Author: Lane Tobias Neighborhood: Ocean Beach Age: 24 Occupation: Wildfire Relief Case Manager I am a recent transplant from New Jersey living in Ocean Beach. I already know what locals or natives think of me. …
August 27, 2008
Neighborhood Blog Winners
Archived articles
Reaching Nirvana at the Wonderland Coin Laundry
“Ghetto” is not an adjective
Author: Dominic Carrillo Neighborhood: Barrio Logan Age: 32 Occupation: Counselor It’s a noun. It’s the place where I live. It’s Barrio Logan, to be exact, but that lone fact is insignificant, really. There’s no Sherman …
August 13, 2008
Last Call
Author: Elizabeth Zerbe Neighborhood: Valley Center Age: Over 40 Occupation: Care provider Saturday night, and everyone was going out to dinner — even the six-inch black-and-silver tarantula in the driveway, heading to our house. It …
August 8, 2008
Giselle, Guatay, the Airstream and the Chief
“That’s it,” my husband, Ben said as he squeezed the last box into the truck before closing the camper shell. “That’s all we can fit.” We were finally leaving Texas and moving back to California …
July 10, 2008
There she goes....
I couldn't help it. As I walked by what used to be my favorite bar I had to peer through the window and see the abomination. I could not even recognize it anymore, my old …
July 2, 2008
The Job Pitch
A San Diego native, I was well aware of El Cajon Boulevard’s reputation long before I moved into my University Heights apartment. I barely raised an eyebrow the first morning I made my hike to …
July 1, 2008
Man Without a Neighborhood
I suppose I am a man without a neighborhood. As a life-long San Diegan, I have called many neighborhoods “home.” Often I find myself in the minority and my native claim second only to the …
June 23, 2008
Junior Personnel Nearly Arrested for Demanding Customer Service
I stood in front of my rack trying to keep from crying. Having just woken from a nap and ready to leave base for the weekend, I could not find my I.D. It had been …
June 21, 2008
Ornery OB Ornithology
Twas mid-May in Ocean Beach. May Gray was momentarily at bay, spring had sprung, and every OBecian could smell and see sweet summer coming. Whilst walking my precious pooch, Kindle, on Voltaire Street mere moments …
June 3, 2008
Scripps Ranch Daddy Dreams of Kensington
Didn't want to be here. Liked the old place better, in the city. A housekeeper's flat in the back of a Craftsman-riche palazzo in Kensington. We grew baby raccoons in winter, big shimmery spiderwebs in …
September 20, 2007
What Would Hillcrest Do without Russ the Bodybuilder?
"It's over, I'm done with all of this and I can't handle another second of it..." The sobs echoed through the narrow hallway of the tiny Sixth Avenue complex. "There's no more us...there's just Russ." …
September 20, 2007
Boredom Turns to Excitement in Chula Vista
“You have got to be kidding me!” My outburst was not at all surprising, after I saw the over-half- million-dollar price neatly printed on a colorful placard in front of the model house. My family …
September 20, 2007
Colorful El Cajon Police Stories
Shade of Orange I scurried through dancing shadows to reach my carpool pick-up spot at the swimming pool-mailboxes annex within the condo complex. I glanced at my watch. It was 6:07 a.m. All was quiet …
September 20, 2007
Coronado Turned on Me
I am old. My neighborhood is shrinking. Once, my Coronado was mainly blocks and blocks of houses with just a few shops and cafes. Now it has grown, but my world has been reduced to …
September 20, 2007
Payback's a Bitch in Shelltown
My earliest memories of Shelltown are those of a chaotic and scary place. I was an impressionable and tender ten years of age when my family moved into the impoverished Southeast San Diego neighborhood, which …
September 20, 2007
Miraculous Rancho San Diego
I meet DB at the Coffee Grounds, where we catch up on gossip. He asks why I moved from downtown to Rancho San Diego, his gaze fixated on the very competent, very cute, barista. I …
September 20, 2007
No Drums Allowed in Fletcher Hills
I have lived on the same block, in the same city in the same state, and in the same house for my whole life. Fifteen years to be exact. It's hard growing up in Fletcher …
September 20, 2007
Alpine's Secret Valley
When I moved into Peutz Valley, this deadend, oak-lined community in Alpine, my family consisted of two boys still living at home, craving a country atmosphere. Here we could raise animals and grow a garden, …
September 20, 2007
How an Escondido Trailer Park Became a Neighborhood
When I think of my neighborhood, I think of transformation. My five-year-old daughter and I were mesmerized when we first saw Mountain Shadows Mobile Home Park in '94. There were plum and orange trees growing …
September 20, 2007