One of the Rag’s most loyal readers, Chris Thomas, is a huge fan of bike lanes — and here is his photo montage of how life is brewing along 30th Street, claimed by some bike lane critics as a ‘ruined business area.’ So, Chris set out a couple weeks ago to prove those claims wrong.
(The bike lane critics are not opposed to bike lanes but how they’re installed in San Diego by the Gloria administration.)
Chris: There were taken over the course of two different weekends in mid September. I honestly can’t remember the exact dates of each photo. The first one with two bikes tied up in front of the blue building is Working Class.
This is a retail store of some type but don’t know the name. It’s actually on North Park Way just a few feet from 30th. It’s sandwiched between 30th and Ray St. There’s also a photo 
in North Park Way and is a coffee house called Love Song. Not actually on 30th but a few feet away.
Thanks Frank.
A few bikes, some random photos, yawn. Had to pick up a couple things today. A bike or public transit wouldn’t have helped. I might see 4 bikes if I’m lucky. To see all the cars going everywhere on the roads, people are not giving up their cars, translation, a necessity. A random bike trip to an eatery? A convenience. A few bikes don’t justify the cost, the removal of traffic lanes and/ or parking, the contribution to stalled traffic. But it’s typical myopic vision for Toad and his builder buddies selling that delusion.
Weekends when folks are off work, there are more bikes at a few of the bars and sports on big screens bring sports enthusiasts to the bar to sit all day and buy two beers (complaint from some bar owners), but the excuse to take away the parking from the businesses, was to get more people commuting to work on bikes or a bus to reduce the climate change. Well it certainly hasn’t done that at all Mon.-Sun. Last Sat. during a Taste of North Park, I didn’t see any bus on 30th. between the hours of 10:30 – 3:00PM, with more than 7 people riding. The bus stops were cut in half in 2020, due ot lack of ridership, and has not returned more buses since. The reduction of traffic lanes has created bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic all over North Park and scientifically idling vehicles create more toxins, than traveling vehicles. So IF the City of SD had done a CEQA like they were supposed to, then there could be a before and after comparison, but there was no CEQA done. There’s only one maybe two businesses shown that have been there since before the parking spaces were removed. If you’d like to see the pictures I took of 32 businesses that had “moved”, “closed”, boarded up, after the parking was removed, you’d see what the real story has been and there’s still a lot of vacancies/empty store fronts on 30th., I gave some copies to Chris Ward at a recent meeting. We’ll see how long the new businesses can last with no reasonably close parking. employees don’t like walking in the dark 3-4 blocks after they get off work, in the dark…male and female. Some businesses, are open month to month due to inability to survive on meager sales, and still some have to close up. As I walked a portion of 30th. last week, distributing flyers for Mayoral Candidate Larry Turner, the businesses would like to see parking returned. Per the UT, a multi story apt. bldg. on NP Way, 3 blocks from 30th., owner couldn’t rent his units because he didn’t put in parking and there is very limited street parking on the surrounding streets. so now he’s leasing spaces in the parking structure, but even that doesn’t work for parents with kids, and groceries, or disabled and elderly during dry weather and really doesn’t work in wet weather. I’m sure he’s charging more for rent to pay for his leased spaces in the parking structure. I’m guessing about 50% of the cyclists ride in the now more narrow traffic lanes so they can ride faster and not have to dodge scooters, joggers, etc. in the bike lanes.
I have no idea what it was like before 2020, but the 2 runs along the full length 30 every 20 minutes. I’ve taken it a few times from DT all the way over to Adams and they were pretty full. I can’t say why you only saw 7 (were you actually on the bus?). Perhaps time of day? I don’t know.
” and there’s still a lot of vacancies/empty store fronts on 30th.”
The place it see that is on one specific block. A few scattered other places that closed was due to rent disputes and one (Solomon Bagels) because the owner retired.
Meant to say: The places I see that is on one specific block. A few scattered other places that have closed was due to rent disputes and one (Solomon Bagels) because the owner retired.
Sorry, I’m a federal employee who works a desk job and can’t type if my life depended on it lol.
Of course there’s more bikes on weekends when people are off work, but that’s not the reality to count recreational riders bikes on 2 days out of 7, five of which are work days when they drive to and from work. When it gets dark early on weekdays in a few weeks, you won’t find many people on bikes hanging out except on football or other sports days.
Show me from 7-9am on a soggy Tuesday morning. How many cyclists then?
How many wearing business attire or with school age kids in tow?
Classic Whataboutism. Kinda like, “how do you pick up and transport 5 tons of concrete from Home Depot on a bicycle?”
Both of you. LMAO.
Bike lane critics are not “opposed to bike lanes.” We are opposed to spending hundreds of millions of tax dollars on capital projects that benefit the 10% of the local population that rides bikes (Census data). We are opposed to replacing vehicle lanes with bike lanes and then seeing long backups of gas-emitting vehicles stuck next to bike lanes that are sparsely used. And we are opposed to politicians who preach “commute by bike” while they and their employees drive to work and park in designated spaces.
Is it possible to post photos in comments? I could easily provide a half-dozen pictures of abandoned parcels near 30th and University, starting with boarded-up storefronts on the prominent northwest and northeast corners.
I’m concerned the bike lane project may end up with an employee or restaurant/bar patron, walking up to 1/2 mile for parking at 2am gets robbed or worse.
God forbid an American walks up to a 1/2 mile during their day!
The special interest city already wants you to walk up to a mile from an ADU to mass transit and eliminate parking spaces for bike lanes. Not everybody can do that physically. It’s government gone too far, and ignoring the larger population needs, roads and infrastructure, and using affordable housing as a crutch for developer giveaways. We have toilet water cost at 1.5 billion, and now Toad is going to finance Hodges at $240 million, after sitting on his duff, terms yet unknown. And don’t even get me started about the tax hikes they, and SANDAG want for all this mismanagement.