Item 18 - Appeal Application Nos. 2023-02 and 2023-03 for Cabrillo Town Center project

Home Browse Search

HISTORIC RESOURCES ASSESSMENT TOWN CENTER PLAZA � C A A DULY 2022 SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA J California grew much more rapidly in the postwar period than most of the other regions of the country. Many servicemen who had been stationed in California bases during the war decided to settle in the State after being discharged, rather than returning to their home states. Job growth sparked by the defense economy brought migrants from across the country to California. As in the rest of the country, the postwar baby boom also played a significant role in the State's population growth. While California's population grew by 88 percent between 1950 and 1970 (from 10.6 million to 19.95 million), the number of school -age children quadrupled during this period. California ranked fifth in population among the states in the 1940 census, following New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio. Comparison with Ohio illustrates California's dramatic growth in the postwar period. In 1940, the population of California was close to that of Ohio, with both states having slightly more than 6.9 million residents. Between 1940 and 1970, Ohio grew at the same rate as the country, about 54 percent, to 10.65 million. California's population nearly tripled during this same period, to almost 20 million, and was fast approaching a population twice that of Ohio. California passed New York to become the nation's most populous state in 1962. More than one in every 12 Americans now lived in California. The Postwar Economy The United States experienced nearly three decades of sustained economic growth following World War II. With much of the rest of the industrialized world ravaged by the war, the U.S. exported food and manufactured goods across the globe. Domestic spending on both industrial and consumer goods also drove postwar economic expansion. By 1973, the nation's gross national product had grown to three times what it had been in 1948. In the early postwar years, the high rate of household formation and the baby boom led to a dramatic increase in the purchase of consumer goods, such as household furniture, appliances, toys, and children's clothing. While overall consumer spending increased by 60 percent during the second half of the 1940s, spending on furniture and appliances increased by 240 percent. Americans purchased more than 11 million television sets and 20 million refrigerators from the end of the war to 1951. In California, wartime growth of industrial and military facilities set the stage for postwar prosperity. Military appropriations to the State, particularly for hi -tech research and development, remained high throughout the Cold War era, which of course included the Korean War and the Vietnam War. As a leading center for the aircraft and aerospace industries, Southern California benefitted enormously from military spending. Defense contracts and military bases became a pillar of the State's economy, along with manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, and the television and motion picture industries. Growth itself became an important part of the California economy, sustaining retail sales and a robust construction industry. Play °touncif �07/21/22) 18 - 781 10/3/2023 10