Noted conservative columnist Steven Greenhut, of the O.C. Register, blasted the Santa Ana Renaissance Plan in an editorial in today’s paper. Welcome to the revolution Mr. Greenhut!
Here are a few excerpts from Greenhut’s column:
Where’s the outrage, I keep wondering, over the city of Santa Ana’s latest plan to remake the city’s core area based on a cookie-cutter urban-renewal idea? Why aren’t more Santa Ana citizens mad as hell over this carefully orchestrated city plan to drive out long-running industrial businesses that offer good-paying jobs and replace them, and existing family neighborhoods, with high-rise condos and apartments? Why aren’t Santa Ana residents up in arms at an effort to gentrify the downtown, in a fairly obvious effort to replace the city’s Mexican-themed atmosphere with something more in keeping with a yuppie clientele?
Where the heck is the outrage?
Well, I found some of it at a Dec. 5 meeting at state Sen. Lou Correa’s district office on North Broadway in Santa Ana, where 43 people, mostly business owners and community activists, plotted strategy to address what the city calls the Renaissance Plan (another meeting is scheduled Friday). Despite banal assurances offered by city officials who claim the plan won’t force them out, those attending Sen. Correa’s meeting understand that the project
What is wrong in providing descent housing in a well worn area?
I don
Santa Ana has allowed the businesses in our community to run amuck in this city. On one hand they don’t know any better because they’ve never been told, on the other hand, they need to be responsible and stop contributing to urban blight. (regardless of their zoning.)
Years of poor city management; allowing inappropriate use of public right-of-way (for loading and staging of large trucks, employee parking.) and poor code enforcement has allowed these growing businesses to become accustomed to bad citizenship because no one at city hall gave a damn what they did.
Now these businesses are going to get screwed because people like me want some basics enforced. (I am NOT for rezoning or eminent domain or community development agencies buying property)
If you have a need for 30 employee parking spaces and your business has grown to overtake your parking lot, street parking isn’t a long term solution to your growth.
Businesses and current and proposed residential MUST coexist. I want businesses in this city. IT IS CITY HALLS JOB TO MAKE THIS COEXISTENCE A REALITY!
H E L P the businesses sustain in Santa Ana by helping them comply with zoning and municipal codes!
Please join us at the Senators Santa Ana office on Friday December 28th,12 noon.
We need to fill his auditorium to show that there are many many citizens,Business owners and residents that feel that the RSP is filled with loopholes and selfserving elements that beneifit the developers and city hall!
Merry Christmas, Art “Mr Broken Record” Pedroza. Can you please explain how Jaimie Lynn Spears pregnancy could have been prevented if Measure D was in place? You explained it at drinking liberally, but I forgot the chain of logic. Thanks in advance.
Once thriving neighborhoods? Are you f_ing kidding me? Santa Ana has a few potentially nice neighborhoods which are surrounded by shanty towns. I am failing to understand your point of view and motivation to keep this place in ruin? These businesses have no place being located in residential areas, btw what happened to your temporary campaign against WARE in the historic Logan barrio? The plan aims to remove business like WARE out of neighborhoods and end the blight they impose. You people keep pointing fingers at the city for not taking care of gangs, potholed streets and crime yet you are too afraid to acknowledge the true remedy to this situation: GENTRIFICATION. Like or not, the only thing that will fix what poisons this city is a citizenry which brings education, income and culture. What’s NOT good for a thriving socio-economic environment are run down houses because the inhabitants can’t afford the upkeep, low-income apartments, halfway houses, a populace which fails to provide a robust tax revenue base and illegals.
#5
Excuse me,but you really need to do your research prior to posting.
Some of the Industrial was in the RSP area prior to any residential areas being built. You would be very surprised at how much money those Industrial business owners contribute to the Tax base and providing jobs to the citizens.
No one is saying the entire plan is wrong. We are just very concerned with the mistruths regarding certain areas and the fact that for a year and half we have asked questions and requested clarification and information and we have been provided NOTHING!
There is a lot of back door deals and profits to be made by a select few who are tied to the Mayor and city hall. Why don’t you do a little research and investigate the A & B sections of the plan. See for yourself who owns property and who will profit in a BIG way by being excluded.
After you do some real digging and research..get baack to us.
Art,
What is this rumor I hear about janet moving to block and anad all PLAs in OC from her seat on the BOS?
Is this true? Is janet making a move against the unions to block and and all PLAs? Please elaborate.
Don’t forget, but Ream was instrumental in the destruction of many thriving neighborhoods when he allowed the apartment building spree that was supposed to be housing for Civic Center workers in the 70’s and 80’s. They have since become run-down housing projects full of poor people. Now they want to take a neighborhood with a lot of history and pave over it with fancy new condos no one will buy because they are still located in a ghetto. I wonder how many of the Santiago Street lofts have actually been sold…trying to improve SanTana is like shoveling sh*t against the tide.
#5,
The propoganda you presented is simply to support in a direct manner the Renaissance Plan as it is intended. Removal of the current residents and businesses,retail and industrial, and their replacement with fantasy yuppies and businesses serving them.
There is no economic blight caused by the residents and industrial busineses in central Santa Ana. There is infrastructure and economic investment neglect in central Santa Ana though. This produces a esthetic perception of blight, purposely done , I am afraid.
Government agencies have Anaheim as the highest sales tax revenue producer of all cities in Orange County.Costa Mesa and Santa Ana follow closely. Anaheim and Costa Mesa have tourism, hotels and entertainment as major contributers in sales tax.
Santa Ana lacks the above sources. The sales tax largely comes from small businesses serving the local residents. the residents are 85% Hispanic. The source of the city’s tax revenues for public services is the Hispanic community.
The Santa Ana economy then is robust-closely behind Anaheim’s. You are wrong about Santa Ana’s residents not sopporting a healthy robust economy. You are wrong for blaming the residents for the apperance of the city as you describe it.The residents are producing the tax revenue. They don’t make decisions on the management of it’s budget. You need to direct you criticisms to the body that does.
The dictionary definition of gentrification is :
to upgrade (a run-down urban neighborhood) by renovating or remodeling buildings.
The definition does not say removal of robust tax base residential neighborhoods, retail and industrial businesses for economic self interests and politics. Or worst, the removal of Mexican residents and their culture.
All those in central Santa Ana affected by the RSP welcome the dictionary definition of gentrification. Not your definition and that of those you support.
Again the city’s tax base is robust(second In Orange County). Question the management and inplementation of the budget. Do not attack the residents and businesses that are producing the tax base used to provide the public services you consume.
There seems to be a strategy to have the city be perceived as you see it, in order, to justify actions like the Renaissance Strategic Plan.
Dave Ream will stop at nothing to make an extra nickle of tax revenue. He does not care that he will destroy neighborhoods, both residential and commercial.
Why is One Broadway Plaza not being built? Because potential business tenants see that there is absolutely no way to get commuting employees in or out of the area without MAJOR traffic problems.
Dave Ream is not an idiot – he saw that problem as well – he just did not give a damn about those who would be effected. All he saw was tax $$$. Wake up City Council – dump Ream. He would make a good scape-goat for your ineptitude.
Art, please tell me that your idea for improving the area of the Renaissance Plan is not to just leave that area alone. It is obvious that the area needs a shot in the arm. The real question is what kind?
Greenhut is correct that there needs to be more of a market-approach to helping this area.
There should also be a vision that city planners help create with input from both the residents and the businesses in that area.
After that, the city should make sure that the city takes care of it’s part, which is insuring that the area from sidewalk to sidewalk, aka the public right of way, is in top shape. Driving Santa Ana’s roads and walking on Santa Ana’s sidewalks and seeing empty tree wells show me that the city has not done a great job on keeping the public right of way in top shape.
The city is not meant to be in the business of development! They are supposed to protect us from bad private developer proposals, not initiate them.