Taking Back the Streets

Alamitos Beach, an oceanfront community of historic bungalows, 1920s-era four-plexes and ‘60s apartment buildings just east of downtown Long Beach, is on the mend.

Drive Bonito, Esperanza or Falcon avenues, and you’ll find at least one painting or remodeling project on every block. Neighbors are out, sprucing up their gardens and sweeping their driveways.

A few years ago, an Alamitos Beach renaissance was unimaginable. With economic recession, military and hospital closures and aerospace downsizing, Long Beach and its small, historic communities suffered in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

Property values declined and buildings went into foreclosure, then languished in the hands of financial institutions that managed them loosely from afar. Drug dealers, prostitutes, gang members and beach bums quickly took advantage of low rents, and a series of domestic-abuse-plagued flophouses sprang up as well as party houses where residents would rent floor space at $5 a night to vagrants.

This is the environment that Mike Wilson and his girlfriend, Dionne Degenhardt, confronted in June 1998, when they pulled up to their newly purchased, 14-room Spanish Colonial Revival at Bonito Avenue and 1st Street.

“We sat across the street, watching a really scary guy selling crack right on the corner, and we were close to tears,” Wilson said. “We thought we’d just made a horrible, horrible mistake.”

Although they had looked at the home a couple of times before buying, they hadn’t realized how bad the neighborhood was until the day they moved in. They had fallen in love with the historic home and seen its potential as an investment because of the nearby beach.

Today, Wilson and Degenhardt’s duplex, Esser House, is a Long Beach Historical Landmark. It was built in 1929 for $9,000. The couple paid $240,000 for the 3,000-square-foot house (they rent out one side and live in the other) with oak floors, a three-car garage, a Spanish-tile fireplace and a view of the Queen Mary. They say it’s worth twice that much now.

The ocean-breeze-cooled neighborhood is close to the revitalized downtown Long Beach, and new resident Drake Cruz says he never hesitates to walk to dinner or the local drugstore after dark.

The dramatic change, residents say, is due to a determined group of neighbors, led by Wilson and Degenhardt, and a cooperative and proactive City Hall.

“We began to fight back, and we worked with the police to document heroin sales and gang warfare,” Wilson said. The Alamitos Beach Neighborhood Assn., headed by longtime resident George Romo, encouraged the passage of a nuisance-abatement ordinance that carried a maximum $5,000 fine--enough to light a fire under absentee landlords and get them to clean house.

Residents like Wilson and Romo laugh when they hear that the top complaints to police today are about skateboarders on the sidewalks and noisy helicopters.

“Crime is down by about 80% from what it was several years ago,” said Rick McCabe, a legislative aide to Long Beach Vice Mayor Dan Baker.

The 10-block area bordered by Alamitos Avenue on the west, Cherry Avenue on the east, 4th Street on the north and the Pacific Ocean has had no murders or rapes reported during the past 18 months, according to Long Beach Police Department statistics.

In 2001 and the first quarter of 2002, there were eight robberies, 11 residential burglaries, 26 stolen cars and seven bicycle thefts.

Residents are now concerned about parking, crumbling sidewalks and high density, McCabe said, issues that reflect the neighborhood’s age.

Luxury hotels and high-rise apartment buildings constructed along Ocean Boulevard during the 1920s, like the elegantly restored 16-story Villa Riviera, included no parking facilities because they were close to the Los Angeles Red Car line, which had a terminus in Alamitos Beach. And zoning laws were lax in the 1950s and ‘60s when a plethora of 20-unit apartment buildings was developed throughout the area with only a carport or two required in back.

The result is a parking nightmare, said Brent Heflin, broker-owner of Brent Heflin Properties. “It’s not unusual for people to drive around for an hour looking for parking at certain high-impact times,” he said. The city is working on reducing red curbs and converting some blocks to slotted parking to try to lessen the crunch, McCabe said.

The lack of garages has not dampened the area’s popularity, however. “Property values have taken a big jump in the past year or so,” Heflin said. “Especially as potential buyers have been priced out of [neighboring] Belmont Shore and Bluff Heights, they have been pushed over to Alamitos Beach.”

For years, Long Beach was the last “affordable” oceanfront community between Santa Barbara and San Diego, with bungalows just a block or two off the water going for $200,000 or less. While Alamitos Beach still offers the rare bargain, Long Beach has revitalized much of its crumbling image in recent years, Heflin said, and prices have gone up accordingly.

Single-family homes, which are scarce, tend to be 1920s and ‘30s California bungalows that sell quickly. While you might still find a two-bedroom, one-bath home in the high $200,000 range, Heflin said, prices for the larger houses start at $350,000. Four-plexes, many of which have been charmingly restored to their ‘20s-era glory, are also in high demand by investors, who typically live in one unit and make a tidy sum renting out the other three. Rents start at $900 for a one-bedroom apartment--more if there’s a parking space included. Purchase prices start at $500,000.

Popular with the racially diverse population of mostly single, under-40 professionals are condominiums--in new buildings going up and recently completed on Ocean Boulevard, in buildings converted from older hotels, motels and apartment houses, and in “own-your-owns,” which are apartment houses that have been turned into tenant-owned cooperatives.

When you buy an own-your-own, instead of getting a deed to your unit as you would when buying a condominium, you purchase shares in the cooperative. The legal distinction may seem arcane, but it has an impact on financing, Heflin said, because financial institutions are often reluctant to fund loans for cooperatives.

In Alamitos Beach, however, own-your-owns are the most affordable option. One-bedroom units, from 550 to 1,000 square feet, rent for $650 to $1,100 a month in older buildings, and $1,500 in newer buildings.

Singles or studios, depending on building and location, might rent for as little as $495 to $850 a month, and you might find an own-your-own for sale for around $50,000 for a single; $75,000 to $115,000 for a one-bedroom; and $140,000 to $170,000 for a two-bedroom. Own-your-owns on the beach would sell for $200,000 to $350,000.

Luxury condominiums in beachfront high-rises sell for $600,000 and up, and might rent for $2,000 a month if they have an ocean view. A one-bedroom, one-bath condo in an older building might sell for as little as $90,000, but could go up to $350,000 in a newer building. Two-bedroom, two-bath condo units of 1,200 square feet rent for from $800 to $1,500 a month and might sell for $250,000 to $395,000.

Romo, the neighborhood association president, moved to Alamitos Beach in 1985 from Huntington Beach and purchased an own-your-own in the 17-unit Anita Imperial, built as an apartment complex in the 1960s.

“We converted to a condominium association in the early 1990s,” Romo said. He paid $83,500 for the two-bedroom, 1 3/4-bath, 1,200-square-foot unit three blocks from Ocean Boulevard. He estimates the value now at $225,000.

“I love this area because of the diversity of the population, and because it’s so close to the ocean,” Romo said. “I knew when I moved in that it would be a valuable property someday.”

New resident Cruz’s condo, with two bedrooms, two baths and a loft, which he purchased in November, has already gone up in value. He bought the 1,200-square-foot unit, in a building three blocks from the beach, for $189,000 and has already been offered $230,000 for it, though it’s not for sale.

“I love that the place is within walking distance to just about everything,” he said.

The area offers many amenities: Bixby Park is on Cherry Avenue, and there are several nearby museums, including the Long Beach Museum of Art and the Museum of Latin American Art. The Aquarium of the Pacific and the Queen Mary are close, and in the works are some new oceanfront developments, including the Long Beach Pike, that are easily accessible via a free shuttle bus that runs along Ocean Boulevard. (For $1 you can ride down to Belmont Shore and Naples.) From the Metro Blue Line station on Pine Avenue in nearby downtown, $2.75 gets you a round-trip ticket to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

But the best amenity, residents say, is the sense of friendship and community that was born out of the fight to save their neighborhood.

“Having a strong group of neighbors that banded together to upgrade our homes and kick out the riffraff really bonded us,” Wilson said. “We’re a tightknit group now.”

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Alamitos Beach at a Glance

ZIP Codes: 90802, 90803

Median age: 33.9

Average household size: 1.8

Average family size: 2.85

Transportation:

* Light rail: The Metro Blue Line, originating at 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles, terminates at Transit Mall Station, across from Long Beach City Hall, 333 W. Ocean Blvd.

* Bus: The Los Angeles Metro Transit Authority (MTA) operates bus service that connects to the Transit Mall. Long Beach Transit operates 38 bus routes within Long Beach, Lakewood and Signal Hill at a fare of 90 cents per adult.

* The Passport: A free shuttle bus service provided by Long Beach Transit runs frequently along Ocean Boulevard between downtown Long Beach, the Long Beach Convention Center, Aquarium of the Pacific, Downtown Marina, Shoreline Village, the Queen Mary and the World Trade Center. For an additional 90 cents, Passport riders can travel to Belmont Shore, Marina Pacifica, Alamitos Bay Landing, Cal State Long Beach and Los Altos Market Place.

Government: Alamitos Beach is part of Long Beach, in the city’s 2nd district. Vice Mayor Dan Baker is the City Council representative for the area.

Law enforcement: The area is patrolled by the Long Beach Police Department. No murders or rapes were reported in 2001 or to date in 2002. During that time period, eight robberies and eight aggravated assaults were reported.

Amenities: Bixby Park is on the edge of Alamitos Beach at 130 Cherry Ave. The park, which includes a community center, is scheduled to be renovated and upgraded by the city.

Nearby are several museums, including the Museum of Latin American Art and the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Long Beach Convention Center, Aquarium of the Pacific and the Queen Mary.

Shoreline Village and downtown Long Beach offer a variety of restaurants and shopping, including an antiques district that will be supplemented by the Long Beach Pike development under construction.

History: John W. Bixby laid out the Alamitos Beach Townsite and Bay Harbor in 1886. It originally encompassed a larger area, stretching from Alamitos to Termino, and from the Pacific Ocean to 10th Street. The Bixby family of Maine purchased Rancho Los Alamitos, covering much of present-day Long Beach and Los Alamitos, beginning in 1866 and turned it into a sheep ranch.

Bixby had ambitious plans for the community, envisioning a deep-water harbor and railroad terminus, but he died in 1887, leaving the development’s completion to his cousins. An economic downturn meant a slow start for sales in the Alamitos Land Co., but home and farm sites began selling after the turn of the century. At that time, a bitter fight ensued over whether Alamitos Beach would remain an independent city or become a part of Long Beach. Several efforts to annex Alamitos Beach failed between 1905 and 1909 before the area finally became part of Long Beach on Nov. 30, 1909.

Schools: Alamitos Beach is part of the Long Beach Unified School District, which operates 91 schools for 83,500 students. The district’s students are 47% Latino, 20% African American, 17% white, 11% Asian, 3% Filipino, 2% Pacific Islander.

Lee Elementary School, 1620 Temple Ave., serves some Alamitos Beach students from kindergarten through fifth grade. Its score on the 2001 Academic Performance Index, based on test scores, was 3 out of a possible 10, but compared with California schools with similar demographic and economic profiles, Lee Elementary scored an 8 out of 10. Teachers at Lee have an average eight years of experience, compared with the state average of 13 years, and 56% of Lee teachers have a full credential, compared with the state average of 86%.

Stevenson Elementary, 515 Lime Ave., also serves area elementary students. Its 2001 API score was 3 out of 10, but it scored 10 out of 10 compared to similar schools. Teachers are less experienced than average, with an average of eight years in the classroom, and 52% have full credentials. Stevenson also lags in technology, with 17 students per computer, compared with a statewide average of 6.7.

Franklin Middle School, 540 Cerritos Ave., serves sixth- through eighth-graders and has a 2001 API Index of 1 out of 10. It ranks 6 out of 10 compared to schools with similar demographics.

Along with less-experienced teachers--nine years’ experience on average and 65% with a full credential--Franklin has 14 students per computer.

Polytechnic High School, 1600 Atlantic Ave., serves grades nine through 12 and has a 6 out of 10 API score, and 10 out of 10 when compared to similar schools. Slightly fewer than half of Polytechnic students (45%) take the Scholastic Achievement Test in preparation for college admissions. The school’s average SAT scores are 484 verbal and 516 math.

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Karen E. Klein is a freelance writer living in Temple City.