Population expansion has brought changes in the character of the downtown area. By the 1980s huge apartment houses and "high rises" became prolific. Many churches, once numerous in downtown Santa Ana, moved out to the less crowded areas. The few that stayed downtown did so with the intent to help the needy people and transients. There are many organizations such as the Salvation Army, Episcopal Service Organization, Goodwill, various service clubs, LULAC, Laubach, and YMCA and YWCA, all working with inner-city problems.

Santa Ana has had its dramatic incidents. In 1900, a crowd that had gathered for the Fourth of July celebration watched in horror as a balloonist's parachute failed to open and he fell to his death. On May 28, 1906, citizens gathered to watch a municipal fire, deliberately set to burn down Chinatown near Third and Main, because of rumored leprosy. In August, 1909, Glenn Martin's plane, built in an old abandoned church at 200 N. Main, flew eight feet off the ground for a distance of 100 feet. Early in the morning of January 11, 1949, enough snow fell for Santa Ana children to revel in it at recess. During the heavy rains of January, 1969, El Toro marines lowered frames of old cars from helicopters to the south bends of the Santiago Creek to stop the erosion and save homes.