Pot Starts to Melt in the County

Orange County, which has the reputation of being a bastion of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants, is changing rapidly as minority populations, including immigrants, expand. The rapidity of that change is documented in a recent study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments that showed that the county’s minority population grew three times faster than the Anglo population between 1970 and 1980. And all signs indicate that it is still growing.

It’s a welcome trend.

The arrival of the new immigrants is having a significant economic and social impact on the county. It means change, not only in the ethnic makeup of the county and of its neighborhoods, but in educational, housing and transportation needs. Meeting those needs is a new challenge for the county and for its cities and school districts.

The minority groups now calling Orange County home bring with them a diversity and variety of cultural backgrounds that are enriching community life and making Orange County an even more interesting place in which to live and work.