Orange County, CA: Chapter 5: The North American Manufacturing Core

THE CITRUS INDUSTRY

One of the earlier and main manufacturing industries of Orange County was the citrus industry. For many years, orange and Orange County were synonymous. While never the only crop in the county, oranges dominated the local agriculture from the 1890s to the 1950s. By 1915, there were already over 20,000 acres of orange groves here, and by 1936 Orange County was producing one-sixth of the nation’s Valencia crop, which generated two-thirds of the county’s agricultural income.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocarchives/5495002524/in/photostream/

The worst citrus disease was the Quick Decline, a virus that began to infect local groves in

the 1940s and killed off trees by the thousands. Orange County’s rapid growth in the 1950s and ‘60s added other challenges for local growers, including the rising costs of land, water, and taxes. As of 2004, less than 100 acres of citrus were still being harvested in Orange County.

Source: http://www.ocsd.org/vgnfiles/ocgov/Clerk-Recorder/Docs/Archives/The_Citrus_Industry.pdf

REAL ESTATE

http://www.firsttimeorangecounty.com/ocshopping.shtml

The Irvine Company is a privately owned real estate development company which has developed most the land in central and southern parts of the county. The land they own is part of the Irvine Ranch which was privately owned by James Irvine I, purchased in 1864 and consisted of 93,000 acres. It includes today's citites such as Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Tustin, Orange and Anaheim. The company was parodied in the Fox drama The O.C. renamed as The Newport Group and was depicted as a place for big business and corruption.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Irvine_Company)

http://www.shoptheirvinecompany.com/assets/images/logo_irvine_retail_blue.gif

ENTERTAINMENT

Orange County, CA has become a source for entertainment, particularly in television. It all started in 2003 when Fox premiered a prime time teen soap called The O.C. and became an overnight sensation making Orange County not only a tourist destination but a pop culture landmark. It so far has been broadcast 50 countries and was one of 2003's popular new series. MTV created a reality show titled Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County which followed the lives of teenagers in Laguna Beach, CA which was also a rating success for the network. Bravo also debuted The Real Housewives of Orange County in 2006 and was the first and seminal installment of the Real Housewives of...series.

The shows have all been criticized for its lack of diversity, which the county has a lot of, and perhaps a skewed image of the county as a whole.