The vacant lots of downtown Redlands, California

(Guest post by morangm)

Most of Kodachromeguy's posts here feature abandoned and decaying rural towns in areas that are losing population and economic activity - places that are just no longer needed. In today's post, I'm going to talk about a different situation - decay caused not by decreasing population and economic declines, but rather decay in the midst of rapid growth, caused by self-defeating municipal ordinances.

Redlands, California, is a cute historic town about 60 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.  Although it was originally an independent town settled by wealthy easterners seeking a pleasant climate for retirement and those seeking their fortunes in citrus cultivation, it has long since become attached to the ever-expanding Los Angeles metropolitan area.  This area of California, the "Inland Empire", is one of the fastest-growing regions of the country.  According to a recent demographic analysis by the City of Redlands, 80% of people who live in Redlands do not work in Redlands, and 80% of people who work in Redlands don't live in Redlands.  So, while Redlands fiercely clings to its historical identity, it is no longer a self-contained entity.  Like it or not, it is part of a broader metropolitan community.

In the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, Redlands voters, alarmed at the rapid growth of the region, adopted some slow growth municipal ballot measures and propositions. These measures, among other, more technical things, limit the number of new dwelling units that can be built within the city limits each year to 400 and cap the height of new buildings.  Redlands is by no means the only municipality to adopt slow growth measures like this, and it is exactly these types of restrictions, adopted by many communities across metropolitan areas, that have contributed to urban sprawl and worsening traffic congestion.  If you don't build up and in, you have to build out.

Redlands has a small but relatively lively and pedestrian-friendly downtown area which spans for about 4 blocks along State Street, with some activity in the surrounding blocks.  Unfortunately, despite the region's overall economic growth, the area immediately west of downtown has declined in recent decades.  The Redlands Mall, built in 1977, was placed squarely in the middle of what was once State St., bulldozing many historic buildings and effectively cutting off the main downtown corridor from the other end of State St.  The I-10 freeway cut the city in half, blockading the northern residential areas from downtown. Additionally, the freight and passenger rail corridor ended service at some point, and various industrial and warehousing businesses closed up.

The slow growth restrictions in Redlands meant that redeveloping these central areas of town was not economically viable for developers.  The Redlands Mall has sat abandoned for 10 years (which doesn't sound like much, but remember this is one of the fastest-growing regions of the country we're talking about!).  There are many other vacant lots and abandoned buildings that no one is willing to invest in.  Developers just can't turn a profit redeveloping a downtown area in California if they can't build upwards.

The abandoned Redlands Mall

West State St, the part cut off from downtown by the Redlands Mall, with the Chamber of Commerce on the left.

Abandoned warehouse (possibly a citrus packinghouse?) right next to downtown

Vacant lot and parking lot downtown. The backside of the abandoned warehouse is in the background.

Empty dead end downtown with Studio Movie Grill (formerly the Krikorian Cinema) in the background

Abandoned house abutting the highway (in the background)

Unused parking lot currently being utilized for construction storage. This will probably become parking for the adjacent rail station. I think this is the site for the newly-planned parking garage.

Empty land and the newly-graded rail corridor

Hey, I found a trolley!

The Los Angeles commuter rail system, Metrolink, is currently expanding its service out to Redlands, revitalizing the old abandoned rail corridor and the historic Santa Fe depot.  As part of this effort, the City of Redlands got a grant to develop a really great transit-oriented development plan to guide redevelopment efforts for the area around the three new rail stops, which encompasses the Redlands Mall and other vacant and abandoned areas in the downtown core.  City staff and hired consultants spent over a year developing this long-term plan for walkable, bike-friendly, mixed-use development.  They held a series of public workshops to learn what the community wanted and to solicit feedback on the plans.

The plan, called the Transit Villages Plan, lays out new zoning for the plan area, allowing buildings of 4 stories on average (with some sections of up to 5 stories allowed for architectural features) in the central part of downtown, with building heights tapering off as you get farther from downtown.  The plan also specifies various architectural requirements to maintain the character of the town and prevent ugly big square boxes from being built, etc.  It seemed like a good plan!  It would help us to redevelop the decayed areas of downtown, encourage environmentally responsible and sustainable development patterns, accommodate necessary and desirable growth in a controlled manner, and ensure that we maintained the charm and character of the city.

However, the City's vision for this new denser, mixed-use development couldn't come to fruition with the existing voter-approved slow growth restrictions in place.  So, the City put on the March 2020 ballot a new measure, Measure G, which would remove the old slow growth restrictions for the area within the Transit Villages Plan area (so, not the whole city, but just the downtown core).

Redlands went nuts!  In the month or two preceding the Measure G vote, a vigorous public debate broke out in the local newspapers and social media.  Although response to the Transit Villages Plan at the community workshops had seemed largely positive, there was immense pushback to Measure G.  NIMBYism took hold. People didn't want to encourage more development in Redlands, didn't want to welcome new apartment-dwelling neighbors, and didn't want their views of the mountains obstructed by taller buildings downtown.  But the debate was wild.  Measure G's actual text was technical and confusing, and the City did a poor job of proactively explaining what it meant in lay terms and even explaining how the urban planning process works, what zoning is, what the existing measures were, etc.  By the time the City finally released an FAQ that laid out clear information, the conspiracy theories had already made the rounds, people's emotions had already been roused, and the local Tea Party had organized in a serious way to oppose the measure.

Measure G failed miserably. About 65% of voters opposed it.

So what does this mean for the vacant lots and abandoned buildings of downtown Redlands?  It remains to be seen.  The City will have to redesign the Transit Villages Plan to conform to the old slow growth measures.  Will developers be willing to invest in these properties given the limitations?  We don't know.

Further confusing the problem is that the State of California has been aggressively pursuing legislation to increase the housing supply across the state, precisely because municipal slow growth measures like those in Redlands are driving up housing costs and encouraging sprawl.  Some state legislation actually removes municipal new housing unit limits, so even without Measure G, parts of our slow growth limits are moot.  The state is also requiring communities to provide large numbers of new housing units over the next several years.  It's unclear to me exactly how this works, but my understanding is that if a City's zoning code does not conform with state requirements on housing provision, the City has no grounds to say no to a developer proposing housing units in whatever form.  Thus, we may end up with denser high-rise development downtown anyway, but it won't be subject to the Transit Villages Plan's careful architectural guidelines. We may be stuck with whatever the developer wants to build with no local say in the matter.  We might also end up bulldozing our few remaining orange groves on the outskirts of the town and turning them into housing developments, and people will build Granny flats in their garages or backyards.  And if we don't conform to the State's requirements, we risk losing state funding for things like road construction.

So, the future of Redlands remains pretty uncertain for the moment.  The way I see it, the failure of Measure G seems fairly self-defeating.

To be clear, there is some activity happening among all the vacant lots.  The new Redlands Packing House District shopping center has been successful, Escape Brewery moved into the old Rondor building (a former trolley depot), and there's a new market-style eatery in the works in another old packinghouse.  But none of this helps the housing situation, and it's not the walkable mixed-use development we envisioned in the Transit Villages Plan.

Redlands Blvd just west of downtown. Perhaps the now-empty part of downtown will eventually look like this?

Further reading:

• Kodachromeguy's photos of historic Redlands
• My commentary in favor of Measure G in the Redlands Community News
• My explanation of urban planning and zoning in the Redlands Community News
• City of Redlands' FAQ on Measure G
• City Councilwoman Toni Momberger clarifies some details about Measure G

Because Kodachromeguy always does this: All photos in this post were taking with a Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact smartphone.  And for the record, Redlands almost never has this many clouds in the sky.

Abandoned Rocket Fuel Plant, Redlands, California

Redlands, California, is a historic town on the far east outskirts of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.  The historic core is well-represented by gorgeous Craftsman architecture houses in impeccable condition. But drive to the unincorporated town Mentone, turn north on some gravel roads towards the Santa Ana River wash, and you come across a wasteland of boulder fields, water retention pits, and hulking concrete bunkers. The bunkers are the remains of the Lockheed Propulsion Company, which developed and tested solid fuel rocket motors and propellants for use by the military and NASA between 1961 and 1975. The Grand Central Rocket Company used the site before 1961.

Southern California was, for many decades, one of the prime locations for the United States aerospace industry. After World War II, aircraft companies expanded their operations to encompass the new rocket and space technologies. This accelerated after the 1957 launch of Sputnik and in the 1960s, as we developed equipment and systems for the space race.

These were sturdy buildings, with thick reinforced concrete walls. Some semi-buried bunkers (see the fourth photograph) were made to store highly explosive materials. Bunkers like this are built with thick earthen sides and a thin roof so that an explosion will dissipate its energy vertically into the air. Note the troughs in the floor through which cables and conduits could be routed.

These rectangles contain glass at least 6 inches thick. They were designed for movie cameras to film rocket nozzle exhaust. I have seen windows like this at an old building (no longer extant) at the Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

According to a Wikipedia article, the Lockheed plant closed in 1975 when the last contracts for the Apollo program ended and NASA selected Thiokol to prepare solid propellant for the Space Shuttle booster rockets. Solvents and other toxic chemicals have been measured in water wells in the region. Nevertheless, Lockheed-Martin Corporation has refused to pay for the clean-up of the contamination. Is this not a familiar story?

For more articles on Redlands, please click the links:
1. Restoring the Santa Fe Depot.
2. Historic Redlands High School's Clock Auditorium.
3. A quick tour of Craftsman houses.

For an odd site in the California desert:  Salvation Mountain.

The photographs of the rocket fuel plant are from a compact Yashica Electro 35CC film camera with a fixed 35mm f/1.8 Color-Yashinon lens. My impression is that the lens may be giving slightly more coverage than 35mm, but regardless, it is a handy focal length for street and casual photography. The film was Fuji 200, purchased in Kathmandu, Nepal. I scanned the negatives on a Plustek 7600i 35mm film scanner using SilverFast Ai software.

Update January 2018

A retired rocket scientist, Mr. C.E. Juran wrote to me. He worked at the site, which was then run by Grand Central Rocket, from 1956 to 1966. He confirmed that Lockheed left a mess when it closed the site in 1974. Recall, in that era, there was minimal environmental awareness. The photograph shows Mr. Juran with a rocket being assembled; the propellant "grain" is suspended above the pressure case.

Update July 2022

A short commemoration of Mentone's 135th birthday in the Redlands Community News summarized the history of the rocket fuel facility.   

Saved! Clock Auditorium, Redlands High School, California

Clock Auditorium at Redlands High School is an imposing concrete monolith. Located at 840 E. Citrus Avenue, Redlands High School is the oldest public high school in California still in use on its original location (according to Wikipedia). The city dedicated the auditorium to a long-term school official, Mr. Fred H. Clock, on May 12th, 1940.

But despite its massive poured concrete construction, it does not come across as bunker-like. The cream-color paint and red clay tile roof soften the facade.

The city built Clock in 1928, a time when California was in ascendancy and future prosperity looked unstoppable. The nation had not yet descended into the Great Depression, and city fathers wanted their children to benefit from the arts.

Ascend the stage and look back, and you see what an imposing space this is. This was built for a high school? In a small town at the east end of the Los Angeles valley? The orchestra seating has been replaced with modern padded units.

The view is just as impressive from the balcony.

Clock Auditorium ceiling with reinforcing rods.

The roof is made of impressive timbers. Sometime in the 1960s, engineers retrofitted it to be more earthquake resistant. Steel tension rods were run across the rafters to hold the structure together during tremors. 

According to the web page of the Redlands High School Drama club, the auditorium was scheduled for demolition in the early 1980s. The demolition company tested a wrecking ball against the south wall, and it bounced off, leaving only a minor dent. At that stage, the school department decided to renovate the structure. I suspect there is more to the story, but at least it was saved. Since then, the electrical system has been renovated, theater machinery replaced, and a new fire curtain installed.

The balcony still has its original wood seats. Ouch, imagine sitting in these for a 4+-hr production of Tristan und Islode. 

Unused spotlight in Clock Auditorium

Stair to balcony, Clock Auditorium.

Some of the hallways up in the attic are a bit spooky.

The auditorium gets regular use. This was the inaugural concert of the Redlands Community Orchestra, and the audience numbered over 300. This town still supports the Arts.

Costume storage, Clock Auditorium.

The basement area under the stage is pretty interesting, with hundreds of costumes, props, and sets. Part of the stage can be removed for certain performances. Again, notice the impressive timbers.

The builders molded interesting decorative elements into the pillars. I am not sure if these are concrete or plaster. Even the toilet stalls were the best possible - marble walls and chrome-plated fittings.

Clock Auditorium is an example that good architecture can be preserved and used for its original purpose decade after decade. It takes work and community spirit, but it is possible. Why won't more American communities follow this example? Who really benefits from erecting new schools, auditoriums, municipal buildings (and, worst of all, convention centers) - often at a compromised budget? Do you suppose there may be some corruption involved? (You know the answer to this!)

The Redlands High School Performing Arts Department has a web page with a short description of Clock Auditorium.

I took the interior photographs with a Panasonic G3 digital camera, tripod-mounted. The two exterior scenes are from an iPhone 4.

Being Restored: the Santa Fe Depot, Redlands, California

The Santa Fe Depot, at 347 Orange Street in Redlands, has been unused for at least three decades. But the building is in reasonably good condition, and, as of 2009, there were ambitious plans to turn it into a combination restaurant and retail space. As of late 2013, I did not see any progress, but these plans typically take years to get going.

Santa Fe Depot, Redlands, California

Originally built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, the pseudo Greek revival depot was designed 1909 by architect Arthur Brown, Jr., and constructed in 1910. A nearly 300-foot long colonnade along the platform looks grand, but hides a somewhat more modest 100-foot depot building.  The depot closed in 1970.  The tracks are now owned by the State and may be revived as part of a commuter transit system.  It would make sense to develop rapid rail to connect to Ontario and LAX airports.  

1922 route map of the AT&SF railroad.

Undated photograph from abandonedrails.com.

This was an active depot decades ago, and the 1922 route map shows Redlands as one of the system's many destinations. It must have once been very lucrative to bring passenger traffic to and from southern California.

Santa Fe Depot, Redlands, California

The day I took these photographs, I saw a professional photographer taking portraits here, possibly a corporate job.  He had reflectors to bring light in to his subjects.

The old waiting and baggage rooms look reasonable.  Someone must have repainted in the last few years.  I took these photographs through some dusty windows, bracing the camera on a ledge.

Heavy-duty industrial restroom - built for the ages.

Sturdy old-fashioned restrooms were built to last in the old days. The tiles and stalls surely are original.  I hope this building gets a new life soon.

Articles on other railroad depots:

• The Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad Station, Saginaw, Michigan
• Mississippi Valley and Yazoo Railroad Station, Vicksburg, Mississippi
• Closed depot in Markópoulo, Attika, Greece
• Deserted train station in Milies, Greece
• The Athens to Peloponnese Railroad Station, Corinth, Greece

Wikipedia has a good article on the AT&SF railroad.

For information on the Redlands loop from San Bernardino to Redlands, see the abandonedrails web page.

Photographs taken with a Panasonic G3 digital camera, some RAW files processed with Photo Ninja software.

UPDATE

There train is back! The Redlands - Downtown Metrolink Station is just west of the old depot. Service began on October 24, 2022. You can take the commuter train to Los Angeles. The Metrolink web page provides schedules. 

A Cornucopia of Preservation: Redlands, California

Regular readers of this blog know I usually record neglect and decay in our cities and towns.  In too many places in America, historic houses and commercial buildings have been neglected, torn down, and replaced with nasty, cut-rate, build-it-cheap structures. Optimize cash flow today and forget about our legacy to future generations. Have you seen the 25+ miles of cul-de-sacs and McMansion ghettos as you fly into Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta? Have you seen the ghastly typical strip outside of a small town? What happened to pride in our towns and nation?

But this time, I want to show you that the opposite is possible: urban preservation.  Redlands, California, a bedroom community about 60 miles east of Los Angeles, is the "Jewel of the Inland Empire." 

The streets in the historic district are planted with spectacular palms.  From Wikipedia, "At the turn of the 20th century, Redlands was the "Palm Springs" of the next century, with roses being planted along many city thoroughfares. Some of these plantings would survive as wild thickets into the 1970s, especially adjacent to orange groves where property management was lax. Washingtonia palms (Washingtonia robusta) were planted along many main avenues. In fact, Redlands was the first city to have center medians with trees or gardens in between roads. So beautifully kept was the area, with the dramatic mountain backdrops, that for several years the Santa Fe Railroad operated excursion trains along the loop that passed through the orange groves of Redlands and Mentone, across the Santa Ana River, and back into San Bernardino via East Highlands, Highlands and Patton…"

1908 panorama of Redlands, California

The 1908 panorama shows the rows and rows of orange and grapefruit trees. This was a major commodity in the early 20th century, made possible by an efficient railroad infrastructure and a complex water system, which allowed irrigation in this semi-arid setting.

The historic district south of Interstate 10 and the hills south of town have retained the garden city look. Unfortunately, most of the orange groves are gone, but a few small ones remain, and the town has a lush profusion of exotic plants.  Most are introduced species, of course, but cheap water makes the green lawns and beautiful flowers possible.

It is an eye-opener to visit a city like Redlands with its collection of early 20th century houses in amazing condition.  Several factors must have contributed:  

• The climate: Redlands is dry, and wood does not rot as rapidly as in wetter areas. 
• Residents lived in their historic houses, precluding a large-scale conversion to rentals.
• They were wealthy enough to maintain their houses properly over the decades. 
• The city may have been wise enough to offer incentives to maintain the historical areas.  
• The city may have had strict zoning.
• Somehow Redlands avoided the scourge of white flight (for an extreme example, see Detroit).
• And most important, the residents had pride.  

Cajon Street from East Vine, view southeast.

In 1908, you would have taken the train to the Santa Fe depot (subject of a future blog article) and walked south on Orange Street. Orange turns into Cajon Street, and at the corner of East Vine, you reach the police station, library, churches, and other civic buildings. Proceed southeast, and elegant houses line the road.

215 Cajon Street. Note the arch-topped inset balcony on the third floor.

A professional office at 256 Cajon Street.

425 Cajon Street, another property with lush vegetation.

504 Cajon Street.  Cool tower sticking out of the roof, and handsome wrap-around porch.

513 Cajon Street, a bit more severe than the previous examples, but with a distinctive dormer on the third floor.

523 Cajon Street.  A handome Victorian with a wrap-around porch.

633 Cajon Street.  Note the amazing tree house.

726 Cajon Street.

734 Cajon Street. Flowers and an amazing cactus under the tree.

755 Cajon Street, Spanish style in a somewhat severe interpretation. 

928 Cajon Street, another example with a great corner tower and dormer window.  This is almost a mirror image of 504. And this one has rose trees...

1004 Cajon Street, an impressive Victorian in immaculate condition. I love the corner tower.

These are just some of the houses on Cajon Street. See the captions for the addresses.

Olive was another elegant residential street. One of the more unusual homes is at 405 West Olive. This exuberant pseudo-Moorish design was (is) a bit over the top, but it fits in the Southern California setting. It was built in 1903 for William F. Holt, a St. Louis developer and capitalist. One of its unusual features is a 1-lane bowling alley in the basement.  Many of Redlands' finer homes were built in the turn of the century by wealthy easterners, who came to southern California in the winter months to escape snow and pollution.

Olive Apartments, 24 West Olive Avenue.  Notice the repeating theme of the arches.

316 West Olive Avenue.  Elegant wood house with detail woodwork on the balcony.

533 West Olive Avenue.  Arts and crafts cottages like this are common in Redlands.

501 West Olive Avenue.

West Olive Avenue, running northeast to southwest, is a prestigious residential street.

Alvadaro Street.  I have seen handsome houses like this in Pittsburgh and other eastern cities. Note the impressive clay tile roof and the balcony-dormer.

621 Alvarado Street, surrounded by the lush vegetation.

Alvarado Street. A ranch style with immaculate garden.

Alvarado Street.  A large version of an Arts and Crafts cottage. The pillars made of river rock are seen in many houses here.

Alvarado street runs from Smiley Park at West Olive southeast to Prospect Park.

103 South Beuna Vista Street.

105 South Center Street

Close by are South Center and South Buena Vista Streets, also with nicely-maintained properties.

511 Linda Place

623 Linda Place

Linda Place has somewhat more modest cottages, many in immaculate condition.

604 Linda Place, with drought-tolerant plants instead of lawn.

604 Linda Place, with unusual river rock walls but no posts - the roof cantilevers out over the porch.

This is an amazing:sight: mahogany tongue-and-groove flooring.  

The unusual kitchen tiles that show early 20th century advertisements from the citrus packers.

A recent Redlands home-buyer documents her adventures in her Time-Axis blog. You can read about lead paint over the ages and similar topics.  Click the link to see the Santa Fe depot in Redlands. 

This is a portal for the Inland Empire, the area east of Los Angeles. It was once a lush paradise of citrus farms, but now much has been despoiled by suburban sprawl and industry.

Photographs taken with a Panasonic G3 camera, most with the 20 mm f/1.7 Lumix lens.  Raw files reprocessed with PhotoNinja.