renaissance: a renewal of life, vigor, interest, etc.; rebirth; revival
Oh mi God, did I just use the words “Renaissance” and “Newhall” in the same sentence?
Indeed I did. Because that’s how impressed I am with the remaking of Old Town Newhall. Join me on a brief visual tour of this strange and new place:
More than anything else, the streetscaping of half of Main Street -completed just last year- has not only remade the look and feel of Newhall, it’s really unified the area. By streetscaping, I’m counting the diversion of traffic onto Railroad, the new and handsome brickwork on the sidewalk, the benches, lights, and horse tie-off posts (sorry) and even the sapling trees.
This place is now a pedestrian-oriented shopping and entertainment district. To invoke Bob Kellar, it’s fantastic ladies and gentlemen.
It’s a pleasure to walk around this area of town now. It no longer feels scummy, run-down or forgotten. They’ve built it into a centerpiece for the community. It’s a place you want to spend time in, and I dare say it’s more enjoyable to stroll in this area of town that it is to walk around Town Center Drive or Bridgeport Marketplace or any of the other dime-a-dozen strip malls in town.
A great sidewalk is one thing, but what is actually in Old Town Newhall that could attract you? Well, it’s not there yet (perhaps not even close), but businesses are recognizing the benefits of OTN now and things are starting to come together.
In this block you can see the nice facade of Cooksbook Plus. For the foodies, it easily rivals Barnes & Noble and other big-box retailers when it comes to cookbooks. Likewise, next door is the Out West retailer, which, to be honest, I haven’t had the courage to enter (I’m a phony westerner who is allergic to horses).
Point is that there are businesses in Newhall that the average Valencian or Stevenson Ranch person might find attractive now.
And even if there aren’t, there’s other reasons to come down:
The Newhall Farmer’s market is still going on Thursday afternoons. I know it’s nothing compared to the COC Farmer’s market, but surely it’s a welcome weekly event for this side of the valley. In the springtime, it’s nice to come down here after work with your wife and buy some fruits to tide you over until Sunday.
As The Signal reported, OTN recently scored another new tenant that ought to attract SCVers. Newhall Bicycle, owned by Roger Hasper, moved from an industrial/grungy spot on Railroad to a property roughly half the size on Main Street. Roger told me he’s saving a bundle of money on Main Street, the parking is better, and the store has more visibility.
When I visited last, he all but offered to have a valet service for people who bicycled to the farmer’s market. Cool huh?
I support all of the SCV’s bicycle shops (all of them locally owned by the way), but Roger’s has a hipness element to it that the others lack. Stop in and check it out and look forward to this summer’s reggae party, which might be out in the street.
One more detail shot of the handsome brickwork. Doesn’t the Walk of Fame look 10 times better surrounded by brick than old concrete?
There are other tasteful and subtle details in OTN. I dig these “Newspaper” racks that line Main Street. Classy and much nicer looking than the standard news racks.
You can see some of the merchants and businesses down there are taking note of the Renaissance. The dentist hung hung a little tooth sign, much nicer than a big neon board or giant marquee.
It’s also cool that the REP and CTG are still going strong in OTN.
Of course, the OTN Renaissance can have other effects as well. Downtown areas tend to attract crazy people, and now Newhall, just like the big cities we all moved here to escape from, has crazy people too. This woman was protesting outside of Supervisor Antonovich’s field office, exhorting people like the unfortunate elderly woman above to read the US of A Constitution.
When I asked her what she was protesting she went on a crazy rant against Department of Child and Family Services, the LA County Sheriff’s Department, and the Megan’s Law list her husband was now on (eek).
I figure she wouldn’t be protesting if there wasn’t foot traffic, so I count her protest as a success for Old Town Newhall. I know you moved here to get away from this kind of thing, but there’s really nothing to be afraid of!
During this long weekend, I really encourage you to come down to OTN and have a walk-about. I only covered part of it. I think you’ll be pleased.
I drive through OTN much more than I stroll through it primarily because I very rarely need to pawn anything or buy cigarettes (items I have bought in the area, though: rubber boots, haircut, 2.5′ llama pinata, mediocre donut from Jazmin’s bakery).
However, we walked around there a couple of weeks ago after breakfast at the Way Station, and I agree that it’s nice. I’ve always wanted to have a hitching post for my steed, and there are spades of them along the street now. Furthermore, the loiterers are more picturesque when they sit on the nice wooden benches surrounded by autumn sage and painted trashcans. But seriously, it does look better and I can tolerate the themey Western vibe and I think outsiders will feel more at ease parking and shopping there. BTW, is that photo the whole extent of the farmers’ market?
Thank you Jeff. thankyouthankyouthankyou.
You ain’t seen nothing yet! Streetscape part deux and groundbreaking for the new 27,000 sq. ft. Newhall Library this year!
Gail,
While we have you, why not do a certified Farmers’ Market instead of the flea market we have now? Has the city tried to lure Ventura County FMs (the people who do COC)?
Mike,
The simple answer is yes. Right now each has its time and place.
The Farmer’s Market is a certified market.
wow, since when? that’s good news. (I just verified it)
The rework reminds me of Garden Grove’s historic main street (worth the trek to see the Elvis collection at JJ’s “Azteca Restaurant“).
That’s a serious compliment — but GG’s has more eateries. That will seal the deal for most, and add more of what we all want: authentic, local restaurants.
It has always been a certified since it started back in the parking lot.
I’ve been there and I’ve seen many sellers that were clearly selling someone else’s goods. IIRC, they even had a labeling system to distinguish the actual farmers from the others.
Nice job, Jeff.
Pingback: SCVTalk.com » Blog Archive » Living Large in Newhall