WHERE’S THE BOOM? When Orange County’s population...
WHERE’S THE BOOM? When Orange County’s population was skyrocketing in the 1980s, so was apartment construction. But it peaked at more than 7,500 new apartments in 1988, and it’s been dwindling with the recession--with just 674 apartments built here last year. Apartment managers, still facing vacancies between 6 to 8%, are turning to firms like Apartment Locators (D1) to help them find qualified tenants. One manager says, “You use anything in this business.”
SAIGON SOUND: As Orange County becomes more diverse, so does its airwaves. Radio station KWIZ-FM (96.7) is changing its format to include nine hours of Vietnamese broadcasting on weekdays, beginning at 6 a.m. on July 1. . . . The nostalgia-and-talk station has contracted with Little Saigon Radio Broadcasting of Santa Ana to do the programming. “It’s going from mainstream to ethnic,” says station spokesman Garrett Gin.
SIX AND GROWING? Most people only hear stories about their great-great-great grandmother. But 1-year-old Kaila Carlstrom of Huntington Beach sees hers at numerous family events. She and her “Granny,” Harriett Parsley, 88, bridge six family generations still alive. . . . That’s good enough to lead so far the Newport Dunes Resort’s multi-generation Fourth of July contest. Kaila’s grandmother, Brenda McFarlane of Huntington Beach, says she entered because “I thought, who still has this many generations still around?”
COUNTRY SEX: Line dances, the wildly popular, choreographed workouts performed solo in rows, are taking country nightclubs by storm (OC Live!). About 40 venues here offer some form of country dancing. . . . The Tush Push is currently one of everybody’s favorites because its “sexy” moves make “people like to watch as well as do it,” says disc jockey Craig Powers of Orange-based KIK-FM (94.3). Sexy moves? Powers explains: “You push your tush.”
Building Hit
The recession has sharply reduced apartment construction in the county.
Units built ‘92: 674 Source: The Research Network Ltd.
