Sunset, OB Pier, May 19, 2009 - by Jim Grant - click on image for a larger version.
By D.A. Kolodenko / San Diego City Beat / May 19, 2009
In the same way people are always saying the world is going to end, we also like to identify the deaths of specific places-for instance, “San Francisco died when the yuppies pushed out the artists” or “South Park died when people started calling it South Park” or “The Chicken Pie Shop died when it moved to El Cajon Boulevard.”
Whether or not a place is literally dead, what we really mean is: A place that we like has changed, and we are reminded of the impossibility of returning to the times we had there.
But you never hear “Ocean Beach died when….”
In fact, you hear the opposite: O.B. is perceived by almost everyone familiar with the iconic little beach hamlet as stubbornly resistant to the virus of change.
That’s why so many who once lived in O.B. eventually return: I-8 West is a time machine.
For the remainder of this wonderful article about Hodads and Ocean Beach, go here.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I hope everyone is as lucky as this old man and find OB to be their loft in Greenwich Village and their cabin in Key West, if they always wanted to be writers and used that lame excuse.
I say keep it as weird as possible!
I think that despite the gentrification of OB, it really won’t ever die. Even the folks building up and changing the face of this neighborhood probably understand that the way of life here cannot be changed. I think this article was poignant and a good piece of writing.
lane, plus the article was a good plug for the OB Rag blog – thanks DA Kolodenko. DAK – you are a wonderful writer and a genuine contributor to what’s good in OB. Keep up the good work. And if you ever have to leave SDCB, you will always have a home with us.