| Located just outside of Los Angeles in central Orange County, the City of Costa Mesa is seeking its own identity. Although it has the City of Newport Beach, an area that is affluent and mostly White, bordering on one side, Costa Mesa is also adjoined to the City of Santa Ana, an area that is increasingly marked by low-income, working class Latinos. The dichotomy of these two cities represent very different models for the future of Costa Mesa, resulting from tension between ethic groups as well as a changing population. In particular, the Westside of Costa Mesa is undergoing a rapid transition, becoming home to 29,000 people, most of whom (46 percent) are Latino. In addition, the region is characterized by overcrowded multifamily housing units, declining infrastructure, numerous bars and liquor stores, and apartments mixed in with industrial properties.
To address these issues, the University of California, Irvine, will work with the Community Outreach Partnership Center to develop services and programs that target the wide influences affecting the Westside of Costa Mesa. Based within the university's School of Social Ecology, this initiative will include: - Relationship-building activities such as a public peace process to promote understanding and cooperation among diverse groups.
- Improved local urban design to create opportunities for diverse groups to work together.
- A police-community dialogue to improve relationships between law enforcement and the Latino community.
- Educational activities to improve students' performance.
- Afterschool centers that benefit both students and university tutors.
Among the partners in this initiative are various schools and departments at the university, including its Center for Educational Partnerships, School of Social Sciences, and the Center for Global Peace and Conflict Studies. Additional partners from the community are the Westside Improvement Association, Newport Mesa Unified School District, Save Our Youth Center, THINK Together, and the Hispanic Advisory Commission of the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
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