FOUNTAIN VALLEY CA
Date: 09/27/2015
Fountain Valley is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 55,313 at the 2010 census. A classic bedroom community, Fountain Valley is a middle-class residential area.
History
The area encompassing Fountain Valley was originally inhabited by the Tongva people. European settlement of the area began when Manuel Nieto was granted the land for Rancho Los Nietos, which encompassed over 300,000 acres (1,200 km2), including present-day Fountain Valley. Control of the land was subsequently transferred to Mexico upon independence from Spain, and then to the United States as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The city was incorporated in 1957, before which it was known as Talbert (also as Gospel Swamps by residents). The name of Fountain Valley refers to the very high water table in the area at the time the name was chosen, and the many corresponding artesian wells in the area. Early settlers constructed drainage canals to make the land usable for agriculture, which remained the dominant use of land until the 1960s, when construction of large housing tracts accelerated. The first mayor of Fountain Valley was James Kanno, who with this appointment became the first Japanese-American mayor of a mainland United States city.
After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, there was a large influx of Vietnamese refugees settling in Fountain Valley, especially in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, forming a large percentage of Asian Americans in the city.
Geography
Fountain Valley is located at 33%uFFFD42'31?N 117%uFFFD57'23?W? / ?33.70861%uFFFDN 117.95639%uFFFDW (33.708618, -117.956295). The elevation of the city is approximately twenty feet above sea level, slightly lower than surrounding areas. This is especially noticeable in the southwest area of the city, where several streets have a steep grade as they cross into Huntington Beach.
The city is located southwest and northeast of the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405), which diagonally bisects the city, and is surrounded by Huntington Beach on the south and west, Westminster and Garden Grove on the north, Santa Ana on the northeast, and Costa Mesa on the southeast. Its eastern border is the Santa Ana River.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 23.4 km2 (9.0 sq mi) 0.14% of which is water.
Community amenities
Fountain Valley is home to Mile Square Regional Park, a 640 acres (2.6 km2) park containing two lakes, three 18-hole golf courses, playing fields, picnic shelters, and a 20-acre (81,000 m2) urban-nature area planted with California native plants, a 55-acre (220,000 m2) recreation center with tennis courts, basketball courts, racquetball courts, a gymnasium, and the Kingston Boys & Girls Club; There is also a community center and a 16,652sq ft senior center that opened in September, 2005. A major redevelopment of the recreation center and city-administered sports fields was completed in early 2009.
Fire protection and emergency medical services are provided by two stations of the Fountain Valley Fire Department. Law enforcement is provided by the Fountain Valley Police Department. Ambulance service is provided by Care Ambulance Service.
The Orange County Sanitation District's administrative offices and primary plant is located in Fountain Valley next to the Santa Ana River. The agency is the third-largest sanitation district in the western United States. Fountain Valley is also home to the offices of the Municipal Water District of Orange County, a member of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and of the Orange County Water District. The Orange County Water District manages the groundwater basin in central and northern Orange County and operates the Groundwater Replenishment System, the world's largest water purification plant for groundwater recharge.
Fountain Valley has two fully accredited major medical centers: the Fountain Valley Regional Hospital with 400 beds available, and Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center with 230 beds, a medical clinic, and an outpatient medical building.
The city also has 18 churches, one Reform synagogue, a mosque and a public library.
Fountain Valley has its own newspaper, the Fountain Valley View, operated by the Orange County Register.
Economy
As a suburban city, most of Fountain Valley's residents commute to work in other urban centers. However, in recent years, the city has seen an increase in commercial jobs in the city, with the growth of a commercial center near the Santa Ana River known as the "Southpark" district.
Although the economy of the area was once based mainly on agriculture, the remaining production consists of several fields of strawberries or other small crops, which are gradually being replaced by new office development. Efforts to bolster economic activity are evidenced by the city enacting policies to benefit small businesses, and even going so far as to paint a mural on the facade of a large water treatment building facing the freeway that depicts two shopping bags headlined by the words, "Shop in Fountain Valley."
Fountain Valley is home to the national headquarters of Hyundai Motor America and D-Link Corporation, the global headquarters of memory chip manufacturer Kingston Technology, and the corporate headquarters of Surefire, LLC, maker of military and commercial flashlights. The Southpark commercial area is also home to offices for companies such as D-Link, Starbucks, Satura and the Orange County Register. There are also a limited number of light industrial companies in this area. In addition, Fountain Valley is the location for Noritz, a tankless water heater manufacturer, and the main west coast offices of Ceridian, a professional employer organization.
The increasing commercial growth can be evidenced by the frequent rush-hour traffic bottlenecks on the San Diego (405) Freeway through Fountain Valley.
Top employers
According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
| # | Employer | # of employees |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center | 1,668 |
| 2 | Orange Coast Memorial Medical Center | 1,133 |
| 3 | Kingston Technology | 859 |
| 4 | SureFire | 569 |
| 5 | MemorialCare Health System | 544 |
| 6 | Ceridian | 466 |
| 7 | Costco | 410 |
| 8 | Hyundai Motor | 387 |
| 9 | Hyundai Capital | 309 |
| 10 | Fry's Electronics | 304 |
| 11 | D-Link | 230 |
| 12 | HCR Manor Care | 220 |
Education
There are three high schools, three middle schools, nine elementary schools, one K-12 school, and two K-8 schools. However, some students who live in the city of Fountain Valley actually attend schools in other cities.
Fountain Valley is also home to Coastline Community College. Community colleges in the area include Orange Coast College and Golden West College, located nearby in the cities of Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach, respectively.
High schools in Huntington Beach Union High School District
High schools in Garden Grove Unified School District
Middle schools in Fountain Valley School District
- Harry C. Fulton Middle School
- Kazuo Masuda Middle School: Named for Kazuo Masuda, a soldier who fought in World War II and now is buried in Midway City, California.
- Talbert Middle School
Middle schools in Ocean View Middle School District
- Vista View Middle School
Elementary schools in Garden Grove Unified School District
- Allen Elementary School, a 2011 Blue Ribbon Award winner
- Monroe Elementary School
- Northcutt Elementary School
Elementary schools in Fountain Valley School District
- Courreges Elementary School
- Cox Elementary School
- Gisler Elementary School
- Plavan Elementary School
- Tamura Elementary School
- Newland Elementary School
Private schools
- Shoreline Christian School (K-8)
Transportation
In addition to the San Diego Freeway, which bisects the city, Fountain Valley is served by several bus lines operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority. Bus routes 33, 35, 37, 70, 72, 74, and 172 cover the city's major streets.
Most of the major roads are equipped with bicycle lanes, especially around Mile Square Park, which offers wide bike paths along the major streets that mark its boundary. Dedicated bike paths along the Santa Ana River run from the city of Corona to the Pacific Ocean.
