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Fountain Valley
Lifestyle
Within each square block in Fountain Valley, there is usually
a park or a school or both providing Fountain Valley children nearby
access to places to play and serves to bind the community. Evening strolls
or jogs will often lead past or through a park where picnics are taken and
birthdays are celebrated by homeowners and their families. Block parties
are also popular in Fountain Valley.
Fountain Valley
Housing
Homes, condos and apartments well-maintained. Lawns
mowed, shrubs and trees planted and trimmed. Your everyday middle to upper
middle Orange County neighborhood. Apartments near the freeway. Proactive,
progressive attitude on part of city government. Almost all cities these
days run into problems of crime but not all try to head off problems.
Fountain Valley sends its police officers into local schools to get to
know the kids (and vice versa). Neighborhood watches have been set up.
Before California became a state, surveyors used to plot
out streets and
 real estate lots. The difference in Fountain Valley is one of degree.
Modern "planned" cities decide where parks and schools will be located,
where shopping clusters will be allowed. They pay close attention to
traffic movement and try to shield residential streets from arterial
traffic, which is usually faster and heavier.
Like Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley divided its city
into squares surrounded by walls, inside of which are the housing tracts
of one and two story single family homes, which are usually three and four
bedroom houses.
Of single family homes in Fountain Valley, the
four-bedroom unit is the most popular, about 37 percent of all occupied
housing units, as reported in the 1990 census. The state in 1999 counted 18,232
housing units, of which 12,386 were single homes, 2,116 single detached,
3,314 multiples and 416 mobile homes. Population in 1999 was estimated at
56,445.
Fountain Valley
Employment
Some high tech firms provide plenty of employment
opportunities within Fountain Valley, however most homeowners will find
employment in neighboring cities or commute to any number of other locations in
the vast Los Angeles and Orange County employment markets. Fountain Valley's per
capita income is around $23,489 and with a median income of $61,984.
Fountain Valley
Transportation
Interstate Highway 405 cuts across Fountain Valley at
about its middle. There are four access points to the freeway within the
city limits. Commuter rail is nearby in Santa Ana, provided by both
Metrorail and AmTrak.
Fountain Valley
Recreation
Fountain Valley offers seventeen parks, two movie
complexes, a bowling alley, recreation center and a seniors center. The
Pacific Ocean and beaches are just a few miles away. Every spring
parents and volunteers host baseball tournament that draws about 1,200
players and 115 teams. Mile Square Park offers playing fields,
tennis and basketball courts, picnic grounds, trails, a golf course and a
lake where many homeowners enjoy fishing on weekends.
The Boys and Girls Club
offers after school activities for Fountain Valley children. The state of California
recommends cities should set aside three acres of park land per 1,000 residents.
Fountain Valley has 12 acres per 1,000 residents. Heritage Park, a
collection of historic buildings placed in a country setting, is perfect
for special events and social functions.
Fountain Valley
Education
Served
by Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Ocean View and Huntington Beach Union
High school districts. Rankings are difficult to break down because kids
from outside Fountain Valley may be included. Scores at Fountain Valley
High, compared to school statewide, are generally in the 80th and 90th
percentiles. Fulton Middle School often wins the county academic
pentathlon.
In Fountain Valley grade schools take on the names of
community founders.
New and novel: a public school that divides all
students by sex: girls go in one set of classes, boys another. School is
run by the County Superintendent of Schools and draws students from
several towns.
Coastline Community College offers a variety of high
quality programs for those who will either go on to a four year university
or just need to update their skill set for competing in the demanding high
tech job market present in area.
Fountain Valley School District
17210 Oak Street Fountain Valley, 92708 - Phone: (714) 843-3200
Fountain Valley High
School
17816 Bushard Street Fountain Valley, 92708 - Phone: (714) 962-3301
Fountain, California Valley
History
The marsh that has blossomed into Fountain Valley once
was known as Gospel Swamp, where cattle grazed and itinerant
preachers set up tents on small islands. A severe drought in the late
1870's turned this marsh which was fed by the Santa Ana River, into rich
farmland, however many natural springs and artesian wells remained.
The 1950s brought freeways through the area which was
at that time known as Talbert. Threatened with real estate
development from other cities many homeowners who supported city
independence, favored a return to what they considered the town's original
name, Fountain Valley. Fountain Valley had fewer than 400 residential
homes in 1957 when it was finally incorporated and renamed Fountain
Valley, after the old school and because of the many artesian wells in the
community. This gave local residents control over planning and development
rather than leaving it in the hands of Orange County planners.
Many of City leaders had been long-time farmers and knew that growth was coming so they drew up a
master plan to build in accordance with the wishes of local property
owners. Following this plan,
Fountain Valley built about 40 percent of its current housing stock in the
1960s and 45 percent in the 1970s. Then as vacant land became less
available, housing
starts dropped. In the 1980s, the city built about 1,600 additional
housing units. In the
1990s, new housing starts dropped to the hundreds and over the past seven years
or so, the city built fewer than 300 new homes.
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