Westside “problem” will solve itself
For the past 10 years or so I’ve driven up and down Placentia to
and from my West 17th street office on a daily basis. I work on the
Westside. I do business on the Westside. My doctor and dentist are on
the Westside. I get my car worked on and washed on the Westside. I
eat lunch (and sometimes breakfast and dinner) on the Westside. I
therefore consider myself qualified to make a few observations of my
own about this “problem.”
Let me start by saying I don’t consider it a problem. What we call
the “Westside” is a largely industrial, light manufacturing area,
with a concentration of apartment buildings and a couple of mobile
home parks. In addition to the few very large manufacturing
companies, which employ hundreds, there are literally dozens and
dozens of small businesses like my own. There are mechanics and brake
shops and sail makers and carpet layers and patio furniture outlets
and sandwich vendors. There are welders and karate studios and auto
repair facilities. There are convenience stores and apparel
manufacturers and plumbing supply houses. With very few exceptions,
these businesses are neat and clean and well kept. They have to be.
They know their customers won’t patronize them initially, or return,
if they aren’t. So what, I ask is the problem? Ask yourself, if they
aren’t here, where will they be? And where will the jobs go?
Yes, there are a few eyesores. Some apartment buildings and
four-plexes and single-family dwellings need to be rehabbed or razed.
But the forces of the marketplace are such that they will likely be
replaced by something bright and new and potentially more profitable
(and thus, contribute more to sales and property taxes) if we simply
leave them alone.
Example: Zubie’s Gilded Cage on Placentia was quietly replaced a
year or two ago by several million dollars worth of Hank’s Electrical
Supply and Motors. This didn’t come as a result of action by the
Planning Commission or a redevelopment agency or by eminent domain.
It came as a result of enlightened self-interest by an entrepreneur
willing to invest his own cash to make some more. Another example is
Roger McGregor’s building, which is an architectural delight. He
invested as well. A lot. Are we to now penalize him, and legions of
others like him, for so doing? I ask again, what’s the problem?
Although it angers many, the Job Center is still thriving. I pass
it several times a day. I’ve yet to witness anyone there acting in a
way other than completely businesslike. Is SOS an indigent magnet?
Maybe, but the last drunk I saw was passed out on a Sunday morning in
the parking lot of a Newport Beach restaurant.
Yes, we have an area with admittedly run-down, high-occupancy
apartments. If there are code violations, I say enforce them. If our
codes don’t support the vigorous renewal this area shouts out for, I
say write new ones. If out-of-town landlords are choosing to
disregard our laws, I say punish them. Could it be that this whole
issue of redevelopment is nothing but a charade, masking a
deep-seated enmity by a percentage of our citizenry toward aliens,
legal or otherwise? I certainly hope not.
By the way, I do have a beef about the Westside. You need an SUV
to negotiate some of its pockmarked streets. West 17th is a prime
example. Isn’t it the city’s responsibility to fix these roads?
Count me among those who believe that nothing done by the
bureaucracy will turn the Westside into Newport Beach. And if it
tries, there will be more losers than winners, and a whole lot of
very angry business owners and happy lawyers. I suggest, rather, that
the council enact legislation to encourage and enhance the potential
gain for investing and reinvesting in this area. And then stand back
and let the laws of capitalism work their magic.
CHUCK CASSITY
Costa Mesa
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.