The Santa Ana Stop: Your Launchpad to the County’s Most Layered Downtown
- Joel Beers
- 16 hours ago
- 11 min read
Built as a grand gateway in 1985, the Santa Ana station still anchors a city shaped by history, political power and cultural expression – making it the OC Line’s most revealing stop.
This story is a part of our series OC by Metrolink, discovering what what makes each stop worth the stop.
This series breaking down the 11 stops along Metrolink’s OC Line isn’t a popularity contest. That’s good, because if it were, Santa Ana’s station would win.
It may not be as architecturally flashy as Anaheim’s $200 million light show, or as close to a thriving downtown as Fullerton or Orange, but its design, history and, most important, location make it the county’s most compelling station.
It makes sense because Santa Ana is arguably the county’s most interesting, important and connected city. Incorporated in 1886, it’s the county’s second oldest and third largest city (until recently, second). Only Anaheim and Garden Grove border more cities, and of the county’s major freeways, only the 91 doesn’t pass through or run alongside. Though it may not have a mega-attraction, it’s less than 10 miles from some of the biggest: Angel Stadium, Disneyland, John Wayne Airport, South Coast Plaza and the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
It is also the county seat, with all the government buildings, programs and services that brings. Basically, if you need to declare bankruptcy, fight racketeering charges or go to jail (technically the county’s jails are in Orange but are this close to Santa Ana), you do it in the Golden City.
Santa Ana is also the county’s densest (if you don’t count Stanton, and who does?) and brownest city, with about 77 percent identifying as Hispanic or Latino and 71 percent of Mexican extraction, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and Census Atlas Orange County. Often maligned as crime-riddled or gang-infested, its locals are also fiercely proud, LGBTQ+ friendly (the county’s first Pride Day, in 1989, was held in Centennial Park) and highly organized, whether protesting ICE raids, trying to curb decades-long downtown gentrification, or rallying against business disruptions from the construction of the OC Streetcar, the 4.15-mile electric line expected to open in spring and will link the train station to Garden Grove.
And its downtown is the county’s best, despite the fact that many businesses and residents who once made it uniquely Santa Ana have been priced out. Independent shops still persist alongside the hipper culinary hotspots and stores, its arts and cultural offerings still impress and historic and significant buildings still stand, even if high-rise luxury apartments mushroom around them. It remains the lone spot in the county where a view from a $5,000-a-month high rise luxury apartment can include a frutas vendor standing on a corner.
Its downtown is in flux, its future contested, but it is rarely boring. The Santa Ana train station is the perfect place to begin exploring it.
Historical fantasy meets modern reality
When the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center opened on Sept. 7, 1985, it wasn’t just another rail stop. Billed as the largest new station built in the U.S. since the 1950s, it combined a nostalgic façade with a forward-looking design. It was imagined as a civic anchor, a commuter-rail stop, transportation hub and a gateway to a downtown poised for redevelopment – even if neither commuter rail nor redevelopment had arrived yet.
Metrolink finally arrived in 1991. Redevelopment has been slower, but the transit center has remained what it was on day one: a graceful, striking building on seven acres about a 15-minute walk east of downtown. Its Spanish Colonial Revival style is more historical flourish than fact: white plaster walls resembling stucco, red-tile roofs, deep archways, decorative tiling and wrought-iron rails on twisting stone staircases. All of it meant to evoke a sense of continuity with a romanticized California past that was largely manufactured.
The station’s most visible flourish is the tower that crowns it, a landmark meant to signal scale and ambition, though it also underscores how underused parts of the complex feel: locked doors, empty hallways and elevator buttons for fourth and fifth floors that don’t go anywhere.
Inside, the Spanish Revival theme continues. High ceilings, carved wood beams, arched tile-lined entryways, sunlight bouncing off Saltillo-style floors, wooden benches, heavy ironwork and decorative tiles make the waiting room feel like a scaled-down grand depot, even though it was built in 1985.
Functionally, the station has a staffed security booth, an Amtrak ticket office and inter-city, regional and local buses operated by Greyhound and the OCTA. The station is on the Metrolink’s OC line and Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner route.
It does have tenants, the most prominent being the offices for the OC Streetcar and State Sen. Tom Umberg’s district office. Something it lacks is a restaurant or café, offering only vending machines near the waiting area, a surprisingly bare amenity in a building of this ambition.
At the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center: PHOTO 1: Though constructed in the 1980s, the station's lobby feels like a smaller version of the stately California train stations built in the early 1900s. PHOTO 2: Along with a sizeable indoor waiting area, passengers can sit in the station's east patio. PHOTO 3: Design flourishes at the station include a rotunda with a three-story domed translucent ceiling and sweeping stairways. PHOTO 4: The station is about a 15-minute walk west to downtown Santa Ana. Photos by Joel Beers, Culture OC
Go West
There’s not much of interest immediately around the station; it’s mostly single-family homes and apartments to the east, industrial to the south and newer apartments to the west. However, just north lie two historic neighborhoods, and a 15-minute walk southwest gets you downtown.
Arts and Culture
The heavyweight here is the Bowers Museum. It’s not downtown, but at 1.3 miles northwest and about a 30-minute walk it’s hardly remote. Opened in 1936 with an emphasis on Orange County history, it shifted toward a broader cultural arts mission in the early 1990s. Its permanent collection includes roughly 1,000 pieces, with a strong focus on Pacific Rim and Indigenous cultures spread among eight galleries. It also hosts major touring exhibitions, including “Global Threads: India’s Textile Revolution,” opening Dec. 12.
About a mile southeast of the station is the Grand Central Art Center, located in the Artists Village. It’s home to rotating contemporary art and visual culture exhibitions. The building includes a theater that has been mostly dark since The Wayward Artist’s departure last year, but the resident Breath of Fire Latina Theatre Ensemble continues to offer free storytelling and performance workshops.
Next door, the Santora Arts Building houses six galleries, and on the same block you’ll find The California Center for Digital Arts, The Sanctuary Studio, a music-centered creative space, and the Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, a long-running nonprofit artists’ collective. Other galleries and studios are scattered throughout downtown, best explored during the Downtown Santa Ana ArtWalk held the first Saturday of every month.
Cinephiles gravitate to The Frida Cinema, O.C.’s homiest art-house theater, located about a 15-minute walk from the station on East Fourth. Opened in 2014, its two 200-seat auditoriums boast modern projection and sound, but the place feels older – maybe because nearly 10 former movie theaters once stood within a few blocks. And then there’s the old-school marquee, the photo-lined lobby chronicling film history, and the programming mix: Of the roughly 500 titles it screens a year, which range from international and independent to cult classics and horror, there’s a good mix of vintage classics, like last weekend’s Charlie Chaplin festival.
PHOTO 1: About 40 murals are located on Fourth Street or within a block. "La Ofendra" was created by "The Heavy," which is Kimberly Duran and Bud Herrera. PHOTO 2: The biggest concentration of murals in downtown Santa Ana are located just west of the Yost Theater between Spurgeon and French streets. PHOTO 3: The Frida Cinema is one of Orange County's only independent art house movie theaters. Photos by Joel Beers, Culture OC
Yost Theater: Gentrification and Cultural Shifts
The Yost Theater may be downtown’s clearest example of gentrification’s complicated ripple effects. Opened in 1913 as a vaudeville and silent-film house, it later became the first theater in Orange County to screen Spanish-language films, anchoring La Cuatro, Santa Ana’s longstanding Latino district along Fourth Street, as a lively cultural epicenter. It was acquired by the developer of the Fiesta Marketplace, which opened in 1989 as an open-air collection of Latino-oriented shops, theaters and restaurants, designed to evoke the feel of a Mexican-style plaza rather than a traditional shopping area.
It fell into decay but was renovated and reopened in 2007 as a live-performance venue hosting concerts, lectures and programming produced by Centro Cultural de México. Once again, it was a vital part of the community. That chapter lasted until roughly 2011, when programming by the center ended. Several years later, the theater was retooled as a nightclub and bar, hosting late-night dance events, DJs and club-style entertainment.
Meanwhile, Fiesta Marketplace was rebranded as East End: a cleaner, more polished district but one largely missing the cultural vibrancy of the Spanish-language music, family shops and bustling energy of years past. Though the area now looks revitalized, its heartbeat seems off.
City of Murals, Festivals and Gatherings
Nearly 250 murals are spread across Santa Ana, with about 40 concentrated along Fourth Street between Broadway and French. Vivid and stylistically diverse, they span hip-hop aesthetics, traditional motifs and street art and tell stories that chronicle and celebrate themes ranging from LGBTQ+ expression, Chicano activism, Mexican mythology, Catholic iconography and the local community. Whether political or playful, defiant or declarative, they create a layered, living portrait of Santa Ana’s identity.
Along with the aforementioned Saturday Downtown Art Walk and OC Pride Festival, downtown Santa Ana comes alive every November with Noche de Altares, California’s largest free Day of the Dead celebration; the Fiestas Patrias parade in September; the culinary event Savor Santa Ana, also in September; the Boca de Oro Arts & Literature Festival every March; and numerous other local and citywide events.
Standing History
If you know what makes a Queen Anne-style Victorian home a Painted Lady, what’s wrong with you? That is, you will love gamboling through the French Park historic district just north of the station. Homes dating back as far as the 1890s populate the neighborhood, and you’ll spy plenty of Colonial Revival, Neoclassical, Spanish Revival and Craftsman bungalows.
Downtown has the densest concentration of historic and architecturally significant buildings in the county. But first, a couple that are just outside that zone: the original Orange County Courthouse (211 W. Santa Ana Blvd., built in 1901), a Richardsonian Romanesque eye-catcher built from Arizona red sandstone; and a building at 518 Broadway built as a house but turned into the Smith Tuthill Funeral Parlor from 1910–1977, and is now home to Kickin’ Crab restaurant.
Other notable historic buildings include:
Episcopal Church of the Messiah (614 N. Bush St., c. 1889), the oldest surviving public building in continuous use in Orange County.
Masonic Temple (1403 W. Fifth St.), built during the Depression for $300,000, roughly $6.5 million today).
West End Theater (324 W. 4th St., opened 1915), which changed names several times, took its last gasps screening adult films in downtown’s halcyon period of the 1970s, and now houses Café Cultura, a contemporary Mexican cafeteria.
Old Santa Ana City Hall (217 N. Main St., 1915), in operation until the late 1990s.
Odd Fellows Hall (309 N. Main St., 1906), a rare example of late Victorian architecture in the city.
Spurgeon Building (206 W. 4th St., 1913), a four-story Neo-Classical structure crowned by a Swiss clock; it was the city’s tallest building at the time it was built in 1913, and many years thereafter.
Walking tours of downtown Santa Ana and other neighborhoods are plentiful, including ones conducted the first Saturday of each month during the city’s Art Walk and a self-guided tour.
For a walking tour that reveals lesser-told tales of downtown Santa Ana, there are two given each year by Santa Ana native and Pulitzer Prize-nominated Los Angeles Times columnist Gustavo Arellano. You’ll visit the corner of Sycamore and Fourth Street, the site of the last lynching in Orange County, that of a 25-year-old migratory farm worker Franciso Torres; the southwest block of 3rd and Bush streets, where 1,000 people gathered on May 25, 1906 to celebrate as Santa Ana’s Chinatown, home to some 200 Chinese, was burned to the ground; and you’ll see some of the locations where 300 servicemen from bases in El Toro and Santa Ana stormed on June 9, 1943, in hopes of finding pachucos to stomp, a spillover of Los Angeles’ Zoot Suit Riots and pent-up racial tensions in Orange County.
A walk through downtown Santa Ana is a walk through history. PHOTO 1: The West End Theater, located at 324 W. 4th St., was built in 1915. Today, it houses a restaurant, Cafe Cultura. PHOTO 2: Though gentrification has priced out many of the independent shops that used to dominate Santa Ana's Fourth Street, some still persevere despite the OC Streetcar construction tearing up the streets they face. PHOTO 3: The Spurgeon Building, built in 1913, was Santa Ana's first skyscraper. PHOTO 4: The original Orange County Courthouse in Santa Ana is the oldest courthouse in the county. Photos by Joel Beers, Culture OC
For the Eaters
While several restaurants that were either long-standing (Memphis at Santora) or made a splash when they opened (Little Sparrow, The Crosby, Playground, Mil Jugo) have closed, downtown Santa Ana still boasts a distinctive and varied dining scene. At the top tier are two Michelin-recommended restaurants: Lola Gaspar (211 W. 2nd St.) and Omakase by Gino (304 N. Main St.), the latter an intimate 10-seat experience. For high-end dining, you can try Chapter One (227 N. Broadway), which offers premium cuts like an $85 ribeye, while Perl Mexican (400 W. 4th St.) serves upscale Mexican cuisine.
Other notable stops include El Rincón Mexican (104 E. 4th St.), and Hammer Burger (313 N. Bush St.). A bit further out, La Chiquita (906 E. Washington Ave.) has been a local favorite since 1950, and for truck grub try Alebrije’s Grill’s classic Mexican fare and Mariscos Los Corales for Mexican seafood.
For Thai food there’s Tuk Tuk (202 E. 4th St.) and for Asian fusion try Sonder (301 N. Spurgeon). Then there’s Le Dinette Hut (‘730 N. Poinsettia), a retro diner located in a quonset hut.
The most concentrated culinary offerings are at the Fourth Street Market, (201 E. 4th St.). Anchored by Alta Baja Market, the market is more than a place to eat, it’s a true community hub. Alta Baja offers breakfast and lunch, hosts cooking demos and tastings, and functions as a specialty grocery stocked with Mexican wines, heirloom corn, beans and grains. Its staff often engages in outreach, helping local nonprofits, participating in school programs and highlighting regional food traditions.
With its 14 other tenants offering a wide range of culinary options, Fourth Street Market ensures that every visitor can taste the richness of Santa Ana’s food culture.
PHOTO 1: Hidden House Coffee, at 551 E. Santa Ana Blvd., is one of the few food or drink options near the Santa Ana station before reaching downtown. PHOTO 2: Alta Baja Market, located on 4th Street, is a grocery store, deli and educational space dedicated to celebrating the foods and crafts of California and Mexico. Photos by Joel Beers, Culture OC
PHOTO 1: While pedestrian bridge is striking, there's not much of a view to the south, as the neighborhood is largely industrial. PHOTO 2: The OC Streetcar, expected to open for service next spring, will begin at the Santa Ana station and head west on Santa Ana Boulevard on its way to Garden Grove. It will return east on Fourth Street. PHOTO 3: Metrolink and Amtrak trains stop at the Santa Ana Regional Transport Center. PHOTO 4: The Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center opened in 1985. Photos by Joel Beers, Culture OC
Santa ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC)
Address: 1000 E. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana
Opened: Sept. 7, 1985
Parking: Over 570 commuter parking spaces (free); Overnight parking allowed (72 hours maximum) 25 spaces
Hours*: 5 a.m.-midnight. The Amtrak ticket counter is open 24/7, but the station closes nightly.
Ridership: 300 average weekday Metrolink boardings (2025); 133 average weekday Amtrak Pacific Surfliner boardings (2025).
Amenities: Bike racks, bike lockers, passenger information phones, Amtrak office and indoor waiting area with benches, Security guards on-site, video surveillance system.
Route: Sixth stop on the OC Line, which runs from Los Angeles Union Station to Oceanside; also part of Amtrak Pacific Surfliner line, which runs from San Diego to San Luis Obispo.
Metrolink Train Schedule*
Weekdays: 16 trains southbound (from Los Angeles). First southbound train arrives 6:35 a.m.; last southbound train arrives 10:35 p.m. 22 trains northbound. First northbound train arrives 5:26 a.m.; final northbound train arrives 8:26 p.m.
Weekends: Four trains southbound (from Los Angeles). First southbound train arrives 9:35 a.m.; last southbound train arrives at 5:22 p.m. Eight trains northbound. First northbound train arrives 9:35 a.m.; last northbound train arrives 7:37 p.m.
Amtrak*: 24 daily trains. First southbound train arrives 7:01 a.m; last southbound train arrives 11:01 p.m. First northbound train arrives 6:01 a.m; last northbound train arrives 11:01 p.m.
OC Streetcar*: The OC Streetcar is expected to launch in 2026. The $2 one-way fare is anticipated to be the same as the bus system, and the route will run 4.15 miles between downtown Santa Ana and the Harbor Transit Center in Garden Grove, with multiple stops in downtown Santa Ana.
*subject to change
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