Orange County City: Aliso Viejo

This week's city of Orange County is Aliso Viejo, CA. Here's a little history of the city according to cityofalisoviejo.com :

Aliso Viejo became Orange County's 34th City on July 1, 2001, yet it’s a community grounded in a rich history that echoes other south Orange County cities.

The community name derives from Spanish for “old alder” or “old sycamore.”

Aliso Viejo was originally part of the 22,000-acre Moulton Ranch. In the 1890s, the Moulton family took ownership of land the Mexican government originally granted to Juan Avila in 1842. In 1976, Mission Viejo Company purchased the last 6,600 acres for a new master-planned community. The ultimate vision for Aliso Viejo was to feature neighborhoods that mix homes, workplaces, stores and services. A transit-friendly, energy-conscious and land-conserving community, Aliso Viejo was to foster a sense of community by creating a friendlier streetscape, quality infrastructure like parks, schools and new roads, shopping close to home, community services and neighbors that genuinely feel connected to the community and to one another in some fashion.

The county approved the master plan for the community in 1979 – and by March of 1982 – the first residential units were offered for sale. About eight months later, the first residents arrived. Shea Properties purchased the Mission Viejo Company in 1988.

In February of 1995, the Self-Governance Subcommittee of Governmental Affairs, an offshoot of the Aliso Viejo Community Association (AVCA), which was the first community-wide property owner’s association of its kind in the state, began its push to make Aliso Viejo a city. Two years later, Aliso Viejo Cityhood 2000 was born. In March of 1999, Aliso Viejo Cityhood 2000 launched a petition drive to put the question of cityhood to a community vote. On March 6, 2001, voters (more than 90 percent) overwhelmingly decided to make Aliso Viejo a city.

Source: http://www.cityofalisoviejo.com/AboutAlisoViejo/GeneralInformation.aspx