Arcadia Wins! Blog: Recent Comments

Comment on New Traffic? Must Mean Shops at Santa Anita Will Be Wonderful, Right?

2007-04-21T16:41:23Z

Dexter,
Thanks for your thoughtful and open-minded comments.
As a fellow Arcadia resident I share many of your noted concerns and I agree that the best interests of Arcadia as a community are of paramount concern over any retail development.
That being said, my overriding concern is what happens to Arcadia if we don’t get Caruso’s Shops at Santa Anita development? What happens to the race track? What happens to traffic, which is getting worse by the day?
Maybe I’m a Pollyanna, but I believe all of those issues are addressed extremely successfully with Caruso’s development and better than any alternative, including the do-nothing approach. In addition, there will be many other peripheral benefits that are even more important to me than whatever retail value there may be, like the state-of-the-art school district office space and more space on the high school campus for classrooms, and a performing arts center that students and the community can be proud of with a high-profile marquee right in the middle of a great retail complex.

Secondarily, you ask which is worse, Westfield faltering or being successful and attracting more visitors. I would say Westfield faltering would be much worse as it would have a horrible ripple effect on the economic underpinnings of Arcadia. It’s critical that the Westfield Santa Anita mall continue to prosper, and I believe they will do even better with competition from Caruso as they have already shown by improving traffic flow within their parking lot after their first expansion, and the recent addition of computerized parking space monitoring like Caruso has at The Grove, and now planning a nice Caruso-like outdoor retail expansion.

Thanks again for engaging in a civil dialogue with an open mind. We all have a shared interest in achieving what's best for the future of Arcadia while preserving what has been best about the past.
Scott Hettrick

Comment on New Traffic? Must Mean Shops at Santa Anita Will Be Wonderful, Right?

2007-04-21T00:55:20Z

Hi Scott,

Thanks again for running this forum and bringing up some excellent arguments in favor of the Shops at Santa Anita. I am a resident of Arcadia and they do provide some good points for thought. I feel like we're caught in the middle of a corporate struggle between two giants with enormous resources. In the middle of that, the voice of the common lowly Arcadia resident gets lost the the clutter of dozens of mail pieces and door hangers and DVDs every month.

I think you've stated before that you don't get any money from the Caruso group, and if so, a website is one way to get heard. I happen to disagree with your view (I don't want another mall in Arcadia), but I respect what you're doing.

The problem is, without Westfield, there is nobody with the resources to match Caruso's deep pockets in opposing a new mall. It's no secret that Westfield doesn't want the competition of a second mall, but I could care less about Westfield's problems. I care about what's best for Arcadia.

In my opinion, even if traffic mitigation measures are taken, I don't want Arcadia to become a major shopping hub in Southern California. I believe that this will be detrimental to the quality of life here. I am worried that the plan will successfully generate more visitors to Arcadia.

I'm sure that Caruso's mall would be beautiful. The Grove is a thing of beauty and it's awful crowded. As for Westfield, I have mixed feelings... if it continues to be successful, then we will truly have lots of outsiders attracted to Arcadia. If Westfield falters, we'll have a second tier, low rent eyesore of a business failure. I'm not sure which is worse. (I suppose I'll also feel badly for all of the mom and pop owned stores in Arcadia -- including some who are inside Westfield and some who are elsewhere -- who will feel the brunt of new commercial development, but nobody really cares about them... people just care about the big corporations like Westfield and Caruso.)
Thanks again Scott for your website and allowing me to post a dissenting view. I passionately disagree with your ideas, but I'm glad that someone is out there putting forth an independent voice for the sake of the citizen (and not the big commercial mouthpieces).

Editor's note: the author lives on Huntington Dr., west of Baldwin, and walking distance to the mall.

Comment on Westfield expansions: 6 MILLION NEW CAR TRIPS!

2007-02-13T22:09:19Z

If our city enjoy low end bargain shopping, then the Caruso mall will not hurt Westfield as much. I have anecdote evidence based on friends working at several stores in the mall that Arcadia is one of the best places to send your low end, bargain and clearance merchandise. Disney, A&F, Nordstrom, Macy's, and Robinsons-May all have had success shipping discount items from higher end stores to Arcadia. Actually Robinsons closed some other location early so they could send more stuff to Arcadia. I can't wait for a high end development in Arcadia but worry if Arcadia is ready for upscale shopping because, sorry to say, but high end store have shunned Arcadia for years before any Caruso development was announced. Our best store is Nordstrom and it is one of weakest performing Nordstroms with the exception of the sale time.

If there are pent up demand for better shopping Westfield isnt providing it. But I wonder why with so many rich community around like San Marino where all the shoppers are going?

So in summary I am excited about the Caruso but I want to know if it is economical possible to bring high end store to Arcadia. I can see why Westfield must fight so hard, it is such a poor mall that if they dont improve they will be dead. Unless Arcadians only like bargains, then Caruso will not be as successful and Westfield will hurt less.

PS I also worry that the brand new Cheesecake Factory and the other restaurants aren't doing as well as they hope. It makes me think its not so good an idea to keep building more expansions or Arcadia might have too much retail

Comment on Westfield expansions: 6 MILLION NEW CAR TRIPS!

2007-02-13T18:50:34Z

I just hope this information gets into the hands/eyes of people who are opposed to the Shops@Santa Anita. I done being convinced. Let get this thing done.

Comment on Believe It; Traffic WILL Improve!

2006-12-04T05:48:42Z

First of all, I will make an exception to the rule of this site that people who write or respond to blogs must provide an e-mail for verification purposes only (it will not be published) and a zip code so we know generally what part of the city of Arcadia you live in, or if you are not a resident. The exception is to address issues for which others may share your concerns.

Second, we appreicate all comments but I hardly know where to begin with this one.

Let's start with the factual errors:

* It is not 30,000 more vehicles -- it is 15,000 more vehicles presumably making two trips each, but spread throughout the day as opposed to the race track patrons who all come and go at the same time, causing major congestion.

* The developer Caruso Affiliated had nothing to do with the creation of this EIR or the hiring of the consultant who produced it. That is the total responsibility of the city, specifically so the report will be unbiased.

* The city did not ask Caruso to redo the EIR because of any erroneous reporting in the first EIR relative to traffic. In fact, the revised EIR was not required at all. Caruso voluntarily asked the city to prepare a revised EIR (at a cost of more than $1 million out of Caruso's pocket) to avoid a potential lawsuit from Westfield in the event the city approved the original EIR which included mention of residential dwellings that are no longer part of the project. That is the only major difference in the previous and revised EIR.

* As I understand it, the simulcast center is nothing more than a consolidation of all the satellite wagering already being conducted at the track into a single area of the grandstands, which will make it much less distracting and much more pleasant for parents with children to walk around inside other parts of the building.

As for your other comments, I don't know if you are a traffic expert; I certainly am not. All I know is what I read that is written by experts in traffic study and approved by the city, and the evidence I see of Caruso's other work, such as The Grove, which created much-improved traffic in that area since it opened. I should know, as I worked just a few blocks away for several years and often took business lunches there and the adjoining Farmer's Market. And my daughter lives just a few blocks from The Grove, which she loves to frequent.

I would suggest you raise your concerns about the findings of the report with the city. They may provide valid answers before you just assume everything in the report is a manipulation and deception.

The traffic is getting far worse in Arcadia every day even without any new development and no one is doing anything about it. There's no money unless it comes from our wallets.

Unless you or anyone else can offer a viable alternative to increasing traffic, this seems like our best chance to improve traffic in Arcadia, and at no cost to any of us taxpayers!

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Comment on Believe It; Traffic WILL Improve!

2006-12-02T09:22:47Z

Of course, Caruso’s traffic report says he will make it better. There is not a traffic consultant alive who works for developers who doesn’t produce reports that would say anything else. The real issue is in the assumptions that he made in order to produce a fictional report and how likely you are to believe those assumptions.

For example, how did he distribute the traffic in his analysis? Did he assume that everyone would take the most direct route, or did he assume they would use side streets because there was more capacity on those side streets to accommodate his traffic? That little trick alone will make a big difference in which intersections are impacted and how severely. And, it may not reflect at all the actual traffic pattern that people will use when the project is built. Then we’ll all be sitting in gridlock in 5 years wondering “what went wrong?”

Another frequently used trick to minimize traffic, on paper, is to take credit for “shared” trips and “pass-by” trips. That allows the analysis to ignore people who might be passing by anyway and just stop in, or to claim that some percentage of visitors would be making only one trip for multiple purposes. It means those numbers aren’t counted in the total, even thought they will be on the street anyway. The result is real traffic impacts, which will never be mitigated. Caruso took excessive credit for those in his first traffic analysis and in effect was able to ignore half the trips to his project. That made the traffic look really good on paper. But, it was also such an embarrassing omission that the City forced him to redo the report.

It would appear that the traffic analysis also overlooked the obvious. If this project is supposed to bring more people to the race track and it’s new 100,000 square foot “simulcast center” as everyone claims, shouldn’t those trips be counted as well? And, what happens if the track gets the 2000 slot machines that the owners and unions are lobbying for in Sacramento. Shouldn’t those 1000’s of additional trips be counted since the new building will already be in place?

I wouldn’t be so quick to embrace the Caruso traffic analysis. Suggesting that a high-tech, computerized system will solve everything has been done before and it assumes that we Arcadians are OK having Hollywood/Grove Mall levels of traffic and pollution. A great deal of the Los Angeles region already has the system that Caruso is promoting, and I don’t hear them raving about their congestion-free Boulevards.

No matter how you cut it, it’s still 30,000 more vehicles on weekdays, and 50,000 more on the weekends. It will take a lot of special effects to make that disappear.

Comment on Yes on N&P; Yes on Indian Casinos?

2006-11-13T19:51:20Z

I don't care much for Westfield as a company. However, the attempt to excite the xenophobia of a population was inappropriate. I don't mind if you rail against corporations. I was offended, though, that you'd stoop to railing against one because it is "foreign." For your information, Arcadia is full of foreigners and the word "foreign" isn't supposed to be bad and it is irrelevant to the issues.

That said, I do think that the city council should typically rule on these kinds of issues... but you know how the political system works. Most people don't know anything about their city council. They don't know who is running it, they don't know who to vote for, they don't attend meetings and could care less to wade through the hours of tedium to figure these things out.

What they do know is that the city council wouldn't mind having paid parking in Arcadia... and many people actually oppose that for reasons other than what Westfield says.

You demonstrate your contempt for the voting public in your recent blog postings. That's inexcusable. I don't work for either side of the issue. I keep an open mind and I do my research. I'll tell you that I voted NO on this measure, but I did so without calling anybody stupid. My mother voted YES, by the way.

I urge you to permit this comment to remain on your site, unless you feel your arguments cannot stand up to a little free speech.

Comment on Yes on N & P, No on Santa Claus

2006-11-09T17:07:42Z

A lot of ignorant voters! The ballot language and set up didn't help. It almost appeared as if the city council was requesting a change to the master plan. A "yes" vote would make you feel like you were doing what they needed permission from the voters to do....if I knew nothing, why else would it be on a ballot? I think a lot of people know absolutely nothing about the struggle.

Comment on Yes on N & P, No on Santa Claus

2006-11-09T16:50:56Z

N and P get yes, I have to blame the people who were supposed to educate the public about what those inititives really were about. You can't just use the platform that Big Bad Westerfield is greedy, because residents on Arcadia have liked having that mall, and most of us go there often, even if we are not buying things. Instead, those opposing N and P should have just made it about $$ cost to run the stupid ballots, cost to the city, waste of $. Also you could have educated the public on differences between City Council Codes and Ballot inititives. Half of Arcadia barely speaks english, and I would doubt they understood what a No vote actually would mean. Oh well. Westerfield just trying to prolong the inevitable. Hey, the Mall is getting Cheescake Factory? That's finally a new restaurant I'll go to. kudos. BTW, I happily voted NO. Now it's so funny, because someday in the future when Westerfield wants to put up a huge glowing sign, they will have to go to a new inititive, which will cost the city another $600,000, to overturn this new law.