OB Rag

By Richard Santini on behalf of Preserve Greater Golden Hill

Greater Golden Hill is one of San Diego’s most historically rich and culturally diverse neighborhoods. Nestled just southeast of Balboa Park, it has long stood at the intersection of San Diego’s past and future. From its earliest days, Golden Hill attracted artists, working families, civic leaders, and immigrants drawn to its proximity to downtown, its walkable streets, affordable housing, and sweeping views of the bay and Coronado. Two areas of its graceful 19th- and early 20th-century homes are city designated historic districts, but the character of the neighborhood extends far beyond the district’s’ boundaries. What defines Golden Hill is the coexistence of history, architecture, and cultural diversity that gives the community its unique soul.

Today, that soul is under threat. In the rush to meet housing targets, developers are forcing through projects that are out of scale, out of character, and out of touch with neighborhood realities. These are not the “gentle density” promised in planning documents. They are large, profit-driven complexes shoehorned into spaces meant for smaller-scale housing. This unchecked growth poses risks to safety, affordability, and livability—placing profit above people.

Compromised Public Safety

Mayor Gloria’s Complete Communities Executive Order 2024-1 allows expedited approvals only if “expedited service maintains protections for public health and safety.” Yet projects are being advanced without those protections.

by Scott Hopkins / Pen. Beacon – Times of San Diego / Sept. 2, 2025

It was a time of rapid growth in San Diego. The little seaside community was home to 74,683 people in 1920, and that total would double to 147,897 by the end of the decade. The city was already home to a pair of high schools. Russ School, later named San Diego High School, opened in 1892, and La Jolla High School opened to the north in 1922.

HASTINGS’ FOLLY

Edgar F. Hastings, a member of the Board of Education, believed that a new high school was needed in a slowly developing community situated between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean. Fellow board members strongly disagreed with Hastings, saying the proposed location was too far from town.

But Hastings persisted, even after his fellow board members termed the proposed new school “Hastings’ Folly.”

And, on Sept. 8, 1925, Point Loma Junior-Senior High School opened.

Pete Ross was named as the school’s first principal, and the school’s stadium bears his name today.

Ross oversaw a staff of 30 teachers who drove their Model Ts to the campus that had no homes around it. They parked their cars in a staff parking lot along Zola Street before walking onto the new campus built in Spanish Revival architecture with three-story buildings featuring curved archways and wrought iron.

Those teachers were expected to deliver a rich and challenging curriculum to each of the 386 students in grades 7 through 12 who arrived on the first day of school. After all, those teachers were making $90 per month, according to federal records.

By Spike Steffenhagen / San Diego Reader / Sept. 4, 2025

“Brian [Thoryk] had this smirk on his face and told me he needed to talk to me after a Skullbusters practice,” Victim drummer Junior Solis tells me. “Then he says, ‘We’re doing the Victim reunion.’ I was like, ‘Why now? I’ve been asking for years.’ He just said, ‘It’s time.’” The September 5 reunion show at The Holding Company in Ocean Beach marks the first time the metal band has appeared live since 1986. They made their vinyl debut in 1984 with Power Hungry. The follow-up Dirty Mean and Nasty was released in 1986 with a final offering, By the Neck, surfacing in 2014 from old recordings thought lost.

The internet has kept out-of-print bands accessible, allowing generations of fans to discover things that otherwise would have faded into obscurity. Even Victim’s long-lost 1983 appearance on local public access TV’s Club 33 recently turned up on Youtube, and featured a performance of the track that landed them on a KGB Homegrown album, “Victim.”

Of course, attention is currency on YouTube, and so an appearance there runs the risk of inspiring  “reaction” videos conducted by self-appointed edgelords who are as likely as not to strike a dismissive and snarky pose in a failed attempt to show how cool they are. But cold hard cash speaks louder

SUNDAY, SEP. 7, 2025, 11:30 A.M. – 1:30 P.M.
28th STREET PLAYGROUND, SAN DIEGO, CA
Preserve Greater Golden Hill to Host “March & Roll” in South Park
Family-Friendly Event Aims to Spark Conversation About Housing Policies

On Sunday, September 7 at 11:30 a.m. at the 28th Street Playground in South Park, neighbors from the South Park and Golden Hill communities will gather for a “March & Roll”—an inclusive, lively, family-friendly walk-ride-and-roll event designed to bring neighbors together, raise awareness, and start conversations about how current state and local housing legislation is affecting the safety, affordability, livability, and future of San Diego’s neighborhoods.

The event will begin in South Park, where participants can meet, mingle, and decorate their walking shoes, strollers, scooters, bicycles, and wagons. At noon, the group will follow a set route through the neighborhood, showcasing community spirit and solidarity while enjoying South Park’s tree-lined streets and historic charm.

By Samantha Mason

This is my third of a series of exploring new or interesting businesses in Ocean Beach and this time it’s all about my impressions of Voltaire Street. I spent my Tuesday morning traversing this avenue, meeting new people and seeing cool things. You know the drill!

Dog Lodge (4844 Voltaire St)

I kicked off my adventure at Dog Lodge, a dog daycare and puppy heaven. Open since January, Dog Lodge offers a variety of services for furry friends, like grooming and overnight boarding. I got the chance to speak to the owner and founder, Donovan, who opened the lodge after getting a dog of his own. He’s been in the animal care industry for seven years, and is truthfully living my dream life as a fellow dog lover.

He said there’s nothing better than spending time with the dogs, and that being in OB is the cherry on top. “It’s such a small community, and it feels like it gets smaller by the day,” he expresses, “I love seeing all of the familiar faces.”

San Diego Veterans For Peace, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7420, and supporters and friends will be hosting a rally and press conference in front of the LaJolla VA Hospital, 3350 LaJolla Village Drive, SD, CA 92161 from 3 to 4 PM on Friday, Sept 5th.

UPDATED: Victim Was Well-Known, Unhoused and a Beloved member of the Voltaire Street Community.>UPDATED: There is a crucial update to this story. The woman who was initially thought to be a pedestrian is now being reported as a passenger in one of the cars involved in the crash.

Here is original story:
During the early hours of Saturday morning, drivers coming out of OB and Point Loma were confronted with the closure of the lane on their side of the bridge over San Diego River. Police had shut down a lot of the roadway. Turns out there had been a two-car accident around midnight – a hit and run actually – around the 100 block of Sea World Drive.

Police conducted their initial investigation and determined that one of the drivers, who was driving a 2013 Honda, had rear-ended another vehicle, pushing it forward and then had taken off. That Honda was later found, but the driver has not been located. And the roadway was cleared two hours later, at around 2 a.m. This according 7SanDiego.

By Chuck Dunning

I’ve been to the meetings and read the articles declaring three parcels in Mission Bay Park as surplus. In the end, it sounds like there’s a real risk of this decision not ending well. The inescapable fact is that the sole intent of the state’s Surplus Land Act is to create land for affordable housing.

I don’t believe Mayor Gloria, Council President LaCava or the rest of the city council or staff ever envisioned Turquoise Tower or Chalcifica as an outcome of the Bonus ADU program. Yet, here they are. Shit happens. The Law of Unintended Consequences.

There is a way to redevelop the Marina Village site and avoid the entire surplus land process. I also attended many meetings and hearings when the De Anza Natural plan was being developed. Frequently there were dedicated and vocal groups decrying the potential loss of affordable camping on Mission Bay. At this point, 30 acres of camping facilities will be converted to wetlands. Coincidentally, the Marina Village site is 23 acres.

Why not convert that acreage to affordable camping? How many campsites for tents, yurts or small trailers could be accommodated with room for a playground and sports courts? There is already a deli and mini-mart adjacent to the property. Inexpensive cafes and fine dining are an easy walk.

SOHO Newsletter /  September 4, 2025

It’s true that historic preservation has, at times, and in different eras, played a role in gentrification. In certain neighborhoods, restoring older homes and buildings made these areas more desirable, which attracted investment, drove up property values, and contributed to the displacement of long-standing residents. That history needs to be acknowledged.

But it’s just one part of the story, and it’s not at all the story today. Today, the preservation movement stands as one of the few consistent barriers against displacement.

What we’re seeing now is a new wave of gentrification, one far more aggressive and less tethered to community values. It’s driven not by the careful restoration of old homes, but by the widespread demolition of existing neighborhoods with their naturally occurring affordable housing and their replacement with massive, market-rate developments. Executed under the banner of “housing solutions,” this new housing is often unaffordable to the very people the builders claim to serve.

by Ernie McCray

There’s a dear friend of mine,
Jacquenese A. Barnes Price,
Jacque for short,
who will soon be an inductee
in the Hall of Fame
at Tucson High,
an honor she comes by honestly
because she was prepared naturally
for such esteem
by a mother
who stands as an iconic
Black social and political activist
in Tucson’s history,
a woman we kids used to call
“Miss Freddie,”