Tag: Orange County

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Los Angeles Things to Do

Orange County’s “Great Park”

Los Angeles often comes under criticism because it doesn’t have enough parks or green space within the city. Sure, there are mountains nearby and the beach is always available. The city does have the one of the largest parks within city limits in Griffith Park, but the average person in Los Angeles does not have a park within walking distance. There’s nowhere to just take the dog for a walk or go for a quick run.

Nowhere is this problem more pronounced than in Orange County, where traffic locks up and strip mall parking lots are the closest thing to open space that the city has.

Orange County is trying to correct for that problem in one large, ambitious bout of overcompensation. The “Great Park” under development aims to provide the residents of Orange County with one massive mega park, where all their park needs will be met at one central location.

Built over the top of El Toro military base, the Great Park is going to be 1,347 acres of recreation opportunities and open space, baseball diamonds and soccer fields as well as cultural centers, interpretive experiences and nature hikes through three miles of canyon.

The park will also feature a museum presenting the history of El Toro base as well as some of the military aircraft that flew from the airfield. The Great Park will stretch from the beach to the mountains and will be larger than New York City’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park put together.

Unfortunately, a construction project of this size takes years to complete and the park will not be ready for general use for quite some time. For the moment, the only open attraction in the park is a balloon ride which takes visitors up and over the park to see the the progress being made on the construction. The ride also incorporates views of the mountains and the surrounding county. The ride is free, but visitors must obtain a boarding pass when entering the park.

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Los Angeles

Newport Beach

lagunanewport.jpgNewport Beach is a city at the heart of Orange County with much more personality than the narrow focus of reality shows or teen soap operas have given it in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The main attraction in Newport Beach, as the name suggests, is the beach. The picturesque coast brings tourists in from around the city and the beach is one of the most popular with body boarders and surfers as well. The famous Wedge, a challenging set of waves that break right off the Balboa peninsula, attract surfers and athletes to play in the curling waves.

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Articles Los Angeles

Costa Mesa

costamesapic.jpgCosta Mesa is a suburban city in Orange County located halfway between several popular beaches and Disneyland. The middle class community has been settled throughout most of American history but exploded in population after local families training for deployment in World War II lived in Costa Mesa while they trained at the Santa Ana Army Air Base.

South Coast Plaza Shopping Center generates almost 1 billion dollars at its 322 stores each year. Although not the largest mall in the U.S. the stores generate more money than any other shopping center in the country. Stores draw clientele from all over Orange County to shop at its upscale and ultra-luxury boutiques and many stores report that their South Coast Plaza locations make more money than any other location around the world.

In addition to the mall, the Orange County fairgrounds are located in Costa Mesa, which hosts the Orange County fair, one of the largest fairs in California. The fairgrounds host music and comedy acts during the fair, which receives more than one million visitors each year.

The city of Costa Mesa literally makes up the middle area between Disneyland and the beach. Like the rest of Orange County, it consists lots of shopping centers and chain restaurants but it is also the best place to find cheap accommodation away from the inflated prices of the beach and out of the Disneyland bubble that fills Anaheim with theme park addled families recovering from their adrenaline rushes.

Costa Mesa is a perfect place to stay if you’re looking for more variety out of your Los Angeles vacation than spending all of your time just at the beach or Disneyland. Costa Mesa is not oriented just for tourists or streamlined so that you spend all of your time spending money in an amusement park. It’s a place to stay for those who want to see a little more of Los Angeles and spend some time taking in the sights around the rest of the city after they can no longer handle the roller coasters or the waves for the fourth day in a row.

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