A shopping center can by no means define a community, but the bright lights and the purple and orange buildings of the Tustin Market Place are sure signs that you’ve landed in the city.
Tustin, once deemed “The City of the Trees,” is, like most in the county a community undergoing changes. Aging areas of the city are being redeveloped but residents also cherish its historical core, located at Main Street in Old Town.
The former Marine Corps Air Station, which closed in July of 1999, will be replaced with a 1 million-square-foot retail and restaurant center with specialty shops and a 14-screen, 3,000-seat theater. The center, dubbed “The District at Tustin Legacy,” is expected to open next year.
In addition, the Tustin Market Place at Jamboree Road on the cusp of the Irvine-Tustin border, draws thousands to its more than 100 shops and restaurants.
The city’s parks and recreation outlets, which city officials have invested in for the past decade, also attract thousands of residents. On an average day, the 20-acre Tustin Sports Park attracts casual joggers, local teams and young families.
Not too far from the sports park is the popular Tustin Ranch Golf Club, an 18-hole course with lakes, cascading falls and nearly 7,000 yards of grass.
More than 70,871 people live in the city, which was incorporated in 1927 with a rich history.
The city was founded decades before, in the 1870s, by Columbus Tustin, a carriage maker from Northern California. And among the early businesses and structures were a blacksmith shop, a grocery store and meat market, a business and feed store building, churches and school buildings.
Out-of-towners and residents can see the city’s roots today in Old Town, where historic buildings dating back to the late 1800s, are maintained.
The Tustin Old Town Association today works to preserve and keep intact the city’s history while promoting the area’s businesses and bringing in new ones. Sidewalk tours are available.
Highlights of the historic area include The Rock House, which was built in 1950 by a civil engineer who used rocks he gathered from the Rocky Mountain states. Also, The Stevens House is a historical home that was built in 1887 by pioneer Sherman Stevens.
