City Face Lifts Deserve Support

While the newer communities of southern Orange County have spread out into the Saddleback Valley, older communities in the north are redeveloping. In the case of Cypress, a new grand plan for Lincoln Avenue is more properly described as a redefinition of the city. This is an exciting undertaking.

In nearby Orange, a remarkable historic preservation movement has brought life to an old traffic circle and resulted in the revitalization of an aging northern city. Buena Park has been making improvements along a haggard Beach Boulevard north of Knott’s Berry Farm. Anaheim, as part of the major expansion of the Disneyland empire, is spending hundreds of millions on revitalizing the motel district and improving the appearance of major arteries.

Lincoln Avenue is one of those crucial surface streets that connects several communities in Orange County outside the labyrinth of the freeway system. But apart from being a vehicle for getting from here to there, it is central to the city of Cypress, and therefore a fitting object of attention for claiming a city identity. Whether there is any central downtown at all in Cypress is a point of discussion in this bedroom community. It aspires to putting on a better face and wants a more vibrant major street.

City Planner Alice Angus recently said: “When people enter Cypress along Lincoln Avenue, we want them to know they’ve arrived.” Hence the plan for a $4.3-million face lift that will result in new pillars at the west end, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s prairie architecture; a clock tower; and new bus stops and pocket parks. The aim is to bring new business to the area and create some ambience. Orange successfully did this with its historic preservation effort.

A number of improvements in recent years in the city have left the north end, along Lincoln Avenue, a fitting target for new efforts. Recently, there was a groundbreaking for a small mall at Lincoln Avenue and Grindlay Street. The City Council is to consider a rezoning proposal that would spruce up motel areas and discourage businesses like tattoo parlors.

These efforts to enliven and even redefine the older parts of the county are a sign of vitality. The proponents deserve support and encouragement in their efforts.