Persians in Orange County (Irvine, Corona: construction, high school, contractors)

[DaPersianJewGurL]

Im Planning on miving to the O.C. From NYC. And I wanted to know Where do most Persians live in Orange County or what area/ city has a high percentage of Persians / Iranians.

[JustJulia]

I don't know about "most," but I believe Irvine has a relatively large Persian population.

[Charles]

Look for geographic clues. Use something like google maps to see concentrations of Persian restaurants, religious buildings, stores, etc.

[Coldjensens]

I represented quite a few Persian construction contractors. They have a Persian Contractors association. At least amongst my clients they seem to congregate in Newport Crest, Lemon Heights and Corona. However these are all wealthy people less wealthy people may congregate elsewhere. I cannot remember the name, but my clients all loved a Persian restaurant that is near South Coast Plaza and another one that is in Yorba Linda. Either one woudl be a good place to meet other Persians and ask them where they tend to congregate (if anywhere).

In Orange County, people tend to congregate more by wealth than by their former nationality. Thus really rch people of all nationalities live in one area, moderately rich in another, upper middle class in a third, etc. You do not find areas dominated by Persians, or Swedes, or Russians, or Jewish people, etcetera like you do in other places. The only concentrations that I am aware of are Hispanics and Vietnamese. Otherwise people are pretty well mixed in.

[DinsdalePirahna]

Follow the blue carpets....

[OCtoWPB]

Irvine has a very dense population of Persians.

BTW, the name of the restaurant is Darya, near South Coast.

[temazepam]

Originally Posted by DinsdalePirahna

Follow the blue carpets....

How come Iranians are fine with being called 'Persian' even though Iran hasn't been called 'Persia' in a very long time, but Asians don't like being called 'Oriental'? Some get all butthurt and say 'Hey, I'm not a rug!', but Iranians don't go around saying 'Hey, I'm not a rug!' or 'I'm not a cat!' or 'It's called Iran now - not Persia!'?

[Coldjensens]

Persians who left before or during the revolution tend to call it Persia not Iran. You will not find a lot of former Persians who say "I am Iranian" In fact many or them never lived in a country called Iran, they fled for their lives as it was being formed. I am not that knowledgable about the history of that area, but I think that "Persia" included more than just Iran.

[00molavi]

There are quite a few in Mission Viejo too, with a few stores and one restaurant, Bahar.

[VeronikaW]

My best friend since high school is Persian. She has tons of family in Irvine and Newport Beach. There's a very active Persian community around here.

V. =)