ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : New Name, New Neighborhood

What’s in a name? A name can mean a lot in Huntington Beach, where the change of a street sign to read “Amberleaf Circle” instead of “Commodore Circle” tells a heartening tale of neighborhood renewal.

Five years ago, the street consisted of broken-down apartment buildings and sidewalks littered with debris. It was, said Mayor Thomas J. Mays, “the worst block in this entire city.” The difference is a result of the infusion of $1.2 million in rehabilitation funds, most channeled from the federal government through the city’s redevelopment and housing office. So much has changed for the better during the five years the project took to complete that the City Council voted to change the street’s name.

In all, 20 apartment buildings were rehabilitated after slumlords were told to fix up their property or go to jail. Those who couldn’t take the heat sold to people who have worked with the city through low-cost rehabilitation loans. The success of the project is in human terms: Most of the families that lived in the neighborhood before have been able to stay on with the help of rent subsidies. In some cases, units were rehabilitated room by room while residents remained in the units.

There haven’t been enough such success stories for government-assisted housing rehabilitation in the last decade. Score a victory for cooperation among a city, a county, the federal government, property owners and residents who worked together to turn a neighborhood around. Amberleaf Circle’s success stands as a lesson for other communities.