Urban Sprawl: Cerritos, California's Strategy To Come Out Ahead

Although urban sprawl and intelligent growth seem to be key phrases in the news these daysespecially among politicians and environmentalists, the truth is smart growth can only happen when there is a plan in place to grow. Wise growth is not a reaction to a housing boom. Neither is it a way to enhance a city's economic climate as it begins to slide into a slump. Truly smart growth is a new city's plan to, more than years, accommodate a lot more folks and organizations, without comprising its natural resources or the high quality of life for those who are already there. Law Offices of Jaime G. Monteclaro car accident attorneys cerritos. In spite of what many people are labeling as intelligent growth in an effort to pad their own bank accounts or please their more effective constituents, smart growth can occur. And it has in the California city of Cerritos.

Cerritos is an unassuming city, much less attention-hungry than its larger brothers Los Angeles and Hollywood. Nestled just northeast of Long Beach and northwest of Anaheim, the city of Cerritos isn't nicely identified. Most Americans wouldn't know that it's home to Cerritos College (the third largest Hispanic-serving community colleges in the country), Isuzu Motors America, Inc.well-known for its leading-of-the-line SUV Ascender and pickup trucks, and United Postal Services (which employs around five,000 men and women in Cerritos alone). California Company Magazine named Cerritos one of the very best 100 Cities to do organization in the state.

Incorporated in 1956 as The City of Dairy Valley, Cerritos' original name reflected the community's agricultural focus. At that time, dairy cattle outnumbered the residents of the city nine to one particular as there had been less than five,000 folks living in the incorporated city. Law Offices of Jaime G. Monteclaro injury lawyer lakewood ca. Cerritos received its charter to become a California city two years right after its incorporation, which marked the beginning of its intelligent growth.

Approximately eight years later, rising property taxes and land costs began to take their toll on dairy operations, and by the early 1960s the agricultural crux of Cerritos was beginning to falter. In March of 1965, the citizens decided, in a special election, to permit properties to be built below strict residential improvement recommendations. This alter led to a spurt in the population growth, with the population edging to just under 16,000 people by 1970, only 3 years following the city officially changed its name to Cerritos (selected since it was located in close proximity to the original land grant Rancho Los Cerritos).

Seeing the prospective difficulties with continued population growth, Cerritos wanted to continue to develop in a well-developed manner under a policy of continual environmental improvement. The standards and goals of the policy laid out techniques to attain a park-like community and still permit for commercial, industrial, and residential improvement.

The initial Cerritos Common Strategy was adopted in October of 1971, to provide for a controlled urban development. The plan itself guaranteed convenient access to shopping close to homes, places for a multitude of services, enticing neighborhoods, and parks for recreation. A revised version of the General Plan was adopted in January of 2004.

So how did they do it? Approximately half of the city's land is designated for residential improvement. This didn't slow Cerritos down. From 1970 to 1972, Cerritos became California's fastest growing city with a population increase from 15,800 to 37,700. But it wasn't just the residential improvement that was being focused on.

Cerritos opened the very first solar-heated City Hall complicated in U.S. history in 1978. The City developed the Cerritos Auto Square in the early '80s, which now generates $10 million+ in sales tax revenue annually. Law Offices of Jaime G. Monteclaro personal injury lawyer lakewood ca. In 1997, Cerritos opened a state-of-the-art Cerritos Sheriff's Station/Community Safety Center to the tune of $ten million to offer residents with public safety services 24-hours-a-day, 365 days a year. In March of 2002, the Cerritos Library was dedicatedan 88,000-square-foot constructing featuring art collections, educational displays and beautiful conference center s. As anniversary gifts commemorating 50 years as a city, The Cerritos Sculpture Garden and a fitness/wellness center at the Cerritos Senior Center were devoted in 2006 to the community.