CITY OF SANTA ANA, CA
Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County and has the second most population of people in the county. The 2010 United States Census Bureau estimated its population to be about 330,000, making Santa Ana the 57th most populated city in the United States. The city of Santa Ana is located in the southern portion of Southern California and is close to the Santa Ana River, which is about ten miles away from the Southern California Coast. Santa Ana was founded in 1869 and was part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The Greater Los Angeles Area is the second largest metropolitan area in the United States with about 18 million residents according to the 2010 Census.
Santa Ana is a very densely populated city and ranks fourth in the nation among cities with over 300,000 residents. This city falls short of just New York City, San Francisco, and Boston. However, even though it is fourth in the nation for population, it is ranked one of the safest cities in the United Sates including all cities with over 250,000 residents. The I-5 freeway is known as the Santa Ana Freeway because it runs directly through the city. This means that this city is very accessible from anywhere in the state of California. The mountains near the city are also named the Santa Ana Mountains as well as a weather occurrence throughout the state of California.
This weather is known as the Santa Ana winds, which has fueled seasonal wildfires throughout Southern California historically. The city of Santa Ana was claimed in 1869 by Kentuckian William H. Spurgeon on land that he obtained from the descendants of Jose Antonio Yorba and was incorporated as a city of California in 1886 with a population of about 2000 and became the seat of the new Orange County. In 1912, Santa Ana became the home of the original Glenn L. Martin aviation company before it merged with the Wright Company in 1916. During World War II, Santa Ana built an Army Air Base as a training center for the United States Army Air Forces and was responsible for the growing population during and after the war. The Fashion Square Mall was built in 1958 because of the increase of population and it became a major retail center for the area in 1954. The mall was completely renovated in 1987 and became known as the Main Place Mall, but is now known as the Westfield Main Place Mall. Before 1952, the mayor of the city was appointed from the council membership, but the residents changed it so that the mayor would be elected by the residents of Santa Ana. The current mayor of the city is Miguel A. Pulido and is the first mayor of Latino descent in the history of the city and he was directly elected by the people.
In the late 1900s Santa Ana’s downtown area declined in influence and the city attempted to make it better by creating the Santa Ana Artist’s Village around Cal State Fullerton’s Grand Central Art Center to attract artists and young professionals to the area. The effort is continued today and has in fact revitalized the downtown area of the city of Santa Ana. The city of Santa Ana is known to be one of the safest cities in the state of California as well as in the entire country and they have the Santa Ana Police Department for that. The men and women of the police department work tirelessly day and night to make sure that the residents of the city are safe at all times. They constantly patrol the city of Santa Ana and set up random checkpoints throughout the city to catch anyone driving drunk or committing a crime.