Creating a There There

NORTHRIDGE — University officials and a group of property owners want to transform Northridge into a college town.

In an effort to give Cal State Northridge’s 27,000 students a reason to stay in the area after classes, campus officials and local business owners are working with the city to create a business improvement district on the perimeter of the commuter campus.

Organizers of the “Northridge Oasis” say they want to attract coffee shops, restaurants, music stores, movie theaters and other businesses that will give the collection of nondescript strip malls “a sense of place.”

“We have to bring shoppers back to Reseda [Boulevard],” said Walter Prince, owner of a local business and member of the Northridge BID Advisory Board. “We have 27,000 damn kids sitting there. Where do they shop? Not on Reseda.”

The five-year project would create one of the city’s largest BIDs, spanning three miles of Reseda Boulevard and costing at least $2 million, to be paid through assessments and corporate sponsorships. Decked with fountains, trees and shaded walkways, the area could become a leading outdoor attraction in the Valley, organizers say.

More than the required 51% of the 137 district property owners have already agreed to pay $15 per foot of frontage along Reseda Boulevard annually. That plan is awaiting final City Council approval.

Lacking ‘Sense of Community’

CSUN students have long complained about the quality of life around the campus. According to a CSUN study, 38% of last year’s students were “dissatisfied with the sense of community on campus,” and 50% “do not participate in social or cultural activities on campus.”

Studies have estimated that as many as 80,000 vehicles a day speed along Reseda Boulevard, which lies near the campus’ western edge, without stopping at its many businesses. And Northridge is one of the wealthiest communities in the Valley, with an average household income of $84,541 and median household income of $65,803, according to a CSUN marketing survey. In some sections of Northridge, the average is as high as $110,000.

“The area profiles like Beverly Hills,” said Judith Hennessey, a CSUN business professor involved in the project.

The city hired CSUN for $75,000 to serve as a consultant to businesses along the strip, and much of the work was done by about 300 students over three years. Architecture students drafted plans for new public spaces featuring fountains and shaded walkways. Business students prepared market analyses showing that the area could easily bear more upscale businesses. Art students created logos, drew concept pictures and designed a Northridge earthquake memorial. Marketing students sold the plan to local businesses and created the oasis theme.

“When we did surveys, we found that people associate Northridge with being hot,” Hennessey said.

Water Seen as Key

Triple-digit summer heat wasn’t exactly a draw, so students scoured the area for another unifying theme and something that might counteract the idea of heat.

They found the answer in Northridge’s history.

“Water has always drawn communities to this area,” Hennessey said. A stream once ran through Northridge, she said--one of the few in the Valley. So the students loaded planned walkways with fountains and pools. “Northridge was thriving at periods when there was water. Water brought the railroads, the farmers, so it’s not Northridge ‘hot and sticky,’ it’s the Northridge Oasis.”

Hennessey even took one of her marketing classes to arid Palm Springs to show them how the pros turned hot into cool.

The business district would also draw on CSUN’s programs to make it the cultural center of the Valley, Hennessey said. The university already hosts more public performances of dance, drama and music--not to mention its sports events--than any other institution in the Valley, but attendance has often been dismally low.

The BID Advisory Board would also like to organize an annual street fair and create public spaces along Reseda Boulevard for concerts and other events. Such business improvements are usually funded either by property owners or the businesses that lease the property, but Northridge is attempting to draw on both. If the plan succeeds, the Northridge district would be the first of its kind in Los Angeles.

“We wanted to go with both kinds of districts at once,” Prince said.

Although a majority of district property owners have agreed to fund the BID, the business-based funding is another matter. Whereas the property owners would pay out of their own pockets, the Northridge BID organizers proposed that business license fees be diverted from the city to the district. That idea initially met some opposition from City Council members, especially Jackie Goldberg, who represents the Hollywood area. But Goldberg said Friday she had reversed her stance against city funding for BIDs and helped pass a resolution last week abandoning the policy.

‘A Great Leverage Tool’

Business district organizers and city officials are still negotiating the business-based funding. But district improvements will begin whether or not the business-funded plan succeeds, Prince said.

Mike Vitkievicz, program manager for the Los Angeles city clerk, said any money from property or business owners would be seed money to attract federal and state grants for additional improvements.

“The business improvement district is a great leverage tool,” he said “It gives them more clout than they would have normally, and it provides a great incentive for other city programs and other federally funded programs.”

The district would also be near three similar projects along Reseda Boulevard--the Reseda Business Improvement District, from Kittridge to Valerio streets; a transportation district around Parthenia Street and Wilbur Avenue; and the Tarzana Business Improvement District on Reseda stretching from the Ventura Freeway to Ventura Boulevard.

Planned Oasis for Students

The planned Northridge Oasis Business Improvement District would be one of the largest in the city, extending three miles along Reseda Boulevard from Lassen Street to Roscoe Boulevard. Organizers plan to adorn the area with courtyards, fountains and public artworks in the hope of boosting sales in the area.

SPENDING HABITS

Average monthly expenditures for students and residents in the district.

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CSUN students Residents Restaurants $312 $172 Non-food retail $171 $167 Entertainment $66 $85

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PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS

* Business signs will be coordinated in size, color and theme.

* Decorative “hardscape” at the district’s entry and exit points to distinguish the area.

* Fountains will adorn the gates.

* Trees for shade, such as carrotwood or other evergreens, 20 feet apart.

* Bike lanes.

* Security guards on bikes.

* New street lamps.

* Annual festivals in the district.

Source: Northridge Business Improvement District