More about Mission Viejo California

Mission Viejo is a city located in Orange County and has an estimated population of 100,242 residents as of January 2009. The city was named safest city in the US in 2007 by the Morgan Quinto crime statistic survey, which is compiled by the FBI. The city is considered to be one of the largest master planned communities ever built under a single project in the nation, and is only rivaled by Highlands Ranch in Colorado. The city is home to Mission Hospital, the largest hospital in south Orange County and regional trauma center. The region was originally used as cattle and sheep grazing lands and was one of the last areas to be urbanized due to the geographical complexity of the area. Mission Viejo did not first begin to be developed until the 1970s when urban planner Donald Bren drafted a master plan where roads went through the valleys and homes sat on the hills of the region. In the 1970s and 1980s, the houses in the area were in such high demand, that many of the housing tracts sold out before construction on any homes had even started. The city’s architecture is mostly Spanish mission style, with adobe-like stucco walls and tile roofs. The city is home to two of its own school district; Capistrano Unified School District and Saddleback Unified School District have 23 schools between the two that service the area. The city is also home to large athletic facility known as the Mission Viejo Youth Athletic Park which consists of eight baseball fields, and five soccer fields. Mission Viejo houses its own lake which is 1 mile long and 70 feet at its deepest point. The lake is a reservoir within the city and is annual stocked with fish. The lake is located in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains and is surrounded by private residents with two beaches, Playa del Norte and Playa del Este. The lake also holds a fishing event every winter where 100 trout are tagged and released into the lake; when a trout is caught, the catcher must take the tag off bring it to the front desk with the weight of the fish and they will be awarded from a large range of prizes. The city is also home to Saddleback Community College, located across from Mission Viejo Hospital, it is one of the best community colleges offering over 75 areas of study.