Down on the Town: Bellflower Changing, One Plaza at a Time

by Mike Plunkett

You know a coffeehouse is in trouble when it starts selling Top Ramen.

The coffeehouse also couldn't break a twenty, but the barista was nice enough to give me the coffee on the house. Aside from a smattering of regulars and people passing through on a hazy Thursday, Perks Coffee in downtown Bellflower, California was as quiet as Mitt Romney's campaign office in South Carolina.

Downtown Bellflower? That feels weird reading on the screen. Bellflower has a downtown?
Perks Coffee takes residence at the Bellflower Town Center Plaza, the centerpiece of the city's looming redevelopment renaissance.

Bellflower is having a renaissance? That feels even weirder.

The Town Center Plaza opened to acclaim in 2004, after years of legal wrangling to get the Bellflower Redevelopment Agency up and going. Proposed in 1990, the Agency was officially cleared to work after legal challenges were settled in 1995. Like other Agencies, it is charged with improving blighted areas and working to provide affordable housing. The Agency (which is the City Council) ran up against those that claim that there wasn't much of a case for blight in Bellflower, in addition to fears about eminent domain and a lawsuit with the county over property taxes. As the city teetered on bankruptcy in the early 1990s and lost potential revenue to those surrounding it, Bellflower has been playing development catch-up since.

Indeed, Bellflower always runs as the third wheel in the Lakewood/Bellflower/Cerritos triad. Approximately 20 miles from downtown Los Angeles, the area sits in the patchwork confluence of L.A. County. North of Long Beach, these three cities take up residence in one of the easy-breezy parts of this desert we call home.

Its location lends itself to being a retail paradise. Lakewood and Cerritos Malls are Mecca for teenagers looking for trouble and senior citizens looking for a scenic walking route, while Cerritos is home to Cerritos Auto Square. Lakewood brings history and nostalgia. The city's motto "Times change, values don't," says it all. Cerritos has sophistication, complete with the Cerritos Library, which only costs a mere $100 a year for non-Cerritos residents to get a library card. No joke. That leaves us with Bellflower.

The city has struggled to create a sustainable development and identity and, with a significant crime issue in the 80s and 90s, it has been a place to pass through to get to the 91 Freeway, quickly. To its credit, the city has tried very hard to improve its image and development. The Town Center Plaza, where the above-mentioned coffeehouse is located, was the winner of 2005 Award of Excellence by the California Redevelopment Association.

Bellflower Town Center Rehabilitation Concept

This past year, officials re-christened the Belmont Building on Bellflower Boulevard with new occupants Starbucks and Subway. In February 2008, the Pacific Electric Railway train depot will re-open to the public. Signs encouraging visitors to "Watch Us Grow" are plastered throughout the Development Area the Redevelopment Agency is commissioned to improve. Also, an October Long Beach Press-Telegram article highlights the capital improvement plan, which includes a proposed bicycle trail/sidewalk and plans to develop 15 acres on the west side of the San Gabriel Park into a park. If the Council can make up its mind on what they want, plans are also in the works to spruce up the northwest entrance to downtown.

Yet, no one is coming. No one is in Perks Coffee. Hell, no one is in the Starbucks across the street. Currently, anyone driving down Bellflower Boulevard gets a whiff of design mishmash. It feels more like development schizophrenia than vision. One building is in one design method, with others vacated and worn down. Sadly, it has always felt like this. Compared to Lakewood and Cerritos, Bellflower has always struggled with the perception of being the slow city, slow to develop and slow to change. The city must contend with major retailers taking up residence in Lakewood (and about to get worse with Costco coming to Lakewood Mall) and Cerritos. The Bellflower Town Center Plaza might have a fountain and a burger joint, but it doesn't have a movie theater and Borders. In the end, that might be a good thing, but for now, it's just sad.

Which brings us back to Top Ramen and coffee. What does a city do when all the good ideas are taken? Some argue that Bellflower hit its peak 30 years ago and has never fully transitioned to modern cityhood, whatever that means. Bellflower touts itself as "The Friendly City." Wouldn't it be nice if people came to the town center because of politeness? It would be just that, nice. But nice won't break a $20.