Troubled Street Refuses to Give In

Chances are if you’ve ever heard of Minnie Street, it had to do with gang activity, a drug bust or some other crime. The burden of that reputation has fallen most heavily on the thousands of people who live in the overcrowded, somewhat run-down row of 48 apartment buildings that line its two blocks in southeast Santa Ana.

In its almost 40 years of existence, Minnie Street has had its ups and downs. Today, however, things are definitely looking up. That’s because the tenants, building owners, police, city officials and a community and church group began working together to make the neighborhood more livable. That has made a difference for the more than 4,000 people residing in the street’s 527 apartment units.

It’s an example for other neighborhoods in other communities of what can be accomplished with positive attitudes and efforts.

The one-bedroom apartments were built in the early 1960s as off-base housing for Marine Corps personnel at the El Toro air station. They weren’t designed for the average of seven to eight people now living in each unit. Things began deteriorating in the 1970s when Marine families moved out to new base housing. Overcrowding, gangs, drug dealing and other crime moved in.

About five years ago, things began to change again when residents realized it was better to work with and not against their landlords and police. The city put in a community police substation that reduced crime.

Now, with the help of $4.8 million in federal and state funds, the neighborhood is ready to launch its Cornerstone Village project. It will repaint buildings, repair balconies and stairs and make other improvements.

It’s not the first time an Orange County neighborhood has decided to rejuvenate itself, and it mustn’t be the last. In recent years Garden Grove cleaned up its Buena Clinton neighborhood, which was considered one of the county’s worst slums. Huntington Beach rehabilitated Commodore Circle to the point that the city changed the name of the street.

In those successful efforts, community policing played an important role in the transformations. So did the willing attitudes of residents, landlords, public officials and community nonprofit groups. They’re lessons in pride and desire for a better life worth emulating in other neighborhoods.