Category: San Diego

By Debbie L. Sklar

Little Italy today is one of San Diego’s most visible dining and residential districts, but much of what people see now sits on top of a far more industrial and working-class
waterfront history. The neighborhood’s transformation didn’t happen all at once, and many layers of its earlier identity are still embedded in the streets, buildings, and public spaces that remain.

Here are five things you might not know.

1. It was once a major tuna processing hub

Before restaurants and redevelopment, this area was closely tied to San Diego’s tuna industry. Italian immigrant families were central to fishing, canning, and dockside work along the waterfront. The neighborhood functioned as part of a larger working harbor economy, where industrial labor defined daily life far more than residential or
commercial activity.

San Diego Gas & Electric has just formally requested an 8.6% rate increase with the California Public Utilities Commission. SDG&E wants it to begin in 2028.

The utility seeks approximately $3.8 billion for 2028, including about $2.9 billion for electric operations and $900 million for natural gas service. If the CPUC approves their request, “SDG&E estimates the increase would add roughly $14.03 per month to the average residential electric bill and $8.45 per month to the average residential gas bill compared to 2027 rates,” reports CBS8. That’s a combined $22.48 to the average monthly bill, reports the OB Rag.

The filing by San Diego’s for-profit utility, launches “what is expected to be an 18-month review process before state regulators determine whether to approve, modify or reject the proposal,” says CBS8/

Meanwhile, the San Diego City Council on Tuesday, June 16th, voted to endorse 10 bills in the state legislature aimed at lowering electricity rates and making investor-owned utilities more accountable to ratepayers, reports KPBS.

The U-T this morning announced that the City of San Diego has “quietly” pushed back its decision on Midway Rising, the massive 50-acre redevelopment project slated for the Sports Arena area until “an unknown date later in the year.”

As UT reporter Jenifer van Grove mused, the project has been “promised for May and then June,” and now pushed back even more. She wrote:

The City Council’s Land Use & Housing Committee is not slated to hear the item before the council’s summer legislative recess, Councilmember Kent Lee, who chairs the committee, told the Union-Tribune.

Last week, we posted an article about anti-short term rentals stickers being plastered around north OB.

Now, we find residents of Clairemont have done one better against the ADUs that have clobbered their community over the last couple of years. (See above)

Here are a couple more of the small professionally made and anonymous signs that have popped up in the Clairemont Mesa area.

It’s Been Nearly 2 Years Since Rag Contest — Here’s an Update on Clairemont Area ADUs

By Michael A Hernandez 

It’s been almost two years since the Rag held a contest ranking “The Worst ADUs in San Diego”. Launched in an effort to better understand the severity of the issue of rampant ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) development in America’s Finest City, the contest received dozens of resident submissions from at least 20 different localities.

Submissions were evaluated by a panel of judges consisting of reporters and experts on the subject who scored the projects based on their physical size or number of units, aesthetic, and their impact on the neighborhood, like affected street parking.

The issue has been a hot topic ever since the introduction of the City of San Diego’s Bonus ADU Program, which enabled homeowners to build additional ADUs on a property even after the maximum number allowed by right had been reached, so long as they agreed to rent the affordable housing unit to low or moderate-income households for the next 10-15 years.

Entire List From Across City Included

Here are the results from the latest — and last — round of San Diego city budget cuts in terms of hours at Ocean Beach and Point Loma libraries and rec centers.

Point Loma

The Point Loma branch library, along with 5 others, will have its hours reduced. PL will deal with its cuts by opening only for half days on Saturdays. That will bring its operating 51 hours a week down to 47 hours.

And the Cabrillo rec center will be reduced to 40 operating hours a week, but its cuts will be smaller, because it already had less than 60 operating hours per week.

Ocean Beach

The OB library is currently operating 5 days a week, with Sunday and Monday closed. But it will soon close on a more permanent basis as its expansion gathers steam.

By JW August

It’s called the Black Family Statue. The original statue was installed 52 years ago, the work of local artist Rossi Wade and was created to honor Black family values.

A little more than a half century after the original Black Family Statue took its place in a Mountain View park, its long-awaited replacement was celebrated Saturday, June 13th with an official unveiling.

The community gathering at Neil Pettis Mountain View Park, which doubled as a Juneteenth celebration, capped a decade-long effort to replace the original wood statue that had grown so deteriorated that only a brass plaque and the brick and mortar foundation remained.

The San Diego Community Coalition publishes this email bulletin to keep our members and the general San Diego public informed about important Council and Planning Commission hearings and other city public meetings.

Monday, June 15: City Council, 2:00 p.m.

Agenda:

Item 203. California Coastal Commission Modifications to the 2024 Land Development Code Update of the San Diego Municipal Code and Local Coastal Program.

Why it matters: This would make it easier to build affordable housing in coastal regions. In theory, that’s a worthy idea. But given the age-old intense demand for coastal residences, how long would it take for market forces to flip affordable coastal homes into expensive coastal homes?

Gates to Be Installed at 7 Coastal Parking Lots

by Karen Pearlman / Times of San Diego / June 11, 2026

Thinking of a late-night run to listen to the waves at Dog Beach?

Don’t make plans to park your car in lots near the beach, bay, or shoreline park in the late night or early morning hours for the next 10 years.

The California Coastal Commission on Wednesday unanimously approved the city of San Diego’s plan to change existing parking restrictions and implement new restrictions at more than 35 coastal area parking lots in La Jolla through Mission Beach down to Ocean Beach and over to Sunset Cliffs.

The restrictions will include new nighttime vehicle closure hours, gates and time-limited parking.

The Coastal Commission’s approval of a Coastal Development Permit is the final hurdle for the city of San Diego to put the parking changes into action.

The reasons the city cited for the parking changes include an increase in nighttime criminal activity at certain lots, from controlled substances to attempted murders. Additionally, a steady increase in overnight parking by “van-lifers” or those living in their cars or RVs has also become a growing challenge.

SOHO / May-June Newsletter

Many SOHO members follow historic designation cases closely, but fewer people see what actually happens inside City Hall when an owner applies for a development permit for a building that may be historic.

San Diego’s 45-year review is the process city staff uses to determine whether a property might qualify as a historic resource before a permit moves forward.

Today, the City of San Diego is considering changes to its historic designation process that would significantly endanger the preservation of individual properties and historic districts. Among these changes, which are part of the Planning Department’s Preservation and Progress program, is a proposed move away from the 45-year review process.

SOHO maintains this potential “update” would present significant risks. Eliminating the 45-year review before completing a comprehensive citywide survey would expose countless historic structures to irreversible loss.

Event Include Juneteenth Celebration

By JW August

The revival of the Black Family statue – and a lasting legacy of San Diego artist Rossie Wade – will be unveiled this Saturday, June 13th in one of San Diego’s oldest parks. The event is set for 11 a.m. at the Neal Petties Mountain View Park at 641 S Boundary St., near 40th St. and Oceanview Blvd.

The City of San Diego’s Cultural Affairs department flyer says it will be part of a Juneteenth celebration.  Following the unveiling of the statue there will be free food, a petting zoo, and free performances.

The original statue was made of painted redwood, which had deteriorated over time.  All that remained of Wade’s original creation was its brick and mortar base.

A new stainless steel statue has been created to respect and honor Wade’s image of Black values and community pride, as was the case when the original was dedicated in 1974. Saturday’s event signals the end of a 10-year journey to create a replacement for Rossi’s original work.

Editordude: Here’s a fun take on the differences between beach culture in San Diego and that of Los Angeles – by a San Diego native. It has been edited somewhat to delete the more commercial aspects. 

San Diego vs LA Beach Culture: A Native’s Honest Take 

San Diego and Los Angeles share a coastline, but the beach cultures could not be more different. San Diego beaches run quieter, warmer, and more locals-first.

LA beaches run busier, faster-paced, and more visible in pop culture.

San Diego County has roughly 70 miles of coast averaging 266 sunny days a year.

LA County has roughly 75 miles averaging 284 sunny days.

The cultural difference is not about geography, it is about pace. This piece breaks down the real difference for anyone choosing between the two for a beach trip, a move, or a long-term home.

If you want the postcard version of California, go to LA. If you want the lived-in version, go to San Diego.