On a typical weekday morning on Main...

On a typical weekday morning on Main Street in central Garden Grove, Leo Zlaket begins his day by preparing the daily selection of fresh meats at Zlaket’s Market by 7 a.m. while his wife, Virginia, bakes cookies and cinnamon rolls for the store’s bakery section.

The small market opened in 1927, when the neighborhood consisted mostly of strawberry fields and dairy ranches. It was built by Leo’s father and was one of Garden Grove’s first businesses.

Across the street, Louie Stavros, owner of the Rainbow Room cocktail lounge, is busy getting ready for the day’s business before friends stop by to chat around 8 a.m.

Stavros’ morning routine hasn’t changed much since he opened the bar 36 years ago. “It’s just a low-key place full of regulars who have been coming here every day for years,” he said. “It was mostly farmland here when we first opened. And everything else just kind of sprang up around us over the years,” he said.

During the 1950s population boom, the neighborhood was transformed from a rural environment into the city’s business district. Other businesses opened along Main Street, but many did not survive a downturn in the late 1960s that transformed the once-thriving district into a stretch of pawn shops and empty storefronts.

But city officials rallied to save it in the mid-1970s, investing $1.5 million over a period of years to redevelop the area while retaining its nostalgic small-town atmosphere. And now, small, independently owned shops line Main Street once again.

The redevelopment effort included purchase and renovation of the Gem Theatre, which is also situated on Main Street. The two-story theater, which seats 172 people, was built during the 1920s silent-film era. It serves as the cornerstone for the surrounding Village Green Cultural Center, which includes a 500-seat amphitheater. The Grove Shakespeare Festival is held here every year, and the Gem Theatre is home to some of Orange County’s most successful professional stage productions.

The neighborhood includes two public schools, Garden Grove High School and Ralston Intermediate. Although both are still more than 50% white, their enrollment includes a large number of Southeast Asian and Korean students whose families have settled in the area.

Every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon, about 40 Japanese youngsters attend the Garden Grove Japanese Language School on Sherman Street. Four generations of Orange County Japanese-Americans have studied at the school, which was built in 1917 to help children of the first-generation Japanese immigrants (Issei) maintain contact with their culture.

The homes here were built mostly in the 1950s and early 1960s. But recently, condominium developments have been added. “It’s still a bedroom community, in many regards,” said John Bushman, spokesman for the Garden Grove Redevelopment Department. “Lots of people live here because it’s convenient to Los Angeles and other parts of Orange County,” he said.

Population Total: (1989 est.) 5,533 1980-89 change: +57.2% Median Age: 29.5

Racial/ethnic mix: White (non-Latino), 66%; Latino, 26%; Black, Less than 1%; Other, 8%

Racial/ethnic mix: White (non-Latino): 66% Latino: 26% Black: Less than 1% Other: 8%

By sex and age: MALES Median age: 28.2 years FEMALES Median age: 31.0 years

Income Per capita: $10,705 Median household: $20,524 Average household: $25,328

Income Distribution: Less than $25,000: 59% $25,000-49,999: 31% $50,000-74,999: 7% $75,000-$99,999: 2% $100,000 and more: 1%