It is the institutional center for the city of Santa Ana as well as Orange County, a retail and business hub.

Downtown consists of several sub-districts: an institutional area including the Civic Center, the Artists Village, Calle Cuatro and the East End.

The middle section of Calle Cuatro (roughly from Main east to Spurgeon) has retailersThe Rankin Building, 117W Fourth Street at Sycamore, is a historic building that was usually seen as a reminder of when the Downtown Santa Ana was a shopping center, with department stores such as Rankin's, Montgomery Ward (northeast corner of Main, demolished),[8] J. C. Penney (northwest corner of Bush)[9] and Buffums.

Even further east, the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center is located along Santiago Avenue in the Lacy neighborhood.

The Artists Village is an area composed of art galleries, studios, creative offices, design workshops, and several restaurants.

In collaboration between the Santa Ana City Council, community activist Don Cribb and Cal State Fullerton’s Gallery Director Mike McGee, a plan for the Grand Central Art Center was conceived in 1994.

The county's first courthouse, now a museum, is located at Civic Center and Broadway streets, as is the Howe-Waffle House and Medical Museum, now the Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society.The county's first theater, Walker's Theater, was built in 1909 on Main and Second streets adjacent to the old City Hall.

[11] Historic Landmark at the site reads:[12] Portola camped on bank of Santa Ana River in 1769.

Jose Antonio Yorba, member of expedition, later returned to Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana.