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Rancho Ortega Blog discusses matters of public interest in South Orange County, including the communities of San Juan Capistrano, Ladera Ranch and Rancho Mission Viejo.

The writings of Don Juan Ortega on the Rancho Ortega Blog are the personal views of the author. This blog is not authored by nor does it have any affiliation whatsoever with any other person, place or entity using the name "Rancho Ortega" (or any similar name).

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Archives

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/4478

A Topographical View of Planning Area 2

Google Maps has a cool new feature where you can tilt the map and get a topographical view of an area. We decided to have some fun and lay the boundaries for Planning Area 2 over a topographical map of the region. Below is the result — note the boundaries aren’t perfect. We were just [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/4443

Final Names Selected for Rancho Mission Viejo School; Don Juan Ortega Casts His Vote

According to this article in the Capistrano Dispatch, the Capistrano Unified School District has narrowed down the list of names for the new K-8 school that will be built in Planning Area 2, the Village of Esencia, in Rancho Mission Viejo. Among the finalists are:

Barbara L. Banda, a local woman who helped bring Native [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/3745

How Would South Orange County Fare in a Flood?

With all this talk about drought and water shortages, we thought it might be fun to imagine the opposite scenario. What would South Orange County look like following unprecedented rainfall? FEMA uses the concepts of a 100 year flood and a 500 year flood to determine high risk flood zones and establish high water marks. [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/3141

The Role of Sienna Botanica Riverine System and the Horno Water Quality Basin in the Ladera Ranch Ecosystem

Residents of Ladera Ranch have noticed the construction work underway in the greenbelt along Sienna Parkway. This two and a half mile long greenbelt starts in northern Ladera Ranch near Town Green Park and ends south of the community near Covenant Hills. The riverine system is home to a meandering walkway along a man-made creek [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/1736

Huevos, Jamon and a Bottle of Chardonnay: Having Fun with Street Names

For half a century, Rancho Mission Viejo Company (and its predecessors) has been building communities in South Orange County. With residential development comes the responsible to name the thousands of new streets built on Rancho Mission Viejo land. At the outset, developers used simple Spanish words for the streets of Mission Viejo. Many of those [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/1555

The Tragic and Scandalous Origins of Doheny State Beach

Official records will tell you that the original 41 acres of Doheny State Beach was donated by Southern California oil tycoon Edward Doheny on May 31, 1931. Many people don’t know that tomorrow – February 16th – marks the anniversary of the Doheny family tragedy that directly resulted in Doheny’s donation of the oceanfront property [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/1294

Anticipating the Integration of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) into the Ranch Plan

In the past, we have alluded to Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) and their role in Ranch Plan planning. With reference to the Ranch Plan Alternative Development Standards document originally issued March 14, 2007 and most recently amended September 14, 2011, we want to describe in a little more detail what NEVs might mean for the [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/1150

More Speculation on the Ranch Marketplace

We discussed the size and potential tenants of the Ranch Marketplace (the proposed ten acre retail center at the corner of Ortega Highway and Antonio Parkway) in this post. We’ve done some more thinking and researching and wanted to further explore two questions relating to the layout of this new retail center.

First, will the [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/1126

What Might the Retail Plaza at Antonio and Ortega Look Like?

Rancho Mission Viejo’s new website offers us a hint at the retail component of Planning Area 1. The site invites future residents to “[l]oad up on supplies at our 10-acre retail plaza (planned for 2015)” and promises that “[y]ou’ll find everything you need from groceries and gas to take-out and dry cleaning right here on [...]

http://www.ranchoortega.com/blog/archives/649

The Ranch Plan Promises New Trails and Bikeways

As you may know, Orange County has a “General Plan” that describes its long-term goals for growth and development. The General Plan is comprehensive in that it covers seven core aspects of County life: land use, transportation, housing, conservation, open space, noise and safety. Today, we are going to look at the impact of the [...]