Anaheim

Next to Santa Ana, Anaheim is the largest city in Orange County. Thanks to its role as a center of entertainment, it’s probably the most famous. Anaheim is of course home to the Disneyland Resort. The Anaheim Convention Center, Angel Stadium and the Honda Center (a large indoor stadium) are also located in Anaheim.

With a population of about 350,000, Anaheim is one of the largest cities in California. Its boundaries extend almost across the entire width of Orange County, including urban neighborhoods, middle-class suburban developments and an upscale planned community in the Anaheim hills. The population of Anaheim is almost 50% Latino, including many recent immigrants who work in the tourism industry. The city is one of the safest in the U.S. for its size.

In recent years, Disneyland has expanded from a single theme park to a resort destination that includes two theme parks, the Downtown Disney shopping area and several hotels. The Anaheim Convention Center, across the street from Disneyland, is the location for major business and retail conventions throughout the year.

To keep up with Disneyland, Harbor Blvd near Disneyland has recently been renamed the Anaheim Resort district. The city has spent quite a bit of money improving the streets and adding landscaped islands and palm trees. The Anaheim Resort Transportation Network provides a shuttle service between hotels in the area and the various tourist attractions. The street has come a long way from just a few years ago when rundown motels and streetwalkers could be seen just a few blocks from Disneyland.

Anaheim varies from being completely industrial, to residential to the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland falls in the city limits). Anaheim pretty much has it all, and, thanks to efforts by the city planners, it is starting to lose its local nickname of “Anacrime”.

There is plenty to do in Anaheim. The Honda Center hosts the Anaheim Ducks and numerous concerts throughout the year (the rodeo and circus are annual events) and right across the street is Angel Stadium, home to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (just don’t use that full name when talking to any Anaheim locals!). In that same area, there are plenty of casual to fancy places to hit up before the game (seriously, from Fritz Too! the strip club to Mr. Stox, a fancy restaurant). Lately a bunch of new medium-rise apartment complexes have sprung up in the area and these, combined with the close industrial and corporate offices, make it the perfect area to work, eat and play in!

If you head towards the area of Anaheim off Harbor, it is much more residential. There are some really cute neighborhoods here with older style homes. Even though the neighborhoods are pretty suburban-like, they still have the benefit of being close to the numerous grocery stores and entertainment venues.

And for accessibility, Anaheim is hard to beat. It is intersected by the 22, 91 and the 5, meaning you can get virtually anywhere in Orange County and to LA pretty easily!

All up, Anaheim is a great city that still has a lot of potential!