Laguna Niguel, CA

Laguna Niguel is an affluent city in Orange County, California.  In Spanish, it means Lagoon Village.  Its population is 62,979 with the median income of $98,100 and a median age of 42.  The land where Laguna Niguel is now currently located was at one time  Rancho Niguel Mexican Land Grant Of Juan Aliva.  Juan Aliva was a Judge "of the plains" in Los Angeles and a Justice of the Peace in San Juan Capstrano,CA.  He owned the land in 1865 which became a cattle ranch until a drought hit the area in the late 1880s and killed off most of the cattle.  In 1895 the Moulton Company purchased the land but did not develop it.  In 1959 the Laguna Niguel Corporation was founded by Cabot, Cabot &Forbes, a Boston firm known for building shopping malls, and one of the first master planned communities in California was planned.  At the time there were about 6500 residents that lived in the area.  The city of Laguan Niguel was built in 1980 and on December 1, 1989 is became  a city, the 29th city in Orange County.  Today it is an afflunet city with homes ranging from Condos to multi million dollar mansions.  It is bordered by six other Orange county cities.  It geographically sits in the mountains of San Joaquin Hills.  It  has  ridges that run north to south that range from 100 to 200 ft above sea level.  Most of the homes are built on these ridges that make for some beautiful views of the landscape.  My brother and sister in law, Craig and Karyn, live on one of the ridges and  have  a view from their backyard of a beautiful canyon and the mountains.  The city just built its first official Courthouse and my brother, Craig, who is a business man and musician,  played at the opening of the Courthouse and City Hall.  A music video of the event was created by the city featuring my brother's performance and his music.  Laguna Niquel is a beautiful residental area of Orange County, CA.
Today is Tim's birthday and we will be checking out some of our old hangout spots when we lived in the San Diego area 28 years ago.  My sister, Pam, hosted a great birthday party at her house yesterday so we will make his birthday celebration a two day event.  Happy Birthday Tim, I love you very much and I am enjoying our travels together.