Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Do Immigrants Make Better Neighbors?
With all of the arguments over immigration I am sometimes afraid to tell people that I work in the Mission Park area in Escondido, home to one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in San Diego County. Yes, I work with both legal and illegal immigrants, yes it sometimes bothers me when I see laws being broken and resources being wasted, but there is a certain charm and uniqueness that comes to neighborhood that is not "Americanized".
Driving home last week I was amazed to see families outside of their apartments and houses, almost lining the streets. "Is there a parade or something?" I asked a child riding his bike on the street. "No, we just like to hang out talking and playing at night."
I was a little dumbfounded -- women were outside sharing stories and news from home, kids were playing tag and riding skateboards with each other, men were sharing work information and discussing other events -- an actual neighborhood in the sense that people were interacting with each other and enjoying it. The ice-cream truck drove by with a line of kids chasing it, new puppies on leashes were running around with their owners, it was a scene out of Pleasantville, only in shades of brown instead of black and white, and in Spanish with no English subtitles.
I got back to my apartment in a "good" neighborhood, with no one to be seen. I waved hello at a neighbor that arrived home shortly after I did, but I merely received a smile and half wave -- no conversation there. I sat out on my porch for about an hour, waiting to see if a neighbor would step outside with me, or if a resident passing by to get their mail would stop to discuss the weather, but I was lucky to make eye contact. I suddenly felt lonely.
There's something to be said about the benefits a person brings when moving into a different place, and instead of abandoning their homeland, they bring it with them. The sense of community and belonging are very apparent in the Mission Park community, and it should be glorified instead of vilified. Neighborhood watches are beginning to flourish in that community, and the kids I work with are beginning to trust again.
Of course I am not saying I support illegal immigration, but immigration itself is good and aids in progress in many ways if a community opens itself up to it. If you want to find out for yourself, come by the Mission Park area at about 4 p.m. on a weekday and seek out the "Corn Man" who sells corn with cheese, chili and a bit of mayonnaise and tell me that this man is not a benefit to this community!
Written by: Escondido
Here's something you might be interested in.
Do Immigrants Make Better Neighbors?
Do Immigrants Make Better Neighbors?
With all of the arguments over immigration I am sometimes afraid to tell people that I work in the Mission Park area in Escondido, home to one of the largest concentrations of immigrants in San Diego County. Yes, I work with both legal and illegal immigrants, yes it sometimes bothers me when I see laws being broken and resources being wasted, but there is a certain charm and uniqueness that comes to neighborhood that is not "Americanized".
Driving home last week I was amazed to see families outside of their apartments and houses, almost lining the streets. "Is there a parade or something?" I asked a child riding his bike on the street. "No, we just like to hang out talking and playing at night."
I was a little dumbfounded -- women were outside sharing stories and news from home, kids were playing tag and riding skateboards with each other, men were sharing work information and discussing other events -- an actual neighborhood in the sense that people were interacting with each other and enjoying it. The ice-cream truck drove by with a line of kids chasing it, new puppies on leashes were running around with their owners, it was a scene out of Pleasantville, only in shades of brown instead of black and white, and in Spanish with no English subtitles.
I got back to my apartment in a "good" neighborhood, with no one to be seen. I waved hello at a neighbor that arrived home shortly after I did, but I merely received a smile and half wave -- no conversation there. I sat out on my porch for about an hour, waiting to see if a neighbor would step outside with me, or if a resident passing by to get their mail would stop to discuss the weather, but I was lucky to make eye contact. I suddenly felt lonely.
There's something to be said about the benefits a person brings when moving into a different place, and instead of abandoning their homeland, they bring it with them. The sense of community and belonging are very apparent in the Mission Park community, and it should be glorified instead of vilified. Neighborhood watches are beginning to flourish in that community, and the kids I work with are beginning to trust again.
Of course I am not saying I support illegal immigration, but immigration itself is good and aids in progress in many ways if a community opens itself up to it. If you want to find out for yourself, come by the Mission Park area at about 4 p.m. on a weekday and seek out the "Corn Man" who sells corn with cheese, chili and a bit of mayonnaise and tell me that this man is not a benefit to this community!
Written by: Escondido
Comments