How Fullerton’s $23 million bet on the Richman Park neighborhood paid off
The neighborhood’s problematic layout led to other inherent issues. Without traffic lights, drivers sped through the streets as kids tried to play or walk to Richman Elementary – residents pleaded with the City Council for help, telling stories of accidents and near-misses involving the children.
And garages and alleyways located on the backside of complexes meant students at the neighboring school were exposed to blaring music and commotion, remembered Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, who grew up in the neighborhood and taught at the school. She remembered the school going on lockdown after a resident in the adjoining alley was seen with a gun.
“It just had this feeling of run down and unsafe,” Sharon Ellis, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Orange County, said. “I saw things that were going on in the streets that I don’t want to say.”
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