Ceci N'est Pas un Ghetto

The contrasts in Santa Ana's French Park neighborhood are flat-out hysterical. Combine the NIMBY-est of the NIMBYs with apartment dwellers who don't think twice about discarding couches on streets; stir in gorgeous Victorian, Neo-Classical and Craftsman homes with ugly complexes and run-down, overoccupied houses; throw in a small park where the usual park activities-running, jumping, having fun-are outlawed; and you have one of the more interesting barrios in Orange County. But if you just want to see the good parts, sign up for the Historic French Park Association's annual walking tour. Tickets are $25, and proceeds go to the group, which is trying desperately to inform outsiders that French Park isn't just Mexicans and pothole-filled streets.
Dec. 8-9, 10 a.m., 2007