In response to the article in Monday's Daily Pilot, "West 19th street
awaits word on its future," I have lived at the west end of 19th
street for about eight years, at first as a renter of the condos at
the end of 19th by the Santa Ana River, and then later as a home
owner on Federal Avenue.
I have always believed and still do believe that West 19th Street
is a ghetto. When I first moved here, I was sometimes a little scared
to drive around. I still avoid the Smart and Final parking lot after
dark.
I believe that the West 19th businesses cater more to poorer
renters than to the typical middle-class home owner. I normally have
to drive to the 17th Street Ralph's or the Home Depot on Harbor to do
all my shopping or eating. None of the older, rundown businesses
along West 19th appeal to me. The newly built auto-parts store is
nice but that's about it.
It also seems that since West 19th street is so run down that the
city of Costa Mesa does not care to maintain the actual street
surface either. There are so many potholes and other street damage. I
broke a piece of my car's suspension driving down West 19th Street a
few years ago. It has been in a horrible state of disrepair for
years, for as long as I can remember it. Sure, new electric light
poles are nice, but it's a Band-Aid attempt to beautify the area.
Since the long-disputed West 19th bridge, connecting Costa Mesa to
Huntington Beach, is not going to be built, the city needs to move on
and renovate the entire area. Look at what has happened to various
business areas along 17th Street, such as the Ralphs shopping center
or the shopping center where Mi Casa is, or the Home Depot or Target
shopping areas. They are truly nice places to shop and help to bring
up the entire surrounding area.
Waiting on the typical small business owner along west 19th Street
to renovate the area is never going to happen. They have had their
chance to do it for years and have not.
As a middle-class home owner who wants a better area for my family
to live in, I suggest the following:
First, reconstruct West 19th Street and Placentia Avenue.
Second, rezone or take over some of the larger shopping centers
along West 19th street to renovate them. I'm speaking of centers such
as the El Metate grocery store, the area next to Smart and Final and
the shopping area next to Bank of America. Those shopping centers are
in serious need of upgrading.
Last, I am against any more rental-living properties, as suggested
in the article. Costa Mesa rental-living areas are a blight on the
city. There are far too many of them. They only seem to bring down
the property values of the surrounding homes. Many areas, like Center
Street and Shalimar Drive, just need to be bulldozed and started
over.
DAVID LEWIS
Costa Mesa
