The Pine Hills area of Orange County is mostly associated with crime. But a plan is in the works to revitalize the area with a new town center.
We showed pictures of the proposed town center at Silver Star Road and North Pine Hills Road to people shopping at the strip mall that's currently there.
“It looks good to me. It looks very family oriented and stuff. It looks good!” said Joseph Willis, who's lived in the area five years.
“I think it is beautiful!" said Juanita Coller, who's lived in the area 15 years. "It would be nice to have something to look at other than just cars and disabled vehicles.”
Both Juanita Coller and Joseph Willis have lived near the Pine Hills shopping center at Silver Star and North Pine Hills Road for years and say they’re excited for change to finally come. But this isn’t the first attempt to revitalize the area. At a price tag of up to $300 million it won’t be cheap, but well worth the investment, if you ask Willis.
“I would definitely say more stores, more activities to do around here," Willis said. As you can tell, the roads aren’t that… You know, there’s potholes. We’ve got to get our car fixed right now because we went into a pothole. So, the roads are messed up.”
The new rendering to transform this area into a town center would create more walking space where families can stroll from place to place without having to drive. It also gets rid of those potholes Willis complained about. But what’s different about this attempt is there’s momentum from Orange County. The county sees this as the backbone to push this forward, leading people like Juanita Coller to dream what she wants to be in the new town center.
“Oh, I want to see a Red Lobster here, Boo! I love Red Lobster!” Coller said.
The committee issuing the final report on the revitalization caution it could take up to 30 years before this gets the upgrade.