's 46th, 47th, and 48th congressional districts. Garden Grove has voted for the Democratic presidential nominee in each of the last three presidential elections. Hillary Rodham Clinton carried the city by a 23-point margin in 2016. In 2020, Joe Biden managed to keep the city in the Democratic column by just over a point. Although Democrat Kamala Harris easily won California and also won Orange County in the 2016 United States Senate election, Democrat Loretta Sanchez easily won Garden Grove by a 67%-33% margin, her widest margin of victory for any city in Orange County. Of those registered voters, 26,604 (36.56%) are registered Democrats, 21,449 (29.48%) are Registered Republicans, and 21,941 (30.15%) have declined to state a political party/are independents. In October 2018, the California Secretary of State said Garden Grove had 72,768 registered voters. In July 2015, a resident claimed that the longstanding at-large elections had affected the Latino vote and was in violation of the California Voting Rights Act.

Economy

According to the city's 2021 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: The city's top employers are: construction, manufacturing, finance, health care, and education. The city is home to more than 1,000 businesses, according to the report. The top employer is the City of St. Louis, which has more than 2,000 employees. The economy is the second-largest employer in the town, followed by the city of Saint Louis, with 1,200 employees. It is the third-largest city in the state, after St Louis and St Louis County, with about 1,500 employees. In the city, there are more than 3,000 jobs in construction, and 1,100 in the health care industry. The largest employers are the City and County of St Louis, and the city is also home to 3,500 workers in education, 1,400 workers in health care and 2,200 workers in other industries. The biggest employers are in the arts and culture, with more than 300 jobs in the business sector, and more than 200 jobs in finance. The most popular industries are: manufacturing, technology, and health care. The best employers are construction, finance and education, with over 1,300 jobs in each of the three major cities. The highest-paying jobs are in finance, with nearly 1,800 jobs in both the city and the county, and they are all located in the St. Charles area. The lowest-paid jobs are among the construction and manufacturing industries.

Education

King of Kings Lutheran School is a Christian school (3K-8th grade) of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) in Garden Grove. The Garden Grove Unified School District serves most of the city, as well as the Westminster School District, Huntington Beach Union High School District and Anaheim Elementary School District. The Orange Unified school District, which serves portions of Garden Grove, also serves portions in the city. The school district is part of the California Department of Education (CDE), which also serves parts of Anaheim and Huntington Beach. It was founded in the 1950s and is one of the oldest school districts in the state. The district was once the largest school district in California. It is now the second largest in the United States, after the Los Angeles County School District (LCSD). The district has been in operation since the 1960s and now serves more than 1.5 million students. It has been the largest district in Orange County since the 1970s, when it replaced the previous district. In the 1980s and 1990s, the district was the largest in California, with more than half of its students living in the Garden Grove area. It also has the largest enrollment in Southern California, followed by the Anaheim School District with about 1.6 million students and the Huntington Beach School District at around 1.7 million. In 2008, the school district had a population of 1.8 million students, up from 1.9 million in the previous year. The number of students in the district has grown by more than 20% in the last five years.

Arts and culture

Garden Grove is home to two stage theaters, the Gem Theater and the Festival Amphitheater. Both venues are owned by the City of Garden Grove, but operated by outside entities. The Garden Grove Playhouse used to be an active theatre, now closed down. It was operated by a non-profit group of the same name. The song "GardenGrove" by Sublime details taking a trip to Garden Grove. It is one of the few places in the U.S. where you can buy a ticket to see a play. The ticket price is $10 for adults and $5 for children. The theatre is open to the public, but only on certain days of the week. It has a capacity of 2,000. The Gem Theater is currently operated by Damien Lorton and Nicole Cassesso of 'One More Productions' The Festival amphitheater is managed by Thomas Bradac, the producing artistic director of Shakespeare Orange County. It hosts an annual Shakespeare Festival each summer. The theater is located in the heart of the Garden Grove suburb of Orange County, near the Orange County Fairgrounds and the California State Capitol. It opened in the 1950s and is now home to a number of performing arts venues, including 'Theatre Orange County' and 'Shakespeare in the Park' It is also the home of the annual Garden Grove Shakespeare Festival, which takes place in the summer of each year. It also hosts the annual Orange County Summer Shakespeare Festival. The festival is run by a group of local actors and directors.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Garden Grove, Orange County, California = 4.3. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 64. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 10. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Garden Grove = 5.9 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 171,949 individuals with a median age of 35 age the population grows by 1.92% in Garden Grove, Orange County, California population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 9,558.08 residents per square mile of area (3,690.40/km²). There are average 3.68 people per household in the 45,131 households with an average household income of $60,419 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 12.00% of the available work force and has dropped -5.07% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 17.86%. The number of physicians in Garden Grove per 100,000 population = 253.3.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Garden Grove = 12.9 inches and the annual snowfall = 0 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 31. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 275. 83 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 45 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 54, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Garden Grove, Orange County, California which are owned by the occupant = 57.89%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 44 years with median home cost = $331,850 and home appreciation of -9.75%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $7.36 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,098 per student. There are 24.2 students for each teacher in the school, 2871 students for each Librarian and 1319 students for each Counselor. 7.16% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 10.98% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 4.00% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).