The Best Places In San Diego!

Go where Hollywood goes to get their fill for farming life.  Every year, the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum hosts a Harvest Fair the last couple weekends in October. It’s the same museum Hollywood turns to for farm equipment they use in movies such as L.A. Confidential, Mulholland Falls, and Pearl Harbor.

Spread over 50 acres in Vista, you will get to enjoy live entertainment, wagon rides, tractor games, demonstrations of antique farming equipment, watch a blacksmith, and of course, eat food from the farm.

This is a working farm manned by 1,100 volunteers. You’ll get to see them harvest the crops and bring them to the kitchen to make delicious food. Teach your kids the farming way of life or explore it for yourself.  The Harvest Fair runs the next two weekends from 10AM - 4PM.  Here are the directions to the Vista Gas & Steam Engine Museum from Google Maps. Have fun.

Hello San Diego city-dwellers. Have you visited our beautiful Cleveland National Forest lately? If not, make plans next weekend for a scenic one hour drive from the San Diego Coast up to Laguna Mountain.

The Laguna Mountain Volunteers Association will be hosting their annual ‘Living History’ event on September 20th and 21st. Volunteers will be dressing up in turn-of-the-century apparel and take visitors on a voyage back to life as it was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They will provide re-enactments showing the life of Native Americans, mountain men, cowboys, farmers, forest rangers, and gold miners who lived in the San Diego Mountains during that period.

Tours will start every 20 to 30 minutes at the Red-Tailed Roost Volunteer Center beginning at 9AM. The Red-Tailed Roost is at the 22.5 mile marker on the Sunrise Highway. Here are the Directions to Laguna Mountain from Google Maps. The Google Map takes you about a 1/2 mile past the Red-Tailed Roost. If you miss it, you’ll come across the Laguna Mountain Visitors Center a mile later and they can redirect you to the correct location.

After your visit to the Living History event, you might as well drive on a little further to the Desert View Picnic Area (just beyond the 23.5 mile marker) and Kwaamii Point (just beyond the 29.5 mile marker) to enjoy great views overlooking the San Diego Desert.

Of course, what trip to the San Diego Mountains would be complete without taking a stroll in Historic Julian and enjoying their famous pies. It’s just another 13 miles past the Kwaamii Point.

So, make plans to get away for a change of pace, relive a little history, enjoy some spectacular views, and then finish it all off with some warm apple pie. Enjoy!

San Diego is famous for its tourist attractions. This is probably no surprise to you as you think of the Zoo, SeaWorld, Legoland, the Gaslamp Quarter, Balboa Park, the beaches, and so on.

Yet, did you know that visitors come from all over the world to visit San Diego’s Model Railroad Museum? It boasts the largest display of model railroads in the world. The members of several local train clubs take responsibility for funding, creating, and managing the displays.

The Museum even publishes its own newsletter called the San Diego Telegraph. In the current issue, there is a heart warming article about a train club member who noticed a Japanese visitor taking particular interest in his club’s display. The member happened to have his Japanese-speaking wife with him that day so they decided to engage the visitor in conversation.

It turns out the visitor had just flown with his son from Tokyo to Los Angeles that morning. They took Amtrak to San Diego for the specific purpose of visiting the Model Railroad Museum. The visitor had so much fun that he wired a contribution once he returned home and promised to return again shortly.

So, if you are looking for something fun to do for a couple hours, just head over to the Model Railroad Museum at Balboa Park. It’s in the lower level of the Casa de Balboa building, which is on the Pedestrian Mall.

Visit the San Diego Model Railroad Museum web site for more details.

Update: The financials have been released (see a review from Metropolitan Magazine) and Hines has pulled out from the bidding. So, now the city will decide whether to pursue the Gerding proposal noted below, do nothing, or come up with a third option such as relocating city personnel to buildings in suburban areas with cheaper rents.

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San Diego City Hall is ready for a makeover. The dated buildings in our Civic Center Complex are starting to stick out like a sore thumb as the rest of the San Diego has gone through a development makeover during the last decade. If you think a City Hall renovation is the last thing San Diego can afford, think again.

City government has outgrown its facilities, which were built in the 1960s. San Diego taxpayers now spend $13.5 million a year to lease office space in other downtown buildings for city employees. Many of these leases must be renewed in 2013 and 2014 and the new terms are expected to bury our financially strapped city.

To avoid the upcoming budget burden, city leadership has tasked the Center City Development Corporation (CCDC) to solicit and review redevelopment proposals for the city owned Civic Center Complex. The goal is to redevelop four city blocks, including City Hall and the City Operations Building, so they can house all city employees and no longer need to pay for long-term leases in privately held office buildings. One of the requirements for the proposals is the cost of redevelopment must be covered by the savings from not having to pay for the leases. No extra taxpayer money can be used and ideally, there should be a net gain for taxpayers

There are now two finalists who have submitted their detailed proposals to the CCDC. The public is encouraged to review and comment on the proposals. This is our opportunity to not only participate in helping local San Diego government make wise decisions but to also help further reshape downtown San Diego so it continues to be one of the best places in the world to live and to visit.

I have taken the liberty to review the proposals (one is 202 pages long and the other is 254 pages long) and will help provide a ‘Cliff’s Notes’ version below so you too will get involved and voice your opinions.

Comparison of San Diego City Hall Proposals

To say the competing proposals to redevelop four blocks of our Civic Center Complex are very different would still be an understatement.

The competing proposals come from development companies Gerding Edlen and Hines. They both propose a four story city hall structure and they both build space to house all of the necessary city employees. That might sound boring to most readers who may be asking themselves now why they should get involved. Well hold your horses and give me two minutes to tell you why.

Both proposals want to make a statement with the new City Hall. (Photo renderings of the proposed looks are referenced below in the comparison chart.) Both want to create an inviting community gathering area that could rival more popular downtown destinations.

Now I’ll note the dramatic difference. The Hines proposal takes a conservative approach, accomplishing the City’s objectives, and leaves some room for future expansion. The Gerding proposal on the other hand seeks to redefine the core of downtown San Diego.

For starters, the Gerding proposal seeks to build one of the tallest buildings in San Diego (456 feet) in the shape of sail. (For those who don’t know, buildings downtown are capped at 500 feet because of their proximity to the San Diego Airport.) In addition, they propose developing 30-story, 24-story, and 23-story buildings to house apartments, condos or a hotel, offices, a major grocery store, fitness center, and retail shops. They would also give a major facelift to Civic Theatre while adding new space. If you wonder where everyone will park, the proposal includes three underground parking garages, all connected to one another, with a total of 4,120 parking spaces.

With that said, here is a chart that compares the current use for each city block to each of the proposals. I reference the streets so you know the block locations. However, if you would like a better visual of the current uses, take a look at page 28 in the City’s Request for Qualifications document, which includes an aerial photo of the blocks in question.

I apologize to those who can not read images. If you can’t read the chart above, use the contact link in the right column and I’ll send the chart to you in a different format.

Here are links to the proposal documents from the CCDC’s web site:

Gerding Edlen Proposal

Hines Proposal

This is where we need to come in and let our city leaders know our vision for the new San Diego Civic Center Complex. They will be hosting public meetings throughout the city from August 14 - 26. All of the weekday meetings take place from 6:30 - 8:30PM. All of the Saturday meetings take place from 10AM-12PM. Meetings will start with a brief introduction from the CCDC and then presentations will be given by each developer. The public may then engage in a question and answer session. If you can not attend the meetings, you can contact Gerding at sandiegociviccenter ‘at’ gerdingedlen.com. (I used ‘at’ instead of @ so they won’t be spammed by computer robots.) Hines did not provide an email address for comments. They did note a web site for information but as of this post it is a dead link.

• Thursday, August 14 - Kearny Mesa Library
• Saturday, August 16 - Scripps Miramar Library
• Monday, August 18 - Allied Gardens Library
• Tuesday, August 19 - Pacific Beach Library
• Wednesday, August 20 - Golden Hall (the first building to be demolished in both proposals)
• Thursday, August 21 - Nobel Recreation Center
• Saturday, August 23 - Otay Mesa Library
• Monday, August 25 - City Heights Library
• Tuesday, August 26 - Tubman Chaves Center

To confirm the dates and times, visit the CCDC Events Calendar. If you need directions to the libraries, here are is a list of San Diego Library Locations.

Both developers assume there will be a selection of a winner before the end of the year. Based on that assumption the Hines proposal expects City Hall to be completed by the end of 2012 and the City Office Building to be completed by the middle of 2014. Gerding expects City Hall and the City Office Building to be completed by the middle of 2013 with the remaining development to be completed in phases ending in 2015 - 2018.

Here are two final resources:

Gerding Edlen - Page for news releases that includes articles regarding San Diego City Hall Complex Proposal.

Hines - News release regarding San Diego City Hall Complex Proposal from the Hines web site.

What Do You Think?

You can also vote for your favorite San Diego Civic Center Complex Proposal at the Union Tribune web site.

I’d be curious to know your thoughts. Feel free to share them below. I’ll get it started with my own observations, which will give you more insight into the redevelopment proposals.

Walk Score has published a walkability index for every community in the country. As a whole, San Diego ranks 16th in the country for walkability. The most walkable communities in San Diego are all downtown.

Not only does Walk Score rank each neighborhood, they also provide a nice color map of the San Diego region, with the most walkable areas colored in green.

See how your neighborhood ranks for walkability. If you want to help improve the walkability of your neighborhood, learn how you can help at WalkSanDiego.com. Walk San Diego is a grassroots organization that has become very active in building more walkable neighborhoods in San Diego.

The Courtyard San Diego Central in Kearny Mesa won top honors from the American Hotel & Lodging Association for community service. The hotel was recognized for providing very low rate hotel rooms to the Ronald McDonald House, holding a golf tournament fundraiser for Children’s Hospital, hosting Christmas dinner for 200 Marines stationed in San Diego, and giving firefighters a place to sleep for 10 days during the October wildfires.

Let’s reward those in our community who go out of their way to be great corporate citizens by patronizing their business. Here are the details:

Hotel Reservations page on the Courtyard Marriott web site. The hotel has 237 rooms and over 4,000 square feet of meeting space.

Directions from Google Maps to 8651 Spectrum Center Boulevard 92123

Navy spouse Meredith Leyva partnered with the San Diego media to create Operation Homefront in 2001. Operation Homefront garners community support to assist the families of military personnel sent abroad. Since that beginning in San Diego, the organization has spread to provide assistance in 34 states.

Prior to Operation Homefront, Meredith Leyva created a web site support forum for military spouses. Once the War in Afghanistan was underway, her popular web site and our San Diego media brought local, and then national, attention to the cause of helping military families. The help provided to military families includes assistance with everyday activities such as car repairs, physical labor, financial assistance, and computer access.

Just last week, Jim Beam Global Spirts & Wine provided a generous (more…)

San Diego, along with Philadelphia and Indianapolis, has been chosen to host a QUASH Event for the Alzheimer’s Association. QUASH (Quest to Unravel Alzheimer’s - Scavenger Hunt) will take place in San Diego on Saturday, June 14th.

The scavenger hunter will take your team of four members throughout San Diego, providing an unforgettable adventure through city landmarks and hidden hotspots. Your team will complete challenges and solve puzzles in a race against the clock - and your opponents - to emerge victorious.

The registration fee for each individual is $25 and teams must collect a minimum of $200 in donations. So get together with coworkers, alumni groups, friends, and family to help researchers find a cure for Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s affects 13% of people over the age of 65 according to the most recent Alzheimer’s statistics published by the Alzheimer’s Association. Considering the number of aging Baby Boomers, scientists are going all-out to find cures for this mentally disabling disease. Let’s show the Alzheimer’s Association they made a good choice to pick San Diego in their efforts to help the fight against Alzheimer’s Disease. Sign up for the QUASH Challenge today.

Torrey Pines Mesa is arguably one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s namesake, the Torrey Pine Tree, only exists in two places in the world, including the Torrey Pines Mesa. It is home to scenic hiking trails at the Torrey Pines State Reserve, a world renowned gliderport (which I’ll discuss in tomorrow’s post), and a world class golf course, which hosted the 2008 U.S. Open PGA Golf Championship.

It is only fitting the world’s top medical researchers have been attracted to the Torrey Pines Mesa to create one of the largest concentrations of (more…)

Have you ever peered out the right side of a plane during take-off or landing at Lindbergh Field and watched Marines march in formation? It is a unique opportunity to see Marines in training.

The Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego (MCRD) is one of only two places in the country where new recruits are trained to become a Marine. The other is in Parris Island, South Carolina.

MCRD - San Diego has been training new recruits since 1923. Each year, over 21,000 recruits endure a grueling three months of training. San Diego is home to all of the recruits west of the Mississippi River, as well as the states of Wisconsin and Michigan, and the areas surrounding Chicago and New Orleans.

To learn more about the Marines in San Diego, you can visit the Command Museum at MCRD - San Diego.  I visited the museum this past weekend and will write about it in a future post.

MCRD - San Diego information from Wikipedia

Official Web Site for MCRD - San Diego - Note, the site tends to be slow