Anaheim Staff Present 'Anaheim Resort 2.0' Infrastructure Vision to City Council
Anaheim — Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. Anaheim city staff presented the "Anaheim Resort 2.0" plan to the City Council on October 13, a vision designed to leverage public and private investment to upgrade infrastructure in the Anaheim Resort District and boost the city's tourism, the Daily Titan reported. The presentation was given by Deputy City Manager Ted White, alongside Planning and Building Director Heather Allen, Director of Public Works Rudy Emami and Laura Johnson, director of urban design consultancy at Gehl Studios.
The plan is organized around four "experience pillars": creating memorable social spaces through multifunctional infrastructure and comfortable, safe, shady, quiet public areas; facilitating movement throughout the district with safe mobility options designed around the natural flow of traffic; stimulating private reinvestment by incentivizing increased density and variety and aligning district growth with an established identity; and broadening the district's appeal through a distinct ambiance, evolving its Garden District Palette. "A constant theme in the conversations, the workshops and the brainstorming sessions conducted as part of this process was a nearly universal appreciation and admiration for some of the key existing characteristics of the resort," White said.
Staff outlined six project ideas, three of which were detailed in the presentation. A landmark at the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue would transform the major crossing with an art installation — options include a suspended art piece over the intersection, pedestrian-accessible art that doubles as shade, or patterned paving in the street. A greenway program would relieve sidewalk crowding by turning "passive landscaping" into functional public space, in three segments around Harbor Boulevard and Disney Way, including new parallel walking paths along Harbor Boulevard south of Disney Way and a pocket park at the northeast corner of the two streets. An east-west connector, already moving forward, would link the Resort District with the Platinum Triangle — the area that includes Angel Stadium, Honda Center and The Grove of Anaheim — with priorities including high-quality waiting and arrival experiences, short service wait times, no-cost or low-cost rides and varied seating, and treating endpoint structures such as the Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) as district hubs with restrooms, hydration stations and grab-and-go options.
The implementation framework sets near-term steps (updating policy guidelines, testing pilot programs and developing toolkits), mid-term physical improvements as funding and construction opportunities arise, and long-term transformational projects requiring further study, partner alignment and financial allocation. During council comment, District 3 Councilmember Natalie Rubalcava raised concerns about funding mechanisms, citing the city's structural deficit, and suggested a council member work with Disney to develop fundraising strategies. "I do appreciate that we were able to invest in the resort for the past 30 years, but I do recognize the fact that we still have a deficit that was generated by a lot of this investment," Rubalcava said. "When we're looking at funding mechanisms for Resort 2.0, it should not be at the expense of residents in the districts that are surrounding the resort."
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Anaheim度假区Harbor Boulevard与Katella Avenue路口（资料图，摄于2022年7月）。图片来源：Benoît Prieur，Wikimedia Commons，CC0。Photo: The intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue in the Anaheim Resort District (file photo, July 2022). Image: Benoît Prieur, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
