GARDEN GROVE : ‘Little Community’ Now a Mature 35

From the front window of his family-owned market on Main Street, Leo Zlaket has watched Garden Grove grow from an unincorporated town filled with orange groves and strawberry fields to a sea of houses and apartment buildings.

“We had a nice little community,” said Zlaket, who was 14 at the time of the city’s incorporation in 1956. “There were orange groves as far as you could see. When we were kids, we used to play hide and seek in the groves. There were only about 2,000 residents at that time.”

As the city celebrates the 35th anniversary of its incorporation today, Zlaket and other longtime residents have had to adjust to a changing city. But they say that in many ways, Garden Grove still has the feel of a small town.

While some families have moved on, Zlaket, 50, has stayed. He and his wife, Virginia, continue to operate the market on Main Street that was established by Leo’s father in 1927.

“I still feel a sense of community here and I wonder if other cities still have that,” Zlaket said. “There are a lot of people who stay together and run things like the Strawberry Festival, the Lions Club, the Rotary Club, and they support the high schools.”

It was strong community spirit and a rapidly growing population that drove leaders to campaign for cityhood in an effort “to call their own shots,” said Mayor W.E. (Walt) Donovan, who participated in the campaign for cityhood.

“It was an exciting time because a lot of people were moving here,” Donovan said. “I remember walking up and down Garden Grove Boulevard and talking to them about incorporation. Becoming a city just seemed like the right thing to do at that time.”

Back then, city leaders referred to Garden Grove as “the fastest growing city in the United States.” It went from 3,762 residents in 1950 to 41,328 only six years later, Orange County historian Jim Sleeper said.

“Garden Grove was really the first town to explode after World War II,” Sleeper said. “It was a town that really started out with a helluva bang. Here was really a country village that exploded all around them. To protect themselves and give themselves a little identity, they incorporated.”

The city’s population continued to grow at a rate of 10,000 people per year. By the mid-1960s, there was a population of 120,000, and once Garden Grove was the largest city in Orange County.

Garden Grove’s population has climbed to about 143,000 people--making it the fourth-largest city in the county--and along with the growth has come ethnic diversity. According to the 1990 census, the city’s population is now 55% Anglo, 25% Latino and 19% Asian.

This diversity is reflected in the Garden Grove Unified School District, which also serves parts of seven neighboring cities. Of the district’s 38,000 students, 25% are Asian, 36% Anglo and 35% Latino. Seventy languages are spoken within the district.

“The biggest change in the district has been the ethnic diversity,” said Alan Trudell, district spokesman. “In our district office, we have a black and white photograph of a group of blond-haired, blue-eyed students that was taken more than 25 years ago. If that photograph was taken today, you would see more diversity in the students and the blonds would be much scarcer.”

The cultural changes have not always been smooth. Last year, a group of residents angrily complained to the City Council about the abundance of foreign language signs in the city, particularly along Garden Grove Boulevard where there are about 600 Korean businesses.

“There have sometimes been uneasy feelings,” said Peter Pyo of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Orange County. “But our relationships have improved drastically. We have tried to open our arms out to the community, and gradually I can see the neighbors coming to the Korean stores to shop.”

Another challenge is trying to increase the city’s sales tax base with new development while trying to preserve residential neighborhoods.

But people like Donovan are optimistic.

“We have a lot of good people here and I’m looking forward to a whole new generation moving in,” he said.