I would argue that it's hard to make a parallel.  The best guess
is Boulder, Colorado or Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. 
Greg
Dave Long wrote:
> 
> Does anyone have a good idea for what might be congruent to 1921 Orange
> County in the 1999 world?
> 
> If we compare the 1920 census figures with 1990 census figures, it looks
> like Orange County(1920), population-wise, could be comparable to Kern
> County(1990) or San Joaquin County(1990).  This makes a certain amount of
> sense, since we know James Irvine II had to put in Irvine Lake because
> of depleting the ground water supply for extensive orange crops during that
> period.
> 
> My grandmother tells an amusing story: she recalls visiting Laguna Beach
> as a small child with her parents.  At the time, not being particularly
> interested in lots which had been platted, but lacked niceties such as actual
> road access, they decided to press on and investigate the more promising
> opportunities(?) in Temecula poultry operations.
> 
> -Dave