Hemet Downtown Plan Taps into History, Mobility
- Josh Stephens
- Apr 26, 2017
- 5 min read
In 1883 novelist Helen Hunt Jackson visited what is now the City of Hemet in 1883 to do research for what became her novel Ramona. The title character is orphaned in Southern California following the Mexican-American War and finds adventure and romance on the frontier. Her story drew thousands of easterners weary of toil and strife and inspired countless readers to pursue the Southern California dream.
Had Jackson landed in present-day Hemet, though, she might chosen a different setting for her heroine.
The ranchos, orange groves, and soaring peaks that greeted Jackson gave way long ago to the tract housing, freeways, and big-box stores that characterize much of the Inland Empire. Hemet’s downtown — one of the oldest in the region, having been founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1910 — slid into disrepair as the city's population grew to its current 83,000. A new Downtown Specific Plan, adopted on a 5-0 city council vote in early April, aims to bring a little urbanism to Southern California’s original frontier town.
The plan applies to a 360-acre area covering 58 blocks including the civic center, historic core, and a future Metrolink commuter rail station. It is bisected east-west by the city’s main street, Florida Avenue and includes a handful of historic resources, such as the 1921 Hemet Theater.
