SANTA PAULA USING CHARM AS ITS LURE.Byline: Teresa Jimenez Daily News Staff Writer Santa Paula's Main Street looks like a traditional, old-style American downtown, with moldings and brick-and-paned windows. It has a diner diner, restaurant resembling the railroad dining car that is its source. In the mid-19th cent., the first dining cars that appeared on trains were nothing more than an empty car with a fastened-down table. George M. and a hardware store, a pool hall and shop that passes as a department store, though it's the size of a regular storefront. It's also home to a chiropractor chiropractor a practitioner in chiropractic. chiropractor A health professional trained in chiropractic; chiropractors do not perform surgery or prescribe drugs; of 50,000 licensed chiropractors in the US, many practice 'straight' chiropractic, ie and an eye doctor - even a small movie theater. This downtown had begun to look old and tired before the community decided to step in and dust it off. Now, the transformation has begun. If it succeeds, it will be the little town that could. With just 27,000 residents, it is one of the smaller cities attempting to create a downtown district. Officials here can attest To solemnly declare verbally or in writing that a particular document or testimony about an event is a true and accurate representation of the facts; to bear witness to. To formally certify by a signature that the signer has been present at the execution of a particular writing so as to the hard work, and hope to create an example. The time has come to wait and see. The trees have been planted and wood benches with green side railings have been placed next to matching garbage cans. The street has been repaved and awaits crosswalk markings. Store owners have begun putting up matching awnings. A vacant storefront sits here and there, and one business has painted in its windows that it is going out of business. But other store owners know change is coming. Soon, city officials and business people hope, tourists will flock to Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. to walk their newly widened sidewalks and admire this town - the one used for the filming of the recent ``Leave it To Beaver'' movie. ``Santa Paula is near one of the largest markets on the West Coast. People are dying to get away to quaint quaint adj. quaint·er, quaint·est 1. Charmingly odd, especially in an old-fashioned way: "Sarah Orne Jewett . . . towns,'' said Ken Cott, economic development director for the city. ``They can come here and take a ride on a steam train. They can shop in our old district. We have a diamond in the rough. We're polishing those diamonds.'' Seeing the changes, business people have started calling with questions about investing, Cott said. A paint-your-own-ceramics store just opened, and a crowd of children and parents can be seen inside on a regular basis, he said. Other arts-and-crafts businesses are on their way. It didn't come easy. Planning for the Main Street area began in 1993, with a series of community meetings held to find out what residents wanted to see, Cott said. About 100 people attended various workshops to bring downtown back. ``Like other cities in California There are 478 incorporated cities in California, 22 of which are styled "Town of (Name)" instead of "City of (Name)." They are arranged in alphabetical order, with the "towns" marked '*'. Under California law (see, e.g. , this was an old, traditional city,'' Cott said. ``It had clothing stores and a balance of merchants. With the Wal-Marts and the big stores, many went to the mall.'' One thing was clear from the meetings. The city had assets that made it special - the historic railroad railroad or railway, form of transportation most commonly consisting of steel rails, called tracks, on which freight cars, passenger cars, and other rolling stock are drawn by one locomotive or more. depot, the Union Oil Museum, the steam train and the Glen Tavern tavern: see inn. where Clark Gable gable Triangular section formed by a roof with two slopes, extending from the eaves to the ridge where the two slopes meet. It may be miniaturized over a dormer window or entranceway. is said to have stayed. ``There's a movie history,'' Cott said. ``This was the hub of Hollywood before there was Hollywood.'' After deciding what was important to the community, the city pursued grants and began preparing for guests. Cott and others know the town is beginning to shine. ``Now the public is pushing us,'' Cott said. ``Go, man, go!'' |
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