Mayor Ashleigh Aitken, at the annual State of the City address on Tuesday, proclaimed Anaheim as a place for all, recognizing the city’s founding and growth by immigrants who came looking for a better life and the millions from around the world that visit.
“As a visitor city, we welcome everyone,” Aitken said, “from those around the world who have made Anaheim their adopted home to those who come here to visit and enjoy all our city has to offer.”
The annual address is a moment for Aitken to share reflections on the city’s accomplishments over the last year and point to a broader message about its direction. Aitken, drawing on the city’s immigrant roots, said Anaheim is a place that has welcomed the world in, whether as a new home or an escape for a day at Disneyland.
“So to all looking to build their American dream, to inspire their imaginations, to find prosperity and success, to embrace the future and to be part of something bigger than ourselves, you’ve come to the right place,” Aitken said.
The mayor spoke to a sold-out crowd at the Grove of Anaheim made up of the city’s business and community leaders. The event is a fundraiser for the nonprofit Anaheim Community Foundation. It’s the third State of the City address for Aitken since becoming mayor in 2022.
Guided on stage by a quartet of Dapper Dans from Disneyland singing about the mayor and Anaheim, Aitken’s speech went over much of Anaheim’s history and some of what’s to come that make it a visitor destination, including DisneylandForward, OCVibe and the 2028 Olympics.
Aitken said some 25 million people a year visit Disneyland, attend conventions or watch the Angels or Ducks play. Nearly 70% of Anaheim’s revenue — paying for the city’s parks, libraries, police and fire departments — comes from visitors, Aitken said.
Aitken brought up several firsts that took root in Anaheim, some literally. The boysenberry, Disneyland, St. John Knits, Vans, the American Basketball Association and the grocery store chain Northgate Gonzalez Market all have origins in Anaheim.
Northgate is one of the largest Hispanic grocery chains in the nation, Aitken said, and one of the biggest employers for Anaheim.
“And it all started on Anaheim Boulevard after Don Miguel González arrived in search of the American dream,” Aitken said. “Our city’s history and legacy of innovation attract others who want to be part of the Anaheim story.”
Anaheim is celebrating its 168th anniversary this year, and Disneyland’s 70th. The Disneyland Resort is on the cusp of a reinvigoration with the expansion of Avengers Campus and attractions and lands based on the films “Coco” and “Avatar.” And the Honda Center was just confirmed to host indoor volleyball for the 2028 Olympics.
In the coming weeks, the city will receive the first $15 million that Disney pledged to the city for affordable housing as part of the approval for DisneylandForward. This summer, Disney will give $8 million for the city’s parks, Aitken said.
One announcement Tuesday, is that Anaheim is looking to add a third sister city: Guadalajara, Mexico. Anaheim already has the sister cities of Mito, Japan and Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The city is in the early stages of forging ties with Guadalajara, Aitken said.
“For all our city’s ties to Mexico, with our shared history as part of Spanish America, with half of our residents tracing their roots to Mexico, with millions of yearly Mexican visitors, with friendly exchanges with the consulate in Santa Ana and with federal and state friends across Mexico, I always thought it was curious that we don’t have a sister city in Mexico yet,” Aitken said.
On a more street level, Aitken said the city has so far spent $35 million buying and closing problematic motels along Beach Boulevard. The Rebuild Beach Boulevard initiative will soon hit another milestone when the 39 Commons retail center at Beach and Lincoln Avenue opens and new affordable housing communities are set to be built.
Ending her speech, Aitken highlighted the partnership forged between the city and The Walt Disney Company at the outset of Disneyland, with Walt Disney writing in 1953 that it would be “filled with the accomplishments, the joys and hopes of the world we live in. And it will remind us and show us how to make these wonders part of our own lives.”