Laguna Niguel ( ) is a city in Orange County, California, United States. The name Laguna Niguel is derived from the words "Laguna" (Spanish for "lagoon") and "Niguili" (the name of a Native American village once located near Aliso Creek). It also appeared in Spanish records as Nigüili, Nigüel, or Neuil from Juaneño (Acjachemem) nawil. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,355. Laguna Niguel is located in the San Joaquin Hills in the southeastern corner of Orange County, close to the Pacific Ocean, and borders the cities of Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo, and San Juan Capistrano.
Laguna Niguel has its origins in the Rancho Niguel Mexican land grant, which was acquired in 1959 by the Laguna Niguel Corporation to develop one of California's first master-planned communities. As a predominantly residential city, Laguna Niguel serves as a bedroom community for the job centers of northern and central Orange County. Laguna Niguel has a median household income 31 percent above the Orange County average and nearly double the U.S. average. It is known for its mild coastal climate, low crime rate, and its numerous parks and public trails. In 1951 the land was divided between the Moulton and Daguerre families, the latter inheriting in the future location of Laguna Niguel. In 1954 the Daguerres sold to the Shumaker Group and
thumb|Laguna Nigel City Limit Sign
of oceanfront to George Capron, a former Major League Baseball player who established the Capron Ranch.
Laguna Niguel Corporation
The completion of Interstate 5 in 1959 enabled easy access to job centers in Los Angeles County, creating a boom in the Orange County housing market. In 1959, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes and Paine Webber partnered to form the Laguna Niguel Corporation, which purchased the Daguerre land to develop one of California's first master planned communities. Cabot Road and Forbes Road were named in legacy after the company. The initial town plan was created by Viennese architect Victor Gruen and expanded beginning in 1971 by AVCO Community Developers after they acquired the Laguna Niguel Corporation. The name of the city was created from "Laguna", a reference to the tidal lagoon that once formed at the mouth of Aliso Creek, and the name of the Acjachemem village Niguili that once occupied the area. As the city would be developed in stages, ranchers and farmers signed annual leases with the Laguna Niguel Corporation to use the land until the planned communities were built.
In contrast to a traditional bedroom community, Laguna Niguel was designed so that "families should have most of their economic needs and their social and cultural interests met by facilities within the community". In 1964, Crown Valley Parkway was completed from I-5 to the Pacific Coast Highway, facilitating transport through the growing city.
The Laguna Niguel Homeowner's Association was formed in 1966 as an advisory to the Orange County Board of Supervisors (which governed the unincorporated community). In 1973 Laguna Niguel Regional Park opened to the public. The Chet Holifield Federal Building (a local landmark popularly known as the "Ziggurat"), designed by William L. Pereira, was constructed for Rockwell International in 1971 and was meant to bring 7,000 jobs to the area. It was traded to the US General Services Administration in exchange for industrial facilities elsewhere.
Incorporation and conflict with Dana Point
thumb|upright=1.2|[[Laguna Niguel Regional Park, 1975]]
In 1965 the Laguna Niguel Corporation had purchased George Capron's oceanfront property and began to develop the Niguel Shores neighborhood, known in its early days as the "Coastal Strip" and today as Monarch Beach. By the 1970s, unincorporated Dana Point began expressing interest in including the Niguel Shores in a new city. In 1977 Dana Point briefly proposed incorporation with Laguna Niguel as a single city. Both cities submitted incorporation requests in December 1986, when a controversy immediately erupted over the coastal Monarch Beach community. Although Monarch Beach had been developed by the Laguna Niguel Corporation, its residents voted 61 percent in favor of joining with Dana Point. Laguna Niguel filed a lawsuit, which was ultimately turned down by a judge. Laguna Niguel was formally incorporated on December 1, 1989, without the coastal strip, as Orange County's 29th city.
Incorporated city
The population increased quickly during the last few decades of the 20th century, from 12,237 in 1980 to 61,891 in 2000. Growth since 2000 has been slower, with an estimate of 65,806 in 2015, due to the fact that the city has been fully built out. In addition, the project had been plagued by instability throughout its construction, and halted repeatedly "after complaints of mudslides, slope washouts, erosion and dust." The Los Angeles Times reported that "according to county records, the developers were warned that building on "ancient landslides" could be unsafe, but they were able to continue construction after producing their own geological report that persuaded county officials to let the project go forward." However the most recent disaster to the Niguel Summit Subdivision has been the coastal fire in 2022 which flattened 20 homes and damaged many more. This fire started after problems and circuit activity was reported on a Southern California Edison short distance electricity tower in Laguna Beach.
Geography
thumb|right|Evening view over Niguel Summit, with the San Joaquin Hills neighborhood in the distance
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of . of it is land and of it (0.35%) is water. Neighboring cities are Aliso Viejo and Laguna Hills to the north, Mission Viejo and San Juan Capistrano to the east, and Laguna Beach and Dana Point to the south. On the west, it borders the significant unincorporated acreage of Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park.
The main watercourses in Laguna Niguel are Salt Creek, which flows through the southern part of the city, and Sulphur Creek, which drains much of the northern half. Sulphur Creek is a tributary of Aliso Creek, which flows through the wide and deep Aliso Canyon before reaching the Pacific Ocean. Laguna Niguel Lake, formed by damming Sulphur Creek, is the largest body of water in the city.
left|thumb|View of [[Laguna Beach and Dana Point from Badlands Park, Laguna Niguel. March 2021.]]
Neighborhoods
Neighborhoods include Bear Brand Ranch, San Marin, El Niguel Heights and Golf Course, Ocean Ranch, Laguna Crest, Laguna Sur. Coronado Pointe,
South Peak, Crest de Ville, Niguel Coast, Palmilla, Beacon Hill, Monarch Point, and the Highlands, which offer city, canyon, and ocean views. Other neighborhoods include Rancho Niguel, Marina Hills, Concord Hill, Niguel West, Niguel Summit, Kite Hill, Rolling Hills, and San Joaquin Hills.
Roads
27px|link=Interstate 5 in California Interstate 5 travels along the eastern border of Laguna Niguel, forming the border with Mission Viejo. I-5 has two interchanges in the city: Avery Parkway and Crown Valley Parkway.
27px|link=California State Route 73 The San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor is a major toll road travelling through Laguna Niguel, Laguna Hills, Aliso Viejo, Newport Beach, and Irvine, respectively. The toll road, managed by the Transportation Corridor Agencies and maintained by Caltrans, starts as a toll road at Interstate 5, and becomes a freeway at Bison Avenue, and provides a toll alternative to the busy Interstate 405, terminating in Costa Mesa at said freeway.
In addition to the highways listed above, Alicia Parkway and Crown Valley Parkway are major north-south thoroughfares and the Street of the Golden Lantern/Moulton Parkway is a major east-west thoroughfare. Minor thoroughfares include Camino del Avion, Marina Hills Drive, Aliso Creek Road, Niguel Road, Cabot Road, La Paz Road, and Pacific Park Drive (Oso Parkway at the Laguna Hills-Laguna Niguel border).