By Doug Porter
The Sustainable San Diego Blog reports on their findings:
**On average we travel more miles every day than the average Californian.
(San Diego numbers remain higher than Los Angeles County’s, at an average of 12.8 miles per day compared to 10.7 in LA. More residents of LA take public transit (6.2%) to commute to work compared to San Diego (3.0%)).
**After 4 years of decline, the average San Diegan now spends nearly 40 hours per year sitting in traffic – that’s a full work week.
**According to CalTrans data, largest declines in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) from 2010 to 2011 were in Santee and La Mesa, and largest increases occurred in Del Mar and Lemon Grove.
**The region’s 40-year transportation plan created by SANDAG was found in December 2012 by a Superior Court judge in violation of State law for not doing enough to reduce air pollution.
**More work needs to be done to increase cost and time effective transportation options that reduce traffic delays and commute times, ensure good air quality, and help create vibrant, livable neighborhoods.
The 2012 Quality of Life Dashboard can be seen here. (h/t @RachelLaing)
Community Petitioning for Little Saigon Designation
San Diego’s Little Saigon Foundation has launched an online petition seeking city support for designating of El Cajon Blvd from Highland Ave to Euclid Ave to be named the Little Saigon San Diego District.
The petition describes the area involved and why recognition is needed:
Nestled between City Heights and the community of Talmage/Kensington, the proposed Little Saigon San Diego District is home to the oldest Vietnamese immigrant population in San Diego. Since 1975, Vietnamese immigrants have settled in this area, formed a community, raised their families, and started businesses. Today, it is one of the densest populations of Vietnamese residents and businesses in San Diego. According to studies, the proposed district provides great potentials for economic growth and opportunities.
Nevertheless, until today, the proposed Little Saigon San Diego District remains one of the most unrecognized and under-represented areas in San Diego’s social, cultural, and economic fabric of life. Such lack of official recognition threatens the identity of the community, hinders economic growth, and prevents the full engagement of the community members in civic responsibilities.
Therefore, in order to strengthen the social, cultural, civic standing of the community, as well as to enhance the infrastructure, improve businesses and encourage tourism to the City Heights, Talmage/Kensington, as well as Mid-City and the rest of San Diego, the Little Saigon San Diego Foundation proposes the designation of a Little Saigon San Diego District as a catalyst for positive change.
To read and sign the petition go here. For more background information visit http://littlesaigonsandiego.
Local Group Creates Donor Gateway for Non-Profits
With all the political gossip and breaking (usually bad) news, it’s nice to be able to tout something positive as I wade through this morning’s media mayhem. I spotted this cool site yesterday and wanted to share it with you.
Givalike.org is a one stop solution for both non-profit organizations (who always need donations) and people looking to give a little cash to help worthy causes in the community. It’s currently in ‘soft launch’ mode (meaning not everything is up and running yet), but aims to go national in the not so distant future.
For potential donors, Givelike.org offers a quick, secure and painless way to support worthy causes. Nearly 1 million non-profit organizations are listed in a searchable database that includes a certification system that assesses groups based on their financial performance as well as their transparency and accountability. There is even a ‘Givalike recommendation engine’ offering customized recommendations to – encouraging donors to support nonprofits that match their interests.
In addition to having integrated social media features (Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest, with more coming soon) so you can share your largess with your friends, they also take care of providing you with a year end statement for tax purposes. And there is no minimum donation.
For non-profit organizations, Givalike.org offers the opportunity to raise money like the big boys. Every nonprofit on their platform has a customizable page, allowing them to upload photos directly and embed videos from YouTube. Fundraising campaigns can be customized to include matching contributions and reports are generated using Excel. Since giving can be as simple as logging in via Facebook, barriers to donors are eliminated.
It’s a darned good idea, one being stewarded by local entrepreneur Ben Katz, founder of Complete Campaigns, a comprehensive software package for political campaigns that was acquired by Aristotle International in 2008. In other words, he’s done this sort of thing before. VisitGivalike.org for more information.
Just in Time: NRA Releases Shooter Smartphone App
One month after the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary school the National Rifle Association has released a ipad & iphone shooting app, called “NRA: Practice Range.” Never mind that NRA CEO LaPierre rushed to blame video games, not guns, for inspiring such mass murders. It’s okay, see, because this bit of programming “[i]nstills safe and responsible ownership through fun challenges and realistic simulations.”
The Practice Range app has two modes. A “Safety, Training and Education” section, has “2nd Amendment newsfeeds, gun law information centers and educational materials that you can access anywhere, anytime,” according to iTunes. The second is “Target Practice,” which is designed to instill “safe and responsible ownership through fun challenges and realistic simulations.”
Target Practice has nine firearms (including the AK-47 and an MK-11 sniper rifle, available for a modest up charge) and three shooting ranges.
Impeachment Sweepstakes Ready to Announce Winner
Given that they were unable to defeat President Obama at the polls last November, it’s only logical that Republicans would move sometime during his second term towards getting impeachment hearings underway.
Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) is looking to be leader of this lynch mob, threatening yesterday to file articles of impeachment if President Obama uses an executive order to try to reduce gun violence.
“The White House’s recent announcement they will use executive orders and executive actions to infringe on our constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms is an unconstitutional and unconscionable attack on the very founding principles of this republic,” Stockman said in a statement. “I will seek to thwart this action by any means necessary, including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the White House, and even filing articles of impeachment.”
The task force on gun violence lead by Vice President Joe Biden is submitting its findings to the President today, and it’s widely expected that a series of actions, including both legislative initiatives and executive orders will be announced by the end of the week. (h/t Talking Points Memo)
BREAKING NEWS: Official Drinking Game for State of the City address by Mayor available here. Remember, it’s a school night.
On This Day: 1870 – A cartoon by Thomas Nast titled “A Live Jackass Kicking a Dead Lion” appeared in “Harper’s Weekly.” The cartoon used the donkey to symbolize the Democratic Party for the first time. 1967 – The first National Football League Super Bowl was played. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League. The final score was 35-10. 1967 – The Rolling Stones performed on TV’s “Ed Sullivan Show” and were forced to change their lyrics of “Let’s Spend the Night Together” to “Let’s Spend Some Time Together.”
Eat Fresh! Today’s Farmers’ Markets: Coronado (1st St. & B Ave., Ferry Landing) 2:30 – 6 pm, Escondido (Grand Ave. btw Juniper & Kalmia St.) 2:30 – 6:00 pm , Mira Mesa (Mira Mesa High School 10510 Reagan Rd.) 3–7 pm, Morena District (1240 West Morena Blvd.) 3 – 7 pm, Otay Ranch – Chula Vista (2015 Birch Rd. and Eastlake Blvd.) 4 –8 pm, Pacific Beach (Bayard & Garnet) 2 – 6:30pm, UCSD/La Jolla (UCSD Campus, Town Square at Gilman/Meyers) 10 am – 2 pm (Sept. 25 through mid-June; closed for winter, spring and summer breaks)
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