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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEIGHBORHOOD PAGES
Click on the cities and neighborhoods below for descriptions of life in these Los Angeles areas.
Laguna Beach lives up to its mystique as an artsy haven for sun-, sand- and surf-loving residents. The gallery-laden Orange County city charms locals and visitors, and its laid-back, outdoorsy lifestyle attracts a variety of families and singles.
Coastal Indians were originally drawn to the area because of two rare freshwater lagoons in the canyon formation directly east of Main Beach. They named the area Lagonas, their word for "lakes." By the late 1800s, the area had been discovered by others and slowly evolved into a vacation community with a few permanent residents.
Today, the city has about 24,000 residents, although the numbers swell in summertime.
The city's first artistic advocate was watercolorist Norman St. Clair, a San Francisco native who spent the summers in the early 1900s painting the jagged cliffs, peaceful coves and crashing surf of Laguna Beach. By 1918, his efforts had inspired a small artistic community to settle in the town and create the Laguna Beach Art Assn., which still exists.
Annual art events such as the Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters draw thousands of visitors every year and keep the town buzzing with activity for weeks afterward. The only complaint that residents have is the congestion -- one drawback of being a popular destination
But although the lifestyle can be laid-back, the housing market continues to be one of the most competitive in the Southland, due to an enduring demand for coastal property.
Median housing prices for single-family homes grew from $779,000 in 2002 to $1,518,000 in March 2007, according to DataQuick Information Systems.
North Laguna includes the estate communities of Emerald Bay and Irvine Cove, where newly constructed mansions can command from $3 million to $20 million, depending on their size and location. Homes in Laguna Beach Village include a more eclectic mix of cottages and duplexes as well as lots with new construction that sell in the $1 million and above range.
South Laguna is an older community near the Montages Resort. Many homes here were built in the 1920s when the first waves of Los Angeles refugees made their way down in the summers. Prices in the South Laguna range from the $800,000 to $900,000 for homes without views to $28 million for view mansions.
