Downtown Huntington Gets an Image Boost

This city’s downtown, which has undergone a multimillion-dollar transformation but also has been the scene of annual Fourth of July riots and a recent racial stabbing, was named Friday as one of the five “Most Livable Places in Southern California.”

The awards were given by the Local Government Commission to areas with a combination of historic preservation and economic development, which are walkable, accessible, have mixed land uses and promote community pride.

Monrovia and Redlands, Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles and Old Pasadena also were chosen from 100 nominations by 1,500 officials and leaders in Southern California.

“We are greatly honored,” said Huntington Beach Mayor David Sullivan, who accepted the award at a daylong seminar in Monrovia on Friday. “Years ago, our downtown was not a pleasant place to visit. But due to a lot of work, it has become a very nice place to visit to the extent that it receives an award like this.”

Downtown Huntington Beach also was commended as one of the safest of all the communities nominated. The area has undergone a dramatic revitalization in the last decade and attracted about $200 million in private investment that includes an Edwards Cinemas complex, restaurants, retail shops, professional offices, public parking structures and condominiums.

“This award kind of reaffirms the changes that have been taking place downtown,” Deputy City Administrator Richard Barnard said. “It is consistent with all the efforts the city has been making to improve the downtown and bring a new vibrancy there.”

Despite the changes that have taken place, the area’s image has been badly tarnished in recent years with annual Fourth of July riots that have resulted in one death, fires and hundreds of arrests.

Perhaps even more damaging was a Feb. 4 attack on a Native American man who was stabbed on the beach 27 times and left in critical condition. The suspects, two self-proclaimed white supremacists, were among a group that had spent the evening verbally attacking minorities around the Huntington Beach Pier, police said.

Police say that about 25 skinheads regularly roam the area, hanging out on street corners and cruising in cars.

“There is a slight presence, unfortunately,” Sullivan said. “Our constitution gives people the rights to be places. But harassing people is unacceptable. We are increasing our police patrol and we want to encourage people to let the officers on foot patrol know of any problems and point out whoever might be causing them.”

Sullivan said City Council members met this week with Rusty Kennedy, head of the Orange County Human Rights Commission, to discuss the situation.

“I think this award really represents Huntington Beach,” the mayor said. “Most people don’t realize that Huntington Beach has more visitors in a year than the entire Hawaiian Islands. With that many people coming, there will be unfortunate incidents.”

Former Pasadena Mayor Rick Cole, director of the Local Government Commission, said the awards were decided before the recent attack but that it probably would not have made a difference.

“It’s an abhorrent crime, but it’s an abhorrent crime that could happen anywhere,” Cole said. “It is clear that in a community where you have the opportunity for people to congregate, it’s possible that undesirables will congregate as well.

“I would assume that a community that has invested so much in making their downtown a place where people from all over Southern California come will mobilize,” Cole added. “There is a lot of community identity and spirit. People will respond.”

Cole said the areas that were selected had “consciously sought to make their communities more compact, more transit-oriented and more pedestrian-friendly. In every case, the economic results were extraordinary.”

Huntington Beach officials say more development projects are in the works, including a new Ruby’s restaurant at the end of the pier, a Duke’s restaurant at the base of the pier where Maxwell’s restaurant used to be, a two-story, 9,425-square-foot commercial building at Walnut and Main streets, other commercial buildings and more condominiums.

“These projects will substantially increase the activity in the commercial and residential area,” said Ray Silver, assistant city administrator in charge of development services. “We are trying to provide more opportunities for families and children to enjoy the downtown.”