GovernmentCity Council: Jess F. Perez (mayor), Don...
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Government
City Council: Jess F. Perez (mayor), Don E. Smith (mayor pro tem), Joanne Coontz, Gene Beyer, Fred L. Barrera
City Manager: J. William Little
Fire Chief: Martel Thompson
Chief of Police: Wayne Streed
City Services
City Hall 532-0341 300 E. Chapman Ave. Police (business) 532-0261 300 E. Chapman Ave. Fire (business) 532-0377 176 S. Grand St. Post Office 836-2547 1075 Tustin St. In Emergency, Dial 911
Statistics
Population: (1987 est.) 100,703 Area: 23 square miles Incorporation: April 6, 1888 Median household income: $31,688 Median home value: $99,926
Racial/ethnic mix: white, 89.3%; Latino, 15.9%; black, 1.3%; other, 9.4 %
(Total is more than 100% because racial/ethnic breakdowns overlap)
Employment status Employed persons: 46,781 Unemployed: 1,827 Not in labor force: 20,865 Per capita income: $9,007 Education
Adults over 25
Years of school completed:
0-11 years: 19.4%
12 years: 34.6%
13-15 years: 26.5%
16+ years: 19.5%
Median years completed: 12.8
Population Median Age: 32.3 years
Statistics: Donnelley Demographics
FOCUS
Devotion to the Past
The City of Orange marks 100 years of cityhood this year, but centennial celebrants won’t have to dig to find community history--preserving “The Plaza City” has long been the town’s pride. Progressive growth in both size--from 3.8 sq. miles in 1950 to 22 sq. miles today--and population--which surged from 10,027 in the ‘50s to more than 100,000 today--hasn’t diminished Orange’s devotion to the past. The central Plaza, now a traffic circle for cars instead of buggies, was restored to early Orange charm with a central fountain and garden area, and several buildings preserved near and around The Plaza date from the early 1900s. Alfred Beck Chapman and Andrew Glassell, Los Angeles lawyers who laid out the town site in 1869 after a client paid legal fees with land from the Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, provided for The Plaza on the original 19th-century site map. So authentic is the nostalgic city core that it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
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