Downtown After Dark

It is easy to see that Santa Ana has a tough task ahead as it tries to make downtown a vibrant area after dark. The buildings packed with government workers around the Civic Center empty around 5 p.m., with people heading home, out of the city.

Closer to what some consider the true downtown area--from 1st Street north to 3rd, from Broadway east to Spurgeon--office buildings have numerous vacancies. Downtown buildings have ground floors with signs forlornly suggesting possible uses for empty spaces: restaurant, travel office, hair salon.

Last month the city broke ground for what it hopes will be an economic catalyst to turn downtown into a boomtown: an Artists Village. Although some City Council members complained that the city money spent on the project would do better filling potholes and sprucing up parks, the living and working spaces for artists are a worthwhile investment in revitalization.

New York long has had areas where artists congregated, most recently SoHo and Tribeca. Los Angeles too has had loft areas near downtown for years. Santa Ana’s downtown has seen artists’ studios proliferate recently as well. But backers of the Artists Village hope the centerpiece of the project will be development of the Grand Central Building into an art center operated by Cal State Fullerton, where artists will work and live.

Having that downtown presence after dark is important. Santa Ana’s image as an unsafe city, though it may clash with the reality of a low crime rate for the past few years, can be a deterrent to tourists. It will be easier to draw playgoers and art lovers from Huntington Beach, San Clemente, Brea and other cities--and areas outside the county--to an area that is not a ghost town.

Comparisons of the future artists’ village to San Diego’s Gaslight District may be overly ambitious. Santa Ana and San Diego are two very different cities. But even if the tourists do not flock to the area, creating a neighborhood where artists live and work could go a long way toward making downtown a centerpiece of the city, as it was not too many years ago. There are any number of fine, historic buildings on the downtown streets. It would be nice to see them filled again with tenants.