9 Cities Join Forces to Solve the Valley’s ‘Identity Crisis’

Deloris Brown, a 20-year Los Angeles resident, is typical of the many Southern Californians who go blank when asked about the San Gabriel Valley.

“I’ve heard of it, I think,” Brown said.

College student Lynn Stogner had a vague impression of the region, describing it as a place “beyond Cal State L.A.”

“I hear about all these valleys--Simi Valley, San Fernando Valley--I get them all confused,” said Stogner, a junior at Loyola Marymount University.

And in her 27 years as a native Californian, El Segundo resident Susanne Stehr said she has visited the San Gabriel Valley only once.

“It was on my way to Big Bear,” she said.

Little wonder that some say the San Gabriel Valley is suffering from an identity crisis.

From Pasadena, the San Gabriel Valley stretches east to Claremont. On the north it reaches the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, and on the south it borders the rolling Puente Hills near Hacienda Heights.

“What we found is not that we have a bad image,” said Alhambra City Manager Kevin Murphy. “It’s just that we have no image.”

Alhambra is one of nine cities that each paid $5,000 for a study on ways of marketing the area as a desirable place to live, work or start a business. The goal is to develop a regional marketing plan and establish a nonprofit organization to implement that plan.

Active Redevelopment Agencies

Other participating cities are Azusa, Baldwin Park, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, Monrovia, Monterey Park and West Covina. All have active redevelopment agencies interested in bringing quality office and retail developments to their communities.

The West Covina Chamber of Commerce also helped to pay for the study, which was recently released. The chamber and participating cities are still reviewing the findings and will meet in June to discuss further cooperative efforts, said Steve Wylie, assistant to the West Covina city manager.

The study is part of a growing effort by San Gabriel Valley communities to present a cohesive image to outsiders. After years of competing against one another for investment dollars, cities are beginning to realize that it is to their benefit to present themselves to investors as a single region, officials said.

“Any time you have the consortium of cities and you have greater representation, you have an opportunity to receive attention,” said Tina Gall, business marketing officer for Azusa.

Two recent efforts to promote cooperation between cities in the area have met with mixed reviews.

Last December, the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce hired an Atlanta-based consulting firm to promote Mardi Gras West, an event that the chamber hoped would become a hallmark of the San Gabriel Valley area and help unify it.

Mardi Gras West was celebrated through a gala banquet and parades in various cities, but there are no plans to continue the event because of the cost.

In January, the West Covina chamber formed a division called the Council on Business and Industry, which is designed to promote investments in the San Gabriel Valley by helping businesses with marketing and expansion plans.

The new council, which has been recruiting members across the San Gabriel Valley, has raised the ire of other chambers of commerce, which fear that a regional business council will rob them of members.

At a meeting last week, West Covina chamber spokesman Fred Burkhardt assured representatives of other chambers that the council is encouraging all businesses to also join local chambers. He stressed the importance of promoting the entire region.

Trivial Pursuit Question

“If the valley does well, we will all do well,” Burkhardt said.

To illustrate the need for a regional business council that would help put the San Gabriel Valley on the map, Ben Wong, president of the West Covina chamber, recalled playing the board game Trivial Pursuit and being asked, “Is the San Gabriel Valley east or west of Los Angeles?”

“That’s how invisible we are,” Wong said.

But others saw it differently.

“I think that it’s a compliment that Trivial Pursuit asked if the San Gabriel Valley is east or west of Los Angeles,” said Richard Jett, a Covina chamber board member. “To me somebody knew about the San Gabriel Valley or they couldn’t have put the question in there.”

The San Gabriel Valley is the home of the Rose Parade, the San Gabriel Mission and Santa Anita race track, but it has always been overshadowed by its more glamorous sister valley to the west--the San Fernando Valley, home of movie stars and “valley girls.” Never mind that the San Gabriel Valley can drop a few names, such as Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser who lives in Pasadena, and playwright Sam Shepard and model Cheryl Tiegs, who grew up in Duarte and Alhambra, respectively.

“When you say the valley, people think of the San Fernando Valley,” said Dick Nichols, director of the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce.

The San Fernando Valley is more cohesive because most of it falls within the city of Los Angeles, while the San Gabriel Valley is a hodgepodge of cities and unincorporated county areas, said Bob Fast, city manager of West Covina.

Pasadena is by far the best known of the San Gabriel Valley’s more than 30 cities, but residents in other cities say they tire of having to use Pasadena as a point of reference to describe where they live.

The region’s fuzzy, amorphous image has been a major drawback in efforts to draw developers and investment dollars to the area, Fast said. For example, a $150-million office-hotel project proposed by one developer in West Covina fell through three years ago mainly because the developer was unable to find financing, he said.

Upon review, some city officials believe a major obstacle in completing the financing was the San Gabriel Valley’s relative anonymity, Fast said.

“The San Gabriel Valley had been labeled as an untried market,” Fast said. “Oftentimes we run into statements such as ‘Where is the San Gabriel Valley? What is the San Gabriel Valley?’ ”

The marketing study, prepared by Public Technology Inc. of Washington, D.C., and Long Beach identified the Inland Empire and northern Orange County as the San Gabriel Valley’s main competitors for business investments.

Public Technology researchers surveyed city officials and community leaders as well as developers both in and outside the area.

For developers and investors, the most attractive feature of the San Gabriel Valley is its diverse work force, according to the study. It also surpassed the competing regions in the quality of its shopping centers and police and fire services.

Developable Land

But the Inland Empire and northern Orange County both received higher ratings than the San Gabriel Valley in the amount of developable land.

The study also pinpointed some misconceptions of community leaders and public officials in the San Gabriel Valley. Although local leaders viewed freeway access as a major asset, developers ranked the region behind its chief competitors.

Also, local leaders described poor air quality and absence of a cultural center as significant drawbacks in attracting business developments. But developers said air quality in the region was no worse than in the Inland Empire, and they did not list the need for a cultural center as one of the top 20 factors in their decision-making.

Manuel Ontal, a spokesman for Duarte, said his city helped pay for the marketing study because city officials wanted to publicize new services and opportunities in the community. The Duarte of 20 years ago was known for aging homes and a string of motels lining Huntington Drive, Ontal said.

“Duarte has truly resurrected,” he said. “We have new developments along Huntington Drive.” A new middle school and civic center are also near completion, he said.

“We believe that as a whole it’s important to work with our neighboring cities,” Ontal said. “Promoting Duarte by itself would not be enough to attract business to the region.”

RESULTS OF STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN SURVEY The list at the right identifies the top 20 factors that developers and retailers use to determine the appeal of a potential business site. The lists below indicate the favorable factors that were indicated for the San Gabriel Valley, the Inland Empire and northern Orange County; the figures in parentheses indicate the position on the list at right.

The goal of the Strategic Marketing Plan is to develop a regionwide approach for attracting developers and businesses. The first step was to identify factors that developers and retailers consider when they select a business site.

The West Covina Chamber of Commerce and nine cities each contributed $5,000 for the study, prepared by Public Technology Inc. of Washington, D.C., and Long Beach. Participating cities were Alhambra, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, Monrovia, Monterey Park and West Covina.

TOP 20 FACTORS

1. Access to freeways

2. Amount of land available to develop

3. Quality of shopping facilities

4. Extent of urban decay

5. Crime rate

6. Availability of local economic incentives

7. Quality of local government management

8. Access of local government officials

9. Quality of sanitation, recreation & other services

10. Diversity of work force

11. Air quality

12. Local government support of high growth

13. Quality of fire, police, emergency services

14. Quality of public transportation

15. Newness of housing

16. Access to airports

17. Quality of primary and secondary schools

18. Beauty of surroundings

19. Extent of cultural activities

20. Extent of convention facilities

SAN GABRIEL VALLEY TOP 20

1. Diversity of work force (10)

2. Access to freeways (1)

3. Quality of shopping

facilities (3)

4. Quality of local government

management (7)

5. Extent of urban decay (4)

6. Access to airports (16)

7. Land available to develop (2)

8. Quality of sanitation, recre-

ation, other services (9)

9. Access of local

government officials (8)

10. Crime rate (5)

11. Beauty of physical

surroundings (18)

12. Newness of housing (15)

13. Quality of fire, police &

emergency services (13)

14. Availability of local

economic incentives (6)

15. Extent of cultural

activities (19)

16. Extent of convention

facilities (20)

17. Access to rail facilities

18. Quality of primary and

secondary schools (17)

19. Low percentage of ethnic

minorities

20. High cost of residential housing

INLAND EMPIRE TOP 20

1. Land available to develop (2)

2. Newness of housing (15)

3. Access to freeways (1)

4. Extent of urban decay (4)

5. Diversity of work force (10)

6. Access to airports (16)

7. Quality of shopping

facilities (3)

8. Access of local

government officials (8)

9. Crime rate (5)

10. Quality of local government

management (7)

11. Beauty of physical

surroundings (18)

12. Availability of local

economic incentives (6)

13. Quality of sanitation, recre-

ation, other services (9)

14. Low cost of residential

housing

15. Quality of fire, police &

emergency services (13)

16. Access to rail facilities

17. Local government

support of high growth (12)

18. Low percentage of ethnic

minorities

19. High cost of residential

housing

20. Quality of primary and

secondary schools (17)

N. ORANGE COUNTY TOP 20

1. Land available to develop (2)

2. Quality of shopping

facilities (3)

3. Quality of local government

management (7)

4. Access to freeways (1)

5. Newness of housing (15)

6. Beauty of physical

surroundings (18)

7. Quality of sanitation, recre-

ation, other services (9)

8. Extent of urban decay (4)

9. Access to airports (16)

10. Availability of local

economic incentives (6)

11. Crime rate (5)

12. Diversity of work force (10)

13. Access of local

government officials (8)

14. Quality of public

transportation (13)

15. Extent of cultural

activities (19)

16. Local government support

of moderate growth

17. Air quality (11)

18. Quality of fire, police &

emergency services (13)

19. Low cost of industrial space

20. Low percentage of ethnic

minorities