By Staff
The San Diego Free Press receives emails about quality of life issues from residents across the city and county. These issues receive little if any media coverage and inadequate attention from policy makers and enforcement agencies. We have decided to provide a civic forum for those issues in our weekly Street Beat column.
Sherman Heights Street Conditions
Sherman Heights resident Remy Bermúdez sent the following email to Councilman Alvarez, Mayor Faulkner and Council President Gloria:
This is a plea for a concerted effort and collaboration among all three of you and the responsible key City department(s) to immediately repair Market Street from where downtown leaves and where the southeast communities begin, a stretch of approximately 4 to 5 blocks.
Councilman Alvarez, I thank you for noting that our streets deny access to bicyclist and community businesses… You state, “Our local streets often have limitations that prevent customers from finding a space to park their car or bike or are so restrictive that customers are prohibited from having the time necessary to patronize a local business. These restrictions create areas of our neighborhoods in which economic development is difficult. As a part of my GrowSD plan, I have begun an analysis of current parking, public transit, and biking restrictions to ensure they are meeting the needs of our local neighborhood and I need your help.”
One such impoverished street is Market Street from 19th to 22nd. It’s condition is shameless– pot holes, severe, wide cracks. I’ve been requesting its repair time and again since 2010 and every time Councilman Alvarez sends me an e-mail about improving the condition of our streets.
… I invite you to drive that stretch of the corridor and experience the bumpy ride, while your vehicle shakes through the cracks, crevices and potholes. I also invite you to join forces and make this a win-win situation for all involved, especially our community residents, business owners and potential clientele.
I believe that it is high time to repair it. As we face west, Market street is the connection to downtown. …Facing east, Market Street is the beginning of the Sherman Heights Historic District and the connecting corridor to many community businesses through South East San Diego communities.
Something has got to be done immediately before the City is sued over damaged cars, damaged massed transit vehicles, damaged safety and emergency vehicles, punctured tires and injured bicyclists. The answer is in your hands. And, our Sherman Heights community residents and those using the Market Street corridor on a daily basis would appreciate it.
SDG&E’s High Pressure Gas Lines and Mid-City Schools
City Heights resident John Stump writes:
SDG&E rushes to replace miles of high pressure gas lines that they cannot find safety records on! Explosive gas lines pass through several City school campuses. This 10/9/14 Union Tribune article “Pipeline upgrades kick off in Mission Valley” is about how SDG&E is fast fixing high pressure pipelines that they cannot find safety records on. The problem is that the other end of this pipeline runs into the highly populated mid-city neighborhoods of Normal Heights, Kensington, City Heights, and Southeastern.
The pipeline passes through or directly adjacent to 6 San Diego schools– Wilson Middle, Central Elementary, Florence Joiner, Clark Middle, Hamilton Elementary and Webster.
How Safe is Artificial Turf?
Pacific Beach resident Micaela (Mic) Porte and her family write:
This recent NBC news article “How Safe is the Artificial Turf Your Child Plays On” about the potential hazards of artificial turf …[raises] the serious concern of the perils of installing this suspected toxic hazard in our schools, play yards, and parks. In my neighborhood, Pacific Beach Middle School and Mission Bay High School are considering proposed upgrades of the schools’ athletic fields in the form of artificial turf.
The basic component of artificial turf is old tires, the decomposition of which is toxic, especially in the sun and elevated temperatures, to the air and ground. Our proximity to the ocean, bay and marsh, in flood zones, is also an environmental concern. …Perhaps the renovation tax dollars for our schools would be best served in correct maintenance of the existing natural, organic, earth/grass playing fields for our children.
Editor Note: The emails we received have been edited for clarity and length.
Send your neighborhood issue to contact@sandiegofreepress.org Please put “Street Beat” in the subject line.
Staff
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This column looks like a great addition to SDFP.
BTW, why does the listing of communities in the right-hand column omit Clairemont?
Glad you asked about the omission of Clairemont in the community cloud section on the home page. We have not received submissions about Clairemont is the short answer. The cloud represents all of the articles submitted about specific communities.
Last year we began a focus on the neighborhoods series. We covered North Park, Golden Hill, Barrio Logan and City Heights. Our intent was to cover Clairemont next. In order to do that, we need to have a contributor or editor who lives in the area that can provide an introduction and successfully solicit articles. That hasn’t happened–yet.
This is a labor intensive effort for an all volunteer operation. A great deal has been happening politically and our attention has been drawn to those issues.
So this is an open invitation for residents of Clairemont to provide a in-depth look at their community.
Thanks for the answer, Anna. Sorry but I am not the person to do for Clairemont what Sr. Beltran does for the Barrio neighborhood.
As someone who went to Marston Jr and Clairemont High (Class of 88 and voted class clown) I wish SDFP had someone to cover the goings on there.
That’s a nice!
I’m with Remy regarding that section of Market St. I drive through there frequently and it’s horrible. Not sure why she’s hounding Alvarez since Sherman is not part of D8. That’s Gloria’s territory. He should push to get that fixed ASAP.
Sherman Heights is in District 8 – the boundary is Highway 94 (Golden Hill is no longer in District 8)
Ugh. Brainfart on my part. Keep hounding, Remy!
Brent, I am also outdated Ugh! I forgot we gave away Golding Hill during the Redistricting Negotiations….brain fart? I guess mine did too.
opps another BF: I wrote, “Golding” as opposed to “G0lden”
Happens to the best of us. I lived in Lomas for 6 years and still confuse GH for being in D8. And I still can’t believe I typed that Sherman is not in D8.
Anna, what a powerful tool for our communities! Thank you!
Brent, I guess that you are new to District 8 or, at least, have not had an opportunity to know our District well enough. I kindly suggest that you, as awriter for the SDFP and a new resident of D8 get your facts straight before disseminating incorrect information on a blog or elsewhere. The media is powerful tool and if we are going to call for justice for our communities, we must publish information that will help us champion such justice. Not divide and conquer. I believe in my logo: Unity for Community!
The communities of Sherman Heights, Golden Hill, Grant Hill, Logan Heights, Memorial, Barrio Logan and Stockton comprise the central area of the 8th Council District. The southern area is comprised of the following communities: Egger Highlands, Otay Mesa East, Otay Mesa West, Nestor, Oceanview Hills, San Ysidro and Tijuana River Valley
Check out D8’s website, http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd8/communities/. It has a great graphic of the area, by that I mean a map.
Sometimes my previous careers (Chief Advisor to 3 Mayors of the City of San Diego for all communities from I-8 to the border and on Binational Affairs, SD City Planner of Historic Preservation and Community Revitalization, County and regional planner for the SD County Board of Supervisors, Project Manager with San Diego Association of Governments and Governor Brown’s Southwest Border Regional Commission); aspirations (D8 Council candidate {twice} in which Councilman Alvarez was my prmary, lead volunteer), community advocacy in communities south of I-8 for over 30 years, and the recent Redistricting efforts of 2010, as well as strategies learned through my Master’s degree in City Planning take over.
Thank you for opening an area that perhaps many people may not know. Yes, Sherman Heights is in D8. And I’ve been asking Councilman Alvarez abut the Market Street repairs for over 4 years to date. It is only until recently that I felt that soliciting the concerted effort of all at City Hall may get the job done. I believe in Unity for Community such as concerted efforts, etc.
Remigia (Remy) Bermudez
10/16/14
The San Bruno gas pipeline involved a smaller pipeline in a less populated neighborhood.
As of September 29, 2010, the death toll was eight people. The explosion and the resulting fire leveled 35 houses and damaged many more. Three of the damaged houses, deemed uninhabitable, were torn down in December, bringing the total to 38. About 200 firefighters battled the eight alarm fire that resulted from the explosions. The explosion excavated an asymmetric crater 167 feet (51 m) long, 26 feet (7.9 m) wide and 40 feet (12 m) deep along the sidewalk of Glenview Drive in front of 1701 Earl Avenue (a corner house), but many of the destroyed homes were eastward in the 1600 block of Claremont Drive.
The neighborhood continued to burn into the night even after the exploding gas main had been shut off The fire continued to burn for several hours after the initial explosion. The explosion compromised a water main and required firefighters to truck in water from outside sources. Firefighters were assisted by residents who dragged fire hoses nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) to working hydrants. Ordinary citizens drove injured people and burn victims to the hospital. Mutual aid responded from all over the Bay Area, including the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection who sent 25 fire engines, 4 airtankers, 2 air attack planes, and 1 helicopter. The fire was only fifty percent contained by 10 pm PDT and continued to burn until about 11:40 am PDT the next day.