Vanessa Wyatt

A banner hangs above Main Street in Alhambra. (Vanessa Wyatt_UT)

“Old town” areas in cities like La Verne, Santa Ana, Orange and San Diego draw visitors and shoppers and help those cities boost jobs and tax revenue.

Some Alhambra residents and city leaders wonder if the same could happen in their city.

Longtime resident Marisol Grier, a realtor by trade, has pitched the idea informally, even created a Facebook page called Old Town Alhambra Project, and city leaders seem open to the idea.

“It’s a really interesting concept and, I’m excited about the prospects,” said Jeffrey Koji Maloney, an Alhambra city council member. “One of the things that that we’ve done and that I have been asking for, for a while now is for the creation of a zoning plan for that portion of Main Street, that would sort of set it, you know, provide a clear set of guidelines for land use and design and development regulations there.”

In 2019, Grier and her neighbors successfully opposed a proposal that would have built a 62-foot-high medical office building and three accompanying parking structures at 801 East Main Street. After the city council rejected that development, Grier began to notice multiple empty lots on Main Street.

When Grier thought about charming “old town” areas she had visited, it sparked the idea for something similar in Alhambra.

A handful of small businesses shuttered in the city in recent months after closures intended to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Grier said the hope is that the Old Town Alhambra Project could also help revive some of those businesses and attract new ones by refurbishing older structures found on Alhambra’s Main Street. More businesses and customers would mean more revenue for the city.

“We keep the buildings and structures original,” said Grier. “We paint them, we put some awnings on there, we add some greenery to the sidewalk, maybe attract new businesses, bistro businesses, small businesses [and] an anchor store.”

As of now, the Old Town Alhambra Project is just an idea.

“The City of Alhambra does not have any plans for an Old Town Alhambra project. Our understanding is this is an idea from a group of residents, and subsequently, since it is a resident idea there are no plans or cost estimates,” said Jessica Binquist, the city manager of Alhambra.

Still, Grier is determined and said she’ll persist on rallying support for the project. She said to her, it’s not just about bringing revenue to the city, but it’s also about helping people connect and building community.

“I think reconnection is needed. It’s not even a want. We need shopping. We need places to go. We need places to stroll, we need to be outdoors,” she said. “This is the opportunity because we have these empty lots to create this vision here.”

More information and updates can be found on the Old Town Alhambra Facebook page that Grier hosts and that has over 470 followers.