Anaheim : Project Outlines How to Achieve an Ideal City

An ideal Anaheim envisioned by business and community leaders was outlined to the City Council on Tuesday as part of a project called Vision 2000.

The report pictures Anaheim as the county’s financial center and the state’s tourist, convention and sports mecca. It also envisions a city free of traffic snarls.

The 50 community leaders, commissioned by the city earlier to produce a list of strategies and goals for the city, said in their outline Tuesday that solving traffic congestion should take top priority.

They also recommended, among other things, that the city:

Implement programs to involve residents in the city.

Reverse the pattern of deterioration and blight in the commercial, retail and residential areas of the city.

Create an aggressive marketing program to promote Anaheim regionally and internationally to tourism industries.

Vision 2000 participants also noted the influx of undocumented immigrants and a growing aging population in the city. They said the city should minimize “the adverse impact of illegal immigration,” promote quality, affordable housing and “derive the maximum benefit from a diverse ethnic mix.”

The top 10 goals listed in Vision 2000 will next be developed as part of the city’s budget and general plan, said Norm Priest, Anaheim community development executive director.