New Look, Spirit on Shalimar

Once known as the street where nobody wanted to live, Shalimar Drive has gone through a transformation in the last year.

Driven by concern for their safety, the residents, mostly Latino renters, asked City Hall a year ago for help combat gang crime and drug dealing.

The city’s answer was to close Shalimar to vehicles, effectively ending quick through-the-car-window drug transactions.

Today, residents say, Shalimar is a different neighborhood. Where cars once sped by at all hours, youngsters on bicycles and roller skates now play on the pavement.

Though one of the apartment buildings remains vacant and boarded up, others sport new paint and landscaping.

“It has gotten better,” declared community activist Paty Madueno.

With the help of local clergy, residents have also converted an apartment into the Shalimar Teen Center, a spot where youths gather to do homework and socialize.

Crime in the area has dropped by about 70%, Costa Mesa Mayor Joe Erickson said, and complaints from residents have fallen off sharply.

Problems do persist along Shalimar. Some landlords have not caught the new spirit of the neighborhood, Madueno said, and have refused to make repairs or clean up trash that draws rats and roaches.

So now the residents are asking city officials to put the heat on property owners.

In response, the City Council voted recently to require landlords to maintain the alleys behind apartment buildings.

If they do not comply, officials said, the city will do the work and bill the owners.