Then visit Paula and Paula Home in Old Town Tustin. The store features interesting apparel, shoes, hats and accessories with the help of the dynamic team, Paula and Phyllis.
The apparel and home accessories store features a mix of hard-to-find European and American designers in sizes XS to XL, as well as chic coffee table books, John Derian decoupage plates, contemporary lamps from Shine Home and Jaime Young, and other unique furniture. 

We LOVE this store.

At Paula’s find modern handmade purses from Lebanon, stunning hats, Trippen shoes from Germany, American Vintage tee’s, and bohemian and sophisticated looks from Lilith of France. Other interesting items include Cynthia Ashby’s collection of deconstructed apparel meant to mix and layer; Krista Larson’s “art-to-wear” fashions; SKIF collection of sweaters made with natural fibers imported from around the world; Rundholz, a German label of innovative and stylish apparel. 

Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. 139 W. 1 St. Suites B & C in Tustin 714.838.0800; 877.503.1858.www.shoppaula.com

This is a notification to remind our residents how important it is to lock up their vehicles and close their windows whether it is for a minute or all day.  We have found a number of thefts from vehicles occur because a citizen failed to lock a door or close a window.  These kinds of crimes are known as crimes of opportunity.  Another important tip is to not leave your car running or leave the keys in the ignition.  Yes, cars have been stolen because a key was left in the ignition, and the car was running.

What is, our adversary, the criminal, looking for: it might well be your car, license plate, registration tab, catalytic converter, purse, iPod, stereo, GPS/navigation system, laptop, checkbook, cell phone, cash, credit cards, packages, cd’s, or any other items left in vehicles.  Any kind of financial/personal information stolen out of a vehicle could easily lead to another crime, identity theft.   The only way to curtail this problem is to leave the interior of your vehicle clear of anything that could become a “red flag” to the criminal.

 Theft of GPS/Navigation systems from vehicles are on the rise.  One of the more popular ways for a criminal to find his way into your vehicle is to smash a window.  If you have a portable navigation system, you might want to hide it from sight in your vehicle or remove it from your vehicle when not occupied. 

Catalytic converters have also become a popular item over the year.  The criminal will usually target Toyota SUV’s and/or pickups because they are higher off the ground.  Toyotas particularly have been targeted because their catalytic converters are bolted on.  If you have a Toyota, one way to reduce your chances of becoming a victim of this type of crime is to take it to an auto shop and have the catalytic converter welded on.  If you have a garage, then park your vehicle inside your garage.  

 Stereos have always been popular to steal.  One can buy them with a removable face plate, but that would mean in order for this method to be effective, one would have to remove it from the vehicle each time the vehicle is unoccupied.

Awareness of your surroundings is important in combating crime.  If you do see someone or something suspicious, please call the following numbers:

Dispatch number: 714-573-3225

To report a crime in progress:  9-1-1

 If you have already become a victim of a crime, please report it at 714-573-3225.

 Courtesy of the Tustin Police Department

The Studio can be reached at 714-730-8200 or by email at ana@anabrandt.com. Their web site is www.anabrandt.com.

In fact, I’ve gone so far as to suggest that the city’s “lead from behind” strategy for downtown over the past 25 years has been less than successful, and that possibly a new plan of action should be considered if any different results are to be expected.

Well, that advice goes for the inhabitants of Old Town as well. Merchants (myself included) can’t expect to sit back and ask the city to spend money, amend laws or expend energy in the district if there’s no corresponding action by those that stand to benefit from any resulting largess.

By all accounts, the Tustin Old Town Association was ineffective at best in spurring a renaissance for El Camino Real and Main Street. And I say this as the de facto head of the organization for two years (if you can call a group averaging 10% meeting participation an organization).

So, taking my own advice, since past efforts have proven ineffective, TOTA needs to be replaced by something better. 

Secondly, instead of just preaching to the converted in sparsely attended meetings, this new business co-op should distribute a regular newsletter to every commercial entity in Old Town along with the Conservancy and the Historical Society members. The newsletter should accept paid advertising and list each paid merchant member.

Thirdly, member dues should be meaningful. Historically, the miniscule annual association fee was just small enough to accomplish two things – barely pay the group’s annual insurance premium, and guarantee that no one took membership seriously. After all, how much change can you expect for 9 cents a day?  It created the net effect of allowing the organization to tread water.

Increased dues will accomplish the following for members:

• Guarantee participation in at least one co-op advertising purchase each quarter. The more members, the bigger (or more frequent) the ad and/or the bigger the publication. 
• Fund the creation and distribution of the local newsletter mentioned above.
• Give each member business it’s own original web page (or link to an existing one) and a searchable listing on the Merchant site. (in fact, searching Old Town Tustin on Google yields first page results for this site already, including many of these posts. This has been the one bona fide success along with the Flea Market, over the past two years as over 1000 people a week visit www.oldtownobserver.com)
• Give tustinoldtown email addresses to any member that wishes to have one.
• Guarantee at least one home page business profile per year to a local business or group.

Through the resulting advertising campaign, the Association should attempt to forge a singular, new image for downtown. That is, Old Town as the home of the Mom & Pop Restaurant. Nowhere else in Orange County can you find a such a concentration of excellent owner operated, non-chain, restaurants with award winning chefs. 

Everyone has to eat. It should be the mission of the new Association to make sure people in Tustin, Orange, Santa Ana and Irvine always think of Old Town Tustin when they want a good, original meal. 

Funny thing, after people eat, they like to walk around, pick up a latte and shop. The great restaurants will get them here. Everyone in Old Town will benefit. And with a dozen eateries already and one or two restaurants arriving with Prospect Village, getting the message out will be easier now than at any time in Old Town’s past. 

What do you think? 

As always, see you on Main Street.

The grass roots movement there is the brainchild of local homeowner Nuuana Robinson. Distraught over the remodeling frenzy and what it will do to Huntington Beach’s charm, she laments that soon, “you won’t know if you’re in Irvine or Tustin”. Yikes. Should we be smug or horrified that our fair hamlet has been figuratively attached to our intensely manicured southern neighbor?

One thing it does make clear - like just about everyone else outside our city, Ms. Robinson has no idea we have Old Town. Or at the very least, Old Town does not resonate as integral to Tustin’s image (unlike, say, Orange).

Is that a good or bad? After all, flying under the radar is a time-honored way of achieving one’s goals with the least amount of interference. I think our historic residential areas are magnificent. And by definition, keeping it ‘our little secret’ has no doubt played a role in keeping them that way.

On the other hand, defying the advance of civilization has kept Main and El Camino Real perilously close to ghost town status for as long as anyone can remember. This is especially dangerous because it’s been proven elsewhere that historical residential and commercial districts each tend to perish without the other. Meeting friends at the new WalMart parking lot for the Promenade walking tour rings a bit hollow.

Last post I mentioned that the phrase “nothing much has really changed downtown” is often overheard when discussing Old Town.

While downtown merchants are ardent supporters of our city government, one thing is pretty clear. Leaving downtown to its own devices and hoping for bootstrapped organic growth, or at least meaningful change, has proven to be overwhelmingly unsuccessful over the past twenty plus years – and this mostly during an economic boom. Witness the amount of undeveloped land in prime locations throughout the area. Some of you may point to Prospect Village, but even that took 30 years and only after the city bought and resold the property. Which ironically supports my point.

Old Town merchants and residents would argue that its probably time for city hall to be actively involved in leading, versus simply supporting, change in Old Town if we are at all serious about preserving this unique asset; a policy already embraced by a number of other Orange County municipalities. 

Much like the efforts being made around City Center (and of course, the District), the city can adjust zoning language to leverage change. Things like incenting commercial property owners to lease to the correct tenants (see last post) or potentially fining them for intentionally leaving land undeveloped (blight) for long periods of time are among many ideas that need to be legitimately explored. Ideas that are only worth debating if city government is willing to swing a benevolent big stick for the greater good. 

With all due respect to Ms. Robinson, we are not Irvine, or Santa Ana for that matter. We are Tustin. But if we were to lose Old Town, it will be that much harder for anyone to tell the difference.

As always, see you on Main Street.

Over the years, I’ve watched a few council sessions and planning workshops where at issue was just how strict the city should be when granting businesses the right to move into Old Town. At present, merchants must largely be able to prove themselves a viable retail operation.

All concerned want the most amount of foot traffic possible downtown, preferably foot traffic that is predisposed towards visiting multiple establishments and spending some money. For things like restaurants and coffee shops (I wish), it’s an easy call. However, things get dicey when, say, real estate or dental offices want to sign a lease.

After considerable discussion, the Planning Commission eventually tasked the city staff to clean up current language surrounding the definition of what a service retail business is. Naturally Old Town merchants would prefer a very strict interpretation of retail (i.e stuff to buy and cash registers) when it comes to ground floor spaces that face Main and El Camino. 

With so many empty lots downtown (shame, shame) and the city’s standing position on eminent domain (not in this life time), we can afford to be less picky about who moves in on the side streets (for now). But to fulfill the vision of busy Old Town nightlife, with folks strolling from restaurant to store enjoying ice cream cones and street musicians, the main drags must be drop-in customer friendly.

Maybe your idea of fun is different than mine, but last I checked, nobody grabs the kids after dinner and heads out on the town for a night of teeth cleaning and home equity loan paperwork. 

Unfortunately the phrase, “nothing much has really changed downtown” is often heard at these meetings. I have some thoughts on that and a possible remedy, which I’ll expand on next post. In the meantime, if you have any ideas on what types of businesses you feel should not be allowed to weigh anchor downtown, drop us a comment below. 

I spend quite a bit of time in Old Town. Of course, my wife and I own a business here so that skews the test a bit. If I didn’t have to be here, would I? I know I’d like to. There’s really no place else in the city that has the same ‘feel’ as downtown. 

Contrary to popular belief, there are quite a few restaurants here. And two more will open this year. I strongly believe that a combination of food, great ambiance and good music will be the reason many folks (re)discover the neighborhood in the coming months. 

To prove that point, a number of businesses will pool their resources and begin advertising Old Town eateries in neighboring communities.  The catch line will be something along the lines of, “Old Town Tustin, home of the mom and pop restaurant.” Maybe accompanied by a picture of the owner moms and pops adorned in their finest chef attire. What do you think? It would certainly be considered false advertising if The Spectrum, The District or The Marketplace ran an ad like that. And I can certainly see Irvinites speeding past the local Chili’s or Applebees, or Red Robin or Olive Garden or CPK (insert generic chain here) to get a genuine meal in Old Town, couldn’t you?

If you have any ideas for a better slogan, send an email or drop a comment below and let me know. 

As always, see you on Main Street.

I came across something interesting recently. After months of consternation over the fact that no unified Plan blueprinting the future for Old Town seems to exist, what should appear in my mailbox but a nicely bound, official looking 45 page booklet entitled, “Tustin, Visions of Old Town”. Perhaps the post office is justified in raising the rates for stamps. The book is dated September 1991.

My mother taught me to regard the glass as half full whenever possible. So what won’t be addressed here is why a plan like this has apparently not been kept current for seventeen years. Rather, it would be a good exercise to mention some of the document’s still relevant recommendations and open up for discussion whether or not these ideas can be implemented today for the betterment of your downtown. 

1. Appointment of an Old Town Coordinator. The recommendation is for a city staff person whose primary responsibility would be to work with Old Town residents, business people and property owners as a single point of contact for all Old Town activities.

If there is one thing that has historically stifled change in Old Town it is factionalism. After a meeting I attended with members of the City Council and staff, there was agreement that a coordinated effort (let alone opinion) was needed amongst the various groups that held a stake in the district. 

Upon floating the position, the unsurprising response from most of those contacted was, “great idea, you’re welcome to join our group any time ”. I think a city-empowered Coordinator sitting on a committee comprised of a representative from each affected organization (see #2) would go a long way to breaking this perpetual logjam.

2. Establish an Old Town Business Association. To a certain degree this occurred with the eventual creation of TOTA. However, the recommendation called for the city to identify its leaders and provide seed funds as well as coordinate “private security, landscaping, signs, street furniture, and other facility maintenance programs” with the city through the Coordinator which would sit on the Association’s board.

At it stands, the present incarnation is a watered down facsimile of that proposed organization. There are however, many plans to increase TOTA’s effectiveness. One of the initiatives is to invite the property owners to re-join the group. The length of a merchant’s vision is understandably tied to the length of his or her lease. Lasting change requires lasting stakeholders. The property owners fit that description. Together, with the aforementioned city oversight, participation from some enlightened business owners, and infrastructure support from the Chamber, there should be enough ‘skin in the game’ to commit to and execute against long range plans.

3. Make Old Town the Festival Center of Tustin. The plan calls for all major civic activities to happen in Old Town and reinforce the area’s role as the heart of the community. 

This would happen through the designation of Peppertree Park as a central city park with large(r) scale facilities for events (a mini “Great Park”?). Most importantly, Third Street would be designated the city’s Festival Corridor with access to the Civic Center and provide evening and weekend closure to host the Farmer’s Market. 

The Third Street “special events” makeover is particularly appealing as a pedestrian friendly promenade - something that would be difficult to do with Main Street. 

Besides offering a more user-friendly home than the regrettably undeveloped lot that houses the Farmer’s Market today, this street ties the Civic Center to the central Park both literally and figuratively. The arrival of Prospect Village makes it all the more timely and exciting.

I encourage you to email your feedback or comment below and offer your opinions. It all starts with a plan. All we have to do it blow a little dust off of this one. 

As always, see you on Main Street.

First of all, there’s a reason it’s called “old”. It means it’s been around a while. The key question is, why? Are the conditions that prompted its longevity still in play? Or has the environment changed to the point where the future of our beloved brick oasis is in jeopardy?

To be sure, the intersection of Main and El Camino Real is no longer a prime stop on the trail from Los Angeles to San Diego. And the local trains long ago started transporting more commuters than orange crates.

But Old Town didn’t go away. 

Add an interstate, a major state highway and a couple of toll roads and folks don’t even have to drive through downtown anymore to get somewhere if they don’t want to.

But Old Town didn’t go away.

Build one of the largest commercial shopping districts in California on the other side of town and fill it with every imaginable kind of restaurant and store to draw folks from far and wide.

But Old Town didn’t go away.

The latest assault comes from the Legacy and its commercial district, the size of which rivals Irvine’s Spectrum. But if I had to bet, Old Town will weather that distraction too with the grace that only comes with age.  

Why am I so positive? 

For one, you can’t manufacture an ‘old town’ with all it’s charm and flavor any more than you can substitute knowledge for wisdom. Yes, in 100 years someone might be making this very same case for the Marketplace (talk to you in a hundred years) but you can’t do it now. So from that perspective, Old Town’s only true competition is from other historic downtowns – not from strip malls and giant entertainment complexes. 

Another reason is these things run in cycles. Something starts new then gets old. It’s at the tail end of that first cycle that the future is cast. Either that something dies for good or is reborn. Lucky for us, Old Town has renewed itself many times. For whatever reason it hasn’t gone away and shows no signs of doing so – just count the number of new businesses that move in every year. Prospect Village, and with it, Old Town’s next cycle, opens in the next couple of month.

Finally, I think every generation always comes full circle. People are looking for authenticity. They are looking for a break from constant helpings of fast food, malls, chain store experiences, having to drive everywhere. In short, most of us eventually become our parents.

Admit it. The older we get, the more we value the familiar. Places like Old Town, with its non-palm tree lined streets, exquisite ‘everyone is different than the other’ non-tract houses and customer-service based family businesses can’t help but survive. About the only way ‘old towns’ will ever be in real jeopardy is if suddenly no one ever got older than 29.

See you on Main Street.