In 1950, the land at 8308 On the Mall in Buena Park, California, was still used for orange and walnut groves. A small number of modest houses stood among the rows of trees.
At that time, the city had only 5,483 residents. Then the Santa Ana Freeway came through in 1954 and changed how the area worked. Buena Park became an incorporated city in 1953, one year before the freeway opened.
The new road cut through the old downtown business district and shifted traffic, shoppers, and investment toward the outer parts of the city…