Yorba Linda (U.S.A.)

Yorba Linda ("Beautiful Yorba", in English) is a suburban city in Orange County, California, approximately 37 miles (60 km) southeast of Downtown Los Angeles.

Its most famous resident was Richard Nixon, who was born there, although his father moved the family away before Yorba Linda incorporated. The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum is in Yorba Linda.

Economy

The primary commercial district in Yorba Linda is Savi Ranch.

Smaller shopping centers in the city include Eastlake Village Shopping Center, Mercado del Rio, Packing House Square, Yorba Linda Station Plaza, and Country Club Village

There are over 1,000 businesses in the city, not including an additional 1,500 operating out of residential homes. Yorba Linda has a strong small business community; Fundera ranked the city the 2nd best place in California for small business. The city also owns Black Gold Golf Club. Nonprofits based in Yorba Linda include International Student Volunteers and STEMpowerment Inc.

Savi Ranch

Savi Ranch today contains retailers, auto dealers, restaurants, hotels, and office buildings.

Originally, the city pursued construction of an auto mall on the entire Savi Ranch site. Although multiple car lots do presently exist, the original plan was rejected by residents, in favor of a combination of retail stores, restaurants, hotels, and office buildings. Moreover, as of 2010, two of the three car dealer locations sit empty, one of which only sold used cars.

As a significant source of sales tax revenue to Yorba Linda and as one of the first anchor tenants (along with Best Buy), The Home Depot became a political talking point in its own right.

This is due to the fact that Savi Ranch is divided into two sections, east and west. Savi Ranch East is the Yorba Linda side, which is larger, while Savi Ranch West lies within the adjacent City of Anaheim. At the inception of Savi Ranch, the Home Depot was located in Savi Ranch East. In the early 2000s, however, the Super Kmart location in Savi Ranch West went out of business, and The Home Depot moved into that location and in the process took the sales tax across the city boundary.

Also located in the Yorba Linda side of Savi Ranch is the headquarters of John Force Racing, which house 16-time NHRA Funny Car Champion John Force, his team of drivers, and their cars. An on-site museum is dedicated to Force's career.

Politics

56.7% of Yorba Linda's registered voters are Republicans, while 21.7% are Democrats. 3.77% of voters are registered with a third party, while 17.9% declined to state. The city voted for California Proposition 8 by 65.8% and for Proposition 4 by 59.3%. Yorba Linda was one of just three California cities to pass a measure in their city council proclaiming its support for the controversial Arizona immigration law, SB1070.

Education

Yorba Linda is part of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, which enrolled approximately 25,000 students as of the 2015-2016 school year.

St. Francis of Assisi School serves as the only Catholic school in the city. Many parents seeking a private school education for their children send their PS-8th graders to Heritage Oak Private School and high schoolers to nearby Lutheran High School of Orange County in the city of Orange, Servite High School (boys) or Rosary High School (girls) in Anaheim, or Mater Dei High School (co-ed) in Santa Ana.

Yorba Linda High School opened its doors in 2009. The first full graduating class from YLHS was the class of 2012. As of 2015, one private high school, Friends Christian High School, is currently under construction. Historically, a majority of Yorba Linda students also attend Esperanzain Fullerton, Troy High School in nearby Fullerton, or Valencia and El Dorado in Placentia.