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ELEMENTS OF THE CITY For planning purposes, this element breaks the visual form of Santa Ana into several key components that organize the city, including districts, travelways, activity nodes / urban hubs, focus intersections, landmarks, and gateways. The following sections define these elements and describe their desired role in shaping the visual character of Santa Ana. The goals and policies detailed in this element provide a framework to guide future improvements and ensure that changes to the physical aspects of Santa Ana help create a more vivid and memorable urban experience that is reflective of community values. DISTRICTS As illustrated in Figure UD-1, Districts, Santa Ana is composed of component districts, which refer to the areas of the city that have consistent design features with a strong context and interrelationship of activities. For example, the Downtown, the Civic Center, the area around the transit center, and the industrial areas all form unique districts. Much of the city consists of neighborhood districts that are characterized by residential land -use patterns, including small amounts of neighborhood -serving commercial uses. There are, however, distinct districts within the neighborhood district category, like French Park, that are defined by the street grid, streetscaping, lot sizes, subdivision patterns, building scale, and other common physical features. This similarity of physical characteristics can be expressed by any attribute that is repeatedly found throughout a district. For example, between 4th and 17th Streets, Tustin Avenue contains similar building types, landscaped edges, and other qualities that create a sense of place. Defining attributes may include architectural styles, scale, pattern, overall character, orsupportof a primary organizing feature (as in the Civic Center and mixed -use districts clustered around streetcar stations). M1, CITY OF SANTA ANA GENERAL PLAN 4 The Image of the City The approach used in the identification of key urban design issues in this element is adapted from the work of Kevin Lynch. Lynch characterized a city's urban form according to selected components or "Elements of the city.^ KEY ISSUES » Older districts tend to be smaller and better defined near the city core. » The boundaries of neighborhood districts away from the city core tend to be more flexible and can overlap. » Newer, large-scale commercial and mixed -use developments generally create new districts that have well-defined characteristics and boundaries distinct from the existing urban fabric. » The boundaries of established neighborhood associations may divide a single district defined by common physical features, creating perceived districts not defined by physical characteristics. 4 District Boundary A neighborhood district featuring single-family homes and narrower, tree -lined streets abuts a commercial district.