The City of Laguna Beach is well known as a unique beach community and artist's colony with seven miles of City beaches running along its nine square miles. The resident population enjoys the ambiance provided by the sandy beaches, canyons and coastal hills. During the summer, several million visitors are drawn to the resort environment for its picturesque beaches, art festivals and the Pageant of the Masters. Laguna's village scale shopping district, blufftop walkways and tram system create a pedestrian environment and scale which is unique in Southern California.

The City provides a broad array of services, including police, fire, paramedic, marine safety, recreation, parks, public works, community development, transit, information technology and animal control. The City employs more than two hundred full-time employees and an additional hundred part-time employees during the peak summer months.