Epic Art Show @ Prime Urban (04/26)

Every now and then I'll bitch and complain about Santa Ana's water, but our water difficulties here are nothing in comparison to that of other countries.

Tomorrow night from 8PM until midnight, Prime Urban will be hosting an art show event where all proceeds will be donated to E.P.I.C–a non-profit organization working to help construct a well in Tanzania to provide clean water for over 7,000 people.

The event will feature both exhibits and live painting by ACTVST Artvarks: Justin Bauer, Meredith Ambruso, Sean Woolsey, as well as others. Music provided by DJ Matter.

$10 cover at the door. All ages are welcome.

This event is sponsored by: Ketel One Vodka, Red Bull, Prime Urban, ACTVST, E.P.I.C, TOMS Shoes, Instrumental Agency.

This event is within stumbling distance from the Santiago Street Lofts. No need to drive.

Prime Urban is located at 511 Santa Ana Boulevard, 92701.

4/20 Sunday in Review

An accident victim.

The other car after the driver abandoned it and bailed on foot. Don't worry, he didn't get far.
And of course, what Sunday would be complete without the obligatory BBQ–now with movie!
Stop lying to yourself. You want to live here. Santa Ana rocks.

April Art Walk

Saturday, April 19th will be the largest art walk to date here at the Santiago Street Lofts with at least 17 galleries open to the public starting at 7PM.

Visit the Santiago Art District website for more information and links to the gallery websites.

Don’t forget to stop by Sundaze Gallery and check out the craftiness of loft resident Mike Paxton. Mike finds neglected secondhand furniture and fully restores it to a glorious mid-century modern look.

These pictures don’t do his work justice.

04/17 Association Meeting

In case you missed the notice in your last HOA statement, there's an association meeting tonight at 6PM in the loft sales office.

UPDATE: Meeting Notes

Parking
The abuse of guest parking was addressed.
Painting the curb to read "Visitor Only" is the first step to deter residents from using those spots.

The next step (if needed) will be to tow vehicles as stated by Lester Tucker (OBAMF) of Lennar.

Landscaping
Although during the last meeting it was stated that Villa Park was "out", they've shown some improvement and OBAMF is willing to give them another 60 days.
Villa Park will also be spraying the bamboo trees for those little fruit flies(?) that invade your house when you open your windows.

I asked if the gardeners can let the bamboo and wall-climbing vines grow a little and not butcher them like a Marine's haircut when they do trim them--
(Gary from Villa Park told me this morning that they keep the bamboo short being that it was a requirement by the fire dept. and the vines short cause his guys can't reach if they get too tall...hmm).

Signs and Banners
The SSL banner on DiRienzo's building and the one missing in front of 704 Santiago are to be repaired/replaced immediately as stated by OBAMF.

Stucco and Paint Damage
The red building facing Civic Center Dr. has had stucco damage for quite some time now.
Eddie "The Man" Cano should be looking into this soon.

I believe that covers the gist of it.

911 on Brown Street

This past Saturday around 7:30PM, the problematic 911 Brown Street property caught on fire from the inside. This unit and others like it are frequently shelters for the homeless or often serve as hangouts for the crackheads.

In my early blogging days, I took a walk with Ray Lirette with the city of Santa Ana in hopes of getting more insight about these vacant lots. As I recall, Ray stated that the acquisition of this unit in particular was a tricky one being that it is locked up in a trust, and the rightful homeowners are most likely deceased.
Too bad the fire department arrived in a matter of seconds to put out the blaze. I'm sure that many of the Lacy residents were like me, hoping that the firemen would just let this unit burn down to the ground.

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.

Crapfiti

This weekend as I was walking the dog around the south side units, I passed through this alley that separates two street-facing buildings.

Walking past the first bamboo planter, I was shocked to see that someone had once again used our community as a public restroom. What's even worse is that culprit squatted against the unit, and as they squeezed out the runny deuce, it created a cascade that scuttled down the stucco.

Taggers take note: If you want to leave your mark and get the attention of everyone, don't do it with markers, etchers or paint, do it with feces.

For some reason, this alley seems to attract the weirdos. In my less than two years of living here, I've: removed graffiti from these service doors numerous times, seen several homeless people sleep between the planters, caught teenage kids smoking weed, asked mothers to not tell their kids it is okay to pee in the alley as they take a break from walking home, and of course, been screamed at by the Poo Lady twice in this very alley.

Never a dull day in the city of Santa Ana.

Got a strong stomach? Click on the image -><- to see the work of the "Ass Bandit".

Amtrak Deal: Buy One Ticket, Get One Free

Amtrak is celebrating the first annual National Train Day with six weeks of festivities culminating on Saturday, May 10, 2008. What better way to celebrate riding the rails than than with a trip with a friend on Amtrak on National Train Day? With this limited time Buy One, Get One Free sale, you can buy a full fare adult ticket and get a free companion ticket valid for travel to any of over 500 Amtrak destinations. But hurry, this one day sale is valid for sale on April 4th only.

Click here for the deal.

...and Museum?

The other day while riding my bike through the city, I came across this awesome sign down by the Santa Ana Jail. I'd imagine it's an either/or trip to that office.

A good friend of mine put it best: "You have two ends of the spectrum colliding: the dredges of society and the things worth keeping.


Inmate: "What took you so long man!?"

Bailer: "Well...see, they kind of had this museum at the bail bonds office and we sorta lost track of time."