November 27, 2013
by Matthew Wood
Editor: There are changes afoot in north-west OB, particularly at the corner of Abbott and Voltaire. Here is Matthew Wood’s latest report.
OB Rag Confirms Pat’s Liquor Up for Sale
By Matthew Wood
The long-vacant lot at the southeast corner of Voltaire and Abbott Streets has just been recently sold, which may spark a domino effect of land sales on that corner.
Ray Adams, of Cassidy Turley Commercial Real Estate, confirmed the two lots had been sold for $635,000. The lots are 2,500 square feet each – 5,000 square feet total – and are zoned for residential housing. The Keen Family Trust was the seller.
Read the full article →
November 21, 2013
by Matthew Wood
By Matthew Wood
Growing up in the Ocean Beach area, Ryan Ybarra had a dream in life: To become a fire fighter at the OB Fire House No. 15. He waited for his opportunity, even enduring a hellacious commute from a job at a fire department the Los Angeles area back to his wife and kids in OB.
Finally, about two years ago, a position opened up at the OB station on Voltaire and Ebers and Ybarra grabbed it. Didn’t matter to him that he lost the seniority he had built up. Or that he had to go through training and the department’s probation program. He knew he was home.
“And I’ll probably finish here,” he said with a smile. “As a kid, I always wanted to work in OB. That commute (from L.A.) just about killed me. But it was definitely worth it.”
Ybarra is an engineer on the 12-man crew at OB fire house. The guys were nice enough to give me access to their daily routine, and even ride along in the fire truck to their daily workout regimen.
Here’s a bit about how it works:
Read the full article →