FOCUS : An Affordable District for Raising a Family

There are a lot of unfortunate stereotypes that can be applied to a neighborhood whose per-capita income is $9,000 yearly: peeling paint, cars parked on lawns, weed-ridden yards and frustrated social and personal commentary documented in spray paint on walls, to name a few.

However, this Anaheim neighborhood’s assets lie not in its Dun & Bradstreet but in its sense of community.

“It’s not the kind of neighborhood where we are always running in and out of each other’s back door,” says resident Lucille Gray, 32, “but we visit when we’re out doing yard work--we know who’s who, and we watch out for each other.”

And they do. Neighborhood Watch signs are planted every few blocks, warning intruders to beware. Youngsters are rarely seen alone and are almost always accompanied by mom, dad, an older brother or sister, or in small, safe groups with their peers.

Western Medical Center lends aid to its neighbors with blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol screenings, as well as at-cost mammograms, tours and community lectures.

Even Uncle Sam watches out for the neighborhood. Because of the large number of low- to moderate-income residents, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has designated the district a target area and has made money available for neighborhood improvements through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.

According to Linda Ureno, community development coordinator for the city of Anaheim, which administers the program, the neighborhood received $308,500 this year and has been allocated $320,000 by HUD for the coming fiscal year.

“The neat thing about the whole CDBG program is that it is grass-roots-dominated,” Ureno says. “Citizens identify projects and follow them all the way through. We have an extensive citizen-participation program that calls for the formation of neighborhood councils,” in this case the Citron Neighborhood Council.

Michele Botich, chairwoman of the neighborhood council, says it holds regular meetings for residents to put together wish lists. This enables the Anaheim City Council to get requests for street lights, storm drains and new sidewalks and move on them without modification or delay. Upcoming ventures include an alley revitalization in which inoperative vehicles will be removed, potholes will be repaired, graffiti will be removed and an entire alley spruced up.

“This is such a good program,” she says. “But we need more people from this particular neighborhood to attend meetings. We’ve got a big push on now, with flyers and mailing lists to get as many (people) as possible to our June 7 meeting. If they have a pet project that would benefit the neighborhood, they need to bring it to the meeting.”

One such project is a bookmobile. “It is difficult to break the poverty cycle unless you learn to read and do well in school,” Ureno says. “When the neighborhood asked for money for the bookmobile, CDBG gave $30,000 for bilingual materials, new books, cellular phones--whatever they needed to make their life easier and reach those pockets (of people) that might not otherwise get to the library.”

The bookmobile program was such a rousing success that last summer more than 500 neighborhood children participated in the summer reading program.

Through the block grant program, qualified residents can get low-interest loans for home improvements--new roofing, landscaping, tree removal, paint, room additions--or rebates if the improvements have already been made and can be documented.

Those development programs may be one of the reasons homes look so well kept. It is a familiar sight on any given block to see lawns in transition, hazardous trees being removed, new roofs being installed or homes being given a fresh coat of paint.

Still, another reason homes are so well maintained is simple pride of ownership. Homes such as that of Lucille and William Gray are a good example. Brightly colored flowers frame impeccably manicured shrubs and lawns. But for the moment, the Grays’ lawn is completely brown--they killed it so the family could put in a new, drought-resistant yard.

“People keep pride in their homes,” Lucille Gray says. “We’re not fancy, but we try to keep it up. We’re typical. A lot of us are older and retired, but we’ve stayed. A few have lost spouses but still live here.”

But three blocks over is Juan Garcia. He and his family rent a modest home in the neighborhood and are relative newcomers. They are part of the growing dichotomy between older, retired, established residents and younger families with young children looking to buy that first home. Garcia was attracted by the prospect of an affordable, comfortable, safe place to raise a family.

“We moved here from Santa Ana five years ago,” Garcia says with a smile, as his three small children tackle him in the front yard of their home. “We like it. This is a nice neighborhood.”

Population Total: (1989 est.) 6,103 1980-89 change: +11.6% Median Age: 25.8

Racial/ethnic mix: White (non-Latino): 44% Latino: 51% Black: 1% Other: 4%

By sex and age: MALES Median age: 25.7 years FEMALES Median age: 26.0 years

Income Per capita: $8,946 Median household: $20,600 Average household: $22,832

Income Distribution: Less than $25,000: 62% $25,000-49,999: 33% $50,000-74,999: 4% $75,000-$99,999: 1%