On this day in 1958, future actress Michelle Pfeiffer was born in Santa Ana. The family later moved to Midway City and eventually Fountain Valley. Today's photo shows her swinging at a birthday pinata in the backyard of Felix and Vita Garcia, 8302 Peters St, Midway City, circa 1967. Thanks to Tim Castroreale for making this image available..
CSU Fullerton is working with the County of Orange to decide future plans for the County's archaeology and paleontology collection. I'm curious how this will fit in with the work the Pacific Coast Archaeological Society has been doing with the County and with the ongoing plans for an Orange County Natural History Museum in Santa Ana.
The worst neighborhood I ever lived in was in Fountain Valley, and I have lived all over Southern California - so that's got to tell you something. The fact that Michelle Pfeiffer once lived in Fountain Valley doesn't make that city any better.
ReplyDeleteFountain Valley + Michelle Pfeiffer = TWO THUMBS DOWN!
Certainly, Fountain Valley is a bit thin on rewards for those of us who love historic architecture. But there's a good mix of residential, industrial and retail development. Most of the houses have yards, and only a few areas are under the thumb of dictatorial South-County-esque HOAs.
ReplyDeleteFV isn't flashy, but it has good schools, quite a bit of park space, and is generally a safe environment for raising a family. By most accounts, it lives up to it's motto: "A Nice Place to Live."
If you want my idea of a BAD place to live, look at this newer neighborhood depicted in Sunday's Register:
http://images.ocregister.com/newsimages/money/2008/04/24_growth21_large.jpg
Stupid blogger interface! Let me try posting that link again -- this time, in two parts, so it fits:
ReplyDeletehttp://images.ocregister.com/newsimages/money/
2008/04/24_growth21_large.jpg
Chris is right...FV and its late-mid-century-blandness is still a far cry better than todays zero lot lines, Mello Roos and HOA's.
ReplyDeleteIck!
Don't kid yourself hb native, there's plenty of homeowners associations within Fountain Valley, I know because I was in one of them. The people there had back then, and still have today, an inflated view of themselves and their community.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinkin' maybe Anonymous needs a hug today......and the link you so painstakingly posted will not let me access, I think you have to be a subscriber. But thanks for tryin'......
ReplyDeleteTiny url the link, Chris.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/
LOL, I could always use a hug, but not from any of the numerous bullies (consisting of both kids and adults) who were in that former neighborhood of mine. Some of those people, from what I can gather, are still there but most eventually left. One of the kids, even though he was not yet ten years old, liked to sexually assault other kids who lived on that street, among other things, but nothing was ever done to stop him because according to his mother, "my son wouldn't do anything like that." Let's see, there was also the kid whose claim to fame was breaking into the girl's house whom he couldn't get along with, and then bragging about it because he was so proud of himself. Those two were just a couple of the troublemakers, but that gives all of you a little bit of an idea of what went on.
ReplyDeleteFountain Valley and Irvine are the only two cities in Orange County that I have no respect for.
I too have lived all over Southern California but have been a resident of Fountain Valley since 1993 and can tell you it is the BEST neighborhood I have ever lived and is a wonderful place to raise our 2 boys. Sure glad anonymous doesn't live here anymore!
ReplyDeleteNote: Michelle Pfeiffer graduated from Fountain Valley High School in 1976 (same year I graduated high school!)
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/clt/651641572.html
"Sure glad anonymous doesn't live here anymore!"
ReplyDeleteamtraker-mike: It's smug and arrogant people like yourself who make me thank the Good Lord that I no longer have to live in Fountain Valley.
I'm glad I got a chance to live in Santa Ana for several years after living a nightmare in Fountain Valley. My Santa Ana years were, by far, the most fun I had in Orange County.
Just wait until the real estate bubble totally bursts and the coming economic depression arrives, we'll see how much pride the people of Fountain Valley, and California in general, have when their homes are worth 20 cents on the dollar and they're getting their food from a soup kitchen.
Hey! Play nice, or EVERYBODY will have to get out of the pool!
ReplyDeleteSanta Ana!!! Thank the Good Lord I don't live near the North border of Fountain Valley which inherits crime from its neighbor to the north Santa Ana.
ReplyDeleteLet's see how the 2 cities compare...
Santa Ana: Percentage of residents living in poverty in 2005: 17.3%
City-data.com crime index 2006 (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 323.2)
SA: 305.8
FV: 167.3
Registered Sex Offenders 2007
SA: 244
FV: 27
Estimated median house/condo value in 2005:
SA: $478,600
FV: $668,600
Estimated median household income in 2005:
SA: $47,438
FV: $78,200
Education
# High school or higher: SA=43.2%, FV=88.6%
# Bachelor's degree or higher: SA=9.2%, FV=34.4%
# Graduate or professional degree: SA=2.8%, FV=11.3%
# Unemployed: SA=8.0%, FV=4.1%
Santa Ana High (Students: 1154; Location: 520 West Walnut; Grades: 9-12; Our rating: 45)
Fountain Valley High (Students: 768; Location: 17816 Bushard; Grades: 9-12; Our rating: 91)
My sons schools:
# Fulton (Harry C.) Middle (Students: 725; Location: 8778 El Lago St.; Grades: 6-8; Our rating: 96)
# Courreges (Roch) Elementary (Students: 421; Location: 18313 Santa Carlotta; Grades: K-5; Our rating: 94)
amtraker-mike: Before you decided to spend two hours on the Fountain Valley propaganda mill, you should of realized that I was talking about the Santa Ana of 20-plus years ago - not the Santa Ana of today.
ReplyDelete"Estimated median house/condo value in 2005:
SA: $478,600
FV: $668,600"
Why the hell should I be impressed if the median priced home in Fountain Valley is $668,000? Same thing for Santa Ana at $478,000. It's all based on a bubble anyway, people borrowing insane amounts of money and living way beyond their means. That's all coming to an end quickly pal. Five years from now it will read something like this: "Estimated median house/condo value in 2013: Santa Ana: $98,600, Fountain Valley: $128,600."
You talk about one of your sons going to Roch Courreges, I went to Roch Courreges from 1982-1984, there was NO emphasis on education at all - just popularity contests and patting the backs of the spoiled, bratty kids. I had the feeling after reading your original post last night that you live in Greenbrook, how right I was, because the people who live there have always had a sick feeling of superiority over everybody else.
The 27 registered sex offenders in Fountain Valley is about in proportion to the 244 in Santa Ana, based on the population levels of the two cities. And I'll bet there's probably a lot more than 27 sex offenders/perverts in Fountain Valley, because there had to have been at least 27 sex offenders in Greenbrook alone when I was living there.
I'm actually stuck in an even more snobby and uppity area now, but at least I'm not being physically bullied and harassed like I was in Fountain Valley - and thank God I'm NOT in a homeowners association.
Wrong Anonymous. I don't live in Greenbrook. We wanted to but couldn't afford the houses there.
ReplyDeleteWe however chose a house that was in Courreges district (no homeowner's association fee for us!) based on recommendations by several friends whose children are at Courreges. We are extremely happy with the high quality of education they have received at Courreges; one of the highest rated public elementary schools around.
Maybe it was different 20 year ago. Fountain Valley was one of the few areas with good schools that we could afford with one income as my wife stays home to bring up the boys.
Well, I'm glad to hear that you don't live in Greenbrook or any other homeowners association.
ReplyDeleteI lived on the side of Fountain Valley that borders Santa Ana and it was better than Amo stated. I think he made up half of what he stated about Fountain Valley, sure there was some murders or crimes back in the 1970's but even in the 1970's it was better than Santa Ana and I went to school with a lot of Mexican kids from Santa Ana that stated their were already gangs in Santa Ana. As for old buildings Fountain Valley had a few in a small barrio section that was redue and the Catholic church there was nice.
ReplyDeleteFountain Valley was cool. I grew up there 1965-1974. A lot of great memories.
ReplyDelete