Overview
About College Park East
College Park East fills the northeast corner of Seal Beach, 299 acres bounded by the San Diego Freeway to the south, Lampson Avenue to the west and north and the Garden Grove city line to the east. Its 46 streets are named almost entirely for plants, from Almond and Bluebell through Candleberry, Dogwood, Fuchsia and Goldenrod, and they carry 12.10 miles of pavement past 1,734 homes on 1,739 parcels. The city's Land Use Element provides for 1,668 low density dwelling units here, primarily single family residences with some attached units and one 194 unit apartment complex, and 209.7 acres carry the RLD-9 zone on a typical parcel of 5,220 square feet.
Four city parks sit in the neighborhood, each taking its name from the street it stands on: Heather Park at 1.6 acres, Almond at 1.5, Bluebell at 1.2 and Aster at 0.6. Bluebell Park, at Almond Avenue and Bluebell Street, carries basketball courts, picnic tables, a tot lot, lights and a reservable area. The neighborhood is Council District 4, and the county's school district layer places the whole of it in Los Alamitos Unified, which runs Los Alamitos High at 2,915 students, Oak and McAuliffe middle schools at 998 and 1,018, and six elementary campuses.
View available homes in College Park EastHistory
How College Park East was built
Drive the streets in order and you are reading an alphabet. Almond, Aster, Banyan, Birchwood, Bluebell, Camelia, Candleberry, Carnation, Clover, Columbine, Daffodil, Dahlia, Daisy, Dogwood, Elder, Fern, Fir, Fuchsia, Goldenrod, Guava, Hazelnut, Heather, Iris, Ironwood, Jasmin, Marigold, Oleander, Pansy, Primrose, Rose, Sunflower, Teaberry, Violet, Wisteria. Every street in the neighborhood is a plant, and they run from A to W in order across the map. It is the single most useful piece of local knowledge here, because once you know it you never need directions again.
The land was Bixby ranch, the same family that had held Rancho Los Alamitos since the 1880s, and S&S Inc. bought it in the early 1960s. Several cities wanted to annex the new tract and Seal Beach won because it was willing to give the Bixbys the commercial zoning they wanted on certain pieces of land, which is how a neighborhood on the far side of a freeway from the beach ended up inside a beach city. The first homes went up in 1965. There are 1,739 of them on just under three hundred acres.
By the Numbers
College Park East by the numbers
Lifestyle
The College Park East lifestyle
The city's Open Space Element lists Bluebell Park at 1.2 acres, Heather Park at 1.6, Almond Park at 1.5, Aster Park at 0.6 and Edison Park and Gardens at 25.9 acres in the same planning area. The city publishes Bluebell Park at Almond Avenue and Bluebell Street, with basketball courts, picnic tables, a reservable area, a tot lot and lights.
The city's evacuation plan records that College Park East has only two access points.
Schools
Schools serving College Park East
The county's published school district layer places College Park East entirely inside Los Alamitos Unified. The campuses below are that district's schools with enrollment from the federal count. Which campus a given address attends is set by the district's attendance boundaries, and the district does not publish those as a map, so confirm the assignment with the district before relying on it.
9-12 · 2,915 students
6-8 · 1,018 students
6-8 · 998 students
K-5 · 721 students
K-5 · 642 students
K-5 · 640 students
K-5 · 625 students
K-5 · 603 students
K-5 · 540 students
FAQs
Common questions about College Park East
How big is College Park East and how many homes are in it?
Measured against the boundary the Orange County Fire Authority draws for it, College Park East covers 298.7 acres. The city's address layer records 1,734 addresses inside it and the parcel layer 1,739 parcels, with 12.10 miles of street across 46 named streets.
What kind of homes are in College Park East?
The city's Land Use Element provides for 1,668 low density residential dwelling units, characterized primarily by single family residences with some attached dwelling units and a 194 unit high density apartment complex. The city zones 209.7 acres RLD-9, 7.2 acres RMD-18 and 3.6 acres open space, and the county assessor's typical parcel inside the boundary is 5,220 square feet. A 7.85 acre parcel on Lampson Avenue is carried as medium density at a minimum 2,500 square feet of lot per unit.
When was College Park East built?
Nineteen of the 21 recorded tract maps over the neighborhood date from 1963 to 1969, with the heaviest recording in 1967 and 1968. The city's 2021 Housing Element update dates the tract to 1966 and credits it with adding about 5,000 homeowners to Seal Beach.
What parks are in College Park East?
The city's Open Space Element lists four in the planning area: Heather Park at 1.6 acres, Almond Park at 1.5, Bluebell Park at 1.2 and Aster Park at 0.6. The city publishes Bluebell Park at Almond Avenue and Bluebell Street with basketball courts, picnic tables, a tot lot, lights and a reservable area. The Land Use Element names lack of park space as a planning issue for the neighborhood.
Which schools serve College Park East?
The county's school district layer places the whole of the neighborhood in Los Alamitos Unified. The district runs Los Alamitos High at 2,915 students, Oak and McAuliffe middle schools at 998 and 1,018, and six elementary campuses. The district publishes no attendance boundary map, so confirm the campus for a specific address with the district.