CLIPBOARD

Harbor Boulevard, lined with pink-flowered jacaranda trees, provides the quiet ambience of an upscale town secure in its future. Starting out in the 1880s as a stop on the Santa Fe Railroad line called La Habra Station, central Fullerton is fast becoming a major stomping ground for young professionals, artists and high-end merchandisers.

“We don’t have the trash, the pollution, the panhandlers” Los Angeles has, said Denise Malicoat, a saleswoman and contributing artist at Get Lost!, a vintage clothing store and art gallery. “I’m a native; I remember how L.A. used to be. Back before traffic and smog, you could go to the museums or parks, or shop at dozens of different kinds of stores within a few blocks. That’s Fullerton today: hassle-free.”

Neighborhood streets, shaded by canopies of outstretched tree limbs, are quiet and peaceful. A mixture of California-style stucco and cottage-style clapboard houses uniformly dot the blocks. In this modest neighborhood, the homes boast small front porches leading inside to hardwood-floored rooms with arched doorways. Given the rising cost of housing, more and more of central Fullerton’s homeowners are young, middle-income professionals.

Realtor Nadine Musgrove knows this trend well.

“These homes, most of which are 50 to 60 years old, are unique to Fullerton,” she said. “Honestly, neighborhoods like central Fullerton are rare in the typically generic construction done in Orange County.

“The historical ambience, clean and safe environment, and the absence of apartments give young homeowners an opportunity to live in an ideal area.”

Within walking distance of their homes, residents enjoy a major transit center, a police station, a post office, a high school, the music department of Fullerton College, the Fullerton Civic Light Opera, the city museum, a movie theater, restaurants and bars, and an organic grocery store.

The rehabilitation of business-district buildings to the late-1920s Art Deco style has brought a wealth of new shops and new money into the rejuvenated area. Comic-book shops share space with bridal stores. Michael Nusskern’s women’s clothing boutique sits only a few doors down from the Salvation Army Thrift Shop.

The renovation of the 65-year-old Fox Fullerton Theatre, the theater where “talkies” debuted in Orange County, is part of the city’s plan to attract more people downtown in the evenings. The owners are restoring several of the theater’s original features, including the proscenium, the organ lofts and six Italian-style murals depicting scenes of California history. Upstairs, the balcony will be turned into two smaller theaters, each with 130 seats, creating a movie triplex of classics, family features, and art and foreign films.

“We’re going to be the new Melrose,” Malicoat said. “It’s just a matter of time before Los Angeles is blocked out. And here we are: clean air, clean streets--we’re a community.”

In a county where car travel seems almost mandatory, many residents like being able to park their cars Friday night after work with the knowledge that they will not need them again until Monday morning.

For Book Harbor bookstore manager Mark O’Neal, the future of the area is built on this local foot traffic.

“Being within walking distance to local residents and businesses helps us out quite a bit,” he said. “Just like each one of the houses in this area has its own distinct characteristics, each of these shops has their own personality too. These aren’t typical tract houses, and we aren’t typical mall shops. That’s what sets us apart from other neighborhoods.”

Another distinguishing characteristic is Hillcrest Park, which lies on the northern outskirts of the business district. Its shady glens and grassy-sloped bowls are ideal for family picnics and games. Weekends at the park are punctuated with the chatter of children romping on the jungle gyms while couples push strollers up and down the hilly streets surrounding the park.

The blending of residents, businesses, the arts and parkland--all point to a bright and secure future for central Fullerton.