OB Rag

Here are the plans for Ocean Beach in the Coastal Resilience Master Plan (without edit) — graphics to follow:

The Ocean Beach – Dog Beach project site is approximately 13 acres comprising open space beach and shoreline, a developed parking lot and a small portion of native dune and scrub habitat in the eastern portion of the site. The project site includes a portion of the San Diego River Bikeway and adjacent areas; however, it is located outside of the San Diego River Levee footprint. If the project footprint changes and it is determined that the project may impact the levee, continued coordination with the City’s Stormwater Department and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be required.

Nearly 200 San Diego residents — mostly from Pacific Beach — gathered Saturday morning, Nov. 23, to protest the 22-story “pencil tower” being planned for 970 Turquoise Street in north PB.

The controversial project has garnered a wall of opposition — not only residents but a number of high-profile politicians have come out publicly against the tower.

It is supposed to have 139 hotel rooms on 9 floors and 74 housing units on the other floors, including a whooping 10 units as affordable (5 very low income and 5 moderate income). It proposes 7 floors (2 below ground) of parking alone. If built, Project “Vela” would be a little over 238 feet.

The developer, Kalonymus, told CBS 8 it would have 213 units total, with market-rate units, 10 affordable rent-restricted units and visitor accommodation units. Kalonymus said there would be 300 on-site parking spots.

By David Helvarg / The Progressive Magazine / November 21, 2024

For those of us committed to protecting the ocean, it’s always been clear that restoring healthy seas will be the work of our lifetimes, and that of others who’ll come after us.

Unlike the majority of Americans, I believe the Biden Administration did a decent job, particularly in responding to the climate emergency we’re currently living through. During his term, Biden signed into law two major pieces of legislation: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Nonprofit groups including Blue Frontier, which I founded, created an “Ocean Climate Action Plan” which helped in adding $10 billion to the IRA law, with a focus on coastal resiliency, including $3 billion for greening ports.

By Steve Anderson / The Point of PLNU / Nov 13, 2024

Steve Anderson is a fourth year journalism major and opinion editor for The Point. Anderson grew up in the christian church and is a self proclaimed follower of Christ.

Similarly to just about half of Americans, I was disappointed in the results of the 2024 presidential election. I found it hard to believe that the country thought Donald Trump was the more qualified leader. I don’t write this as a rebuke or to convince you that I’m right and you’re wrong but rather, I’d invite you to simply hear me out.

Editordude: The following is but the beginning of a more longer piece by Peter Bohmer, a good friend of the Rag and former OBcean who now lives in Olympia, Washington.

by Peter Bohmer / November 21, 2024

Trump’s victory is a serious loss for most people in the United States and globally. I disagreed before the election and now, that it didn’t matter who won the Presidential election. Let us mourn and grieve but not give up. Elections matter and this one certainly does but being political means building and gaining power, being active to further what you believe in, much more than voting or supporting a candidate.

I don’t know if any campaign would have caused a Kamala Harris victory.

Washington D.C. is building miles of bike lanes, though fewer people are biking to work.

By Marc Fisher / Washington Post / November 20, 2024

Despite its reputation as a liberal enclave, D.C. is not and will never be Amsterdam, Portland or one of those college towns where the streets teem with more bicycles than cars.

But sometimes, it’s not for a lack of trying.

The following letter to the editor in today’s Los Angeles Times (Nov. 21) caught our attention. The editors put a headline on it of “The reality of single-family blocks” and magnified the letter itself.

Once again, it is being suggested that those who own and live in single-family homes are wealthy and white.

By Kate Callen

You can’t blame Todd Gloria for delaying the painful announcement that Measure E is DOA.

The mayor is having a rough month. He should have been re-elected easily. That didn’t happen. He had an inside track to a White House post. That won’t happen either. It’s understandable that a politician with fresh bruises would put off more skirmishes. But while Gloria takes a breather, the rest of the city is preparing for a fierce budget battle in the not-too-distant future.

Times of San Diego

A racist term for a Native American woman will be removed from nearly three dozen geographic features and place names on California lands, the state Natural Resources Agency announced Friday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022 signed a bill into law that bans use of the word “squaw” in future place names and ordered the agency to rename all places that used the slur, including on streets, bridges, public buildings and cemeteries, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

By Sydney Brammer / The Point PLNU / Nov 20, 2024

Point Loma Nazarene University claims to be a sustainable campus, yet the inaccurate and outdated information found on their website is misleading to the reality of their efforts. The composting program has just begun making its way back since being shut down during COVID-19, according to Gustavo Bernal, assistant director of campus facilities. Staff workers in the university’s food establishments weren’t aware of the composting process and only a select few actually know where food waste ends up.

By David Malcolm / Voice of San Diego / November 20, 2024

Short-term (vacation) rentals (STRs) are an innovation. Since VRBO and Airbnb came on the scene, this is a new sub-sector of the lodging industry, just as Uber and Lyft were a new sub-sector for the transportation industry.

Unintended consequences often accompany innovation, mostly during early adoption. STRs rely on existing homes and apartments. The more there are, the less housing there is for residential. As a result, rental prices can soar, sometimes pushing residents out of an area.