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Seriously though, the dream of surburban living was fulfilled by hundreds of thousands of families who came to Orange County during the Post-WWII years. In 1946 the county's population was 175,000. By 1956 it was 489,850. And by 1966, the population had grown to 1,235,700! For what had been a somewhat sleepy agricultural region, this kind of growth was unbelievable.
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It seems most (or many) of those new families bought tract homes. Even accounting for the G.I. Bill, it seems amazing that so many could afford these homes -- And usually on only one income. Today, two-income families find themselves struggling to pay rent on even a small condo. Most of the educated younger people I know have long since fled O.C. and its high cost of living.
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I'd leave too, but do you have any idea how hard it is to be an Orange County historian while living in another state?