Laguna Woods

Laguna Woods is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The population was 16,192 at the 2010 census, down from 16,507 at the 2000 census, with a median age of 78.

Laguna Woods became Orange County’s 32nd city on March 24, 1999, after local residents voted to separate from Laguna Hills. About ninety percent of the city consists of Laguna Woods Village, a private gated retirement community, formerly known as Leisure World. The other ten percent consists of businesses, some homes and the city hall, which are accessible to the public. Incorporation efforts in the late 1990s were largely driven by the need for residents to have a stronger voice against the prospective construction of an international airport at the nearby decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. The airport proposal was defeated, and the land in question has been tabbed for development as the Orange County Great Park.