How long do we want to live here?

[mrmrsmtnlaurel]

We are trying to decide how long we want to live in Mountain Cove. Do we want spend the rest of our lives here, 10 years, or maybe just a couple more years?

We are having trouble answering it because we are not sure how much the city of Azusa will change over the next few years. If the city improves quickly and turns into a wonderful city, we can see ourselves live here forever. But if the changes are minimal and slow, we would rather move to a nicer city, even if we have to pay more.

How aggressive is the city going to be in improving it? We don't want to wait 20 years for it to change. We realize that changes do not typically happen overnight but we also have not seen an aggressive plan to really make this city something special. The downtown has potential, but potential does not mean anything unless you have a creative plan and goals to make it happen. What plans have been created to really make this city stand out? If there are currently not any plans that will do this, do you have any suggestions? What do you think it would take to make the downtown successful? What events or designs of the downtown could be created to make people want to say "that downtown is a lot of fun and I would like to go there frequently"?

The city of Azusa has something that most other cities don't have, the entrance to the forest with a river running through it. Maybe the city can build off of that. Any ideas? Brainstorming currently in session!

[Jen]

I would like to see more bike trails, and they should join up with the main bike trail. There should be a trail that goes to the downtown. The city should make it easy and safe for people to get around on bikes. If enough people use the trails, it could give us a good excuse to get more exercise, and it could reduce the traffic on the roads.

[MtnGirl]

Hello,

My guess is the best way to find out what the city is doing is to ask them, check out the city web site and go to some of the city meetings. I'm sure that you can ask the city for the dates of the events.

The city web site is at -
www.ci.azusa.ca.us/

[hiker]

I'm glad to see that the bike trail is finally being worked on. As for brainstorming and just throwing out ideas, it seems to me that there are already too many theaters in the area so the city is going to have to be more creative in getting people to the downtown.

What about if they had carnival booths and small rides (like bumper cars) mixed in with the stores and restaurants? I don't know if it could be designed to work or not.

What about creating a theme for the downtown. For example, what if it had a jazz theme, an art theme, a native american theme (after the original settelers of the area), a wildlife/forest theme (Rainforest Cafe, painting and photography nature galleries, bike stores, hiking stores, fruit and vegetable stands, craft stores), etc. I'm just throwing out ideas. I realize that some of these ideas, possibly all of them, are bad. But I think that discussing ideas might result in other ideas that might work.

[MtnGirl]

I like the forest theme idea. I don't know what that would look like. Maybe a hotel like the California Hotel in Disneyland could be built
disneyland.disney.go.com/dlr/detail/hotel?id=GrandCalifornianHotelPage

It could be kind of a downtown amusement center.

As for theaters, do you think that a specialized theater might work. Like a foreign films theater, or an independent film theater.

[MtnGirl]

The original poster mentioned something about rides. It sounds something like a place that I like to stop at everytime I drive up to Frisco. My kids love it.
www.beachboardwalk.com/

[Jen]

What about an international restaurant theme?

We could have a Dutch restaurant, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, Hawaiian, Australian, Cuban, Salvadoran, Indian, African, French, Greek, Russian, Mediteranean, Carribean, Southern Food, California Cusine, etc. You know what they say, variety is the spice of life.

I love to dine out.

[Sagebrush resident]

New idea - a craft theme. Stores could include oil and water color painting (painting classes), pottery store with classes, wood carving, stained glass store, potted plants store (lessons on designing custom planters).

If the city goes for the forest theme, maybe they could ask REI to move over here.

[MTN COVER]

I think it would be great to try and hold onto the quaintness(word?) of Azusa. Sierra Madre seems to have done a good job in doing that, as has Monrovia, although probably to a lesser degree. Main Street(I think) in Monrovia has a great feel to it. A couple of nice restaurants, a pizza place, a book store. No pawn shops, McD's, or deserted used furniture places.

[Sagebrush resident]

I came up with a few more store ideas with a craft theme:

A bead store, we can make our own jewelry.
Needle point/embroidery store
Fused glass / stained glass store


In addition, I think that it would be nice to have a dance school that specialized in classes that teach dance and help you stay fit, as well as possibly yoga classes.

[business perspective]

From a business perspective, the first thing the city needs to decide is what market or markets do they want to target? They need to target a market that is preferable untaped and that has enough money in it to be profitable for the investors, which in this case, I think would be the business owners.

My guess would be that the city wants to target local residents. Looking at the income demographics of Azusa, in order for businesses to survive, they are going to have to be able to draw from the surrounding cities. Then the question is what will draw these residents in? The best thing to do would design it for regional success, hire local workers, encourage locals to start businesses, and bring the local income demographics up. This will result in improving the quality of life of the residents in Azusa, improve the image of Azusa, and make it a better city.

[Sagebrush resident]

I wish that we had a combination of shopping, dining and entertainment. There is a new center opening in Rancho Cucamonga. it would be great if the downtown could do something like this design:

www.victoriagardensie.com/home.asp

Virtual tour -
www.victoriagardensie.com/shop-virtualtour.asp

[Sagebrush resident]

Groundbreaking ceremony for victoria gardens

[Jen]

The Victoria Gardens project is pretty impressive. I agree, I would love to see a project like that in downtown Azusa.

It seems to me that the reason why some areas are successful and some are not is becuase the area needs to have the correct balance to bring enough people to the are to make it successful. Monrovia started by getting the theaters and built from there. I don't think that we can put a large multiplex thater in downtown Azusa because there are too many other theaters in the area (AMC is too close). There needs to be a few anchors and attractions to bring people to the area on a regular basis.

[MtnGirl]

I was just looking at that web site for Victoria Gardens. Very nice. That would be great if the city could do something like that. I love downtown Monrovia, but it would be difficult to create something with the same character as downtown Monrovia because we do not have enough of the old buildings.

I think that we should come up with our own unique character. What about something in between what downtown Monrovia has and what they are doing in Victoria Gardens?

What if the buildings in the downtown were made out of adobe or something a little different? I wonder what the indians that used to live here used to build their homes out of?

Or, since the city would like to keep the character of the history of Azusa, and they like the craftsman look, what about having a craftsman/ Frank Lloyd Wright looking downtown?

I don't know, just brainstorming.

[Lester]

Hello,

I was thinking about what everyone has said and came up with an idea. I’m a little biased here because I appreciate and prefer creative and environmentally friendly designs. Taking into account that the city is against the forest and has a river running through it, I think that it would be nice if the buildings that were built showed a respect for nature by using natural and environmentally friendly building materials, and taking structural designs that are out of nature. As with Frank Lloyd Wright, design the downtown so that it fits in within its environment. It would also be nice to also include sustainability guidelines. If you want to get really creative, we could have a manmade stream run through the front and/or inside (covered with thick tempered glass along the floor) of the buildings on one side of the street. Some buildings could have it uncovered, where people can eat in restaurants next to the manmade stream/river. Just as the San Gabriel River is the spine of the canyon. The downtown should be the spine of the community. Build up the romance of the forest and river and bring a symbol of it into the downtown. Connect the downtown to nature.

[Jen]

I have an idea for a business that will work in the downtown and fits in with the forest theme. What about a small store that looks like a gingerbread house, as with the fairy tale Hanzel and Grettle. It could make a good candy store. Or it could be a childrens toy/book store.

There is a store in Claremont called Sherwood Florist. It would be great to have them open a branch in the downtown as well.

It is too bad that Northwoods in was not North of the freeway, that would have gone well with the theme as well.

[Jen]

Coming up with ideas is fun.

What about a small hotel that looks like it was designed to be in the forest, near a ski lodge? It would be nice to have a quality hotel in the area, preferably with fine dining as well.

[Lisa]

I have one.

What about a small building that looks like a huge hollow tree trunk. It would make a good location for a bird watching store that offers bird watching supplies and supplies to encourage birds into the backyard. It would also help in encouarging more bird watching in the forest.

[Jen]

Here is a web site that gives research as to what it takes to create a successful public place:
www.pps.org/topics/gps/gr_place_feat

[zip]

What about a store front that is all glass, with the exception of a huge looking hiking boot, side view and the entrance doors going through it? It would make a great entrance for a hiking and rock climbing supply store.

[hiker]

I have one. A small restaurant with indoor/outdoor seating that is called "The Wilderness Cafe" or "Gypsy Cafe." It would have a big bon fire in the outside eating area and a man-made stream going through the restaurant. It could be something like the Blue Bayou restaurant in Disneyland but with good food. www.mouseplanet.com/drr/drrnos.htm

Or the food could be camping type food. The restaurant could offer sing-a-longs around the camp fire, story telling, tribal drum circles at nights with a full moon on a Fri. or Sat., gypsy music, etc. They could have someone going around the tables reading tea leaves and giving card readings. The front of the building could have an old looking gypsy cart....which symbolizes gypsies traveling through the forest. I think that this would help bring the "romanticism" of the forest to the downtown. With the gypsy theme, maybe there could be a couple taditional Romanian dishes.

[Lester]

More store ideas:

EcoSalon - a salon that uses natural and non-toxic products. Most salons use dangerous toxic products that are dangerous and cancer casuing to both the sylists and the customers.

Wet Clean Service - an alternative to dry cleaning. Much more environmentally friendly way to launder clothing.

Yoga / Fitness Dance Studio - Teaches you to balance your mind, body and soul. Dance classes can be a fun way to stay fit and are good practice for the next time you hit the dance floor.

Juice Bar

Tea House

Wine Bar

Vegetarian Friendly Restaurant

Nature Art Gallery

Designer Clothing Stores

Natural Foods Store/ Fresh Fruit Stand (like Tom's Farm)

[ToTheSoul]

"amerika ist das einzige volk was den sprung von der barbarei in die dekadenz geschafft hat ohne den umweg über eine kultur zu nehmen"

Translation: America is the only nation that made their way from barbarianism directly to decadence without a detour over culture.

Culture should not just be for the wealthy. It should be for all people. It would be nice to have artistic cultural elements to the downtown. Possibly allowing artists to display their sculptures along the street.

[Blue]

I would like to see a small independent theater downtown, artists with artist lofts. I would like the downtown to have a cool trendy vibe to it. A place that is always changing and delveloping. Creative.

[mtncovelover4]

There are two vacant building south of the cafe. Might be a nice spot!

[Blue Girl]

I would like an outdoor French style cafe where I can break bread with friends and have a little wine and cheese.

[invitation]

With Laguna Beach and Pasadena having new swanky stores put in, that means that their traditional stores will be pushed out. I think that the city of Azusa has an opportunity to at least try an encourage some of these people forced to move out of these cities to come to Azusa and fill up our downtown with wonderful creative shops. Let these small store owners know that we want them to come to Azusa. It is worth an attempt.

Laguna Beach Sees Grass Roots Wilting
www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-laguna26dec26,0,7737776.story?coll=la-home-local

[RS]

Guest-invitation said:

With Laguna Beach and Pasadena having new swanky stores put in, that means that their traditional stores willbe pushed out. I think that the city of Azusa has an opportunity to at least try an encourage some of these people forced to move out of these cities to come to Azusa and fill up our downtown with wonderful creative shops.

I'm sorry, but I disagree with you almost entirely. First of all, your statement regarding Pasadena is way off the mark. Which stores WILL be pushed out? The only swanky store to be opening in Pasadena, Tiffany, is taking the place (only partially, too) of an aging United Artist movie theater that closed it's own doors on the corner of Delacey and Colorado. Nothing pused the theater (not exactly a small business) out; it left on its own.

Saks Fifth Avenue is in a historic building on DeLacey and Union, right off Colorado - and it, too, is closing it's own doors to cut costs. Is this one of the "small-time" businesses being "pushed out" that you're referring to? I know of no other impending closures - ?

"Swanky" (as you call them) retailers like Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, Gap, Cheesecake Factory, and Starbucks have existed in Pasadena for many years already - and have HELPED bring traffic to the smaller businesses and independent eateries. The best ones (such as Jake's, 21 Flavors, Wockano, Penny Lane, Old Town Music, Wilshire Fireplace, Studio A), the ones that offered something special to old town, are the ones that survived and will continue to do well.

Azusa NEEDS to bring in more high-profile anchor businesses, retailers, services, and eateries FIRST to attract patronage. That is what really works. People walk around Monrovia's downtown shops, and in the middle of it all, feel compelled to go to Coldstone Creamery or to Starbucks - two places with a reputation as among the best at what they do. Knowing those stores are there brings a degree of familiarity and comfort to people visiting the downtown.

I'd give anything to have ColdStone come in to Azusa's downtown! Bring that and a Trader Joe's, and with the plan to redevelop the Azusa Ranch center (see the Gold Line Tomorrow website), and the smaller businesses who truly have something great to offer will succeed.

I admit that Downtown Azusa lacks in good Thai or Sushi restaurants, and truly GOOD diners and cafes. Our downtown is without a music or interesting antique store; no nice furniture or housewares. Several have tried but you fail without the foot traffic brought in by better known retailers.

All I'm saying is that you need a mix of both to succeed, but the major anchors have to come in first. Old Town Pasadena is not about to suffer some exodus of independent retailers (they're actually looking to FILL soon to be empty space) and it would be pie in the sky to try and lure Laguna Beach coastal retailers all the way to canyon-close Azusa.

[invitation]

I realize that the it would be difficult to encourage businesses to move here or open an additional store here without some kind of plan by the city to turn it into something exciting. But, now is the time for the city to take the risk to create a plan and ask these store owners if they there is any interest. Asking them questions would not take very much money. Maybe the downtown can turn into something very special from the answers that they hear, which may help in guiding them.