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Life in a tourist town

Readers reflect

Scripps beach. The first few waves are delicious. We slide across the water, belly down, whooping in delight.
Scripps beach. The first few waves are delicious. We slide across the water, belly down, whooping in delight.

How Am I a Tourist?

Re: City Lights, April 28: “Convention Centers Lose Bundles of Money

I’d like somebody to look into the legality of this hotel tax. It sounds like George Bush’s trickle-down economics, and we see how well that worked for the county, and the city, and the rest of the world.

I live near El Cajon and I’d say that 90 percent of the money that goes to hotels out here are from the homeless who rent hotel rooms, and people who are on welfare, getting government checks and who need a place to stay. How can that be a tourist tax?

Even if I live in San Diego, and say I go stay in one of our other cities, how am I a tourist? Pretty much you’re just screwing us for staying in a hotel. I’d like to know about that. Keep us informed. Thank you.

  • Jeremy
  • La Mesa

Thanks, Uncle Dave!

I always wondered how you got a story in the Reader. Now I know. A friend of mine plays in this band called Splavender. They are playing at this Bernie Sanders fund-raiser. He told me they got a story written about it (Blurt, “Hunka, Hunka Bernie Love,” April 28) because a different guy in the band has an uncle named Dave who writes for the Reader, and that is how it happened.

What’s even weirder, he uses a different name for the Reader. What is that all about?

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  • Scott
  • Pacific Beach

Beach Towns: No Longer for the Working Poor

Re: “Three Very Different San Diego Beach Towns: Imperial Beach, La Jolla, Oceanside, ” April 28 feature story

When I came back to San Diego in 1996 most all of San Diego was different then, from a $350 studio in 1991 to a $375 one bedroom in North Park. Still quiet then, mostly hardworking poor. Happily, not much changed here: affordable.

I had a part-time job at Box Bros. in La Jolla (also a USD job), which, too, was quiet and simple. But you could see change coming. Old department store giving service with product was shuttered. Peace became frivolous. Parking got difficult, while simple was made complex. Back when we had post offices.

On my days off I’d travel to I.B. to watch the waves or whales pass the pier. Just peace and quiet. My dream: own a small house near the ocean — not next to it, but a couple of blocks away. That dream faded in the late 2000s. Less than $100k became multihundred K.

In my prior life here in S.D., P.B., and North Park, late ’80s, I’d bike up to Mount Soledad, ride over to Blacks Beach for a jog and swim, then back via LJ Boulevard and Shores Drive. My mini triathlon. Biking was safe!

Even with a small income you could afford to live, and not rush everywhere. Now Bird Rock is overwhelmed with national franchise businesses. Encinitas and Solana Beach are getting rushed with overpriced everything.

Storefront rents and leases are rising faster than residential, yet we rarely see a raise increase, and never like the housing cost rises.

My road trips were encouraged by $100 and under U-T ad car purchases and less-than-$1 gas. So, the money I made, I spent! Now I have to save to get a $2500 CL clunker vehicle, that I won’t be able to drive beyond work. No more beach communities, no matter how different, relaxing or not, expensive or cheap.

San Diego and beach towns have become a sad case. Carlsbad closed up affordable mobile home parks. Encinitas pushes back on treating homeless like community members. Imperial Beach sets up for millionaires, while Ocean Beach is made a Disneyland. So is P.B. North Park is gentrified. Sherman Heights is looked at to be raped by the up-and-coming developers and gentrification specialists. Barrio Logan has already been given over, and its brother is next.

Land near and by the sea: Beach towns are no longer for the working poor, regular families, or the hopeful young person dreaming of a home.

Unless you’re looking for an underpaid, low- or no- benefit job: “Next customer please!”

  • Daniel Beeman
  • Clairemont (S.D.)

Put Down the Phone

I’m calling about the short item in News Ticker about online espionage. I find it laughable that people expect privacy in the meta digital age. Most of these morons walking around — or driving, even worse — with their necks creaked and their full attention in their smart phone have sold their souls.

The easily entertained and desperate lost masses have been so easily hoodwinked by tech corporations, and have become completely codependent on these apparently “essential” devices.

Their minicomputers are constantly turned on and transmitting. It’s tracking their location, their internet activity, their interests, and any other information that can be gleaned to sell them more bullshit, prop up their fragile egos, and distract them from the difficult realities of everyday life and the workings of their own minds. I have no sympathy for the outrage of people for being tracked and monitored. Are they really so naïve? People need to get a life and put down the damn phone for a second.

I also want to point out that the recipe on page 32, Champagne risotto with shrimp and prosciutto (“Rock, Cook, and Roll,” April 21), I don’t see where the Champagne is in the recipe. So, maybe you want to correct that. And if there’s no Champagne in the recipe, maybe you want to take it out of the title.

Anyway, so sorry for all you people who are outraged and surprised that you’re being tracked on your smartphone. I mean, what do you think they were made for?

  • Kathleen
  • North Park

I tried making the recipe myself and used a cup of dry champagne, and got excellent results. John Stubbs uses slightly less. — Dave Rice, author

Mistreat Us No More

Re: “Trump Is a Farce, Bernie Is a Farce, Hillary Is a Farce,” March 24 cover story

We, the people, are fed up with the lies and deceit of the greedy politicians who think more of themselves than the people they represent. They are a group of self-righteous individuals who capitalize on every opportunity to benefit themselves.

Our voice is being heard loud and clear. Politicians, you will mistreat us no more. We will elect a person who is not a politician and cannot be bought. One who is on a mission to take this country back and restore the greatness that it once had. We will elect one Donald J. Trump. And so it shall be.

  • George Devine
  • Kokomo, Indiana

Look to La Jolla’s Bumper Stickers

Where are all the rich Republicans? All I see in the Under the Radar section are a bunch of rich millionaire Democrats. I work in La Jolla doing tree-trimming, and all I see are Bernie and Obama stickers. The real money is in the Democratic party, not Republican.

  • John
  • via voicemail

Shedding Light on the Reviews

I’m calling regarding the size of type in the movie listings. I need a magnifying glass to read the reviews. They are so tiny! Or I need bright sunlight, which isn’t always available. I hope you can do something about it.

  • Mary Lou Newsom
  • El Cajon
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Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Scripps beach. The first few waves are delicious. We slide across the water, belly down, whooping in delight.
Scripps beach. The first few waves are delicious. We slide across the water, belly down, whooping in delight.

How Am I a Tourist?

Re: City Lights, April 28: “Convention Centers Lose Bundles of Money

I’d like somebody to look into the legality of this hotel tax. It sounds like George Bush’s trickle-down economics, and we see how well that worked for the county, and the city, and the rest of the world.

I live near El Cajon and I’d say that 90 percent of the money that goes to hotels out here are from the homeless who rent hotel rooms, and people who are on welfare, getting government checks and who need a place to stay. How can that be a tourist tax?

Even if I live in San Diego, and say I go stay in one of our other cities, how am I a tourist? Pretty much you’re just screwing us for staying in a hotel. I’d like to know about that. Keep us informed. Thank you.

  • Jeremy
  • La Mesa

Thanks, Uncle Dave!

I always wondered how you got a story in the Reader. Now I know. A friend of mine plays in this band called Splavender. They are playing at this Bernie Sanders fund-raiser. He told me they got a story written about it (Blurt, “Hunka, Hunka Bernie Love,” April 28) because a different guy in the band has an uncle named Dave who writes for the Reader, and that is how it happened.

What’s even weirder, he uses a different name for the Reader. What is that all about?

Sponsored
Sponsored
  • Scott
  • Pacific Beach

Beach Towns: No Longer for the Working Poor

Re: “Three Very Different San Diego Beach Towns: Imperial Beach, La Jolla, Oceanside, ” April 28 feature story

When I came back to San Diego in 1996 most all of San Diego was different then, from a $350 studio in 1991 to a $375 one bedroom in North Park. Still quiet then, mostly hardworking poor. Happily, not much changed here: affordable.

I had a part-time job at Box Bros. in La Jolla (also a USD job), which, too, was quiet and simple. But you could see change coming. Old department store giving service with product was shuttered. Peace became frivolous. Parking got difficult, while simple was made complex. Back when we had post offices.

On my days off I’d travel to I.B. to watch the waves or whales pass the pier. Just peace and quiet. My dream: own a small house near the ocean — not next to it, but a couple of blocks away. That dream faded in the late 2000s. Less than $100k became multihundred K.

In my prior life here in S.D., P.B., and North Park, late ’80s, I’d bike up to Mount Soledad, ride over to Blacks Beach for a jog and swim, then back via LJ Boulevard and Shores Drive. My mini triathlon. Biking was safe!

Even with a small income you could afford to live, and not rush everywhere. Now Bird Rock is overwhelmed with national franchise businesses. Encinitas and Solana Beach are getting rushed with overpriced everything.

Storefront rents and leases are rising faster than residential, yet we rarely see a raise increase, and never like the housing cost rises.

My road trips were encouraged by $100 and under U-T ad car purchases and less-than-$1 gas. So, the money I made, I spent! Now I have to save to get a $2500 CL clunker vehicle, that I won’t be able to drive beyond work. No more beach communities, no matter how different, relaxing or not, expensive or cheap.

San Diego and beach towns have become a sad case. Carlsbad closed up affordable mobile home parks. Encinitas pushes back on treating homeless like community members. Imperial Beach sets up for millionaires, while Ocean Beach is made a Disneyland. So is P.B. North Park is gentrified. Sherman Heights is looked at to be raped by the up-and-coming developers and gentrification specialists. Barrio Logan has already been given over, and its brother is next.

Land near and by the sea: Beach towns are no longer for the working poor, regular families, or the hopeful young person dreaming of a home.

Unless you’re looking for an underpaid, low- or no- benefit job: “Next customer please!”

  • Daniel Beeman
  • Clairemont (S.D.)

Put Down the Phone

I’m calling about the short item in News Ticker about online espionage. I find it laughable that people expect privacy in the meta digital age. Most of these morons walking around — or driving, even worse — with their necks creaked and their full attention in their smart phone have sold their souls.

The easily entertained and desperate lost masses have been so easily hoodwinked by tech corporations, and have become completely codependent on these apparently “essential” devices.

Their minicomputers are constantly turned on and transmitting. It’s tracking their location, their internet activity, their interests, and any other information that can be gleaned to sell them more bullshit, prop up their fragile egos, and distract them from the difficult realities of everyday life and the workings of their own minds. I have no sympathy for the outrage of people for being tracked and monitored. Are they really so naïve? People need to get a life and put down the damn phone for a second.

I also want to point out that the recipe on page 32, Champagne risotto with shrimp and prosciutto (“Rock, Cook, and Roll,” April 21), I don’t see where the Champagne is in the recipe. So, maybe you want to correct that. And if there’s no Champagne in the recipe, maybe you want to take it out of the title.

Anyway, so sorry for all you people who are outraged and surprised that you’re being tracked on your smartphone. I mean, what do you think they were made for?

  • Kathleen
  • North Park

I tried making the recipe myself and used a cup of dry champagne, and got excellent results. John Stubbs uses slightly less. — Dave Rice, author

Mistreat Us No More

Re: “Trump Is a Farce, Bernie Is a Farce, Hillary Is a Farce,” March 24 cover story

We, the people, are fed up with the lies and deceit of the greedy politicians who think more of themselves than the people they represent. They are a group of self-righteous individuals who capitalize on every opportunity to benefit themselves.

Our voice is being heard loud and clear. Politicians, you will mistreat us no more. We will elect a person who is not a politician and cannot be bought. One who is on a mission to take this country back and restore the greatness that it once had. We will elect one Donald J. Trump. And so it shall be.

  • George Devine
  • Kokomo, Indiana

Look to La Jolla’s Bumper Stickers

Where are all the rich Republicans? All I see in the Under the Radar section are a bunch of rich millionaire Democrats. I work in La Jolla doing tree-trimming, and all I see are Bernie and Obama stickers. The real money is in the Democratic party, not Republican.

  • John
  • via voicemail

Shedding Light on the Reviews

I’m calling regarding the size of type in the movie listings. I need a magnifying glass to read the reviews. They are so tiny! Or I need bright sunlight, which isn’t always available. I hope you can do something about it.

  • Mary Lou Newsom
  • El Cajon
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