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Socially-Blind Urban Planning

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By Murtaza Baxamusa / Rooflines

The contrast between prosperity and poverty is most dramatic in the harshness of inclement weather. In San Diego, while the recent storms resulting from El Niño lashed at the city, I drove through East Village, a neighborhood that contains one of the largest concentrations of homeless in the region. It is also the epicenter of Downtown’s new construction boom.

Amidst the broken tree branches and debris, scattered and soaked in the storm water were large black trash bags that homeless people had used to protect themselves. I saw helplessness in the eyes of an elderly couple as the rain whipped at them from every direction, drenching their belongings. An orderly line of about a half dozen people waited on the sidewalk for their turn to use the portable bathrooms, seemingly numb to the pouring rain. A series of blue tents clustered under the freeway bridge, sharing a tarp, and a young woman was braving the gusty winds to stand at that intersection, her hands clenching a soaked cardboard sign that simply read, “Homeless, Hungry.”
  [Read more…]

In a Tiny House Village, Portland’s Homeless Find Dignity

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As cities search for solutions to homelessness, Portland’s Dignity Village offers 60 men and women community and safety.

By Marcus Harrison Green / Yes! Magazine

On a frigid January morning in Portland, Ore., a tour through Dignity Village follows the same path its residents are required to travel. All were, or are, homeless.

Newcomers to this homeless refuge huddle in the warming station, a small portable with photos of smiling former residents and where they are required to stay during a 60-day probationary period.

They hope to graduate to a small makeshift home like Karen, a three-month resident whose boisterous laugh carries through the village.

Should it become a permanent home, they may find themselves in the position of Rick Proudfoot, a longtime resident who works in the site’s main office, keeping track of finances.

If they’re really lucky, they may end up like Lisa Larson, Dignity Village’s CEO.   [Read more…]

Hide and Seek on the Commons: Selling More San Diego

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The public is left out of the decision making, the City Council is not fully engaged

Today, Wednesday February 10, the City Council Smart Growth and Land Use (SG&LU) Committee will be asked to recommend approval to the full City Council of the marketing for sale of six City-owned properties that the Real Estate Asset Department (READ) has declared surplus and excess to the needs of the City.

Prior SDFP articles on the topic called into question the efficacy, advisability and propriety of how these properties have been declared surplus and why. We published the list of properties that was brought forward last summer as an “informational” item by READ.

Here is an update and status report with some editorializing.   [Read more…]

Cory Briggs Responds to Critique of Citizens’ Plan

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By Cory Briggs

I was thrilled to read in the San Diego Free Press the recent critique of the Citizens’ Plan that former City Councilmember Donna Frye and I have been promoting and that will appear on the November 2016 ballot. The critique’s author (a lobbyist and developer’s lawyer) raises an excellent question about the initiative’s effects on East Village and Barrio Logan, but he provides nothing except wrong answers that rest on a series of false claims. Responding to the critique thus gives me a good opportunity to explain some of the benefits of the initiative that have not yet received a lot of media attention.

Before debunking the specific claims in the critique, it is important to understand what the Citizens’ Plan does and does not do downtown. For starters, the initiative allows convention-center facilities, a sports facility (not necessarily football), or combined facilities within the boundaries of Imperial Avenue to the south, 17th Street to the east, K Street to the north, and Park Boulevard to the west – and nowhere else. Significantly, it includes no mandate that such development be given priority over any other development projects, offers zero guaranty that the development will come to fruition, allows the development to be done “in addition to” all other development already allowed, and requires that the development be done (if it’s done at all) “in accordance with all other applicable legal requirements.” In short, the initiative does nothing more than enhance downtown’s revitalization prospects.   [Read more…]

Faulconer Flunky Dukes It Out With Saldaña in UT Interview

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Today’s Union-Tribune interview with mayoral candidate Lori Saldaña read like a debate between the former Assemblywoman with Mayor Faulconer’s campaign manager Jason Roe. This was coverage reminiscent of the Copley era.

Rather than give Saldaña a clear shot at explaining her views and critiques (and she has plenty) of the present regime, the Union-Tribune tapped the mayoral pit bull to refute her point by point.

This reminds me very much of the old days around the paper, wherein any viewpoints counter to “everybody knows” were quickly smothered with officially blessed counterpoints.   [Read more…]

Highways as Rivers of Toxic Air: Millions are Impacted by Ultra-fine Particulate Pollution

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By Bill Adams / San Diego UrbDeZine

People know that air pollution is bad for their health, that auto exhaust emissions contribute to air pollution, and that certain cities suffer worse air pollution than others. Some people pay attention to smog reports and even avoid strenuous activities on smoggy days. What most people don’t know is that there is a certain type of auto emission pollutant that discriminates in a most predictable but unfair way. It’s also a pretty safe assumption that people aren’t fully aware of the severity of the health impacts from this pollutant.

Every year, hundreds of decisions are made in which the life and health of thousands of people are unknowingly sacrificed to this pollutant for the convenience or profit of others who are relatively safe from it. Second hand cigarette smoke, GMOs, and high tension power lines, have all captured the public attention and sparked outcries for change. When the public becomes aware of this auto exhaust pollutant and the pathology and inequality of its health impact, it is reasonable to believe they will demand a dramatic change in our transportation priorities.

To understand this pollutant and how it works, one most first understand that there are different types of air pollution – even from a single source like an automobile. Most people think of smog. Few people are aware of the more dangerous and discriminatory particulate pollution, also known as ultra-fine particulate pollution (UFP). Exposure to this type of pollution is entirely dependent on proximity to source. In other words, exposure depends on how close you live or work near a busy roadway, whether a road is expanded near you, whether your child is in a school near a busy roadway, or how much time you spend driving.   [Read more…]

Connecting Hip-Hop With Academics

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Gwen Pierce / The Chocolate Voice

Twenty-year old Austin Martin knows what it’s like feeling apathetic towards schoolwork. In a phone conversation with The Chocolate Voice, the graduate of San Diego’s Francis Parker High School, confidently tells us that although he considers himself a smart kid, he didn’t put forth much effort to improve his grades until the 9th grade.

He says that his lack of interest stemmed from the perception that creativity is valueless in schools. Currently an Ivy League student at Brown University, Martin is on a mission to change that perception in the academic system.

The creative light bulb went off for Martin as he was listening to hip-hop, and had the idea to develop Rhymes with Reason, an app designed to strengthen the vocabulary and English skills of today’s youth. Rhymes with Reason takes academic vocabulary words from the SAT’s, ACT’s and Common Core tests, and combines them with lyrics of hip-hop artists to create a culturally engaging curriculum.   [Read more…]

San Diego’s Opportunity to Invest in Better Transit, Safer Streets, Good Jobs and Clean Air

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Will SANDAG’s proposed sales tax increase serve your community’s needs?

By Monique López/ Environmental Health Coalition

We all need to move. How we get from place to place is deeply connected to our quality of life. Unfortunately, not all communities have the same access to healthy, safe, reliable and affordable transportation options, such as public transit and biking and walking paths.

That means some people don’t have access to the same quality of life, just because of where they live. Transportation justice is the equal access of all people to the transportation they need for a better quality of life.

Now, SANDAG has proposed a half-cent sales tax increase slated for the November 2016 ballot to generate new money for transportation projects in San Diego County   [Read more…]

Tiny Village of Tiny Shelters for San Diego Homeless: Small is the New Sexy

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No question about it—being involved in a coalition to build a tiny village of tiny shelters for people who are without a place to live, is damn exciting! I can’t put my finger on exactly why this is taking over my brain activity—from waking up in the morning ready to get online and share ideas, to dreaming about it at night. Maybe it’s what someone at our community meeting last week said about it—tiny homes are sexy!   [Read more…]

LA FRONTERA: Stefan Falke Talks About Artists Along The U.S.-Mexican Border

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Editor’s Note: I am happy to introduce Stefan Falke,a professional photographer who has done fascinating work along the U.S.-Mexican border. He agreed to an interview and to share some of his pictures with SDFP. Thank you Stefan!

Q & A with Stefan Falke

Stefan Falke works for international magazines, book publishers and film studios. He has published two photography books: MOKO JUMBIES: The Dancing Spirits of Trinidad and LA FRONTERA, for which he portrayed 180 artists on both sides of the 2000 miles long US-Mexico border. He lives in Brooklyn, New York and his website is stefanfalke.com   [Read more…]

Gun Buyback Program Comes To The Border

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By Barbara Zaragoza

The San Diego Police Department, Southern Division, held its first ever Gun Buyback program on Saturday, January 30th at the Otay Mesa Campus of Southwestern College. About twenty police staff, including cadets, retired volunteers and officers were on duty to hand out $10,000 worth of Walmart Gift cards to community members who handed over their firearms.

The Southern Division—which covers thirty-one square miles along the U.S.-Mexico border—has 85 detectives and officers serving approximately 100,000 residents. The area averages about two homicides per year.   [Read more…]

Amnesty: A Path To Citizenship?

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Immigration! Problem & Solutions? A Chicano Historical Perspective

Reprinted from the Herman Baca UCSD Archives / Part 2

All past and current immigration plans submitted by U.S. presidential administrations, and Congress’ both Democratic and Republican have since the 1970’s included amnesty proposals. The proposals basically stipulate that undocumented persons must; “establish a responsible pathway to earned citizenship–that includes passing a background check, paying taxes and a meaningful penalty, learning English and going to the back of the line (up to 24 years) behind the folks trying to come here legally.”   [Read more…]

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