Brea is a city in Orange
County
, California
, United
States
. The population, as of the 2000 census, was
35,410, making it Orange County's 25th most populous city of
34.
The city
began as a center of crude oil production,
was later propelled by citrus production, and
is now an important retail center because of the large Brea Mall
and the recently redeveloped Brea Downtown.
Brea is also known for its extensive public art program which began
in 1975 and continues today with over 140 artworks in the
collection placed and located throughout the city. Brea's public
art program has been used as a model and inspiration for many
Public Art programs nationwide.
Sunset magazine has named
Brea one of the five best places to live in the Western United
States.
History
The area was visited in 1769 by
Gaspar de Portolà. A historical
marker dedicated to his visit stands in Brea Canyon just north of
town. He noted the local Native Americans as "dirty" without
realizing that they used crude oil bubbling up in the canyon as
topical medicine.
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
to the west of Olinda to the newly-created
Union Oil Company, and by 1898 many
nearby hills began sporting wooden oil-drilling towers. In 1908 the
village of
Randolph was founded just south of Brea
Canyon for the oil workers and their families (and named for Epes
Randolph, an engineer on the
Pacific Electric Railway).
Baseball legend
Walter
Johnson grew up in Olinda at the turn of the 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
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 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. In the late 1990s, a 50 acre 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.
Geography
Brea is located at .
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
27.3 km² (10.6 mi²). 27.3 km² (10.5 mi²) of it
is land and 0.09% 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
Brea, like most of Southern California, enjoys year-round pleasant
weather. :
- On average, the warmest month is August.
- The highest recorded temperature was 108°F in 2004.
- On average, the coolest month is January.
- The lowest recorded temperature was 30°F in 2002.
- The maximum average precipitation occurs in February.
The period of April through November is warm to hot and dry with
average high temperatures of 73 - 86°F and lows of 51 - 63°F. Due
to the moderating effect of the ocean, temperatures are cooler than
more inland areas of Los Angeles, where temperatures frequently
exceed 90°F (32°C) and occasionally reach 100°F (38°C) in inland
areas (due to the moderating effect of the ocean).
The period of November through March is somewhat rainy, as shown in
the table to right.
The Los Angeles area is also subject to the phenomenon typical of a
microclimate. As such, the temperatures
can vary as much as 18°F (10°C) between inland areas and the coast,
with a temperature gradient of over one degree per mile
(1.6 km) from the coast inland. California has also a weather
phenomenon called "
June Gloom or May
Gray", which sometimes gives overcast or foggy skies in the morning
at the coast, but usually gives sunny skies by noon, during late
spring and early summer.
The greater Los Angeles area averages 15 inches (385 mm)
of precipitation annually, which mainly occurs during the winter
and spring (November thru April) with generally light rain showers,
but sometimes as heavy rainfall and thunderstorms. Coastal areas
get slightly lower rainfall, while the mountains gets slightly
higher rainfall. Snowfall is extremely rare in the city basin, but
the mountains within city limits slopes typically receive snowfall
every winter.
Government
Brea City Hall, Civic & Cultural Center
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
Brea
PD.
Management of the city and coordination of city services is
provided by:
| Office |
Responsible |
| City Manager |
Tim O’Donnell |
| Community Services Director |
Scott Malkemus |
| Development Services Director |
Charles View |
| Economic Development Director |
Eric Nicoll |
| Financial Services Director |
Bill Gallardo CCMT |
| Fire Chief |
Al Nero |
| Maintenance Services Director |
Bill Higgins |
| Personnel Director |
Gordon Youngs |
| Police Chief |
Billy L. Hutchinson |
State and federal
In the
state
legislature Brea is located in the 29th
Senate District, represented by
Republican Bob Huff, and in the 72nd
Assembly District, represented by
Republican
Michael D. Duvall. Federally, Brea is located in
California's
42nd congressional district, which has a
Cook PVI of R +10 and is
represented by Republican
Gary
Miller.
Demographics
The current 2007 estimate shows there is a population of around
39,650. The racial makeup of the city is 77.33%
White, 1.26%
Black or
African American, 0.52%
Native American, 9.09%
Asian, 0.22%
Pacific Islander, 7.76% from
other races, and 3.82%
from two or more races. 20.35% of the population were
Hispanic or
Latino of any race.
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.
As of June 25, 2009 there were 23,859 registered voters in the city
of Brea::
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 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.
Gallery
Image:Brea-edwards cinema night.jpg|Edwards Cinemas movie theater
in Brea downtown.
Brea Olinda Elementary was awarded the Blue Ribbon Award in
2007
Brea Olinda High School was also awarded the Blue Ribbon Award in
2007 and rated among the top 3% in public/private high
schools.
Both Schools also received the California Distinguished Awards in
2007
Notable residents
References
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