As a student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland I enjoyed living in what I believed at the time must have been one of the most beautiful cities of the world. One grand vista was seen when looking down at Princes Street from the castle. While each building on Princes Street was unique, all had the flavor of early 19th-century style. They made the street special.
Unfortunately, upon my return to Edinburgh in the summer of 1995 after an absence of 35 years, I found wholesale destruction of old buildings. They were being replaced with new ones faced with garish plastics and metals out of harmony with their surroundings. There is certainly a place for individuality and modern facades, but that place is not in an historic district.
Paris is another glorious city capable of making anyone's spirits soar. However, the vistas of Paris are slowly being destroyed by modern high rises placed without much thought for their impact on the rest of the city.
Close to home is Santa Barbara, which suffered tremendous destruction in a 1925 earthquake. The people of Santa Barbara undertook at that time to rebuild according to architectural guidelines which make their city the envy of millions of visitors.
A city should make its citizens' and its visitors' spirits soar. Great planning and worthy architecture are the least we can expect from ourselves and our government. We mustn't leave it to happenstance or the vagaries of personal taste.
In one part of our city, the development of architectural guidelines is already well underway. Over the last year, the merchants, property owners and residents of downtown Newhall have come together to plan the rebirth of our city's oldest downtown district, in keeping with its rich historical traditions.
The proposed design guidelines for Old Town Newhall, modeled on its Western, Victorian and Spanish heritage and agreed upon by the hundreds of participants in a series of community meetings, will preserve those traditions for all time.
It is a process worth repeating throughout the rest of our city.
With different and unique guidelines adopted neighborhood by neighborhood, we will forever see the vision of our present generation. One day, people will look upon the citizens of 21st-century Santa Clarita as those who could see far into the future and start something extraordinary. We look at a cathedral in Germany which took seven hundred years to complete, and we realize that those people had a clear vision of the legacy they were creating.
Why should we expect anything less of ourselves? While architectural guidelines should not be imposed by government, they should be designed by our city's people, perhaps with the help of design juries selected from professional circles as was done in the case of the city hall competition several years ago. Once the people have determined what they want, government should facilitate their wishes becoming reality.
No, the impact will not be quickly seen. However, some of our younger people will live to see Santa Clarita become a truly special and wonderful place. Far in the future, our citizens will be remembered for their vision.
Five hundred years from now, people will look at the green belt we created with the Santa Clarita Woodlands Park and will be glad we accomplished that. Let them also recognize our generation as those who created a gorgeous city.