Perhaps the future of Orange County can be found in the rows of cookie-cutter houses in Fullerton's hillside neighborhood of Amerige Heights. On what used to be the site of the Hughes Aircraft plant, developers have built spacious homes, sprawling parks and landscaped roundabouts next to a large shopping center with a Target and Albertsons.
But past the master-planned veneer is the changing face of Orange County. Next to Albertsons is a taekwondo studio; across from Target is a Korean tofu stew restaurant. Not far away are two of the largest Korean churches in the state.
Amerige Heights, just like the villages in Irvine and the newer housing tracts of Tustin, has become a destination for Asian Americans, drawn by high-performing schools, relatively crime-free neighborhoods and good jobs. According to recently released U.S. Census data, the Asian population in every city with available data in Orange County has gone up. Countywide, the Asian population has increased roughly 16% since 2000, a much faster rate than the Latino population and in the opposite direction of the white population, which has dropped nearly 8%.
Fullerton, once a traditionally white bedroom community in northern Orange County, has seen growing numbers of Asians moving into its middle-class neighborhoods such as Amerige Heights, where real estate agents estimate more than half of the residents are of Korean descent. To cater to them, smaller Korean churches have sprouted in the area, such as Crossway Community Church in Brea. Korean parents even started a Korean PTA at Sunny Hills High School, where Asian Americans make up half of the student body.
It was a different place 25 years ago when Virginia Han moved to town. There were no Korean markets and few Korean newspapers and radio stations. "But now there are so many Koreans, it's like Korean, Korean, Korean," said Han, a real estate agent.
Most of Han's clients are Korean, some arriving directly from South Korea. "In Korea, they hear about Orange County from their friends and relatives," Han said. "They hear that Fullerton is the No. 1 city for Koreans. It's close to Korean shopping, but it's far away from low-income apartment areas. Also, it has very good schools."
Fullerton is now 21% Asian American -- a 35% jump since 2000, according to detailed U.S. Census data that averages surveys from 2005 to 2007. The increase puts Fullerton among the cities with the fastest growing Asian American populations in Southern California.
