North Park Stories
Wowee. It feels like Back East, Back When. Like, before “calories” became a dirty word. I’m standing outside Lefty’s, the Chicago pizza outpost where Windy City refugees come in droves, desperate to escape anorexic-thin New …
"You don’t know us, but we know you,” the text message read. “You are one of the selected few.” The message, from a Mr. Smith, gave the location of a South Park wine bar where …
Just after 9:30PM last night (December 13), a fire broke out in the floor of a three-story condominium complex in the 3700 block of Alabama Street. Firefighters and paramedics were on the scene within minutes …
For years, North Park neighbors of the Bluefoot Lounge have complained about excessive noise coming from the bar and noise and litter from patrons walking through the neighborhood to their cars late at night. Tensions …
In October, San Diego's City Planning and Community Investment Department introduced electronic polling stations at public workshops for the community-plan updates in North Park, Uptown, and Golden Hill. The polling stations are used to collect …
On Tuesday, November 16, owners of Bluefoot Bar & Lounge in North Park, Cuong Nguyen and Adam Cook, and dozens of supporters appeared before the North Park Planning Committee looking to amend their Neighborhood Use …
A building at 2200 University Avenue is undergoing a total renovation after its purchase by longtime North Park veterinarian Robert Nagell. Located across from Albertsons, the structure was originally a Jack LaLanne gym, “so was …
"Let me show you something,” said Jeff Matthias proudly from the Christmas-light-draped front yard of his home on 28th Street in North Park on November 9. “You're just going to freak out." Matthias, a serious …
The cactus and Joshua tree’d villa at 30th and Quince in North Park lent the perfect aesthetic for a Halloween Dia de los Muertos party. Roommates Hannah and Emily, both half Mexican, had decorated the …
The six-year-old Indie Music Fest will be moving from North Park to the NTC Promenade at Liberty Station for the next event, March 12 and 13, 2011. While the first day will be music-based, the …
According to some official-looking maps on some official- looking websites, I live in Hillcrest. This is a problem for me. I drove 3000 miles to live in North Park. And when I found a small …
I’m done celebrating my birthday with others. Next year, the finger to everybody. I’m taking my aged self to the day spa to get a mani-pedi, a massage, and plenty of Jacuzzi time. Ahh, pure …
When I arrived at Nick’s house by Grim and Upas in North Park around 10:30 p.m., all that remained of the day’s barbecue were a few slices of watermelon, a block of cheese, some burger …
Around the middle of the meal at West Coast Tavern, I realized that I’m really getting into the gastropub craze. They’re multiplying in nearly every neighborhood, offering an easy way to eat out with friends …
“I think Thursday is the best night in San Diego, honestly,” says blogger Rosemary Bystrak, who books music at the West Coast Tavern in North Park. “There’s always the most things going on then.” She …
Howard sits on a mauve recliner in the middle of his front yard, an area that he refers to as his office. He looks over a waist-high chain-link fence, on which hangs a handwritten sign …
Decision time: Eddie’s Philadelphia Steaks or Lefty’s Chicago Pizza? I’m near Upas, quarter of nine at night. Got half an hour before the next #2 bus. Oh, what the heck. I’m on Lefty’s side of …
“This is HIP-HOP. I don’t know what they told you, but this is called HIP-HOP!” DJ Artistic has me in a gentle headlock as he shouts this into my ear. He’s not being aggressive; he …
Sometime after 4 a.m. on August 15, neighbors were awakened by loud voices outside a house on Upas Street that had hosted a party the night before. One man repeatedly told a second man to …
I moved to San Diego eleven days ago. More specifically, I moved to this area they call North Park. I learned quickly to identify my neighborhood when asked what part of SD I live in. …
It's all gone — my life as I knew it is over, following a May 21 fire at the apartment I lived at on Louisiana Street. A policeman was knocking down my door. I could …
Arnold Schwarzenegger sweated here. Stern’s Gym, North Park, “California’s oldest bodybuilding gym.” So did half a dozen Mr. Universe winners. So should I, except that right now I’m searching out the North Park Post Office. …
Reporting from the front lines, here. Before me, across Juniper: Them. North Parkians. If you didn't know they were The Other, you'd be fooled into thinking they're just like you.
The mile-long stretch beginning at the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and Florida Avenue, beneath the blue and red neon "Boulevard" sign, and heading east to 37th Street is a hotspot for prostitution. The boulevard, …
The small sign on the restaurant’s front door, displaying the charming logo of a clever-looking billy enjoying a pipe, is hard to spot when you’re driving by. You have to know where to look: the …
The North Park Community Plan Update Advisory Committee (CPUAC) held a meeting at Garfield Elementary School auditorium on May 19. The meeting became quite animated when staff tried to explain the City's concept of “park …
This restaurant is closed. SOHO, which opened on Saint Patrick’s Day, instantly offered one of the most interesting, eccentric menus in San Diego, combining tastes from the South, the deeper South (Mexico and South America), …
Eight to ten squad cars from the San Diego Police Department raced down Alabama Street in the minutes after 11 am on April 26. The police were responding to an incident at a residence on …
On Monday, April 26, San Diego's City Planning and Community Investment Department is sponsoring a "Community Plan Update Open Mic Meeting" in the Santa Fe Room of the Balboa Park Club from 6 to 9 …
The San Diego chapter of the Coffee Party drew close to 100 people to a discussion with Democratic congressman Bob Filner on April 11 at Queen Bee's Art and Cultural Center in North Park. Attendees …
Thirty residents of North Park sat in foldout chairs on the hardwood basketball court inside North Park's recreation center on March 24 to hear the details of the University Avenue Mobility Plan. Jeff Szymanski from …
If you were in North Park in 2002, you might have gone to the University Avenue Mobility Plan meeting to find out how the city planners, their consultants, and some community members thought University Avenue …
Driving through North Park near the intersection of 32nd Street and Redwood, a neighborhood resident slows his sedan down. "This is where the parking problems start. This is all parking for St. Augustine High School," …
"We're not baking cookies, and we're not brewing coffee here, either, we're reaching out and we're mobilizing," says North Park resident Don Leichtling as he sits inside the living room of his lavender Craftsman house …
Bar Pink is located in the heart of North Park at 30th and University, elbow to elbow with trendy boutiques and eateries and one block west of the Ray Street art studio-galleries. Opened in 2007 …
After last week's panel discussion on Hillcrest pot shops, San Diego's medical marijuana task force took its recommendations to North Park. In his five-minute presentation, task force vice chair Steven Whitburn's song remained the same …
I've never seen so many side-mirrors on cars get broken off by passing cars... If you live or drive on 32nd Street (especially between Redwood and Thorn), this may not be news to you. Now, …
“This place is run by a ‘Supreme Master’?” says my buddy Lee. He’s driving us to a vegan eatery with an innocent name, “Loving Hut.” “Yeah,” I say. “But we’re cool. It’s the food. Good …
I have been unemployed for over a year now. I left, of my own volition, a company where (1) I didn't really have to work, yet still got paid, and (2) where I was told …
"I was not illegally parked. I urge you to explore not my unjust treatment, but the Mafia-like collusion of tow companies and the City of San Diego; $15,000 for a few hours of work smells …
Seven months of countywide conflicts, calamities, and curiosities, part 2.
Someone on the Reader website clued me in to a Las Vegas–themed party going down in North Park. I’m glad they did. The small backyard was packed with Vegas-style games and a detached room that …
The Ditty Bops’ song “Walk or Ride” starts off sounding as if it’s going to be an environmentalist-lesbian-cycling anthem. That would make sense: Ditty Bops leaders Abby DeWald and Amanda Barrett are, after all, a …
The U.S. Postal Service has revised the list of post offices it hopes to close, sparing three San Diego locations. However, the USPS branches in North Park and Golden Hill remain on the chopping block. …
A couple of weeks ago, I learned about the way that Plymouth Congregational Church in North Park has reinvented itself to fit with the changing character of the neighborhood. One way is by hosting other …
Late Thursday night on September 24 at approximately 11 p.m., two pedestrians — a man and a woman — were walking on Pershing Drive near Upas Street in North Park when two men armed with …
Xavier Nuez photographs alleys. His candy-colored images of urban decay have been exhibited internationally, including here at the San Diego Art Institute, and featured on NPR. Ruin is his gig. “History,” Nuez says. “Rust, bent …
Wayne Riggs served as a Navy chaplain from 1957 to 1988. Two years later, he put his collar back on and took over at Plymouth Church. The sleek collection of buildings fronting University Avenue was …
A 28-year-old male died by suicide early Wednesday morning, September 2, after hanging himself. At 1:10 a.m., San Diego Police responded to a residence on Florida Street between University and Lincoln avenues after a woman …
A stabbing incident occurred on the corner of Texas Street and University Avenue in North Park early Tuesday morning, August 18. According to San Diego police radio traffic, at around 1:35 a.m., two men were …
About a month ago, I was driving my schoolbus route when I saw what I thought was a dead kitten on Cosmo Street. As I got closer, I realized it was an adult cat...chopped in …
About a month ago, I drove to El Cajon for an annual horseshoe tournament in memory of Jack and Duke, two deceased friends of the organizers. When Chris called to tell me about it, he …