2007-027 - Land Use Element and the Urban Design Element

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URBAN DESIGN ELEMENT ... A pedestrian oriented community has an average 114 mile walking distance between transit stops and the core commercIal area Resolution No. 2007-027 Revised (~e0241 of 35 Districts tend to be smaller and bener defined near the city core. These characteristics tend to be less evident, the further away the district is from the city center The older residential districts, located near the downtown center, serve as the fundamental basis for Santa Ana's existing urban form. The exception to this however is Santa Ana's newer commercial and mixed use districts: Main Place, South Coast Metro, Metro East, and MacArthur Place. Neighborhood associations have been formed throughout Santa Ana, and their creation is based on characteristics such as geographic location and ease of association. Most organized neighborhoods have development panerns similar to those found in adjacent neighborhoods. For example, Bristol Manor has similar street lights, lot sizes, subdivision panerns and building scale as the adjacent Wilshire Square. Although neighborhoods generally tend to be cohesive in architecture form, they may also be socially and politically organized. These neighborhood associations create perceived districts even though they are not necessarily defined by physical boundaries that would set the neighborhood apart from nearby neighborhoods. Floral Park and West Floral Park are separate neighborhood associations. Even though they are technically separate, they are more visually located in the same urban design district. Park Santiago or Riverview West are examples of where design districts and neighborhoods are the same. Paths Paths are the means by which people travel throughout the City including freeways, streets, walkways, and bikeways. Another important function of paths is to create linkages between districts, nodes, and other destination points. These linkages maybe strengthened by view corridors associated with landmarks, natural features, and open spaces. Key urban design issues related to "paths" include the following: . Paths include freeways and main thoroughfares and serve as the framework for the City's urban form. Two of these streets, Main Street and First Street, also serve as the "axis" for the City's street numbering system. These roadways are the primary east-west, and north-south transportation routes, intersecting at the heart of downtown Santa Ana. 8