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Victorious Seals
I have no dog (or seal) in this fight, but let us all be clear: the sandy area where the seal rookery is is NOT a natural environment. All of the areas in La Jolla with limestone shore and rough surf are natural to the area. The spot immediately to the south of the wall is referred to as "the washing machine" by divers, and during calm days, divers with metal detectors can find lots of gear lost by divers who get caught in the washing machine. The children's pool is attractive to seals for the same reasons it was attractive to parents: it is the calmest entry point with sand for miles on either side because of the sea wall. The wall was built because, as many locals know, there is no protected (i.e. waveless) body of water that La Jolla children could use before the wall was built in 1931. The wall was actually built right on top of several rocks that used to be called "Seal Rock Point", and the wall blocks the bulk of the wave energy that used to pound this area. The cove used contain more water surface area and much less sand, but since winter storms no longer send waves over the old "Seal Rock Point", sand had filled in much of the cove. Seals are quite smart and great hunters; they have and will continue to thrive in local waters, even if they can't use Casa Cove as a rookery. I am thinking that some of the pro-seal crowd must not realize these are impressively well-adapted marine mammals, not pets, who managed to go 70+ years without using Casa cove as a rookery, and would be fine if Casa Cove was returned to the intended use as a beach for children, as it was for the first 70 years after the wall was built. That said, some anti-seal people seem like giant d-bags who are in this debate primarily to ridicule their opponents, and could care less about the historic use of the beach by the children of La Jolla. Maybe the debate will only end when the sea wall crumbles. Only then will no mammal, biped or pinniped, want to use that area because the sand will shrink and the waves will be too much for most people to handle. The city would be too broke to fix it and could never get a permit from the Coastal Commission in any case.— January 5, 2010 4:10 p.m.
Help Is a Ping Away
Awesome "Simpsons" reference!— January 5, 2010 2:42 p.m.
Soon There Won't Be a Barrio Logan
Sadly, I feel like the gentrification is inevitable because of San Diego's long history of favoring development over the concerns of local residents. My wife and I (both SD raised gringos) love to eat at Quatras Milpas, so I have already seen a few changes to the area over the past few years. It became clear to me that the developers/hipsters/realtors are onto this area when I was invited to an art show at The Guild, on Newton Ave. a few blocks from Chicano Park. Someone (not necessarily the folks from The Guild, who certainly know the name of their location) had printed promotional handbills for the art show. My wife and I were laughing all night because apparently we were, for purpose of this show, in "East Downtown". Not "Barrio Logan" or "East Village" or even "East-East Village", but freakin' "EAST DOWNTOWN"! I realized then and there that the "re-branding" had already started. Why would you ever call Barrio Logan by what struck me as a made up name? When the *real* name might be too "ethnic" for the artsy crowd? Did the person who chose that name really think that the people coming were going to buy into calling Barrio Logan (a name with decades of history) "East Downtown"? What's next, I.B. being marketed as South La Jolla? Am I wrong, is "East Downtown" a real name being used now, and I just never heard it before that night? Usually, subtle changes like referring to the area as "Soco" or "East Downtown" are the harbinger of gentrification. I hope the residents, who have a reason to be proud of their neighborhood, have a voice in the inevitable changes that are coming, and that the City can hear that voice over the chorus of developers' voices that already monopolize the City's attention... Very interesting article, maybe a follow up in a year to let us know how the community is doing with efforts to protect their quality-of-life? -Adam— October 6, 2009 3:22 p.m.