Santa Ana, California
Santa Ana is located in Southern California on the Santa Ana River, 10 miles away from the California coast. It's only 40 minutes southeast of Los Angeles. Santa Ana experiences the warm sunny weather that Southern California is famous for. The city's climate can best be called mild, where winter temperatures average in the high 60s and low 70s and summer temperatures average in the low eighties. The climate is just one of many reasons why people are moving to Santa Ana. Since being named one of the countries "Best Places to Live" by Money magazine, Santa Ana moving companies have been helping people make the city their new home.
Economy:
Several Fortune 500 companies including Textron's Cherry Division, ITT Cannon and Xerox are located in Santa Ana. Tourism is a major industry in Santa Ana and Orange County. Within a radius of 10 miles of the city are several of California's most popular tourist attractions, such as amusement parks and Southern California beaches. Forty million people visit the Orange County area each year, spending more than $6.4 billion. In recent years, the nearby city of Irvine has outpaced Santa Ana in commercial growth. To compete with this, Santa Ana has approved commercial projects in the South Coast Metro area.
History:
Over 100 years ago, a town of about 4,900 people fought off its Anaheim neighbors to become the seat of government for the newly formed Orange County. In 1889, residents were dissatisfied with the quality of public services provided by Los Angeles County and voted to form their own county. Santa Ana began to boom after the Southern Pacific Railroad began to build a line to the area in 1877. Nine years later, Santa Ana became a city. The city experienced another boom immediately after World War II as industries sprang up, creating jobs and drawing thousands of new residents. But by the 1960s, the city's image had tarnished as business stagnated and some neighborhoods deteriorated. In the 1980s, civic leaders worked to revitalize the city and restore its image. Over the past decade, Santa Ana has aggressively pursued re-development, luring major hotels, retailers and industry to the area.
Tourism:
Working over the years to revitalize its downtown area, the city now features the Santa Ana Artist's Village which was created around Cal State Fullerton's Grand Central Art Center. The village includes the Bowers Museum, the Old County Courthouse as well as several theaters and art galleries. Several fashion stores and boutiques can also be found in the downtown area of Santa Ana, along with restaurants, cafes and microbreweries to suit every taste. Santa Ana also provides easy access to all of the arts and entertainment offerings of nearby Los Angeles. For fans of theme parks, nearby Anaheim is home to Disneyland, Disney's California, and Knott's Berry Farm. For the sports enthusiast, Santa Ana provides easy access to all of the professional sports offerings like Arena Football League's Los Angeles Avengers, MLB's Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Soccer's Club Deportivo Chivas USA and Los Angeles Galaxy, the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers, the NHL's Anaheim Mighty Ducks and LA Kings and the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks.