- the plan to restore the pedestrian plaza in balboa park seems to have ruffled a few feathers, since it will include a parking garage that pays for its own construction through parking fees (if donations are insufficient). i’m baffled by expectations that parking should be free everywhere – doesn’t it cost money to park at say, horton plaza? free parking will still be available in the big lot at the southern end of the park.

the opposition to reducing the current free reign of vehicles throughout balboa park ignores those who enjoy it for cycling and walking. why shouldn’t these users benefit from a single lane of traffic on coronado cabrillo bridge and a car-free plaza de panama?

routing traffic through the alcazar parking lot and on to the new underground garage behind the organ pavilion is a big improvement over just removing the parking spots in the plaza. this removes traffic entirely from this park area and would create a unique civic gathering area, perfect for small concerts, vendors, etc. and putting the garage underground with park space on top is a win-win design. it’s good to see bold, innovative proposals like this one that aren’t afraid to tick off the car-first crowd.

- coldest san diego summer in 77 years? how about coldest summer ever? so says matt baylow:

June, July, and August’s average monthly temperatures came out to the 25th coldest summer since they have been keeping track in 1851 around here. But the 24 colder summers were all before 1933. Since methods have changed slightly, and hopefully gotten significantly more accurate, it’s entirely possible that this was in fact the coldest summer ever around here.

when you look at the temperature archives, it’s clear there is a systematic difference in values from the early 1900′s, likely due to less accurate equipment. while “coldest summer ever” sums things up pretty well, here’s a few more stats:

• only 10 out of the past 105 days have had high temps above normal
• august 28th’s high of 66 degrees was 12 degrees below normal, and one degree below the average low for the date
• while summer 1999 was the “coldest in 66 years” at the time, we at least salvaged a few beach weekends that year. this summer offered precisely 2 weekend days where temperatures stayed in the mid-70′s at the beach. and let’s not even go into the frigid water temps. well, better luck next year…

- good to see petco park will be getting some off-season use with the western metal concert series; check out the seating map link for how they’re using the left field stands as the venue for the 6,000 person capacity shows.  hopefully the lineup will get a bit more adventurous than jewel and john legend.

- it was one year ago this weekend that street scene suffered its bankruptcy-inducing 2009 event.  the quality of the lineup may have wavered in years past, but it’s disappointing to have no major music festival in san diego this year.  interestingly, there’s been no media acknowledgment of the anniversary, street scene’s status or any potential replacements.

- after a day in orange county today, it was timely to run across this post on the suburbs and arcade fire’s recent take on them.  having grown up in those 70′s-constructed homes the band refers to, the title track is affecting enough, but the message really hits home near the end of the album on track “sprawl II”:

Arcade Fire -Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

- the university heights arts open is coming up on saturday 9/12, the same day as the taste of UH. more info on the open:

The UH Arts Open (UHAO) showcases the works of over 100 new as well as celebrated artists, playwrights, performers and musicians from the San Diego region enlivening the historic University Heights community. The UHAO incorporates local businesses, theaters, and a free shuttle tour of artist studios in the area.

- east village has their gallery open house event, open spaces, next saturday 9/4 from 4-8 pm. meanwhile next door in barrio logan, the burgeoning gallery scene there got some front-page attention from the UT this weekend.

- sessions public in point loma might be located in an unassuming spot next to a dive bar, but the interior is cozy, they’ve got 16 craft beers on tap, and a BLT to die for. the burger’s not bad either. be sure to get an order of the bunderfleisch -dried beef and pickled onion on crunchy artisan bread with mustard. every neighborhood could use their own sessions public.

- the city heights lantern festival was this weekend at hoover high school and had a pretty good turnout when we were there saturday night. lots of good food (especially bubba’s asian bbq, also found at hillcrest farmer’s market) and an outdoor showing of bruce lee’s “enter the dragon” by the san diego asian film festival made for a fun evening.

– to this zombie movie geek, the blacklist art and film festival this saturday at north park theatre looks pretty intriguing.   there’s an art showcase, short horror film fest, and an after party.

- on friday, there’s an east village block party prior to the padres/phillies game (latos is pitching so it should be a good one), on j street between 7th and 9th:

Within the tailgate area will be a mini tasting zone, which will feature fare from five East Village restaurants. Local brewers will be selling handcrafted beers as well. A retired Padre will be present at each of the two tailgate events. Entertainment will include live music and interactive sports games for adults. Admission is free, but only open to those 21 and older.

- an historic art deco building in east village has been demolished, to make way for a salvation army parking lot.  coupled with SA’s anti-gay policies, this sneaky friday-night teardown is another reason to consider supporting a different charity.

- city beat says stone brewery is coming to south park with a tasting room planned around the corner from station tavern. i’m guessing it’s in one of these buildings:

View Larger Map

if it pans out this would figure to be a pretty popular spot, especially since their escondido brewery is a bit out of the way. also mentioned in the above article: craft & commerce, the new cocktail spot from the neighborhood owners, has opened in little italy.

- cycle from normal heights to coronado and back, then enjoy a cold one at blind lady ale house. not a bad way to start your sunday (8/15) in this benefit for the san diego county bicycle coalition. meet at adams ave bikes at 8:30 AM. walking more your thing? check out the kensington heights walk, starting at the kensington library, saturday 8/14 at 9 am.

- park 2 park shuttle is running four shuttles on two lines this weekend for north park music thing.

- save our heritage organisation is throwing a party at the restored cosmopolitan hotel in old town next friday, august 19th. an architectural and deocrative arts tour is included. follow that up on saturday with san diego magazine’s best of san diego party, 6:30-9:30 at ntc promenade. the following weekend, there’s a free to breathe lung cancer 5K run at liberty station, 7 AM saturday 8/21. and the next day, city of hope hosts a cancer research fundraiser in coronado with 25 restaurants and wineries participating (4-7 pm, sunday aug 22, coronado community center).

- our friend and neighbor charles elster, formerly of the kpbs radio show “a way with words”, has published his 10th book:

THE ACCIDENTS OF STYLE is a crash course in careful usage, a meandering road trip that covers 350 verbal road hazards. The itinerary proceeds in order of increasing complexity from the rudiments to the punctilios. The book begins with the everyday blunders that trip up inexperienced writers (can you distinguish “every day” and “everyday”?) and ends with the niceties that nettle the most practiced ones (are you “loathe” to do something or “loath” to do it?).

sounds like something this blog could use. check out his website for more info.

- off the sajj, a “lebanese bakery and grill” , is going into the old (un)lucky buck’s spot on university in hillcrest (thanks sdtips)… a bit late on this one, but burger lounge continues their conquest of san diego; newest stop: 5th and market… the opening of hodad’s 2 downtown has been delayed again…  analog bar is open in the old mr. tiki lounge spot on 5th downtown… crab hut has just opened their second location, branching out from kearny mesa to broadway downtown… and sessions public provides another reason to hit point loma beyond pearl hotel and roseville.  all in all not bad considering the economy’s still not exactly booming.

- finally got to bankers hill bar and restaurant a couple weeks back and the owners have done an amazing job with the space.  the interior is unrecognizable from its modus days, with high ceilings, plenty of lumber, and big windows fronting the street.  a substantial, rustic bar anchors the candle-lit lounge area, where the easygoing bartender (he put up with dad’s bad jokes) offered up an interesting selection of craft beers.  the dinner menu follows the less-than-$20 approach that’s in vogue, and all of our plates – the bh burger, fish and chips, and pulled pork tacos – were winners, as were our truffle fries and green tomato appetizers.  coupled with solid service, bankers hill is doing plenty of things that should make this a neighborhood favorite.

- it’s been an eventful past month or so for civic projects in the city of san diego with the downtown library groundbreaking, the death bell chiming for an innovative new city hall to replace the current sorry one, a $78 million pedestrian bridge to tijuana airport (?!) and the selection of 5 architect finalists for the upcoming convention center expansion. but the biggest news of all was a possible revival of the north embarcadero visionary plan, this time with a 150-foot-wide “setback park” running from broadway to hawthorne on the east side of harbor drive. the stalled hotel project at lane field could be modified to accommodate the project.

- the UT’s interview with CCDC chairman fred mass is worth a read, especially his vision for broadway downtown.

- after an email went out seeking input from kensington residents on the price charities project planned for the old pearson ford site in city heights, it was disappointing to see the results – a whole foods market and “no affordable housing”? while the developer and architect did specifically ask what kensingtonians wanted at the site, isn’t it a bit unrealistic to think a lower-income community needs $8 tubs of sliced fruit and gourmet belgian beer – instead of afforable housing at a site being developed by a charitable organization?

- north park music thing is this friday and saturday at the lafayette hotel with shows all over north and south park. austin, eat your heart out.

- bike sharing in long beach, 1500 public car-charging stations in san diego, and LA as the nation’s public transportation leader? a pretty good transportation trifecta to end a long post.

it had been a few years since our last visit to vancouver, and it’s still a great summer get-away, especially when the pride festival and fireworks competition finale create the busiest weekend of the year.  getting to the city from the airport is easy with last year’s extension of the skytrain between the two, a clean and fast rail line that makes you wonder why our trolley still doesn’t connect to lindbergh.

munching highlights of the trip included scarfing down an “oroshi” bratwurst hot dog with various japanese-style toppings from the japadog stand…

… an amazing chicken shawarma from babylon cafe on busy robson street; spicy singaporean dishes from tropika a few blocks down, and cheap and tasty rice/meat/salad japanese salad bowls further down robson at the new-ish donburiya:

while estimates of 600,000 people for the sunday pride parade seemed a bit high, there were still plenty of trangedies about:

on the negative side, vancouver’s gay bar count will dwindle to just a few with the impending closure of dance club odyssey next month – it’s being replaced by hiv/aids housing. it will be interesting to see whether the club’s owners can find a space large enough to accommodate it in the pricey west end neighborhood.

- should developers of lower-income housing in high-density areas of san diego be required to provide the same number of parking spaces per unit as suburban areas?  healthycal.org looks at projects in lincoln park and serra mesa that have wrestled with this issue.

- the mid-city trolley route from old town to ucsd/utc has been selected and will hopefully be rolling in 2015…

- as a cyclist it’s been a relief to see some beat-up streets around town get a fresh paving, especially in hillcrest and university heights.  pacific highway near the airport has long been a minefield and that’s in the process of being stripped for re-paving now.

- academy of our lady of peace in university heights continues to bully its neighbors and the community, with plans to tear down nearby historical homes to put up a parking garage and other structures.  now they’re suing the city for stopping the project, claiming religious discrimination.  there’s a closed city hall session on monday 7/26 at 2pm; for more information, contact Dionne Carlson (dionneleighcarlson-at-cox.net) of the Between Heights Community Association Committee.

- since when did bangkok spices thai on el cajon, just west of 30th, become so popular?  the restaurant, a reliable option for cheap and spicy thai with a former-pizza-hut decor, was jammed last night past its 9:30 closing time.  each time we go it seems more people have discovered this spot, but then there aren’t a whole lot of good thai options in that area.  and the recent closing of dao son down the street couldn’t have hurt.

- thanks to san diego magazine for including sdurban.com in its list of best blogs in san diego!

shed a tear for the summer that wasn’t.  another day, another record minimum high temperature – 10 for the month now, or nearly one every other day.  after a brief taste of beach weather last week (the “5 days of summer”), it was back to the gloom again at the coast.  by any measure – ocean temps in the low 60′s, high temps on pace for the second coldest july ever, or a mere 3 days above normal out of the past 72 – this has been one bummer of a summer for beach-goers.  it’ll be warm in september, when the days are short and the ocean’s even colder.

…keeping things positive:  java jones has filed for bankruptcy. does this mean the closure of both the east village and newly-opened mission hills locations?   use up those groupon coupons if you’ve got ‘em.  and it’s the end for san diego news network, which had some interesting local stories but could have used more – looking at their final front page, nothing much jumps out as a must-read.

- searsucker is open downtown, with a grand opening set for next week.

- bike to mcasd on sunday 8/1 and get 2-for-1 admission, then take part in a bike tour of the viva la revolucion street art project downtown.

- construction on a rapid bus route from sdsu to downtown is set to begin next spring.  among the controversies: ripping out the old state theatre terrazzo and removing the center median on park boulevard from el cajon to university. while the terrazzo is worth saving, losing the median seems acceptable given the benefit to the rapid line.   and the irony of an auto museum owner at el cajon and park blasting a public transit project is, well, perfect:

“They’re putting in a bus that nobody wants and nobody needs,” Cooley said. “They’re going to shove it down our throats.”

driving past urban outfitters in hillcrest this past saturday, we were surprised to see this huge mural from san diego artist shepard fairey on the south wall of the building. the next day there was a writeup on the mural in the UT, and another article describing the san diego museum of contemporary art’s street art project, which fairey’s mural is a part of. huff post has more pics, and it’s good to see this project getting attention beyond san diego. when our city has public art like this gracing its harbor, it clearly could use a bit more edge.

here’s another picture of the fairey mural, looking northeast:

as someone who’s worked with climate researchers, this section of the mural rings especially true:

and this part, with a baton-waving cop saying “i’m gonna kick your ass – and get away with it”, is sure to ruffle a few feathers:

when we stopped by sunday to take these pictures, the mural was attracting several people who were doing the same. maybe mcasd’s project will engage san diegans in a discussion of what public art means to them, and its quantity/quality prior to this. based on the pictures in the above articles, these street art installations are a big step forward.

- true north has a fundraiser this saturday, july 24th from 3-8pm for californians against slavery, a group working to strengthen human trafficking laws in the state. from their website:

Human trafficking is a criminal business that profits from enslaving people for sexual servitude and forced labor. It is the second largest and fastest growing criminal enterprise worldwide; 12.5 Million slaves worldwide (80% women and children; 50% children); AT LEAST 100,000 American minors are sex slaves (sold by pimps); 14,500-17,500 people brought in from other countries as slaves each year

donation is $5 and includes music and other entertainment.

- five guys burgers is open in point loma, and it’s the first non-military-base location in san diego for this east coast chain. the yelpers seems to like it…

- take the san diego 2050 regional transportation plan survey to give your vision of the future of san diego public transportation.

- one bright side to the real estate collapse in miami is that more young people are able to rent the unsold condominiums, resulting in new restaurants and clubs in a formerly dead downtown. while the crash was more severe than san diego, check out this bloomberg article, which isn’t too far from what this voice of san diego piece says about vantage point downtown.

- apparently boi petro, which replaces the former yogotango spot in the gaslamp, has morphed from a frozen yogurt place to a brazilian bbq spot and salad bar… with frozen yogurt. will have to check out that strange combination next time we’re down that way…

- great to see hillcrest packed for the pride parade today, and all the people on the streets around balboa park during the festival there. we need an excuse to throw big parties like that more often. nbc san diego put together a good photo set from the festival; check out picture 78 for a great contrast between the spirit of pride weekend and its protesters. somehow our pictures from the parade didn’t turn out quite as meaningful: