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King Tut in City Heights

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Egyptian Revival Architecture on Euclid Avenue

By Anna Daniels

It is difficult to imagine the excitement and personal interest in Egyptian antiquities that Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tutankhamen’s 3,000 year old tomb engendered in 1922. A series of sealed chambers were filled with so many funerary objects that it took days to remove them on stretchers. The final chamber which included the nested sarcophagi of the “Boy King” was filled with dazzling gold and blue adornments and objects provided for Tut’s journey into the after life. Carter had hit the archeological mother lode.

The discovery of the tomb was significant for Egyptologists and it also caught the imagination of the European and American public. Travels to Egypt to view the antiquities became even more popular. Jewelers recreated designs found in the tomb. Scarab rings and brooches became fashionable.   [Read more…]

Through the City Heights Looking Glass

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By Dana Driskill

With  a 41 percent foreign born population in City Heights, it’s easy to see how a sizable percent are refugees who have come to resettle in this neighborhood in San Diego.

Refugees’ presence can be seen and felt in various areas of the community- from currency exchange buildings to colorful murals at the schools to authentic Vietnamese, Mexican, and Ethiopian eateries, just to name a few. While refugees bring complex and beautiful traditions and practices from their culture to the area, the transition from their previous home to a new one isn’t always easy. As a result, City Heights provides various resources to help refugees resettle and assimilate to the new community.

One such organization is the AjA Project, an arts based program founded in 2000 for refugee and urban youth, and some adult populations. The name AjA is an acronym for the phrase, “Autosuficiencia Juntada con Apoyo” which means supporting self-sufficiency and represents the core philosophy of the organization.

  [Read more…]

Let’s Start a ‘Neighborhood Watch’ Program for Mayoral Candidates

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By Doug Porter

It seems like ‘neighborhood’ is the new ‘sustainable’ for candidates in San Diego as the campaigns for the mayoral special election on November 19th get underway.  Yes, indeedy, it seems as though this buzzword is on everybody’s lips.

What the word ‘neighborhood’ actually means to the various candidates is what we’ll be looking to find out in the coming weeks. Both the effen (my new shorthand for the anointed candidates that “everybody knows” will win) brothers emphasized the new ‘n word’ in their initial pronouncements.

Meanwhile things are going on in San Diego’s neighborhoods and communities of interest that are symptomatic a return to the business as usual mentality that has dominated the local landscape for generations.   [Read more…]

City Heights Prepares for Obamacare: How Outreach Will Affect Enrollment

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By Anna Daniels

While Republicans are busily obstructing and attempting to de-fund (but not replace) Obamacare, California has been gearing up for the day when a significant number of its 7.1 million uninsured residents under the age of 65 can sign up for health insurance on the State’s health care exchange. That day is October 1, 2013. The insurance itself will go into effect on January 1, 2014. All Americans must be insured by tax time next year or face a penalty – 1 percent of their annual income or $95, whichever is higher.

There is a great deal at stake here in City Heights for making the enrollment period a success. There is a great deal at stake here in City Heights for making the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) a success. There is a higher percentage of uninsured adults and children in City Heights than the county and state averages. There are fewer working adults in City Heights with insurance coverage–only 49% compared with 65% of county residents. This translates into lower levels of preventive and routine health care access– the very things that Obamacare will provide. “All new health plans must cover essential health benefits such as doctor visits, hospitalization, emergency care,maternity, pediatric care for your kids and prescriptions,among other services. ”   [Read more…]

City Heights, My Hero in the Era of “The New Jim Crow”

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By Ernie McCray

If a community could be labeled a hero then City Heights would be mine. I’ve loved the community for a long time. I used to live there back in 68 or 69 – when I was trying to get my life back in line after it had been weakened by more drama than one would find in a telenovela storyline. So, to my delight, I rediscovered the light in City Heights. That bonded us.

The word around town in those days was that there were streets in the neighborhoods that were “kind of rough” and there was some truth to that but I’ve kept the love.

Over time, though, “rough” became a pretty apt description of the area. Gang banging and drug handling came more and more on the scene. Abodes were crumbling. Citizens had nowhere to go to ask questions as there were no “public services” to speak of. Some definition of “disenfranchised” has to be included in that picture somewhere.   [Read more…]

Who in the World Lives in City Heights?

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Karen, Kachin and Shan join South Sudanese, Vietnamese and Mexicans

By Anna Daniels

Over forty percent of City Heights residents are foreign born. La Maestra, which operates health clinics in City Heights, recently provided a memorable introduction to some of our foreign born neighbors when over a dozen residents took to the fashion runway wearing traditional clothing. Their poise belies the fact that many arrived in this country with little more than hope and determination. It is easy to understand why the fashion show is described as the highlight of La Maestra’s gala fundraiser.   [Read more…]

Our Continuing Excursion in City Heights, Part Two: Komad Market

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Komad Market
4348  54th Street
San Diego, CA 92115
619-229-9607

By Judi Curry

My former student  Corinne and I had just finished exploring the Safari Market (Part One of this series)  and, as we were walking out the door, we spotted another market across the parking lot called Komad Market.  For some reason it drew both of our attention so decided to take a stroll and see what it had to offer.

(When I went to Google to check the address for this article I could not find it listed; what I did find, at the same address was “Komad Fashion Spirit.”  Somewhere in the time they opened to now the name has changed and I suspect so has the concept.)

I think what caught our eye as we headed toward the car, was the array of long skirts that beckoned to the potential buyers of this area.  It was a very hot day, the muggiest so far this year, and everything looked so fresh and cool.  Upon entering the small store, albeit messy like the Safari Market but smaller and some semblance of order, we were greeted by two of the loveliest young women we had met in a long time.

  [Read more…]

City Heights’ & Little Saigon’s A-Chau

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By Beryl Forman

Since the end of the Vietnam War, many Vietnamese families began settling in San Diego. In City Heights, families were welcomed with settlement programs, which is why there is a large cluster of family-owned Vietnamese businesses along El Cajon Boulevard.

A Chau, which means Of the Orient, has had their stake in this community since 1986. A Chau was first at 54th and University, but when it was time to expand, they moved to El Cajon Boulevard at Menlo Avenue. This is in the center of what today is being branded as the Little Saigon district.

When the Nguyen family first arrived in San Diego, Hoa, the mother of the family, had a dream of owning her own business. She refined her skills in Vietnamese cooking, particularly on a selection of meats such as ham, head cheese and pâté, traditionally suited for the Vietnamese sandwich known as banh mi.   [Read more…]

An Excursion into City Heights, Part One: Safari Market Bazaar

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Safari Market Bazaar
4348  54th Street
San Diego, CA 92115

In continuing with San Diego Free Press “neighborhood watch”, it was time to venture into areas that I had never been before.  I recently met a man that I thought might be the companion I was looking for and asked him if he would like to go with me to review the Safari Market.  He said to me, and I believe this is a direct quote, “You couldn’t get me to go into that crime zone.”

Needless to say I am not seeing him anymore and was even more curious about what he considered a “crime zone.”

I asked a former Swiss student, a world traveler, if she would like to join me on this voyage, and she was all for it.  Since the market doesn’t open until 2:00pm – closes at 8:00 pm – it was perfect timing for her. She could surf in the morning; continue writing her dissertation before we left, and take a well deserved break to join me before continuing on her dissertation.
  [Read more…]

Restaurant Review “El Borrego”

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El Borrego
4280 El Cajon Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92105
619-281-1355

In March of this year, I received an invitation from a restaurateur to enjoy a meal at her restaurant. I tried to visit the day before Easter but they were closed and did not get back to it until today.

I really was not anxious to try it because their focus is on lamb, and I have not eaten lamb since 1956. (I got sick on the smell of it while pregnant and have never had it since.)  However, the invitation and the recommendation of one of SDFP writers – Anna – made me decide to “bite the lamb” and give it a try.

I called Joe, my friend from on-line dating days, and he agreed to go with me to try it out. He lives in the neighborhood and was looking forward to another restaurant to add to his walking tours.   [Read more…]

I-15 in City Heights: How a Freeway that Divided the Community Became an Urban Monument to Citizen Activism

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By Jim Bliesner

When you drive North or South on I-15 between University Ave. and El Cajon Blvd. you can’t help but notice a few unique things, especially if you compare the ride to being on 805 between the same streets. First you notice the walls go straight up and down rather than splayed wide like a sliced piece of chicken. Second, when you go under University or El Cajon you’ll notice the street covers are larger than other underpasses on I-15.

The third thing you notice is that you pass under a block long cover; so long it’s necessary to light it up underneath, and long enough to honk your horn at least three times before you hit sunlight again. Then you notice there are trees on the wide covers. If you are really attentive and you are heading north, you can look to your left just before University Ave. and there is a huge park adjacent to the freeway. If you look up right then you will see a footpath connecting the homes on each side of the freeway as well.

If you are quick and you look at the University or El Cajon overhead signs you will see that they read “Transit Plaza.” You won’t see that designation on other large green overhead signs on the interstate. At the Adams Ave. bridge look left and you will see another park butting up to the freeway. You will probably notice that the Adams Ave. bridge is smaller than those of El Cajon and University. The walls are straight from end to end on either side of the tube. In the middle of the freeway from end to end through Mid City you see a vacant wide lane from sitting there like it is waiting for something to happen, some future plan.   [Read more…]

Summertime City Heights: Variations on a Planetary Theme

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Perfumed Nights, Skunks, Spiders, Clouds, Bird Calls and Kittens

By Anna Daniels

Spring is all about sex and sugar. The birds, skunks, opossums and cats were doing “it” while the vegetative world turned green, tendrilled and flowering. Summer on the other hand is about flight and foraging, storing up and going to seed, with more sex thrown in just because that’s how it works for spiders. And that’s how it works for cats, to my great dismay.

All this happens here in City Heights, in this flat, densely populated, concrete covered place. This summer has held surprises, variations on the planetary theme of long warm sunshine filled days. Even here in the city we live within a natural world that is shaped by the cycle of seasons.   [Read more…]

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