Victoria Gardens is moving up. That is, the mall’s final major expansion will involve a proposed raising of elevations in and around Main Street, plus three more large structures to accommodate the development of mid-rise office, residential, and mixed-use buildings. The increased height at the mall will permit the development of recognizable and architectural landmark building masses visible primarily to motorists on the I-15 Freeway.

Rancho Cucamonga so far has weathered the economic storm like a yeoman. Even though some reserves have, and will be spent, the city is moving forward with several projects that will put lots of people to work. Here are some highlights:

The Pacific Electric trail for walkers, joggers, and bikers will be completed this year. The trail will be finished from Amethyst to Grove, at the Upland border. It will also touch Fontana on the east end.

Designs have been unveiled showing a spectacular aquatic center at Rancho Cucamonga’s Central Park. Though the dire economic outlook precludes the completion of the multi-million dollar project in the foreseeable future, plans are still underway on design, processing, and pre-construction. When the economy recovers, city officials want to be in the position to act quickly. Ideally, the water park would be in operation within two or three years.

The City of Rancho Cucamonga has prepared a “wish list” of projects that could be ready to begin construction in 2009 if funding is provided by the Obama administration. In a letter to the city’s congressional representative, David Dreier, city officials have asked for consideration of 32 projects representing expenditures of $106 million and creation of at least 706 jobs. Here is Rancho’s wish list: