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ON THE TOWN

The first time I visited Newport Terrace was in 1987. My wife and I were shopping for a new home, settling on a condominium because that’s what we could afford.

In 1987, the market was hot. In fact, it had a lot of similarities to the market we’ve had around here for the past few years. As I recall, no new listing stayed on the market for very long, and prices were rising by the hour.

In our search, we encountered a few real estate agents who showed us several places, but all we walked away with were some great stories about real estate agents.

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One agent took us to a place that not only was still occupied, it wasn’t even for sale. Another wanted to make sure we knew that the car she was driving was new, so she reminded us over and over again. I can still hear her saying, “It’s a Cadillac!”

More than one agent told us a few times each that there were firm plans to develop the nearby Santa Ana River area into a marina or river walk of some sort, like the type they have in San Antonio. Both my wife and I dismissed that as “agent talk,” a phrase we used for any language used by a real estate agent that was too promotional. Of course, the Santa Ana River is no closer to a river walk 19 years later than I am to becoming the superintendent of the school district.

We visited Newport Terrace toward the end of one workday. The condominium we were shown was empty, and I remember that it had some nice French doors leading to a small patio. I also remember a lot of eucalyptus trees. But more than that, I recall wondering why this area was considered Newport Beach. Although I thought that the Newport Beach address was a benefit, if only because it had the potential to increase our resale value, it seemed as though we were in Costa Mesa.

The Newport Beach address was a selling point, according to the agent who showed us the property.

We liked Newport Terrace. It was tucked away in an area that was not likely to be developed much beyond the state it was in, or so we were told. We believed that was not agent talk.

The challenge was the price. For a fair amount more, it did not seem as though we were buying anything other than the right to claim that we lived in Newport Beach.

It wasn’t enough of a trade-off, so we went back to looking in Costa Mesa.

We could have looked elsewhere ? for example, Irvine or Huntington Beach ? but we really liked Costa Mesa. My wife and I both worked there, and the city had a lot of educational and cultural potential.

We bet right on the cultural part. Costa Mesa, already the cultural hub of the county, is poised to enter the world stage in September with its new concert hall.

In 2002, we sold our condo and moved to a single-family home, also in Costa Mesa. The condo’s appreciation provided us with a hefty profit, but who knows whether we would have gained even more by settling in Newport Terrace.

Now, Newport Terrace is becoming a pawn in the game to figure out new borders for Costa Mesa and Newport Beach.

The folks in West Santa Ana Heights, who are eager to finally get rid of that name, want to become part of Newport Beach. But Newport Beach, which wants to annex the area, is going to need some help from Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa wants a comical strip of land that connects Newport Terrace to Newport Beach, thus making Newport Terrace a part of Costa Mesa.

Before any of this takes place, someone should determine whether the folks in Newport Beach will suffer any paper losses due to a change of address from Newport Beach to Costa Mesa that could result in lower property values.

Similarly, there is the possibility that the folks in West Santa Ana Heights could gain some property values as a result of the moves.

The members of each city council need to know this information in order to understand that they are dealing not just with lines and boundaries but with lives; with investments; and, in some cases, with retirement money.

My prediction is that Newport Beach will give up the strip in order to get West Santa Ana Heights.

The first inkling of that direction was a contribution to yesterday’s Daily Pilot by Newport Beach City Councilwoman Leslie Daigle who, after sorting out certain facts, concluded the piece with: “Costa Mesa is a very desirable place to live. People take great pride in their homes and community. We are fortunate to have Costa Mesa as our neighbor.”

Of course, I may be wrong, but that sure sounds to me like an attempt to soften up the folks in Newport Terrace.

Newport Terrace residents have done absolutely nothing to deserve the slightly lower property values that could result from a change of cities. They deserve more than to act as pawns in this chess match.

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