Brea, California

History

The area was visited on July 29, 1769 by the Spanish Portolá expedition - first Europeans to see inland parts of Alta California. The party camped in Brea Canyon, near a large native village and a small pool of clean water. A historical marker dedicated to his visit stands in Brea Canyon just north of town.

The village of Olinda was founded in present-day Carbon Canyon at the beginning of the 19th century and many entrepreneurs came to the area searching for "black gold" (petroleum). In 1894, the owner of the land, Abel Stearns, sold 1,200 acres (4.9 km²) to the west of Olinda to the newly created Union Oil Company of California, and by 1898 many nearby hills began sporting wooden oil-drilling towers on the newly discovered Brea-Olinda Oil Field. In 1908 the village of Randolph, named for railway engineer Epes Randolph, was founded just south of Brea Canyon for the oil workers and their families. Baseball legend Walter Johnson grew up in Olinda at the start of the 20th century where he worked in the surrounding oil fields as a youth.

The villages of Olinda and Randolph grew and merged as the economy boomed, and on January 19, 1911, the town's map was filed under the new name of Brea, from the Spanish language word for natural asphalt (also called bitumen, pitch or tar). With a population of 752, Brea was incorporated on February 23, 1917, as the eighth official city of Orange County.

As oil production declined, some agricultural development took place, especially lemon and orange groves. In the 1920s, the Brea Chamber of Commerce promoted the city with the slogan “Oil, Oranges, and Opportunity.” In 1950 Brea had a population of 3,208. The citrus groves gave way gradually to industrial parks and residential development. In 1956, Carl N. Karcher opened the first two Carl's Jr. restaurants in Anaheim, California and Brea, California. The opening of the Orange Freeway (57) and the Brea Mall in the 1970s spurred further residential growth, including large planned developments east of the 57 Freeway in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. In the late 1990s, a 50-acre (200,000 m²) swath of downtown Brea centered on Brea Boulevard and Birch Street was heavily redeveloped into a shopping and entertainment area with movie theaters, sidewalk cafes, a live comedy club from The Improv chain, numerous shops and restaurants, and a weekly farmer's market. It is locally known and signed as Downtown Brea.

Sunset magazine named Brea one of the five best suburbs to live in the Western United States in early 2006.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.1 square miles (31 km²). 12.1 square miles (31 km²) of it is land and 0.26% is water.

It is bordered by unincorporated Orange County and Los Angeles County to the north and east, La Habra to the west, Fullerton to the southwest, Placentia to the south, and Yorba Linda to the southeast.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Brea has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csa" on climate maps.

Local

Brea is governed by a mayor-council system. The five member City Council is elected for four-year terms in elections every two years to fill alternately two and three seats. The Council is made up of the Mayor, the Mayor Pro Tem and three Councilmembers. The Council elects a Mayor from the current councilmembers to serve a one-year term as Mayor. The City Council hires a City Manager to direct the city's departments and advise the Council. The Council appoints members of the Planning Commission; Parks, Recreation and Human Services Commission; Cultural Arts Commission and Traffic Committee.

City services

Fire protection for Brea is provided by the Brea Fire Department and law enforcement is provided by the Brea Police Department. In Carbon Canyon in Olinda neighborhood of Brea is situated Olinda Landfill, a major waste management facility serving a large part of Orange County.

Management of the city and coordination of city services is provided by:

State and federal representation

In the California State Legislature, Brea is in the 29th Senate District, represented by Democrat Josh Newman, and in the 55th Assembly District, represented by Republican Phillip Chen.

In the United States House of Representatives, Brea is in California's 39th congressional district, represented by Republican Ed Royce.

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Brea had a population of 39,282. The population density was 3,243.9 people per square mile (1,252.5/km²). The racial makeup of Brea was

26,363 (67.1%) White (52.7% Non-Hispanic White),

549 (1.4%) African American,

190 (0.5%) Native American,

7,144 (18.2%) Asian,

69 (0.2%) Pacific Islander,

3,236 (8.2%) from other races, and

1,731 (4.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9,817 persons (25.0%).

The Census reported that 39,213 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 69 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 14,266 households, out of which 5,043 (35.3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 8,132 (57.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,605 (11.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 632 (4.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 569 (4.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 100 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,070 households (21.5%) were made up of individuals and 1,265 (8.9%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75. There were 10,369 families (72.7% of all households); the average family size was 3.23.

The population was spread out with 9,057 people (23.1%) under the age of 18, 3,654 people (9.3%) aged 18 to 24, 10,669 people (27.2%) aged 25 to 44, 10,952 people (27.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 4,950 people (12.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.

There were 14,785 housing units at an average density of 1,221.0 per square mile (471.4/km²), of which 9,266 (65.0%) were owner-occupied, and 5,000 (35.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.3%. 26,889 people (68.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 12,324 people (31.4%) lived in rental housing units.

According to the 2010 United States Census, Brea had a median household income of $82,055, with 5.6% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2000

There were 13,067 households out of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.6% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.21.

In the city, the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $64,820, and the median income for a family was $68,423. Males had a median income of $50,500 versus $35,674 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,307. About 3.4% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 5.2% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

As of June 25, 2009 there were 23,859 registered voters in the city of Brea:

Top employers

According to the City's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Education

The city is served by the Brea Olinda Unified School District which operates six elementary schools, one junior high school (Brea Junior High School), one high school (Brea Olinda High School) and one continuation high school. Also serving Brea is the Brea Head Start (Pre) Brea Olinda Friends School (Pre-6), Brea Congregational Pre-School, Brea Foursquare Church (Pre-5), Brea United Methodist Pre-School ("BUMPS"), Carbon Canyon Christian School (K-12), Christ Lutheran School (Pre-8), St. Angela Merici Catholic School (K-8), and Montessori of Brea (K-6). Brea is also home to the Southern California College of Business and Law and the Southern California extension of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.

School awards

Local schools have won several awards. Brea Olinda High School and Olinda Elementary School have been named Blue Ribbon Schools. Additionally, Arovista Elementary, Country Hills Elementary, Fanning Elementary, Mariposa Elementary, Olinda Elementary, Brea Junior High and Brea Olinda High schools have been named California Distinguished Schools. Laurel Elementary received a Title I Academic Achievement Award.

Notable people

Sister Cities

Brea, California is twinned with: