Reason,
The neighborhood is Floral Park by 17th and Broadway just one block off from Main St.
Check out their website: <a href="http://www.floralpark.com/">www.floralpark.com</a>
In 2005 this neighborhood was the winner of Neighborhood of USA selected from thousands of entries across America. It is the hidden gem in OC with period architecture and mature specimen and fruit trees through out the neighborhood. HOA, Garden Club and Historical preservation are all voluntary.
No home owner due is required but the neighborhood operate on an honor system. Money is raised annually through Floral Park Home and Garden Tour. No one will paint their house purple, park their cars in front of their neighbor’s home just to annoy them, tear down a home and build a castle out of river rocks, park and RV in prominent view, neglected landscape, or not maintaining the nice exterior appearance of their home. Peer pressure to maintaining this "little Pasadena" neighborhood appearance is the silence code of conduct.
I suggest driving through this neighborhood during Christmas time. The decoration and turn of the century street lamps really evoke the beauty of a by gone era that we see only on Christmas cards.
Residents of Floral Park are primarily Anglo Saxon. Many are third generations in Floral Park. Due to the proximity to OC civic center, judiciary center, UCI medical Center, St Joseph and CHOC hospitals its residents consist of many Politicians, surgeons, attorneys and even architects. The wealth in this neighborhood is old money. The taste of the people is restraint and modest. There are BMWs and Mercedes in the neighborhood but the homeowners prefer driving their old collectibles like the Model T Ford, 1930's Rolls Royce and Mercedes.
2 influential architects responsible for the cutting edge projects in Irvine during the last decades reside in Floral Park. The character of this neighborhood is what inspired the thinking of architects, builders and planners on the Irvine Ranch.
The neighborhood was much larger but the Freeway 5 bisected this neighborhood into 2 sections. The Eastern of freeway 5 section is Park Santiago. The West section is still Floral Park. The obscured and hard to find locations spared them from the greedy builders and developers for the last 5 decades. Shea home built some $1.4 million Mc Mansions on the outskirt of the neighborhood but claim them as Floral Park executive homes. They are not selling well at all.
In Park Santiago, there are several historic Victorian homes on Valencia Street. They were built during the 1880's and impeccably maintained with beautiful garden and pools.
In Floral Park pedigree architecture and canopy trees line several key streets. The Italian, Colonial, Southern, French Normandy and Colonial Monterey mansions are on Heliotrope and Victoria. Both Northpark and Riverside have the picturesque style homes like Hansel Gretel, Spanish, East Coast Colonial, Italian country, and fairytale. Porches, dormers and garage at the rear with a very long single car width driveway are the common theme that unites the various but different characters of the house. This link is to a home on Heliotrope. Some homes were built in the 1880's and still standing.
<a href="http://www.santaanarealty.com/listings.php?listingid_lis=41&header=1812%20N%20Heliotrope%20Dr&price=1,359,000&PHPSESSID=9a5df98633035b3be8e4a4edc92f19d9">www.santaanarealty.com/listings.php?listingid_lis=41&header=1812%20N%20Heliotrope%20Dr&price=1,359,000&PHPSESSID=9a5df98633035b3be8e4a4edc92f19d9</a>
Many Police patrol this neighborhood because the paycheck signing politicians live there. The neighborhood is very safe and access to this enclave is restricted by many no turn signs and blocked medians. The rest of Santa Ana has a very different reputation and its crime report is often overly sensationalized by the media. Major Criminal case trials are held in Santa Ana even though the crimes were committed at other cities and brought to Santa Ana. Immigrant and Illegal aliens live in Santa Ana near by free city social services and healthcare agencies. Immigration office in downtown is their second home.
Other setbacks in Santa Ana include lowest ranked schools and the lack of good markets and retails. Target, Kohl and Ralph’s recently went in the neighborhood of Floral Park but that is not really enough. Residents of Floral Park have to drive some distance to Tustin or Orange to shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joes. The near by Mainplace is the community asset. The wealthy Santa Ana citizens along with Henry Segerstrom created the High School of the Arts a decade ago. The policy is open enrollment to students from all cities in OC and attracted students from 30 neighboring cities. Admission is very selective based on talent in arts, music, and writing. Test scores of this school ranked slightly below University High and Troy High in Fullerton but ahead of all other Irvine and Tustin High Schools. Very few Asians attend this school. The tuition is free.
Mater Dei, a private High School for the wealthy Newport Beach and Corona Del Mar kids is also in Santa Ana. Test score is confidential due to its private status.
Many live/work lofts and urban high density housing are being built. A well known Pasadena architect designed a project next to the Bower Museum. <a href="http://www.cordobacourtyards.com/">http://www.cordobacourtyards.com/</a>
The tallest office high rise in OC just started construction on Broadway. It will be 34 stories tall.
There is also an artist village in old Downtown. Many art galleries occupy old brick buildings and warehouses. Cal State Fullerton has its Art Gallery and school there.
Orange County has only a small handful of historic places. It is the die hard citizens who for many years cared and fought for the survival of these neighborhoods. They have the economic mobility to move to places like Newport Beach or Irvine. However, they chose to stay and they are truly the guardians who keep the history and culture of Orange County alive.
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