Laguna Beach, Explained
The places, projects, businesses and decisions shaping Laguna Beach — clearly explained.
Laguna Beach is small, but it is not simple. A town of about 23,000 residents hosts roughly six million visitors a year, more than 100 restaurants, more than 100 galleries and studios, and eight hotels directly on the sand. Businesses here serve full-time residents, part-time residents, visitors and regional customers, often all at once.
This site is an attempt to explain how that actually works: what makes each part of town different, what local business owners say is working, and the projects that are changing the place.
- 23,000residents
- 6 millionvisitors a year
- 100+restaurants
- 100+galleries and studios
- 8hotels on the sand
Laguna isn’t one market. It’s five.
Each commercial area has its own customers, economics and personality. A concept that works Downtown may not work in North Laguna, the Canyon, the Village or South Laguna.
The five commercial areas
Also on this site
What’s working
Lessons from conversations with local business owners: who succeeds here, and why.
Projects reshaping Laguna
LCAD’s new campus, the Promenade on Forest, the Pacific Edge Hotel, workforce housing on St. Ann’s, and the future of the hospital.
Market notes
Periodic observations on what the market is telling us.