The Shape of Things to Come

Tonight as I walked down Santa Ana Boulevard to pick up a few delicious pounds of carne asada at Northgate Market, a gleeful vision of what's to come danced through my mind.

With Lennar rapidly finishing the final development of the Santiago Street Lofts, bigger and better developments will soon follow. Our community is successful and thriving, and it will be only a matter of time when the ball starts to roll on other neighboring projects.

Passing the Prime Urban office off Santa Ana Boulevard, I thought about two upcoming and exciting developments that these way cool and down-to-earth guys have in the works in this area.

Minter Court, a unique bungalow-style development consisting of 10 newly constructed town homes designed around central courtyards should most likely break ground later this year. If you haven't been inside the Prime Urban office, I highly suggest stopping by. You'll quickly become a believer in their work as soon as you step through their doors (they have a hypno-ray hidden somewhere behind all that brick).

The second project, although a bit further out should get all residents of and near the Santiago Street Lofts excited. The Depot Project is looking to feature anywhere from 12-16 ground-level retail shops/restaurants/cafes with 4-5 stories of new (residential) neighbors living along Santiago Street.

You know as soon as this project is underway, I'll be on the phone with Chipotle headquarters trying to get them to fill one of those retail pads.

In recent weeks, the OC Register has reported that the city of Santa Ana is moving forward with their plan to develop streetcars running from the Santa Ana Train Depot though out the downtown and ending in Garden Grove.

Although I personally love walking and biking through town, the thought of taking a streetcar home after a nice meal downtown does hold a very strong appeal.

I for one am all aboard with the streetcar plan and think it’s a fantastic and exciting idea to help reboot Santa Ana–I just hope that by the time the project is finally completed, I'll still be ways away from qualifying for the senior discount.

So for now, while we may have to put up with the “random feces” or the occasional tag on our complex from one of the local kiddies, things are looking to turn around dramatically in the next couple of years–and it’s that potential that makes living in this area all the worthwhile.