Greening of the city

Spring is just around the corner and it seems that many areas of the city are in a blossoming mode. Optimism about the future comes from several quarters, including the fact that the city will no longer be on the hook for the millions of dollars it will take to repair and restore Bluebird Canyon.

Plans are moving forward for a new Village Entrance where Laguna Canyon Road meets Forest Avenue, which has been in the planning stages for more years than many want to remember.

A real Civic Arts District is also moving forward, and with the relocation of the city-maintenance yard to a parcel farther up the canyon, the way is paved for expansion of the district to include the Laguna College of Art & Design ? making this part of the city “arts central.”

We hope a way can be found for the Laguna Art Museum to move into the expanded Arts District, which would be the crowning touch. We understand that museum officials have hired a consultant toward this end and are working quietly to make it happen.

Another sign of good things to come lies in the completion of the first step in restoring Laguna Creek, which, of course, bisects what will become the main landing spot for visitors to the city, when the now-defunct sewage treatment plant (the “digester”) is fully cleaned up and restored as a visitor center, and a 600-space parking garage is in place.

Despite some criticism that too much effort is being expended on the parking structure ? to the detriment of planning for the rest of the Village Entrance ? this is really the key to solving the city’s summer festival traffic jams.

The arts is what defines Laguna Beach and it is what draws hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city. Accommodating these visitors and taking their vehicles off the city’s small streets will bring relief to residents who must traverse the city’s streets in their daily lives.

The Civic Arts District and the Village Entrance are a great twosome that will serve the city in many ways.

With Bluebird Canyon landslide issues on the mend, there is every reason to be optimistic about the city’s future.