There are big changes planned for the City of Santa Ana. City officials recently debuted their plans for the “Transit Zone” which was formerly called the Renaissance Plan area.
“The new development rules at the heart of the city’s proposal would clear the way for more than 4,000 new homes and some 387,000 new square feet of shops and eateries. It would create a new high-rise district near the train station, with towers as tall as 25 stories,” according to the O.C. Register.
Guy Ball, a Santa Ana historian, commented about this plan thusly, on the Register’s website:
Click here to read the rest of this post.
Is this just another “new lipstick for the pig scenario?”
It will be easy to find out. Does Mike Harrah have anything to do with it? If not,
it should require further inspection.
Ron & Anna,
As a property owner in the plan area and one who has been active in the community concerning this issue; I can assure you that, as far as I have been able to determine, Mike Harrah has had no direct involvement with the plans for the Transit Zone/Renaissance Plan/ Historic Lacy Neighborhood area.
How will they finance this project now that the Bustamonte Brother’s Bank has gone Bust? Will Al Amezqua or Miguel Pulido make more $$$ on the project or will both get rich? Why is Mike Metzler’s house up for sale? Can we name something after Mike before he leaves town? Our only hope is that the O.C. Weekly will dig into this and find out what is really going on.
“Sure, why not block the sun entirely out of the downtown area?”
The high-rise structures are to be located on the east side of the Rail Station – no where near downtown.
Sounds like Mike has been drinking the Kool-Aids
Tardif Towers – yeah, that has a nice ring to it.
Mike,
The proposed buildings are 25 stories high. Their shadow WILL reach the downtown area. Of course if OBP gets built that area will already be shrouded…
Uh, no Art .. and if there is a shadow cast on downtown it will be for about 5 minutes in early am – nobody there.
Mike,
Do you support the high rises?
Full disclosure here Art.
You know where my business property is located. I would be a fool to not desire to be generously compensated for my property. I would need to relocate my business – hopefully within SA. All of that would necessarily be taken into consideration.
“I would be a fool to not desire to be generously compensated….”
That is what Pulido and Bustamonte and the rest of the Council say to themselves each day as they vote to destroy our city.
Cash & Carry,
The important difference is that I am open and honest about my motive and intentions. Check my comment at below posted article.
http://www.redcounty.com/update-comparing-santa-ana-budgets/36583?taxonomy=29
Aren’t there enough vacant buildings in Santa Ana already? I can see it now. More housing units to warehouse more Mexicans. Instead of getting tax dollars, Santa Ana will have to spend tax dollars on free government services.
I don’t know anyone who wants to live in Santa Ana. High Crime, High Taxes, Poorly Maintained Streets, Poor Performing Schools, No Speakee English, and basically the City is the Crotch of the County.
Mayor Pulido I hear through the gossip mill wants to be Ambassador to Mexico. His dream has finally come true; he is finally Ambassador. Instead of going to Mexico, Mexico came to him.
Boo Berry,
The idea is that the market will determine exactly what and where to build. The Transit Zone Code is a mechanism to allow free enterprise to make those decisions.
“…basically the City is the Crotch of the County.”
Sorry Mike, just because you have lined up against the City Council in the past does not mean you are not a sell out now! (Thanks for the link but it proves nothing) Dave Ream and company are experts at figuring out the price it takes to buy off guys like you. Over time they have learned that every man/woman has his/her price. You will sell your property, take your little pay day, and leave those of us who live in Santa Ana to live with the mess that you and the City Council have helped create. How many of the current Councilmembers do you think will be living in S.A. in 10 years? They will follow Tardiff and Metzler, and Ream, and Dan Young and many others before them who made a couple bucks raping this once grand city and leaving true, loyal residents to deal with the aftermath.
Tardiff says:
“The Transit Zone Code is a mechanism to allow free enterprise to make those decisions.”
Mike, now you even use the govermenment language!
I have been a resident and/or businessman in Santa Ana for 60 years – I am not going anywhere but here. I am looking forward to a bright future for Santa Ana.
What do you all think would make for a brighter future for Santa Ana?
Urban Renewal? How about a Pride Project to uplift various areas – targeted by electeds as good candidates for clean-up which should include – no shoes over telephone lines…in fact maybe even underground utilities?
How about just getting the homeless of the grounds near the Supervisor’s Bldg.?
How about finding them someplace inside to sleep every night?
Winships – I have never seen “shoes over telephone lines” in Santa Ana; and I am here every day.
The homeless – that is different – seen lots of them in Civic Center. Got any room in Corona Del Mar?
The Winships are on the right course. Rehabilitation of the slum apartments and a proper city infrastructure is the answer for Santa Ana.
The re-colonization plan that is the Transit Zone/ Renaissance Plan will not work because the residents will not support higher housing density and the lack of high income colonist…the conerstone of the colonization idea of the development plan.
Why would colonist want to be an Island of 2,000 within in a sea of over 400,000 with the city’s leadership having a third world form of government for economic and political manipulation.
Under this scenario the 2,000 units would follow the past and become low economic housing.
THERE IS A HISTORY OF THIS AS GUY BALL A CITY HISTORIAN POINTS OUT.
From the New Santa Ana Blog:
Guy Ball, a Santa Ana historian, commented about this plan thusly, on the Register’s website:
“This is the same sort of development plan that pummeled Santa Ana in the 1970s to 1990s. For those who forgot – the City encouraged high density housing, no parks or green space (other than the “balconies” which were counted as “open space”), big complexes built right next to single-story housing which destroyed neighborhoods, not enough parking for the extra people who moved into the one and two bedroom apts, and years and years of spending additional millions of tax-payer dollars to try to repair what the city destroyed. Not to mention the slums, the added crime, and the downward spiral as middle class families moved anywhere BUT Santa Ana.
The city’s grand miscalculation in the 1970s and 1980s was to build the new high-density housing in the city to encourage young professionals to stay in the city as the townsites of Irvine and south county were growing. The problem was that this group of home buyers and renters liked the suburbia of the south. The people who moved in were the immigrants and lower-income families who saw this as an opportunity for a clean home and a better life.
Unfortunately that often meant over-crowding conditions, lack of sufficient parking, not enough schools, and virtually no open space for the families. (The city never planned on families moving into these high-density locations.)
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, individuals and neighborhoods had had enough. We organized and fought back to change the city’s destructive path and won some partial victories – though most of us now say it was too late.
Our neighborhoods were pummeled and many were never able to recover properly. Many of the middle class had moved out – leaving only the diehards to keep their fingers in the dike like the boy in Holland fighting against the flood. And the city was forced to spend millions of tax dollars on special programs to undo what they did – money that could have been used to improve the city and not just band-aid problems.
And today, since the Mayor, council, and developers have gotten so strong that there is little opposition of strength, they will again push their agendas until Santa Ana is another overcrowded urban area with no soul. And those who still remain will wonder why they did.
This could be the last opportunity for any sort of dissent – if the City will even listen. People need to write or call and let the city know that they don’t want a repeat of the past. If this juggernaut can’t be stopped, then they need to include proper city planning that means including parks, schools, and enough parking to accommodate the new residents – not just sweetheart deals for preferred developers that maximize profits at the expense of the living conditions for those who live there.
And that is not the only problem. Santa Ana already has the highest water rates in Orange County. This development plan won’t help. Click here to see what the City planners had to say about the City’s water supply. People in Irvine pay less for their water than we do! How much worse can this get?
If federal/stimulus dollars are being allocated for development of transit and around transit areas- the City Council is taking the right steps to uplift Santa Ana and be on par with the other cities in the area. People should encourage development of this nature and be thankful instead of opposing it.