Anaheim Renovates The Road To Summer
- Sarah Hofmann
- Jul 22, 2022
- 5 min read
In the first half of the 20th century, Beach Boulevard served day trippers traveling from inland Orange County to Huntington Beach, earning it the nickname “The Road to Summer.” Even today, most drivers are likely to want to get through the boulevard as quickly as possible, bypassing an unattractive streetscape of strip malls and seedy motels. Now, Anaheim is attempting to revitalize 1.5-mile stretch of the road in hopes that it becomes a new focal area of the city.
The boulevard, which is also a part of State Route 39 and serves over 60,000 vehicles daily, remained popular with travelers for decades, even as Orange County suburbs began popping up in the area. The route is a major north-south artery through western Orange County, serving some of the area’s major tourist attractions, including Knott’s Berry Farm.
“As these suburbs sprang out, and the freeways came along in SoCal in the ’60s and ’70s, they had a better way to travel,” Planning and Building Director Ted White said. “Beach Boulevard. as a traveler’s highway lost its way, and it became more of a commuter highway.” The city shared control of the highway with Caltrans, and neither entity implemented a progressive vision for the road, especially in an era when cities--especially in heavily suburban Orange County--were focusing more on malls and other private spaces than they were on streets and public amenities.
