Kids & Family

Architect of a Community: RSM's Richard Reese

Reese transformed a blank slate of ranch land into the now thriving "urban village" that is RSM community.

More than three decades ago, Richard Reese had a vision for a vast parcel of about 60,000 acres of ranch land.

That vision, and a lot of hard work, would eventually become Rancho Santa Margarita. 

Reese, an 85-year-old RSM resident, is the city's Master Planner. Having helped plan and develop towns like Anaheim, Claremont and Covina, and as the master planner for the Irvine Co., in 1979 he was recruited by Rancho Mission Viejo to transform a blank slate into the now thriving "urban village" that is RSM community. 

His "urban village" concept was simple: "an open setting where people could work, shop and play near their homes," according to the Orange County Register.
 
"The original vision of Richard's plan is responsible in large measure for the very special quality of life our residents enjoy in Rancho," Mayor Tony Beall told the newspaper. "In every decision I make as a member of this City Council, I ask myself, 'If I vote yes on whatever item's before me, will this protect or enhance the original vision?'"

You may have walked past Reese on the very streets that he envisioned those many years ago, and not even known it. But his fingerprint on the community lives on. 

Read more about Reese in the Orange County Register.




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