You guys mind if an out of towner judges your city a little?

[Kramerica]

I come from Portland Oregon, which has a ton of problems in itself. And I won’t pretend that I am a particularly big fan of Southern California. It’s crowded and dusty and feels like endless strip malls and intersections. But Anaheim itself feels like it’s got a lot to work out, particularly around Disneyland.

When I can afford it, I stay on Disney property despite its insane price. That’s not because of the 400 dollar a night worthy magic of the paradise pier hotel, but because of just how much I detest having to walk off property to my room, even if it’s just across the street. It’s clear that Anaheim, probably under pressure from Disney, has tried to spruce up the area.

Trees full of year round lights line the streets. Colors of lamp posts are fun, Disneyland banners hanging from them. There’s clear efforts of landscaping. But I’m not sure how effective their efforts have been. From the moment you step off property, you have people pestering you to buy something from them. There's a lot of homeless that can be sometimes aggressive. Really bad restaurants and bad versions of chains line the street. You don't have to go but down the street, directly across the road from where the Guardians tower is that there's a strip mall that would make you feel like you were in any bad part of any suburb anywhere in the country. It's not only not great and touristy, but pretty bad!

I guess this is a question to people that would know better than I do. Do you all agree? Are there efforts or any plans on improving things? And I'm also curious from those in the know if Disney is aware of the situation and what they think about it.

Also some off property horror stories might be fun!

 

[GiveMeTheMusic]

Anaheim, especially around the resort, is pretty much a dump. The “downtown” area is a lot nicer, with the Packing House and Center Street, but the resort area is gross.

 

[NobodyElse]

Get ready to hear about "The Resort District". Perhaps someone will throw in some before and after pictures of Harbor Blvd. (and other adjacent areas). If nothing surfaces, I'll come back when I have more time.

Bottom line - could the area be better? Sure. Could it be (and has it been) worse? Absolutely.

 

[TROR]

Remember when Harbor Blvd. was supposed to look like this?

 

[NobodyElse]

Really bad restaurants and bad versions of chains line the street.

Can you clarify this a bit further? By "bad versions of chains" do you mean something like "Sure, there's a Mimi's and Panera, but they are bad versions of such."?

 

[Kramerica]

Can you clarify this a bit further? By "bad versions of chains" do you mean something like "Sure, there's a Mimi's and Panera, but they are bad versions of such."?

Absolutely. So, they have Kidd's buffet, which I assume is a one off. But even the locations of larger chains seem to be pretty bad. I remember eating at Denny's after my last trip. I'm a big fan of Denny's. But it was a terrible experience. The lobby was cluttered with generic Disney merch and cardboard cutouts. Not to mention it took forever to get my food, and when I did, my pancakes were burnt to high heaven. I didn't know Denny's was capable of burning pancakes!

I have more stories. Sure, all anecdotal, but you'd think such a prime location would spawn prime versions of chains.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Anaheim isn’t my city.

Anaheim consists of more than just Harbor in front of Disneyland. In saying that, when I lived in Anaheim, I didn’t have much fun. Anaheim just isn’t that girl.

Regarding the homeless, they don’t bother me. I also don’t care about those asking for money, the strip malls down the street, or the bad restaurants nearby. They are absolutely no big deal to me.

I’d be curious to know how much of Southern California you’ve visited/lived in.

 

[180º]

OP, the following isn’t necessarily aimed at you, but rather the topic you bring up. This has been on my mind for a while.

There are very real socioeconomic challenges in Anaheim as there are in any city. An effort by Disney to improve it in some way only goes so far. The Disneyland Resort occupies a tiny footprint in a giant metropolitan area that is both incredibly fruitful yet suffocating under its own weight. I have lived in a few different parts of California, and I found that in the North the popular thing to do is to hate on Southern California and generally trash it for being an unnatural, hellish place. Sometimes they forget that Southern California is a real place with real people who have lived there their whole lives and actually had real, (negative and positive) human experiences there. I don’t expect everyone to love Southern California, but I do wish we would try to think about it with a bit more empathy.

Especially at Disneyland, we can forget that we are in a neighborhood full of people living their lives and trying to solve their own problems day by day. Even Disneyland can’t change that. But guests go to Disneyland to escape their problems, and to see the real world so close outside can be sobering in a very unpleasant way for a vacationer. Maybe this has contributed to some of the complicated feelings non-locals have for the region.

 

[vancee]

I’d be curious to know how much of Southern California you’ve visited/lived in.

California* United States**

 

[nevol]

Anaheim Resort District, as far as tourist destinations go, is a dump. This is the baseline truth. The resort district should look enticing, as any destination should. But it really doesn't. It is on par with outlet malls across the country from the 90s. Strip malls, small properties, and older motel properties have a lot to do with that. It is difficult to make the area look resort-like when the properties are still so small and controlled by different owners.

Having said that, I think Anaheim has, what, 7 or 8 BILLION dollars of real estate investment in the pipeline? That is an absurd number. That is more than most major cities. The entire LA region has about 35 billion right now, making it second in the world to London, and surpassing New York for the first time. so 7 or 8 of 35(?) (I heard this at a conference of real estate developers, architects, and urban planners about the future of Los Angeles) is in Anaheim ALONE! The "is disneyland paying its fair share..." thread has more info about the numerous hotels coming online soon. In addition to disneyland's fourth property, a few other four diamond hotels are being built and a couple of boutique hotels very uncommon in the US. So while Anaheim's resorts district boulevards have looked nice since DCA opened and the rest of it remained convention or terrible, it seems that slowly but surely it will change over and the number of nice properties will grow. Even with this, however, the area feels very disconnected from itself. Disneyland is essentially the downtown, and for the rest of the resort district, "there is no there there." No sense of place. There are already a ton of nice convention center hotels further south on harbor, but when you are in them, you never feel like you've arrived at your destination. 8 billion dollars is a lot of money though, so I am optimistic that when star wars is open and pulling in more adult crowds, they will be pleased to have more unique and luxury options for accommodations.

AAAnd having said all that, exploring more of southern california tells you all you need to know about why locals find anaheim, heck, even disneyland, acceptable. Places here are moody but not through a deliberate top-down cohesive design. So much of it from the minute you get to LAX until the minute you leave needs a face lift. Despite all the money here and demand for housing, the city and its smaller municipalities are very weak on urban design and anti-development. I was just in Marina Del Rey tonight and I couldn't be more confused why the place doesn't look like either Newport Beach's balboa island or downtown chicago. Disneyland is both a perfect representation/concentration of the americana, kitsch, and favorite architectural styles of the region, as well as its antithesis, because it has strong sense of place whereas so much of the region does not. And the resort district and scale of the park might not appeal to people from everywhere else in the country who expect resort grounds surrounded by trees or more grassy areas in their theme parks, but socal is so dense and properties are so compact that disneyland's scale doesn't bother.

Im excited about the new direction of the new hotel and downtown disney. It will finally acknowledge its density rather than pretend it isn't in the middle of a parking lot. Many of the rooms will form a pedestrian plaza with the monorail station that widens toward the esplanade. Uni Orlando until recently was not much bigger than disneyland resort, and uni hollywood is smaller, but each have more dramatic arrival sequences and stronger senses of place resort-wide. Disneyland's was obviously done as cheaply as possible rather than going the westcot route. You pull into a parking garage, stand in security, board an unremarkable tram, get in another line for tickets, etc, and never really are reminded of why you are going through the trouble. Very little signage or design or quality reminds you of why you should justify the purchase until you are already in the park.Huge mistake and I hope the new parking garage and hotel will change that.

Eventually disney will be raking in so much money with star wars and marvel that they can buy more of the hotels across of harbor. I don't think it is unlikely whatsoever that they buy out the entire block where carousel inn is to build more resorts and parking garages. And this next bit is admittedly more of a pipe dream, but if the anaheim angels ever leave anaheim, I'd love for disney to scoop up that property for a third gate. It is about 160 acres.

 

[dweezil78]

Anaheim is about on par with Kissimmee, maybe actually a little better. Unfortunately, leaving property is just a few steps away at the DLR as opposed to WDW where you can drive 20 minutes and still not see the gross awfulness that lurks outside the main gate.

 

[TP2000]

I'm a big fan of Denny's.

This is where you lost me.

I have family in suburban Portland, in Lake Oswego, and Portland is overall a fabulously hip city with great restaurants and some really unique cultural offerings. But on the east side of the river especially, it is a city that is also very often grungy and grimy and smutty, not necessarily in that order. So your critique of the motel/coffee shop strip along Harbor Blvd. is an apt one, and not without merit and deserving of concern.

But seriously, you lost me at Denny's.

 

[TP2000]

Get ready to hear about "The Resort District". Perhaps someone will throw in some before and after pictures of Harbor Blvd. (and other adjacent areas). If nothing surfaces, I'll come back when I have more time.

Bottom line - could the area be better? Sure. Could it be (and has it been) worse? Absolutely.

Oh, I'll play!

Here is Harbor Blvd circa 1966, about a year after Walt Disney called it a "second rate Las Vegas".

Here is that same street today within a few dozen yards of the same intersection, looking the same direction. @Kramerica's favorite Denny's is still there in the same spot, just with different signage and landscaping now.

Here's Harbor Blvd. looking east as seen from the Disneyland Monorail just after it leaves the park in mid 1962.

And here's roughly the same stretch of Harbor Blvd. in the late 2010's, taken from the same monorail beam.

Neither the 1960's Harbor Blvd. or the 2010's Harbor Blvd. is especially glamorous when viewed in the context of their era. Both are rather mundane looking for each era. That said, an obvious improvement has been made since Walt's day.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

True, it's dumpy. But venture into that trashy liquor store across the street and prepare to be charmed by Mickey Mouse bottle openers.

 

[flynnibus]

Man if you all find the resort district “dumpy” I have to wonder if you all have ever been to real crap holes.

There are not boarded up buildings all along harbor... there are not lots overgrown and full of trash. You don’t avoid smashed bottled or tons of graffiti walking down harbor.

The place is clean, landscaped, well lit, pleasant to walk around. Ok, so it doesn’t have whatever hipster place you are looking for, or some trendy walk up restaurant. But that doesn’t make it a dump. It’s sanitized cheap hotel area.

Dump it’s not. If you want to see a dump... goto Augusta, ga.

 

[Travel Junkie]

I would call Anaheim particularly the resort district uninspiring. The city has such an advantage over other cities with Disneyland and they have largely squandered the opportunity. They have a successful convention center, but that and the sports teams are really the only other draw to the city. They should be finding ways to keep people in Anaheim and spending money. People come in go to Disneyland, a convention, or sporting event and then leave as fast as possible. There is very little else to do in the city limits.

I come from Portland Oregon, which has a ton of problems in itself. And I won’t pretend that I am a particularly big fan of Southern California. It’s crowded and dusty and feels like endless strip malls and intersections. But Anaheim itself feels like it’s got a lot to work out, particularly around Disneyland.

Southern California is one of the most diverse places on the planet in terms of culture, food, and geologically. You can pretty much find anything you want here. Southern California has the lowest point in the U.S. and less than 100 miles away is the highest point in the lower 48. You can go to the beach, desert and forest all in the same day. You can famously surf and ski on the same day. It has crowded but interesting urban centers and deserted mountains only a few miles away from each others.

It's ok to not like it, but If you find it dusty, crowded, and nothing but strips malls, you haven't seen Southern California at all.

 

[mickEblu]

Anaheim Resort District, as far as tourist destinations go, is a dump. This is the baseline truth. The resort district should look enticing, as any destination should. But it really doesn't. It is on par with outlet malls across the country from the 90s. Strip malls, small properties, and older motel properties have a lot to do with that. It is difficult to make the area look resort-like when the properties are still so small and controlled by different owners.

Having said that, I think Anaheim has, what, 7 or 8 BILLION dollars of real estate investment in the pipeline? That is an absurd number. That is more than most major cities. The entire LA region has about 35 billion right now, making it second in the world to London, and surpassing New York for the first time. so 7 or 8 of 35(?) (I heard this at a conference of real estate developers, architects, and urban planners about the future of Los Angeles) is in Anaheim ALONE! The "is disneyland paying its fair share..." thread has more info about the numerous hotels coming online soon. In addition to disneyland's fourth property, a few other four diamond hotels are being built and a couple of boutique hotels very uncommon in the US. So while Anaheim's resorts district boulevards have looked nice since DCA opened and the rest of it remained convention or terrible, it seems that slowly but surely it will change over and the number of nice properties will grow. Even with this, however, the area feels very disconnected from itself. Disneyland is essentially the downtown, and for the rest of the resort district, "there is no there there." No sense of place. There are already a ton of nice convention center hotels further south on harbor, but when you are in them, you never feel like you've arrived at your destination. 8 billion dollars is a lot of money though, so I am optimistic that when star wars is open and pulling in more adult crowds, they will be pleased to have more unique and luxury options for accommodations.

AAAnd having said all that, exploring more of southern california tells you all you need to know about why locals find anaheim, heck, even disneyland, acceptable. Places here are moody but not through a deliberate top-down cohesive design. So much of it from the minute you get to LAX until the minute you leave needs a face lift. Despite all the money here and demand for housing, the city and its smaller municipalities are very weak on urban design and anti-development. I was just in Marina Del Rey tonight and I couldn't be more confused why the place doesn't look like either Newport Beach's balboa island or downtown chicago. Disneyland is both a perfect representation/concentration of the americana, kitsch, and favorite architectural styles of the region, as well as its antithesis, because it has strong sense of place whereas so much of the region does not. And the resort district and scale of the park might not appeal to people from everywhere else in the country who expect resort grounds surrounded by trees or more grassy areas in their theme parks, but socal is so dense and properties are so compact that disneyland's scale doesn't bother.

Im excited about the new direction of the new hotel and downtown disney. It will finally acknowledge its density rather than pretend it isn't in the middle of a parking lot. Many of the rooms will form a pedestrian plaza with the monorail station that widens toward the esplanade. Uni Orlando until recently was not much bigger than disneyland resort, and uni hollywood is smaller, but each have more dramatic arrival sequences and stronger senses of place resort-wide. Disneyland's was obviously done as cheaply as possible rather than going the westcot route. You pull into a parking garage, stand in security, board an unremarkable tram, get in another line for tickets, etc, and never really are reminded of why you are going through the trouble. Very little signage or design or quality reminds you of why you should justify the purchase until you are already in the park.Huge mistake and I hope the new parking garage and hotel will change that.

Eventually disney will be raking in so much money with star wars and marvel that they can buy more of the hotels across of harbor. I don't think it is unlikely whatsoever that they buy out the entire block where carousel inn is to build more resorts and parking garages. And this next bit is admittedly more of a pipe dream, but if the anaheim angels ever leave anaheim, I'd love for disney to scoop up that property for a third gate. It is about 160 acres.

I always loved going up the big hill to get to USHs main gate as a kid. Was really exciting. And half way up the hill existed the great Fung LUM Chinese restaurant. I’m talking the good ol days with the Conan the Barbarian show, E.T and tram Tour with Kong AA and avalanche tunnel.

 

[bluerhythym]

The thing about Southern California as a whole is that there's tons of great things to do and see, but you need to know where to look for them. Out-of-towners can have a difficult time visiting because the cities are so dense, and most of the tourist spots are just tourist traps. It helps to know someone in the area that can show you the right restaurants, the right neighborhoods, the right beaches, the right hikes, the right shops, etc.

 

[D.Silentu]

At the risk of sounding cynical, the situation is as the people of Anaheim designed it. They largely quashed the ambitious plans to make a true resort area in the nineties, referenced in @TROR 's concept art. Then there's the whole eastern gate fiasco that has been practically novelized on these forums. I admit I'm oversimplifying somewhat, but the push and pull between residents and resort have so much to do with neither getting an ideal outcome.

 

[Kramerica]

This is where you lost me.

I have family in suburban Portland, in Lake Oswego, and Portland is overall a fabulously hip city with great restaurants and some really unique cultural offerings. But on the east side of the river especially, it is a city that is also very often grungy and grimy and smutty, not necessarily in that order. So your critique of the motel/coffee shop strip along Harbor Blvd. is an apt one, and not without merit and deserving of concern.

But seriously, you lost me at Denny's.

You're right, I used the wrong phraseology. I wouldn't say I'm a big fan. But I like it, and Harbor's version is pretty bad in comparison to the others I've been to.

Glad you've been to Portland and enjoyed our food, we have some cool places, although I do feel like Voodoo Donuts aren't worth the hype.