A February 2020 survey of 753 Orange County adults showed overwhelming support for the decision to build the Orange County Great Park rather than an airport. 

One of the questions on the survey, which queried OC residents on climate change, asked, "In 2002, OC voters decided that they did not want the military base at El Toro to be an international airport. That land has become the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, which encompasses an active park and housing. In hindsight, should the former military base been made into an international airport or a large park and housing development?"

Twenty-three percent of the respondents said the MCAS base should have been an airport, whereas 64% said it should be a park, and 13% said they did not know.

“This survey reaffirms Orange County voter’s approval to build what was envisioned by the Irvine City Council. The Orange County Great Park has become a destination venue featuring a variety of amenities centering around fitness, agriculture, and the arts,” said Irvine Mayor Christina Shea.

 “The 194-acre sports complex has become a premier recreational and competitive location with soccer and multi-use fields, tennis courts, baseball and softball fields, and sand volleyball courts. In addition to the recreation amenities, the 178-acre wildlife corridor boasts mountain-to-sea access, giving our wildlife species a safe passage to explore new habitat, hunt, and nest among native vegetation.

 “It was our vision to choose parkland and open space, cultural and historic areas, natural habitats, providing a sustainable future instead of subjecting Irvine and Orange County to an International airport furthering air emissions, noise pollution, waste, thus increasing the carbon footprint.”

The results of the survey will be released at a conference on Climate Change, "Fighting Climate Change," which will be held April 1 at Chapman University. The survey was conducted by Fred Smoller of Chapman University.