Along the three-mile stretch from the Source Mall on Beach Boulevard to Rosecrans Avenue through downtown Buena Park are plenty of Korean-owned and Korean-originated businesses, often grouped in one-stop-shop-style plazas.
It includes household grocery staples like Zion Market, Hannam Chain and H Mart, the Trader Joe’s and Kroger stores in the Korean community.
Buena Park, among locals and frequent visitors, has long been an oasis for Korean culture and something of an unofficial Koreatown. And that designation was confirmed last week when councilmembers unanimously designated the Korean American neighborhood — the section of Beach Boulevard between Orangethorpe Avenue and Rosecrans Avenue — as Koreatown.
“It’s about time that we have some sort of a designation so people, if they do a Google search of ‘Koreatown Buena Park,’ they’ll be able to find an area where they can go to,” said Councilmember Joyce Ahn, who proposed the idea in July.
Signage displaying the Koreatown moniker will be placed at five key intersections where Beach Boulevard intersects with Artesia Boulevard and Orangethorpe, Commonwealth, Malvern and Rosecrans avenues. The city plans to install the signage before the World Korean Business Convention, slated to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center from Oct. 11-14.
The council’s decision makes Buena Park the second city in Orange County to home a city-designated Koreatown, following Garden Grove’s designation in 2019.
“Over the past 20 or so years, the area from Stage Road to Rosecrans Avenue, in particular, has become a hotspot for Korean culture and influence,” staff spokesperson Jessica Fewer said. “In recent years, this area has expanded further south down Beach Boulevard with the Source development at the corner of Beach Boulevard and Orangethorpe Avenue.”
The Source, a mixed-use retail, restaurant and entertainment complex located just under two miles north of Knott’s Berry Farm, opened in 2016….
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