Sunset Beach, California

Sunset Beach
—  District of Huntington Beach  —
Lifeguard station #10 at Sunset Beach
Sunset Beach
Position in California.
Coordinates:
Country United States
State California
County Orange
CDP designation March 31, 2010
Annexed into Huntington Beach August 2011
Area[1]
 • Total 0.197 sq mi (0.511 km2)
 • Land 0.192 sq mi (0.498 km2)
 • Water 0.005 sq mi (0.013 km2)  2.49%
Population (2010)
 • Total 971
 • Density 4,928.9/sq mi (1,903.1/km2)
ZIP code 90742
Area code(s) 562
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sunset Beach, California

Sunset Beach is a beachfront community in Huntington Beach in Orange County, California. In 2011, it was annexed by Huntington Beach and is now part of that city. Prior to, it was a census-designated place[2], with a population of 971 at the 2010 census.

Sunset Beach features one of the widest beaches in southern California. Running parallel to the beach, from the north of town to the southern edge is the Green Belt, a bucolic 14 acre park on which residents walk their dogs and celebrate Mother's Day with the historic Sunset Beach Art Festival, sponsored by Las Damas. Southeast of Sunset Beach is Bolsa Chica State Beach. To the east is the bayfront community of Huntington Harbour (part of Huntington Beach), and roughly north is the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach, and the Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge.[3] The small gated community of Surfside located between Sunset Beach and the Weapons Station is part of Seal Beach, with the rest of Seal Beach on the other side of the Weapons Station.[3]

Sunset Beach does not have residential mail delivery. Instead, residents pick up their mail at post office boxes in the centrally-located post office or at private post office boxes located on 22nd Street. The main Post Office features an award winning wall mural designed and painted by local artist Katy Brack. Sunset Beach is served by the Sunset Beach Sanitary District. Sunset Beach residents are civic minded and the town boasts three long term associations - The Sunset Beach Community Association SBCA, The Sunset Beach Woman's Club and Las Damas, a woman's philanthropic organization.

Contents

Annexation

On August 2, 2010 the Huntington Beach city council, in a 5-2 vote, voted to annex Sunset Beach making the community a part of the much larger Huntington Beach. The annexation was to have officially begun in January 2011 but a group of residents filed suit on December 9, 2010 to stop the annexation due to new taxes that would be imposed on them once they become part of Huntington Beach. A hearing for a preliminary injunction was scheduled for January 19, 2011 in Orange County Superior Court.[4] Huntington Beach officially annexed Sunset Beach in August 2011.[5]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covered an area of 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²), 97.51% of it land, and 2.49% of it water.

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census[6] reported that Sunset Beach had a population of 971. The population density was 4,919.3 people per square mile (1,899.4/km²). The racial makeup of Sunset Beach was 863 (88.9%) White, 4 (0.4%) African American, 6 (0.6%) Native American, 42 (4.3%) Asian, 2 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 18 (1.9%) from other races, and 36 (3.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 79 persons (8.1%).

The Census reported that 971 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 515 households, out of which 69 (13.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 179 (34.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 19 (3.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 23 (4.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 29 (5.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 5 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 224 households (43.5%) were made up of individuals and 48 (9.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.89. There were 221 families (42.9% of all households); the average family size was 2.64.

The population was spread out with 106 people (10.9%) under the age of 18, 72 people (7.4%) aged 18 to 24, 280 people (28.8%) aged 25 to 44, 365 people (37.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 148 people (15.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.9 years. For every 100 females there were 120.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.3 males.

There were 641 housing units at an average density of 3,247.5 per square mile (1,253.8/km²), of which 211 (41.0%) were owner-occupied, and 304 (59.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.9%. 455 people (46.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 516 people (53.1%) lived in rental housing units.

Businesses

Sunset Beach has a number of restaurants and bars, including Nadine's Irish Mist, owned by Irish singer Nadine Coyle. Other businesses include Bruce Jones Surfboards.

See also

References

  1. ^ U.S. Census
  2. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Sunset Beach, California
  3. ^ a b Marshutz, Scott (2008-06-08). "Friendly slice of beach in Orange County". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/orange/la-re-guide8-2008jun08,0,3425217.story. Retrieved 2008-06-10. 
  4. ^ Anton, Mike (January 3, 2011). "Lawsuit gives Sunset Beach a reprieve in annexation battle". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sunset-beach-20110103,0,217246.story. Retrieved 3 January 2011. 
  5. ^ Miller, Michael (August 25, 2011). "Sunset annexed; group plans appeal". Huntington Beach Independent: pp. A1, A10. http://www.hbindependent.com/news/tn-hbi-0825-sunset-20110819,0,7971130.story. 
  6. ^ All data are derived from the United States Census Bureau reports from the 2010 United States Census, and are accessible on-line here. The data on unmarried partnerships and same-sex married couples are from the Census report DEC_10_SF1_PCT15. All other housing and population data are from Census report DEC_10_DP_DPDP1. Both reports are viewable online or downloadable in a zip file containing a comma-delimited data file. The area data, from which densities are calculated, are available on-line here. Percentage totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. The Census Bureau defines families as a household containing one or more people related to the householder by birth, opposite-sex marriage, or adoption. People living in group quarters are tabulated by the Census Bureau as neither owners nor renters. For further details, see the text files accompanying the data files containing the Census reports mentioned above.

External links