Buena Park, California

Buena Park is a city located in northwestern Orange County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 78,282. The city is located adjacent to the City of Anaheim and is located 12 miles (20 km) northwest of Downtown Santa Ana. It was founded by James A. Whitaker, a wholesale grocer from Chicago, Illinois in 1887 and incorporated in 1953. An agricultural center at its founding, particularly dairy, wine and citrus products, the city is now primarily a residential suburb. The Current OMB metropolitan designation for Buena Park and the Orange County Area is "Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA." Buena Park is home to several tourist attractions, most notably Knott's Berry Farm (see Points of interest).

Buena Park is also home to Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese Americans. Buena Park is noted for its Asian-themed restaurants. Many food distributions centers in Buena Park import goods from various countries in the Pacific Rim and then ship them to Asian supermarkets across California.

Buena Park is additionally home to one of the 13 special district libraries in the State of California. The Buena Park Library District [1] is a single-purpose library district governed by an elected Board of Trustees, and has as its principal source of income a small property tax proration. The library's early history is much like other communities: it operated on and off as a volunteer operation beginning in 1905 at several temporary locations with donated books. It was formally established as a library district through the efforts of the Buena Park Woman's Club in 1919, and, through a few more building changes, is now located at 7150 La Palma Avenue, between Knott Avenue and Western Avenue. The current facility's construction was completed in early 1969 financed by a bond measure passed by the citizens of Buena Park on June 6, 1967. The community's library holds over 125,000 library materials from books to music CD's, magazines to movies, and provides a number of free public programs for all ages every week. It has free Internet service, and free library cards to all California residents. The library also has photocopier and fax services for small fees. The library is also a US Passport Acceptance Agency for the U.S. Department of State and its service hours are posted at both the Passport Acceptance Agency's and the library's web sites. Its support group, the Volunteer Guild of the Buena Park Library, runs a bookstore and sells gently used materials. The bookstore is located on the Library's second floor.

Construction on a Metrolink Orange County Line station in Buena Park started in January 2006. It is expected to open in early 2007. [2]

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Government and politics
- 3.1 Emergency services
4 Points of interest
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Buena Park is located at 33°51′22″N, 118°0′15″W (33.856214, -118.004169)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.6 km² (10.6 mi²). 27.4 km² (10.6 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.56%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 78,282 people, 23,332 households, and 18,735 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,859.5/km² (7,403.1/mi²). There were 23,826 housing units at an average density of 870.3/km² (2,253.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 52.99% White, 3.83% Black or African American, 0.96% Native American, 21.06% Asian, 0.51% Pacific Islander, 15.19% from other races, and 5.46% from two or more races. 33.50% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 23,332 households out of which 43.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.7% were non-families. 14.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.32 and the average family size was 3.64.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.4% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 32.3% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 9.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $50,336, and the median income for a family was $52,327. Males had a median income of $37,471 versus $30,287 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,031. About 8.0% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.8% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

The city became a popular real estate choice for African Americans as well Asians and Latinos. A special shopping area known as "Indian Village" was established in Buena Park in the 1980s by East Indian shop owners, this area is similar to Little India in nearby Artesia. Recent home price increases threaten to drive middle-class and minority homebuyers from the market, it is uncertain what effect this might have.

[edit] Government and politics

Buena Park is a California general law city with a council-manager government system. Everyday management of city functions is directed by a professional city manager, who is overseen by an elected City Council of five non-partisan members elected at large and whose chair acts as mayor. The interim city manager is Rick Warsinski.

The current mayor is Art Brown, with Mayor pro tem Patsy Marshall, and Councilmembers Jim Dow, Steve Berry and Don McKay.

[edit] Emergency services

Fire protection in Buena Park is provided by the Orange County Fire Authority. Law enforcement is provided by the Buena Park Police Department. Ambulance service is provided by Care Ambulance Service.

[edit] Points of interest

Buena Park's E-Zone district located along Beach Boulevard is home to several well-known tourist destinations: the venerable Knott's Berry Farm theme park and its sister water park Knott's Soak City, Pirate's Dinner Adventure Show, a Medieval Times dinner show, and a Ripley's Believe it or Not! museum. The Movieland Wax Museum, one of the largest of its kind in the world, was once located in the E-Zone until it closed in 2005. The E-Zone also neighbors Anaheim, with Disneyland just east by way of Katella Avenue, Ball Road, and Interstate 5.