Platinum Triangle to make Anaheim OC's downtown? (San Diego, Santa Ana: low income, 2015)

[dexter14]

Thats what the developers are betting on as construction on new commercial and residential complexes has begun once again. With a stadium that features a pro baseball team, an arena that features a pro hockey team and major concerts, a state of the art transit center, a huge convention center, tons of hotels, a large outdoor shopping mall and the most historic amusement park ever built, many already consider Anaheim the most urban OC city and the closest it has to a "downtown or "center". Will the completed Platinum Triangle be a success?


Anaheim developments revive city's vision of a new downtown for O.C. - LA Times

[Urban Planner]

LOL. You're killing me mbell. Trying so hard to divert all the awesome attention Santa Ana has been getting.

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by Urban Planner

LOL. You're killing me mbell. Trying so hard to divert all the awesome attention Santa Ana has been getting.

I'm just sharing a rather recent piece of major news in OC. We all know you either work for Santa Ana or have some kind of businesses located there, so your comments mean very little.

[HyperionGap]

Originally Posted by mbell75

Thats what the developers are betting on as construction on new commercial and residential complexes has begun once again. With a stadium that features a pro baseball team, an arena that features a pro hockey team and major concerts, a state of the art transit center, a huge convention center, tons of hotels, a large outdoor shopping mall and the most historic amusement park ever built, many already consider Anaheim the most urban OC city and the closest it has to a "downtown or "center". Will the completed Platinum Triangle be a success?


Anaheim developments revive city's vision of a new downtown for O.C. - LA Times

I was under the impression you thought Anaheim was a dump and couldn't wait to leave. What happened big boy?

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by HyperionGap

I was under the impression you thought Anaheim was a dump and couldn't wait to leave. What happened big boy?

You finally realized I was a man! Great!

Now if anyone would actually like to discuss the topic at hand rather than trolling, please feel free.

[HyperionGap]

*Cough*hypocrite*Cough*

Originally Posted by mbell75

Lots of low income housing filled with illegals and gang members. We have police choppers flying overhead at least 3 nights a week, a gang task force unit was just surrounding an apartment complex a few weeks ago and seeing unmarked cars and detectives racing down streets here is very common. Oh and lets not forget the riots here in Anaheim just a few years back with gang members and their families clashing with police in riot gear, fun stuff.

Originally Posted by mbell75

They've already ruined numerous cities in SoCal including two where I live, Anaheim and Santa Ana. They used to be great cities with nice neighborhoods. Now most of both cities are filled with illegals, gangs, drug problems, graffiti, low income housing etc...

Pretty hard to be a "success" if it's a ruined city, huh.

[Fast Cat]

Originally Posted by mbell75

Will the completed Platinum Triangle be a success?

I assume what you are asking is will the Platinum Triangle be OC's number one urban center if it is built as intended? Arguably, it would, although from my perspective OC will always be made up of multiple urban centers. One of the keys for how successful the Platinum Triangle will become will be connecting this area to the Disney Resort are across the west side of the 5 Frwy. A streetcar system that is planned will go along way toward facilitating that connection for thousands of visitors to the resort each day.

[Fast Cat]

BTW - It is interesting to note that Anaheim and Santa Ana, have had a healthy competitive tension since both cities came into existence. Both cities competed to become OC's county seat with of course Santa Ana winning out. Since then, the competition has convincingly shifted to Anaheim. They have been able to secure Disneyland, Angel baseball,, as well as become OC most populous city over the efforts of Santa Ana. The battle to build the county's first indoor sports arena to house a NHL/NBA team was perhaps the most spirited. Santa Ana had the early inside track. However, Anaheim and their city manager Jim Ruth was able in the end to out maneuver them and build The Arrowhead Pond and now what we now enjoy as the Honda Center.

As far as both cities desire to build street car systems, Santa Ana has the earlier lead but both systems will get built and eventually connect. The Anaheim leg of the system which has a larger base of users will ultimately have more usage and popularity. Similarly the Platinum Triangle will ultimately offer a more intense urban environment than downtown Santa Ana. It has thousands of residential units that have recently been built and thousand more in the pipeline that are complimented by Anaheim's other amenities.

[dexter14]

Originally Posted by Fast Cat

BTW - It is interesting to note that Anaheim and Santa Ana, have had a healthy competitive tension since both cities came into existence. Both cities competed to become OC's county seat with of course Santa Ana winning out. Since then, the competition has convincingly shifted to Anaheim. They have been able to secure Disneyland, Angel baseball,, as well as become OC most populous city over the efforts of Santa Ana. The battle to build the county's first indoor sports arena to house a NHL/NBA team was perhaps the most spirited. Santa Ana had the early inside track. However, Anaheim and their city manager Jim Ruth was able in the end to out maneuver them and build The Arrowhead Pond and now what we now enjoy as the Honda Center.

As far as both cities desire to build street car systems, Santa Ana has the earlier lead but both systems will get built and eventually connect. The Anaheim leg of the system which has a larger base of users will ultimately have more usage and popularity. Similarly the Platinum Triangle will ultimately offer a more intense urban environment than downtown Santa Ana. It has thousands of residential units that have recently been built and thousand more in the pipeline that are complimented by Anaheim's other amenities.

I wasn't really trying to compare to the two cities as there is little to compare really. As you mentioned, Anaheim has a major league stadium, an arena with a pro hockey team and major national events, a state of the art transit center with shopping and dining, Disneyland, a huge convention center, a big outdoor shopping mall etc...Santa Ana just has some restaurants and bars in a faux downtown area. No comparison. Will be interesting to see what become of the Platinum Triangle once its completed. Below is a photo showing whats been completed and what is left to be completed. Its from 2013, so I think they have added and/or changed a few things not shown here.

[LuvSouthOC]

Anaheim is certainly worthy of conversation. And I tend to agree with Mbell that Anaheim is urbanizing very rapidly and has been for many years. I have spent a great deal of time there and am very familiar with it. Had the housing bust not occurred, Anaheim would have been much further along. It seems like tons of condos and apartments (many originally slated for life as condos, but they the bust came and they could not be sold). Santa Ana feels like an small albeit real city, in a traditional sense. In broad terms, however, Anaheim is much bigger in my opinion. The other thing, though, is that Anaheim tends be very development-centric whereas Santa Ana is more gentrification-centric. In the end, Anaheim will be much larger.

The strange thing about Anaheim's development is the San Diego like patterns. It reminds me of a large Mission Valley (for those who are familiar with that area). The growth seems centered around the ball park, etc.