Discover

''Newport Harbor redirects here. For the MTV reality series, see ''.
'Newport Beach', incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, 10 miles south of downtown Santa Ana. The current OMB metropolitan designation for Newport Beach and the Orange County Area is Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, CA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 70,032. The area code for Newport Beach is 949. The city is home to several well known communities and recent annexations including Balboa Island, Corona del Mar, San Joaquin Hills, and Newport Coast.

Contents

Attractions

History

Recent annexations

Geography

Harbor

Demographics

Sister Cities

Popular culture

Notable residents

External links

Attractions

Attractions include beaches on the Balboa Peninsula (featuring body-boarding hot-spot The Wedge) and in Corona del Mar. Crystal Cove State Park is located at the southern end of the coast.
The Catalina Flyer, a giant 500 passenger catamaran, provides daily transportation from the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach to Avalon, California located on Santa Catalina Island. The historic Balboa Pavilion, established in 1906, is Newport Beach's most famous landmark. There are a variety of options that include fishing, arcade games, and nice restaurants.
The Balboa Fun Zone, located on the Balboa Peninsula near the Balboa Island Ferry, features a ferris wheel, an old-time Merry-Go-Round and several quaint shops and restaurants.
The Orange County Museum of Art is a museum that exhibits art from a variety of modern artists.
Balboa Island is an artificial island in Newport Harbor that was dredged and filled right before World War I. The Balboa Island Ferry transports cars, bicycles and pedestrians across the harbor channel between Balboa Island and the Balboa Peninsula.
The Back Bay is a wildlife sanctuary, while nearby Fashion Island provides shopping experiences with department stores like Bloomingdale's. The Newport Beach public library's spectacular architecture has been featured in the movie Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.
The Newport Aquatic Center offers kayaking, rowing, and canoeing. It has been a training ground for many Olympians throughout the years, and runs several programs for the youth of Orange County, including programs for at-risk youth.
The Pelican Hill area has two golf courses, both of which are closed for the construction of a resort hotel, golf clubhouse and residences by the Irvine Company. [1] It is located on a small 1.2 square mile sliver of land, and contours the Pacific Coast.
Since the hit FOX drama ''The OC'', many tourists from around the globe have explicitly increased Newport Beach's tourist rate, hoping to match sights from the show with sights in the city. Another TV show about Newport Beach was recently filmed and will air this month, on MTV.

History

Main articles: History of Newport Beach


In 1870 a steamer named "The Vaquero" made its first trip to a marshy lagoon for trading. Ranch owners in the Lower Bay decided from then on that the area should be called "Newport."
In 1905 city development increased when Pacific Electric Railroad established a southern terminus in Newport connecting the beach with downtown Los Angeles. In 1906 with a population of 206 citizens, the scattered settlements were incorporated as the City of Newport Beach.
Settlements filled in on the Peninsula, West Newport, Balboa Island and Lido Isle. In 1923 Corona del Mar was annexed and recently in 2002 Newport Coast was annexed.

Recent annexations

★ San Joaquin Hills, California (January 1, 2002)

★ Newport Coast, California (2001)

Geography

Newport Beach is 25 feet (8|0|N|117|53|51|W|city}} (33.616671, -117.897604).
The city is bordered to the west by Huntington Beach at the Santa Ana River, on the north side by Costa Mesa, John Wayne Airport, and Irvine (including UC Irvine), and on the east side by Crystal Cove State Park.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 103.2 km² (39.8 mi²). 38.3 km² (14.8 mi²) of it is land and 64.9 km² (25.1 mi²) of it (62.91%) is water.
Areas of Newport Beach include Corona del Mar, Balboa Island, Newport Coast, San Joaquin Hills, and Balboa Peninsula (also known as Balboa).

Harbor

The Upper Newport Bay was carved out by the prehistoric flow of the Santa Ana River. It feeds the delta that is the Back Bay, and eventually joins the Newport Harbor.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 70,032 people, 33,071 households, and 16,965 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,829.5/km² (4,738.8/mi²). There were 37,288 housing units at an average density of 974.1/km² (2,523.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.22% White, 0.53% African American, 0.26% Native American, 4.00% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 1.13% from other races, and 1.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.71% of the population.
There were 33,071 households out of which 18.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.7% were non-families. 35.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.71.
In the city the population was spread out with 15.7% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 33.0% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $83,455, and the median income for a family was $111,166. Males had a median income of $73,425 versus $45,409 for females. The per capita income for the city was $63,015. About 2.1% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.
As of September 2005, there were 36,876 registered Republicans and 12,268 registered Democrats. (Source:"Newport Beach Turns 100", OC Register, Sept. 2005)

Sister Cities

Newport Beach has five sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

★ Antibes, France

★ Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

★ Okazaki, Japan

★ Vũng Tàu, Vietnam

★ Yeosu, South Korea

Popular culture

The city has figured into several television shows and movies.

★ In the fall of 2003, ''The O.C.'' premiered and with its success, Newport Beach became a defining city along the California coast and the Western seaboard.

★ The characters in ''Arrested Development'' are purported to have lived and worked in Newport Beach, and operated a frozen banana stand on Balboa Island. Many of the stories took place there and in the surrounding Orange County area. However, the television show is filmed entirely in Los Angeles.

★ In the ''Lost'' Season Two Finale, "Live Together, Die Alone," the boat "Elizabeth" had a Newport Beach hailing port, which was painted on her transom.

★ ''The West Wing'' has used Newport Beach and the Orange County area a number of times, basing Sam Seaborn's bid for congress in the district and filming on location during five different Series 4 episodes.

★ ''The Thirteenth Year'', a
Disney Channel Original Movie, is set in Balboa Island and Newport Beach. The movie features the fun zone on the Balboa Peninsula and the Balboa Ferry.

★ MTV replaced its hit teen-reality series '' with a new show, '', on August 15, 2007. Only the cast and location changed in the new series, based on the lives of wealthy high school students living in Newport Beach.

Notable residents

★ John Lackey, Starting Pitcher of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

★ Melida Bilson,owner and founder of the Newport Group housing company

★ Jeremy Jackson, entertainer

★ Joey Bishop, entertainer

★ Francois Botha, boxer

★ Chris Cox, Chairman of Securities and Exchange Commission

★ George Argyros, Former Ambassador to Spain, Entrepreneur, billionaire

★ Chuck Finley, Former baseball player

★ Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Former baseball starting pitcher

★ Jürgen Klinsmann, coach of Germany's national football (soccer) team from 2004 to 2006

★ Dean Koontz, writer

★ Leigh Steinberg, sports agent

★ Mamie Van Doren, entertainer

★ David Perry, game designer

★ Kobe Bryant, NBA player, Los Angeles Lakers

★ Aaron Peirsol, swimmer

★ Hayley Peirsol, swimmer

★ Taylor Dent, professional tennis player

★ Donald Bren, real estate mogul, billionaire

★ Henry Samueli, Chairman/Co-founder of technology firm Broadcom, billionaire

★ Sasha Cohen, figure skater

★ Mark McGrath, singer (Sugar Ray)

★ McG, film director and producer

★ Saosin, a band currently signed to Capitol Records who released their debut album on September 26, 2006.

★ The ska punk/post-grunge band Sugar Ray

★ Nicolas Cage - Actor is a full-time resident.

★ Norelle Van Herk - America's Next Top Model, Cycle 3.

★ Troy Glaus - Third Baseman of the Toronto Blue Jays

★ Reggie Jackson- Hall of Fame Baseball Player

★ Dick Dale - Rock and roller "King of the Surf Guitar"

★ Lauren Bacall

★ Humphrey Bogart

★ Errol Flynn

★ Roy Rogers & Dale Evans

★ Shirley Temple

★ John Wayne

★ Dennis Rodman, retired NBA player

★ Karl Malone, retired NBA player

★ Johnny Mercer, songwriter

★ George Yardley, NBA Hall of Famer

★ Gwen Stefani, Singer, No Doubt

★ Ginger Reyes, musician, Smashing Pumpkins, Halo Friendlies

★ Firoozeh Dumas, author

★ Allen Adham, creator of WARCRAFT

External links

★ Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce

★ City of Newport Beach

★ Tales of Balboa

★ Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau

★ Newport Beach Centennial

★ Newport Beach Public Library