The master-planned community of Aliso Viejo ranked 16th on Forbes’ list of “America’s Top 25 Towns to Live Well” in 2009. It offers appealing neighborhoods, shopping, dining, entertainment, top-notch schools, and a wide array of corporate and non-corporate employment opportunities.
Aliso Viejo is rich with cultural and recreational opportunities. It features rolling hillsides, gorgeous mountain views, streams, parks, and access to an abundance of parks and trails, including the Orange County trail system. Wood Canyon Wilderness Park is home to mature oaks, sycamore and elderberry trees, and many rare and endangered plants and animals.
Points of interest
- Aliso Viejo Town Center features a movie theater, a wide variety of casual dining restaurants, PetSmart, a Barnes & Noble, a Ralphs supermarket, as well as other shops. It also includes Grand Park which is a center for community concerts and events.
- The Aliso Viejo Library, a branch of the Orange County Public Library system, opened on January 31, 1998.
- Aliso Viejo Golf Course was designed by Nicklaus Design in 1999 and became the Aliso Viejo Country Club with a redesign in 2005.
- Soka University was dedicated on May 3, 2001 with a 103-acre campus and 18 buildings, a $250 million (land and construction) project.
- Soka Performing Arts Center, a 1000-seat concert hall with acoustics designed by Yasuhisa Toyota (who also designed Walt Disney Concert Hall,) opened in September 2011.
- Renaissance ClubSport is a $65 million property which opened in July 2008. It is Marriott's second hotel and fitness resort created in conjunction with Leisure Sports, Inc. (ClubSport) to fulfill the growing demand by local residents and hotel guests for a healthier lifestyle.