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Notice the extraordinarily desperate tone the OP is conveying in their post. It's like he saw someone talking bad about Santa Ana and it struck a nerve, and he retaliated by posting this thread. Crime does have its ups and downs over the decades. For some bizarre, short-sighted reason, the OP thinks that the current lull in crime is somehow permanent. It isn't. Don't believe me? Wait a while. Even the FBI acknowledges this, surprisingly.
People like the OP actually make me hope that crime suddenly sharply increases where he lives, just to p'iss him off. Especially when the stupid economy collapses. Ask the Russians for more details on how that sort of thing tends to go down.
You wish something bad to happen to someone you've never even met, just because of a single forum post he made. What a wonderful human being you must be.
Yea, only 15 homicides in Santa Ana for 2014, congrats! Are you aware that is still more than the other 33 OC cities COMBINED? You must have some land to sell in SA or something. Although it has gotten a little better, it is still a dirty, crime ridden, low income (one of the poorest areas in all of CA) ghetto. Nice try though.
Even though I have been critical of many aspects of Santa Ana, there are many facets of this community I adore, i.e. it's history, culture, walkability, architecture, and eclectic mix. I do appreciate what has been accomplished over the decades and look forward toward more great things to come. Indeed, SA or at least DTSA has become a very cool place to experience. However, I would be cautious regarding any claims of sustainability. Urban Planner's arguments are similar to ones and heard and read going back an 1989 OC Register article.
SA's revitalization seems to inch it's way forward at times, but it also seems like it spends a lot of time stuck in the same gear. For instance, "The Renaissance Plan" aka "Station District" aka now know as "Transit Zoning" for the improvement of the Lacy/Logan neighborhoods was first proposed in 80's. In the 1990's, the city re-zoned the area north of 17th along Main as the "Museum District." And even though we enjoy the Discovery Science Center and an expanded Bowers, this area is far from being a serious competitor to South Coast Plaza. Even the Fiesta Marketplace, which was praised for ability to leverage the city's Latino demographics when it opened in the 90's, has now been replaced by the EastEnd development. The there is "One Broadway Plaza," the 500 FT 37 story office building proposed in 2001 by Mike Harrah. It has now been almost a decade since Mike removed the historic buildings once located on this now vacant site.
While SA has the stigma of crime and a poor education system, it also must overcome the high number of residents living near the poverty level. In a county who's economy is largely high tech and professional (81% hold white collar jobs), SA has lowest resident education levels, lowest % high school or college diplomas, lowest resident language skills, highest unemployment, and highest drop-out rate. It wasn't that long ago that the Rockfeller Institute ranked Santa Ana number 1 city on the urban hardship index. Just Two years ago the city reserves were nearly zero and it took serious measures to prevent insolvency.
Nevertheless, I hope SA is able to maintain the momentum that it has recently enjoyed through that influx of unique restaurants along 4th Street and the artist village. SA will need more folks like Urban Planner who care about their community and will take an active role in improving it.
THE FLIP SIDE OF OC'S MOST-MALIGNED CITY - UPSCALE SANTA ANA - New shopping areas, large
homes belie image
Orange County Register, The (Santa Ana, CA) (Published as The Orange County Register) - May 14, 1989
Author: Erin Kelly; The Register
Readability: 9-12 grade level (Lexile: 1140)
Santa Anans get no respect.
When they tell other Orange County residents where they live, the most common response is, "Why?"
Or, worse yet, they get "the look."
"They'll go deadly silent, then give you this pitying look, and then say, `Oh,' and change the subject," said Lou Pecora, a community
college business professor who lives in north Santa Ana. "It's happened to me more times than I can count."
Deborah Thomsen thinks she knows why.
"They think we all live in low-income housing," said Thomsen, who lives in a storybook Victorian on the northeast side of town.
Never mind that in the past five years, Fourth Street beer bars have become boutiques, MainPlace mall and Hutton Centre have opened
and scores of young families have moved back into town, refurbishing rows of Victorian houses and California bungalows.
As far as many other Orange County residents are concerned, the more accurate image of Santa Ana is reflected in its 44 gangs,
hundreds of transients and Paddy Murphy's -- Orange County's only topless bar.
But Santa Ana residents say their town's bad image is a bum rap based more on myth than reality.
And city leaders say an image boost is crucial if they are to continue to attract and retain the middle-class families that serve as the stable
core of any large city.
"It takes a long time to change a reputation, whether it's good or bad," Police Chief Paul Walters said. "I think our reputation lags behind
our reality."
Most out-of-towners have a tarnished image of "The Golden City," Santa Ana's official nickname.
"My image of Santa Ana is crime, gangs, poverty, graffiti on the walls," said Mark Nosko, 28, of Newport Beach. "I usually try to go around
Santa Ana, not through it. If somebody came from out of state to visit, I wouldn't take them there. I wouldn't want them to get a bad image
of Southern California."
But residents point to homes with $700,000 price tags and to such impressive restaurants as Antonello's Ristorante and Gustaf Anders.
And there's MainPlace shopping mall, where the discerning buyer can find everything from a $3,800 suit of armor to a $22, one-pound
box of Godiva chocolates. The sushi bar at Christian's Farmers Market serves up mahi-mahi that could make the fussiest yuppie salivate.
Meanwhile, one of the most notorious symbols of downtown Santa Ana's seamy past -- the rowdy Chico Club beer bar -- has been shut
down. It has been replaced
by Fiesta Marketplace, a Latin-flavored salmon-and-turquoise shopping center with ice cream shops, bakeries and a brightly colored
carousel for the kids.
"Santa Ana is like any big city," said Mayor Dan Young. "We've got the good, the bad and the ugly."
But the bad and the ugly, Young said, get more press.
Most Orange County residents interviewed for this story said their impression of Santa Ana comes from reading the newspaper and
visiting the Civic Center.
"For nine out of 10 people, their only experience with Santa Ana is coming down to the courthouse to pay a traffic ticket or get divorced,"
Young said. "Maybe they can't find a place to park or their car gets broken into. And, unless they give us a closer look, they get a
misperception of Santa Ana."
Orange County residents said newspaper stories about Santa Ana add to their fears.
"The only thing I seem to read about Santa Ana is `Man Slain,' " said Scott Watson, 21, of Orange.
Santa Ana's image as a hotbed of crime has been the toughest rap for the city to shake.
Guy Ball and his wife, Linda, said the city's reputation for crime made them think twice before buying a home here four years ago.
They had fallen in love with a charming Tudor-style cottage on Parton street in the south-central neighborhood known as Wilshire Square,
but their friends warned them not to move to Santa Ana.
"The house was only $110,000, and it had hardwood floors, a fireplace and a real back yard," said Ball, 35. "But we hesitated a little. All
our friends told us we were crazy. It was like, `Oh, God, not Santa Ana. That's where the bogyman lives.'
"So we put it to a test. We drove through the neighborhood at night. Everybody had their doors open with only their unlatched screen
doors closed. We thought, `People here must feel safe.' "
The Balls bought the house, joining countless other young couples who have moved to the city in search of affordable housing, unique old
homes and an end to long freeway commutes from the suburbs to the city.
Ball said the investment has paid off. Homes comparable to his now are selling for about $70,000 more than the price he paid.
Still, Ball and other Santa Ana boosters said they can't deny that parts of Santa Ana have serious crime problems.
There already have been four gang-related murders this year, compared with six for all of last year.
Hundreds of people recently packed the City Council chambers to plead with the politicians for help in combating the drug epidemic.
"We are tired of living in fear behind bars," said Santa Ana resident Rudy Rios of St. Anne's Parish Organizing Committee.
Despite the realities, Police Chief Paul Walters said there is an exaggerated fear of crime here.
"We've got pockets of crime, places like the Civic Center area where there is a disproportionate amount of problems," Walters said.
"Santa Ana is like most cities. The older, inner-city portions have more trouble. But as you move outward, the crime goes down
significantly."
In 1988, the area that reported the most crime was southeast of the Civic Center, a square-shaped piece of downtown bordered by First
Street on the north, McFadden Avenue on the south, Main Street on the west and the Santa Ana Freeway on the east.
The No. 2 area in number of reported crimes was the Civic Center, which carries the extra burden of 125,000 downtown employees and
visitors flooding into it each day.
In contrast to downtown, crime was virtually non-existent in the upper-middle-class north end.
Just south of the Garden Grove Freeway, in the north-eastern-most part of town, only 24 crimes were reported during all of 1988,
compared with 4,488 crimes in the worst downtown area.
"The problem is that people will read about a murder in Santa Ana and think we're all running around killing each other here," said Mary
Cayo, a real estate agent and longtime north-end resident. "They don't realize that it's just a small part of town that we're talking about."
The city's crime rate actually decreased nearly 10 percent from 1985 to 1988, thanks in part to downtown redevelopment that razed rowdy
beer bars and pool halls, Walters said.
Even within the city's trouble spots, there are neighborhoods that seem relatively untouched by crime, Walters said.
Jon and Janice Gothold live in a historic Craftsman-style house within walking distance of the Civic Center -- the No. 2 crime spot -- but
said they've
had no problems.
"We've lived here nine months now and we've had nothing stolen, nothing broken," Jon Gothold said. "The neighbors in French Park
really bond together. People look out for one another. There's a real feeling of community."
But even families who have confidence in their neighborhoods said they have concerns about the quality and safety of Santa Ana's
schools, which are years behind the city in promoting a more positive image.
Part of the reason for parents' concern is that the Santa Ana Unified School District perenially places rock bottom on state test scores
compared with the 27 other school districts in Orange County. The California Assessment Program tests serve as a kind of report card for
schools.
But district officials said the test scores are deceiving.
Although test scores were again below the state average in fall, students performed well in comparison with school districts with similar
numbers of low-income and limited-English-speaking students.
When compared with other urban districts, Santa Ana students scored higher than 59 percent of their competitors.
Parents said they also have concerns about the safety of their children in Santa Ana schools, especially in the upper grades.
"The one detractor from Santa Ana might be the school system," said Stephen Crisafulli, 35, who lives in Washington Square. "We have
an 11-year-old daughter who is going to Wilson Jr. High School, which is a good school. But I've heard some not-too-good things about
Santa Ana High School -- that it's rough.
"My daughter has had a few choral events over here and we've seen some undesirable-looking kids hanging out. We've heard things
about fights. It doesn't seem like the kind of environment conducive to learning. But, who knows? We could go to a rich school in Tustin
and find all kinds of drugs. Our fears could be unfounded."
A recent crime study conducted by the state Department of Education ranked Santa Ana seventh in school crimes in the county, even
though it is by far the largest district. Unlike some urban districts, there have been no student attacks on teachers in recent memory,
officials said.
"I can't control what happens on the streets," said Supt. Rudy Castruita, commenting on a recent gang-related shooting near Santa Ana
High School. "But I can control what happens at our schools. And our schools are safe. I invite anyone to visit them. What they'll find is
kids sitting in classrooms, learning."
Don Franklin, a north Santa Ana resident and father of four, has had four children graduate from Santa Ana High School.
"One went on to Stanford, one to a small private college and two to UCLA," he said.
Franklin's youngest son, Matthew, is back at Santa Ana High School after spending two years at Tustin's Foothill High.
"For some reason, we thought Matt might get better college prep at Foothill," Franklin said. "But he missed the kids he had gone to school
with, so he decided he would like to go back to Santa Ana. They have a track of classes for the college-bound that we think is every bit as
good as Foothill's."
Deborah Thomsen, who has two daughters attending Santa Ana High School, said she thinks Santa Ana children leave school better
prepared for life.
"I think the kids who grow up in Santa Ana grow up with a wide range of ethnic groups," she said. "I don't think our kids are going to be as
shocked when they get out in the real world the way kids in all-white, affluent areas will be."
Still, residents such as the Gotholds say Ana is no place for those who prefer an all-white, upper-middle class neighborhood with new,
look-alike houses.
An estimated 60 percent of Santa Ana's residents are Hispanic, leaving Anglos, who predominate in most of Orange County, in the
minority here.
And some county residents interviewed for this story cited that as a reason to avoid Santa Ana.
"It's like a little TJ (Tijuana)," said 17-year-old Shawn Gober of Garden Grove. "There's too many foreigners."
Santa Ana resident Don Cribb cringes when he hears such talk.
"I love Santa Ana because its a place where you can be
individualistic," said Cribb, who recently helped organized a new arts coaliton here. "But a lot of people in Orange County don't like that.
They don't want diversity. They don't want urbanization. As for me, I was not meant to live in an area where all the people are just alike."
Vice Mayor John Acosta said it makes him sad that outsiders look down on the Latino community.
"When I hear people talk about Santa Ana, they will invariably say, `There's too many Mexicans,' " Acosta said. "I'd love to take them for a
walk down Fourth Street so they can see the families walking hand-in-hand, shopping and enjoying life. I'd like to show them that they're
not going to get assaulted just because they're in a Hispanic area. Hispanics are human beings too, and they don't like crime or gangs
any more than anyone else."
Still, there is evidence that the city's image is beginning to change as more and more urban pioneers like Cribb and the Gotholds spread
the word about Santa Ana's upside.
Crisafulli, who moved to Santa Ana a year ago, said he and his wife make pro-Santa Ana converts every time they invite a friend to their
1940s-era California bungalow home in Washington Square.
"People think of Santa Ana as a real pit until they take the time to visit some of the neighborhoods," Crisafulli said. "They come here and
they are completely blown away by how nice the area is."
Ray Caruso, 36, of Laguna Beach, said he had an eye-opening experience when he and his wife recently went to visit a teacher friend in
Santa Ana.
"I thought, `This is Santa Ana?' " Caruso said. "I was surprised how nice his house was."
If more people are going to think of Santa Ana in a new light, the city must continue to bring in new development such as the $140 million
Hutton Centre, with office, commercial and retail development, the $50 million Santa Ana Auto Mall, and the $200 million Xerox Centre.
And city officials must support residents' efforts to rebuild old neighborhoods, Young said.
"Everything is on the line right now," the mayor said. "During the next five years, we will have the opportunity to become one of the finest,
most interesting cities in Orange County, or one of its biggest problems.
"In the 1970s, we had a mass exodus out of this town as urban decay set in. Now, people are coming back. They're giving us a second
chance. But, if we blow it this time, they'll leave and never come back."
Although there is no way to measure the influx of new families into town, residents in improving areas such as Washington Square,
Wilshire Square and French Park reel off long lists of new neighbors.
And home prices are comparable to cities with more upscale images such as Tustin and Rancho Santa Margarita. The average house
price in Tustin is $165,120, compared to $154,043 in Santa Ana, according to figures from the TRW Real Estate division.
Nicole Draffen, 23, and her sister, Natalie, 21, fled their Myrtle Street home in downtown Santa Ana with their mother two months ago
because they felt unsafe. They now live in Laguna Niguel.
"My mom likes to go jogging and she didn't feel safe doing that in Santa Ana," Natalie said.
"Laguna Niguel is really peaceful, it's a whole different world," said Nicole.
Despite the fact that some people are moving away, city leaders said the more significant movement is back into the city.
Still, Guy Ball said Young is right to worry about the future.
"I love where I live, yet there still are streets that I tell people not to come down when they're visiting me because the streets are so ugly,"
Ball said.
But he is quick to come back on a positive note.
"Right now, we're on a roll. I'm giving Santa Ana a chance. We've got enough positive people who care that, who knows? We might just
win. And maybe then people won't look at us as bad old Santa Ana any more."
CUTLINE D: The campaign to give retail areas in Orange County's most maligned city a face lift has produced such results as the new,
upscale MainPlace shopping mall, left (Nanetti), and the
family-oriented Fiesta Marketplace at right (Covatta)(B&W) MAP:
Just a few munutes from the noise and congestion of Santa Ana's Civic Center lie some of the city's best-kept secrets. Venture off the
main thoroughfares and you'll escape into a peaceful tree-lined world that is largely hidden from view. If you follow this map, you'll see
Victorian homes sparkling with new coats of paint in French Park, restored Spanish bungalows in Washington Square and colonial and
Tudor-style mansions in north Santa Ana, where homes on Victoria and Heliotrope drives fetch up to $700,000.
PROMO FROM A01:
Upscale Santa Ana: Images of county's center are changing For many Orange County residents, Santa Ana represents the worst of
modern urban life: blighted neighborhoods, crime-ridden streets.
But residents and officials say the city is getting a bum rap. They talk of the impressive northern neighborhoods, of MainPlace, Hutton
Centre and the Fiesta Marketplace. And they cite the return of the urban gentry, who are fixing up the Victorians and bungalows in French
Park and Washington Square.
Today's Close-up examines old stereotypes and new realities, and talks with people -- from Yorba Linda to San Clemente as well as
Santa Ana -- about their image of Orange County's most maligned city.
Caption: BLACK & WHITE PHOTO COLOR PHOTO MAPRachel May, standing in front of the expansive French Park home she
recently redecorated, said she has had no problems with crime since moving into the neighborhood in December.(Nanetti)(COLOR)
CAP= Jim Welch, 1009 W. French St., prepares his home for repainting. Welch and his wife, Sandy, bought the home 12 years
ago.(Covatta)(COLOR) CAP= The popular image of Santa Ana: Police arrest a youth near a graffiti-scarred tree on Minnie Street, in a
neighborhood plagued by drugs and gang violence. (Au)(COLOR)Thomas Ward; Chris Covatta; Ygnacio Nanetti; H. Lorren AuJr.
Memo: UPSCALE SANTA ANA CLOSE-UP `WJ
Edition: EVENING Section: NEWS Page number: L01 Record: OCR182871 Index terms: CITIES; ORANGE COUNTY; IMAGE Copyright:
Copyright 1989 The Orange County Register
Last edited by Fast Cat; 01-18-2015 at 09:42 PM..
Reason: Forgot to add intro
Yea, only 15 homicides in Santa Ana for 2014, congrats! Are you aware that is still more than the other 33 OC cities COMBINED? You must have some land to sell in SA or something. Although it has gotten a little better, it is still a dirty, crime ridden, low income (one of the poorest areas in all of CA) ghetto. Nice try though.
...and you need to do some research. Its per capita income of $16,654 and median household income of $27,683 a year place it at the bottom of OC cities and very near the bottom of the list for poorest cities in all of CA.
...and you need to do some research. Its per capita income of $16,654 and median household income of $27,683 a year place it at the bottom of OC cities and very near the bottom of the list for poorest cities in all of CA.
Rofl. Now you're just making up numbers. Maybe you should read that wiki article you posted yourself. Santa Ana Orange 325,517 Per Capita $16,564 Med. HH $54,399 Med. Family $53,111
I sorted by Median Househould Income and after counting 100 cities I had yet to reach Santa Ana and wasn't even close.
Here's a nice list by Forbes where Santa Ana the fourth-safest city of over 250,000 residents in the United States.
You want to see some POOR places? Leave your OC bubble and go visit some some dumps in Inyo, Tulare, or Imperial Counties. Try places like:
Thermal
Earlimart
Calexico
These places DON'T have:
solid job opportunities due to being OC county seat / government
cool museums
access to huge job centers via metrolink
access to SD/SB/LA via amtrak
trendy arts district
historic architecture and gentrifying neighborhoods
locally owned high quality bars & restaurants
etc
I understand that you're a very sheltered and ignorant person that isn't aware of much outside the Orange Curtain, but being at the "bottom" of Orange County does not make Santa Ana one of the poorest places in California. Go back to trolling the CA forums so you can tell everyone how you can't wait to move to Texas. Nobody here cares what you have to say.
Last edited by HyperionGap; 01-19-2015 at 01:09 AM..
...and you need to do some research. Its per capita income of $16,654 and median household income of $27,683 a year place it at the bottom of OC cities and very near the bottom of the list for poorest cities in all of CA.
Anybody else want to try and continue to do what this guy is doing?
Because I love numbers I need to correct you and tell you that the median household income in Santa Ana is roughly $53,000 according to the most recent Census data. Of course, there are neighborhoods that range in income from 100K-250K all the way down to neighborhoods between 25K-35K.
I Info on myself because I know this does matter to some:
Age: I'll just say i'm one of those millennials
Race: White. Born in Huntington Beach.
Lifestyle: I <3 me urban walkable places & some good beer from The Good Beer Company in DTSA.
Current Residence: Santa Ana
Occupation: Urban Designer working in a large private firm here in Santa Ana.
I noticed that Rosenow Spevacek is located in the same building as The Good Beer Company. Is that your employer?
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Are you aware that is still more than the other 33 OC cities COMBINED? You must have some land to sell in SA or something. Although it has gotten a little better, it is still a dirty, crime ridden, low income (one of the poorest areas in all of CA) ghetto. Nice try though.
Anybody else want to try and continue to do what this guy is doing?
