Good morning, and welcome to the TimesOC newsletter. It’s Wednesday, Feb. 3.
Little Arabia is but a sliver of Orange County’s most populous, and arguably most influential, city: Anaheim.
But the informal business district, which is dotted by eateries offering shawarma, grape leaves and baba ganoush, as well as a Coptic church, Islamic temples, law offices and hookah lounges, cannot seem to get the formal recognition enjoyed by, say, nearby Little Saigon.
For a decade now, writes reporter Benjamin Brazil, the city has politely resisted overtures to officially designate the Brookhurst Street business district Little Arabia.
But a poll conducted by UC San Diego’s U.S. Immigration Policy Center shows support for the idea.