Downtown Santa Ana Is Happening--No Way!

​I'm a bit late on my reading, and I just encountered Adam Elmahrek's 10-years-too-late story on downtown Santa Ana's happening scene for the Voice of OC. I like Elmahrek a lot--his coverage of Mayor-for-Life Don Papi Miguel Pulido is nearly as brutal as ours--but this reads like one of those stories forced down your gullet by a managing editor, not that I've ever commanded something like that. . . .

Anyhoo, you know you're entering a laugher when you read the headline: "Something's Happening In Santa Ana's Downtown." No way!

"But come to Artists Village on Broadway between First and Third streets after dark on a weekday night, and you'll see things you didn't see two years ago: cars filling parking spots, standing-room-only on restaurant patios and groups of youths hanging out on the Second Street Promenade," Elmahrek writes.

. . . Except it's been like this for more than two years now--more like five, if not seven. Young Elhmahrek maybe thinks Lola Gaspar has been there all these years?

Note to Adam: You're a great reporter, but keep the cultural analysis to a minimum. The article reads like something Coast would've published 10 years ago, or a waste of space that The Orange County Register regurgitates every couple of years. Stick to kicking Don Papi's ass, por favor--don't make me rush to finish my book so I can devote my full attention to him again. . . .