The City of the Arts .
Costa Mesa is the place to shop in California.
So popular is shopping, in fact, that some tourists book flights into Southern California just to visit the premiere shopping center located there, South Coast Plaza. Largely responsible for building an empire in Costa Mesa is the Segerstrom family. Their creative vision transformed farm land into a shopping and entertainment mecca not seen elsewhere on the West Coast. Stretching over four city blocks, a shopping district includes everything from upscale Gucci and Godiva to discount outlets such as Nordstrom Rack and Cost Plus. It is possible to fly into Orange County Airport, just 2.5 miles away and never see anything but stores and a hotel room on a two or three day stay.