This intersection in San Diego is deep in an urban neighborhood and next to a school. The picture shows the crosswalk on the right was elevated to sidewalk level. Compare it to the other crosswalk in the shot. The former is a traffic calming measure intended not only to act as a huge speed bump, but also signify to drivers that the sidewalk used by the school children is continuous, even as it crosses the street. Slow down. I wonder why, though, the other 3 crosswalks are not done the same way? #sandiego

Trash can traffic jam in the bike lane on 25th Street, San Diego. Nice. (Sarcasm intended).

The mayoral election season is nigh in San Diego. In an effort to gain some momentum the incumbent mayor Todd Gloria is finally making it known through the media he is going to clean up our streets, including by enforcing homeless encampment bans. Furthermore Mayor Gloria is creating/diverting a small team of police to assist in this effort; an effort that is supposed to also clean up C Street (pictured below). C Street is notorious for its encampments of chronically homeless strung out on fentanyl. BTW, the ugly building featured in the C Street image is where the City Council meets. Please take note how awful the windowless façade is. Future architects take note. Mayor Gloria has to do something, his competitor (Larry Turner) is gaining ground in the race to the mayor’s office. #sandiego #mayor #toddgloria #larryturner

San Diego has a new downtown district located along the waterfront called the Research and Development District (RaDD). It was previously ~13 acres of mostly Navy-owned parking lots before, and is now filled with a mid and low-rise series of unremarkable buildings. RaDD construction was started years ago pre-pandemic and is now 99.9% completed. But they never did -as of yet- lure in a big tech or biotech company. Thousands upon thousands of research workspace sits empty. #RaDD #sandiego #ResearchandDevelopmentDistrict

I’ve been getting around Guadalajara, Mexico on my current vacation in a lot of ways including the light rail system (tren ligero). People here definitely use it, too. It’s wonderful to see. Overall I like the transit system, but I wish the system was more comprehensive and had a heavy rail metro to more efficiently move large groups of riders around. Guadalajara is the Mexican Republic’s second largest city and has a regional population of several million. Yet the transit system is probably adequate for a much smaller city. In some ways Guadalajara’s transit system is like my hometown’s - San Diego, California. Although few people use it in comparison, it is simply too small to service the 3.1 million inhabitants of San Diego County. Alas, the transit overlords in San Diego continue to balk at any meaningful expansion of its system, especially rail. Until I’m proved wrong, looks like freeway expansion/ widening is the only game in town. #guadalajara #mexico #transito # transit #sandiego #california #SANDAG #SDMTS

Just indefinitely muted a guy who posted a police officer being caught on fire. Did the same for a person I was following for reposting the attack. Bummer because I had, up til then, enjoyed that person’s posts. I’m all down for people’s freedom to post whatever on Nostr. But yeah, I’m not interested in violence on police vids.

San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) is the regional transportation planning agency based out of San Diego. The Union-Tribune newspaper reported yesterday that SANDAG is doing a 180 degree turn on serious planning for building a people mover from San Diego International Airport to the trolley (light rail system). This comes on the heels of the ousting of a pro-transit head of SANDAG. The new head honcho - Mario Orso - is very, very, very likely the guy who killed the long-promised project. It f**king kills me. San Diego is perhaps the 7th or 8th largest city in the good ol’ USA and our local governmental agencies continue to deprive the population of such a long needed rail-to-airport connection. SANDAG says it has to analyze some new data and should have something to say about the issue sometime in late 2025. Typical SANDAG. Historically it has been pro freeway, anti transit expansion. #SANDAG #transit #marioorso #sandiego

The gap in Madrid is, apparently, substantial. Mind it.

Out-of-Control Homelessness in San Diego, California The following is an opinion piece by Damon Zwicker which was published in the San Diego Union-Tribune on 5 August 2024. Zwicker was horrified by the apocalyptic conditions in downtown San Diego near where the famous Comic Con event was being held. He doesn't pull any punches. His words might anger you, or not. Either way, as a San Diegan who daily navigates the streets of downtown San Diego, I believe it is important to re-post Damon's piece: "Profound disappointment and outrage are the only words I can think of to describe the deplorable conditions in the Gaslamp Quarter, particularly around Fourth Avenue and E Street. As a visitor to San Diego as an employee of an event company tasked with installing experiential marketing events for Comic-Con San Diego, I was shocked, astonished and horrified by what I witnessed during my recent visit. The streets are plagued by individuals evidently intoxicated, littered with glass pipes and needles. Sidewalks are covered in feces and urine, trash is strewn everywhere, and orange-vested city workers are reduced to pressure washing the streets and mopping the sidewalks in a futile attempt to maintain some semblance of cleanliness. Adding to the horror, zombie-like people wander the streets in a drug-filled haze or stand doubled over at the waist, “nodding” for extended periods, completely oblivious to their surroundings. Is this the image of a world-class city? These dangerous and unsanitary conditions are a disgrace, posing serious risks to both residents and tourists. The lack of effective, systemic problem-solving to address these issues is a glaring failure of leadership and governance. The city’s reputation is tarnished by the evident inability to manage and mitigate the rampant drug use and associated squalor that has taken over what should be a vibrant and welcoming area. To any and all visitors, I strongly advise staying away from the San Diego Gaslamp District for your own safety. Mayor Todd Gloria and the people of San Diego should be ashamed of allowing such conditions to persist. It is clear that there is severe neglect in addressing the root causes of these problems and implementing sustainable solutions. The sight of people with substance use disorders openly using drugs and the pervasive filth on the streets speaks volumes about the city’s priorities and the effectiveness of its public health and safety strategies. These issues are not only a blight on the city’s image but also a significant public health crisis that demands immediate and robust intervention. Police officers in patrol cars and on foot were either unable or unwilling to intervene in the open drug use happening along Fourth Avenue and continuing down E Street. The complete lack of response from law enforcement not only endangers the lives of those directly affected by the drug trade but also puts law-abiding citizens at significant risk. This neglect erodes the community’s trust in the Police Department’s ability to maintain public safety. It’s disheartening to think that those who are tasked with ensuring the safety and well-being of the area’s residents and visitors have become so desensitized to these conditions that they no longer recognize them as abnormal or urgent. Adding to my dismay, when I asked a security guard doorman, “What’s up with all the open drug use and filth on the streets?” he responded with a resigned, “Welcome to San Diego! This is how it is now.” This response underscores a disturbing acceptance of these dire conditions, reflecting a community and city leadership that have either become desensitized to the decay and danger surrounding them or simply do not care. The fact that such conditions are met with resignation rather than urgency speaks volumes about the systemic neglect and apathy that has allowed this situation to deteriorate to its current state. I will actively discourage anyone I know from visiting this city until there is a significant and tangible improvement in these conditions. San Diego deserves better. Its residents and visitors deserve to walk through the streets without fear or disgust. It’s time for the city’s leadership to take real, meaningful action to restore the Gaslamp Quarter to a place of pride, not a source of shame. This means investing in comprehensive drug rehabilitation programs, increasing the presence and effectiveness of law enforcement, and ensuring that public spaces are kept clean and safe for everyone. Only through dedicated and sustained efforts can San Diego hope to reclaim its reputation and ensure a better quality of life for all its inhabitants and visitors."

This building was formerly part of the drive-in movie theater in National City, California. The grounds are still used for a swap meet, but overall a pretty decrepit place. My Spidey senses were tingling. #nationalcity #california

Tis the season for monsoonal San Diego. And with it comes the mugginess. And with that comes a little voice in the back of my head telling me not to go for a run 🥵

San Diego’s public transport wing MTS have been cutting back hard on bus service. Pictured is an example of the new 20 minute wait times for one bus that goes through the heart of the metropolitan area. Twenty f**king minutes?!!! MTS desperately wants to onboard new ridership, but have undermined their effort with service cutbacks. No one with a car is going to wait that long. People of lesser means will suffer extra. They have no choice. #sandiego #sdmts #mts #publictransit #toddgloria

Good news for rational San Diegans: the City Council approved high-density zoning changes for some neighborhoods yesterday. Bad news for our local NIMBYS (and there are plenty): cities are always in motion. To think your neighborhood must NEVER change, and must ALWAYS remain exclusionary to most, is unrealistic dreaming.

San Diego city council approved Blueprint SD yesterday. It is an affirmation of the city’s commitment to density and vision of a transit-based future. But there is no money or political will to improve San Diego’s transit system. There are no express trains getting people to work centers from the suburbs, no metro efficiently letting people quickly navigate the city, and no high-speed train services to Los Angeles (it’s actually faster to drive). Don’t get me wrong. I desperately wish we had all that. I support what the city council is trying to do, too. But our current transit system is too slow and inconvenient. #sandiego

San Diego’s mayor really pushing for the city to finance what would be the largest homeless shelter in the USA to the tune of ~$30M a year. There are thousands of chronic homeless people in downtown San Diego. The shelter could definitely provide just the help so many need. But… …$30M annually? Even a city report pooh-poohed the idea, much to the mayor’s chagrin.