SANTA ANA – Downtown Santa Ana has been named one of five “great neighborhoods” by a national planning organization, joining the ranks of past designees including Chinatown in San Francisco, Back Bay in Boston and Adams Morgan in Washington, D.C.

The American Planning Association announced Monday that downtown Santa Ana made its annual Great Places in America list this year, which recognizes five neighborhoods, five streets and five public spaces across the country demonstrating exceptional planning, quality and character.

While Santa Ana has been the nation’s fourth-densest city with more than 300,000 residents for some time, its downtown in recent years has drawn more entrepreneurs and artists. Fourth Street has evolved into a business and culinary destination for not only the city’s historically large Latino population, but people of all backgrounds.

“I think a lot of people who are here in the region and in the city, they’re certainly aware of what’s going on in downtown Santa Ana,” the city’s downtown development liaison Victor Negrete said. “But really what this does is it puts us in a conversation or in context to a number of other iconic neighborhoods in the U.S.”

No other neighborhood, street or public place in California won a designation this year.

The association, which launched the Great Places in America program in 2007, said this year’s honorees are exemplary in their infrastructure, amenities, cultural identity and innovative and sustainable practices.

“We like to see uniqueness and authenticity and areas that not only preserve and celebrate their heritage, so that really jumped off the page for me,” the association’s president Carol Rhea said of downtown Santa Ana.

Rhea added that community engagement is one of the association’s principles and “I know that the planning for downtown Santa Ana included the diverse community and included a lot of residents and businesses and merchants and real estate folks.”

The other four great neighborhood awardees this year are Midtown Atlanta, Georgia; Old Louisville, Kentucky; Nob Hill, New Mexico; and Downtown Warren, Rhode Island. The full list of winners is available at planning.org/greatplaces.

Santa Ana will accept its award at a public event on Oct. 20 at The Frida Cinema.

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