Health & Fitness
Should Laguna Niguel Invest in a Downtown?
Should Laguna Niguel plan high-density, mixed-use transportation-friendly development?
In a recent article in the New York Times called the "Death of the Fringe Suburb," opinion writer Christopher Leinberger states the opinion that the outer suburbs of large cities are doomed and never to come back due to the high cost of gas and traffic congestion. He further claims that both the baby boom generation born 1946-1964 and the millennial, born 1979 through 1996 prefer walkable, high-density, mixed-use communities.
Considering that Laguna Niguel is a planned community with strip malls, and streets designed around cars, is this the plan Laguna Niguel should maintain for the future? Does Laguna Niguel and other Orange County cities need to rethink their future planning? Many of our malls contain and our housing prices remain low. Would creating a higher density, walkable business and living areas close to transportation help our future?
The city of Aliso Viejo is experimenting with mixed-use development in an area being developed by Vantis, also known as the Vantis CBO or (community benefit overlay) where higher density residential is mixed with retail and other business type development. The area is near Aliso Viejo Parkway and Enterprise St. The development is still largely automobile centered.
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Laguna Niguel is currently planning the area which is near the I-5 and 73 toll road and Camino Capistrano. The Laguna Niguel train station is located in the middle of this area. So far, preliminary plans show residential and retail businesses coming to this area although there is some concern about what this will do to existing businesses.
Now that the , would the city benefit from from establishing the new kind of mixed-use development as seen in Pasadena and Fullerton around the City Hall? Imagine a light rail line connecting the train station to a "downtown" Laguna Niguel and continuing on along to the ocean. Or perhaps a new pedestrian-friendly development that would encompass the area around Crown Valley and Niguel Road and Alicia Parkway? Is it time to reconsider these alternatives?
