The post suburban identity crisis: Re-making civic image in Orange and Huntington Beach, California during an era of rapid growth, 1940--2008

The cities of Orange and Huntington Beach, located in Orange County, California, faced major challenges and underwent massive changes due to high levels of population growth in the second half of the twentieth century. Prior to World War II, both cities possessed several commonalities but distinct civic identities. Whereas Orange was a small town with its primary industry based on citrus farming, Huntington Beach was a largely working class beachside community with oil drilling as its main economic engine. As new population and construction came to the area after World War II, the original downtown cores of both cities became increasingly marginalized amid an interconnected network of suburban sprawl. At the same time, divergent goals and interests among different population groups created a crisis of identity in both cities. In Orange, the emergence of antique dealers and efforts of grass roots organizing and historic preservation helped to re-invent downtown Orange as “Old Towne.” In Huntington Beach, a city with a more transient population, the city government embarked on major redevelopment projects, the most important of which co-opted local surfing culture and re-branded the city “Surf City USA.” This thesis concludes that, in times of rapid change, dominant communities determine the direction in which an area as a whole will take as it re-invents and even commodifies civic identity.