Art Walk, Street Fair or Farmer's Market in Aliso Viejo?

Is Aliso Viejo a prime candidate for an art walk, street fair or farmer's market?

Brothers Storm and Sterling Wahlrab come to Aliso Viejo's Town Center most weekends to demonstrate and sell cool rubber band-powered flying machines called Flare Copters. Weekend foot traffic through the center keeps them coming back.

Before Valentine's Day resident Paula Michaels brought her collection of Beanie Babies to Town Center to sell from the hood of her car as gifts for the upcoming holiday.

And of course there are the Girl Scouts out there pushing their product frequently these days.

There are plenty of artists and entrepreneurs who call Aliso Viejo home looking for different ways to sell their goods. Why not provide some kind of an art walk, street fair or farmer's market to boost interest in the city and bring residents out of their homes to explore the town?

Huntington Beach, for example, began holding the Surf City Nights street fair every Tuesday to bring more business to downtown on a slower weekday.

Would this work in Aliso Viejo?

The weekly fair and farmer's market in Huntington Beach can see between 8,000-12,000 visitors each week during the winter. During the summer they see "too many" visitors as residents and tourists fill the street, according to Celeste Hamil, manager of the Huntington Beach Downtown Business Improvement District, which is a non-profit loosely connected to the city. An "outside company" was in charge of the Surf City Nights event until 2010 when HBDBID took it over, Hamil said.

Unlike Huntington Beach, Aliso Viejo isn't a tourist hot spot and relatively far from major freeways so a similar event might not fare as well. But would a chance to browse unique gifts, art and food still be worth it to residents?

The idea has been mentioned before but no real planning took place, said Albert Armijo, director of planning services for the city of Aliso Viejo.

Where would it go?

Town Center might offer the most foot traffic but businesses in the area would need to agree and allow the use of the parking lot for booths or tables.

might have the most open space but would enough residents want to travel to the campus?

What would be offered?

Would an art walk or farmer's market attract more locals than the unique items and food offered at a street fair?

Hamil said while merchandise attracts a lot of tourists to Surf City Nights every week the certified farmer's market keeps residents coming back.

Armijo said this isn't a project the city would begin on its own.

"I would imagine businesses would originally do it [plan a weekly street fair] then make some sort of pitch to the city," he said. "Anything that builds partnerships within the city is important."