Mixed-Use Faces Mixed Reviews in Fullerton

The project is called SoCoWalk, and it has received numerous awards and accolades according to the developer's website. But the Los Angeles Times reports that the community doesn't see the project as integrating with their neighborhood:

"Discontent with SoCo Walk abounds. Neighbors of the project say its residents don't mix with the existing community. And though some SoCo Walk residents say their lives improved when they dropped the commute, many worry they're too close to downtown and all its attendant problems. The harshest critics say the project was badly executed.

Against this backdrop, Fullerton officials are contemplating approving Amerige Court, a five-story mixed-use complex with more than 100 residential units and 30,000 square feet of retail and office space in the heart of downtown. The Planning Commission voted last month against recommending the project to the City Council, which takes up the project today.

SoCo Walk was controversial from the start. To make room for the project, landowners razed several single-family homes -- eliminating a chunk of the Truslow neighborhood, a mostly poor, predominantly Latino community. Inside the SoCo Walk, a coffee shop is closed. A sign on the door says developers refused to provide access to adequate electricity for a food-service business. A yogurt shop also remains shuttered."