Sunset Beach is a
beachA beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
front community in
Huntington BeachHuntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...
in
Orange County, CaliforniaOrange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
. In 2011, it was annexed by Huntington Beach and is now part of that city. Prior to, it was a
census-designated placeA census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...
, with a population of 971 at the 2010 census.
Sunset Beach features one of the widest beaches in southern California. Running parallel to the beach, from the north of town to the southern edge is the Green Belt, a bucolic 14 acre park on which residents walk their dogs and celebrate Mother's Day with the historic Sunset Beach Art Festival, sponsored by Las Damas. Southeast of Sunset Beach is
Bolsa Chica State BeachBolsa Chica State Beach is a beach in the state park system of California, USA. It is located in the Huntington Beach community of Sunset Beach in Orange County....
. To the east is the bayfront community of
Huntington HarbourHuntington Harbour is a community in the north end of Huntington Beach in Orange County, California. Huntington Harbour is a residential development of consisting of five manmade islands with waterways used for boating.-History:...
(part of Huntington Beach), and roughly north is the
Naval Weapons Station Seal BeachNaval Weapons Station Seal Beach is a United States Navy weapons and munitions loading, storage and maintenance facility located in Seal Beach, California with detachments in Concord, Fallbrook, and San Diego, all also in California...
, and the
Seal Beach National Wildlife RefugeThe Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife refuge encompassing located in the California coastal community of Seal Beach. Although it is located in Orange County it is included as part of the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex...
. The small gated community of Surfside located between Sunset Beach and the Weapons Station is part of
Seal Beach-Neighborhoods:Seal Beach encompasses the Leisure World retirement gated community with roughly 9,000 residents. This was the first major planned retirement community of its type in the U.S...
, with the rest of Seal Beach on the other side of the Weapons Station.
Sunset Beach does not have residential mail delivery. Instead, residents pick up their mail at post office boxes in the centrally-located post office or at private post office boxes located on 22nd Street. Sunset Beach is served by the Sunset Beach Sanitary District. Sunset Beach residents are civic minded and the town boasts three long term associations - The Sunset Beach Community Association SBCA, The Sunset Beach Woman's Club and Las Damas, a woman's philanthropic organization.
Annexation
On August 2, 2010 the Huntington Beach city council, in a 5-2 vote, voted to annex Sunset Beach making the community a part of the much larger Huntington Beach. The annexation was to have officially begun in January 2011 but a group of residents filed suit on December 9, 2010 to stop the annexation due to new taxes that would be imposed on them once they become part of Huntington Beach. A hearing for a preliminary injunction was scheduled for January 19, 2011 in Orange County Superior Court. Huntington Beach officially annexed Sunset Beach in August 2011.
Geography
According to the
United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the CDP covered an area of 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²), 97.51% of it land, and 2.49% of it water.
Demographics
The 2010 United States Census reported that Sunset Beach had a population of 971. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 4,919.3 people per square mile (1,899.4/km²). The racial makeup of Sunset Beach was 863 (88.9%) White, 4 (0.4%) African American, 6 (0.6%) Native American, 42 (4.3%) Asian, 2 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 18 (1.9%) from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 36 (3.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 79 persons (8.1%).
The Census reported that 971 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 515 households, out of which 69 (13.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 179 (34.8%) were
opposite-sex married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 19 (3.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 23 (4.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 29 (5.6%)
unmarried opposite-sex partnershipsPOSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....
, and 5 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 224 households (43.5%) were made up of individuals and 48 (9.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.89. There were 221
familiesA family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...
(42.9% of all households); the average family size was 2.64.
The population was spread out with 106 people (10.9%) under the age of 18, 72 people (7.4%) aged 18 to 24, 280 people (28.8%) aged 25 to 44, 365 people (37.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 148 people (15.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.9 years. For every 100 females there were 120.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 117.3 males.
There were 641 housing units at an average density of 3,247.5 per square mile (1,253.8/km²), of which 211 (41.0%) were owner-occupied, and 304 (59.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 4.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.9%. 455 people (46.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 516 people (53.1%) lived in rental housing units.
Businesses
Sunset Beach has a number of restaurants and bars, including
Nadine's Irish Mist, owned by Irish singer
Nadine CoyleNadine Coyle is an Irish singer, songwriter, actress, and model who rose to fame in the early 2000s as a member of the band Six before becoming a member of successful girl-group Girls Aloud. The group amassed a joint fortune of £25 million by May 2009...
. Other businesses include
Bruce Jones SurfboardsBruce Jones is a founding pioneer in the surfboard shaping industry.The company he founded, Bruce Jones Surfboards, has built premium surfboards since 1973....
.
See also
- Rancho La Bolsa Chica
Rancho La Bolsa Chica was an Mexican land grant in present day coastal northwestern Orange County, California given in 1841 by Governor Juan Alvarado to Joaquín Ruiz. The name means "little pocket", and refers to pockets of land amongst the marsh wetlands of the Santa Ana River estuary...
- Bolsa Chica State Beach
Bolsa Chica State Beach is a beach in the state park system of California, USA. It is located in the Huntington Beach community of Sunset Beach in Orange County....
- Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve
External links