Let LV Residents Eat Cake

Plus: Lunar New Year Celebration at Farmers Market, Signs in Linda Vista, District 7 Town Hall Summary, LVCPG election announcement, Valentine's Day community event, and Commentary on Climate Change

Pastry display case at San Diego Bakery

We previously reviewed The San Diego Bakery, located near the corner of Ulric Street and Linda Vista Road, when it was first opened and again as it gained popularity and expanded.  We recently felt it was time to do it again.

In December there was a grand opening ceremony for the Linda Vista Community Garden at the Linda Vista Community Park and Recreation Center on Levant Street.  It was attended by various dignitaries and covered nicely in this newsletter.  It turned out the star of the show was the celebration cake which featured four little gardens with strawberries and other produce. Everyone said it was both beautiful and delicious.  When asked where the cake came from, the surprising answer was the San Diego Bakery.  As we go there quite often for the Mexican pastries and the great coffee bar, we have seen the cakes in the display case, but had not tried them.  One of our friends told us she often buys cake slices there for the various groups she belongs to and declared it some of the best cake around.  Accordingly we thought it was time to review it, so we grabbed our friend and decided we would have cake for lunch.

The cakes are displayed beautifully as you can see from the picture.  They have other desserts in the display such as flans, puddings, cheesecake, and more, but that day it was the layer cakes we were interested in.

They sell whole cakes, of course, and you can get any kind of cake you want, decorated how you want, with a three-day notice.  The day we were there they had red velvet, chocolate, tiramisu, pumpkin, and tres leches.  We decided on a slice each of Tiramisu, pumpkin, and tres leches.

Slice of Tres Leches Cake

The slices are $6.oo each and are very large.  Each slice had about five or six layers – some cream, some sponge, and some whipped cream and icing.  We decided to eat in the very spacious inside area and discuss the cake as we ate.  We didn’t get drinks but there are all kinds of coffee and teas to your liking.

Steve tried the Tiramisu.  Like the Italian dessert, tiramisu, the cake had all the same ingredients and flavors.  It was dusted with cocoa powder and had the taste of expresso coffee and though not exactly sure, he thinks marscapone and whipped cream.  He said it was so delicious but he could only eat half.  He liked it because although decadent he didn’t think it was overly sweet.

The Pumpkin cake was my choice.  It was delicious and moist with the flavor of pumpkin and spices permeating through the cake.  Layers of cream and topped with a cookie. I think the icing was cream cheese. It was moist and yummy. I could only eat half. Steve and I decided to try each other’s cake at home later.

Our friend chose Tres Leches which she says is her favorite.  All locals know Tres Leches.  Made with three kinds of milk, condensed, evaporated, and whole milk or cream.  The sponge soaked in the milk was not at all dense, but very light and great for milk lovers.  Layers of cream and icing so smooth it was like velvet. She said she gets it all the time and loves it.  She also could only eat half. 

San Diego Bakery cake made for LV Community Garden ceremony

We asked if they would have the Mardi Gras cake and were told that anything anyone wants, they will make, but they need some notice.  The whole cakes are in the $30.00 range.  So whether for a birthday, graduation, baby shower, or whatever, this is the place you should go — a local Linda Vista bakery right in our midst with the most delicious and beautiful cakes you will ever see.  Tell them you read about the San Diego Bakery in the Linda Vista Update and go eat cake. We are sorry we didn’t get to try the chocolate and red velvet, but there is always a next time.

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Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign

If you are a Baby Boomer, you’ll probably recall the 1970 hit song “Signs” by the Five Man Electrical Band. The popular refrain went like this:

Sign, sign/Everywhere a sign

Blockin’ out the scenery. Breakin’ my mind

Do this, don’t do that. Can’t you read the sign?

The song’s lyrics and theme symbolized the turbulent times of that era.

We recently surveyed a number of signs in Linda Vista to get a “snapshot” of what is going on in the community. Here are three signs we thought well represented the current state of Linda Vista.

First, we noticed the new sign for the newly opened V Tower apartment building in downtown Linda Vista. Imagine that…using the words “tower” and “Linda Vista” in the same sentence. Before you think a five story building is too tall for Linda Vista, or that up to 3500 dollars a month rent for a 2 bedroom apartment is too high, keep in mind the Manhattan residential skyscraper—432 Park Avenue—that overlooks Central Park is 85 stories high and median units sell for tens of millions of dollars. I think downtown Linda Vista deserves one tall building.

New and old sign

Our second photo shows proof that the City of San Diego cares about Linda Vista. We recently caught City workers taking down old street signs and putting up shiny new blue street signs at the Linda Vista Road/Comstock Street intersection. It’s good to know people at City Hall are thinking of us.

Finally, the above monument sign, located on the Ulric Street entrance to Linda Vista was mentioned by an LV resident at Tuesday night’s District 7 Town Hall meeting. The resident referred to the damaged condition of the monument sign (note the broken left portion) and the fact the damage has been long ignored. He commented that a damaged sign at such a busy entrance to Linda Vista does not do much for our community’s image. Fellow residents pointed out the sign is the responsibility of the University of San Diego. We appreciate that USD installed the monument sign, and we hope the University’s on-going 75th anniversary celebration includes fixing the sign in the near future.

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District 7 Town Hall Provides Update for LV Residents

Councilmember Raul Campillo delivers update at Town Hall

LV residents paid a visit to the Linda Vista Library this past Tuesday night to participate in a Town Hall meeting hosted by District 7 City Councilmember Raul Campillo. The Town Hall included a presentation by Campillo that provided an update of his office’s goals, accomplishments and involvement in City decision-making during the past 3 years, and subsequently a question/answer session that allowed residents the opportunity to ask questions about City services and policies.

During the first part of the Town Hall meeting, Councilmember Campillo provided a comprehensive update that addressed the following issues:

• Assisting the district in recovering from COVID

• Storm recovery

• Camping in cars and how police have addressed the issue and the City’s societal duty to enforce the law

• The state of street maintenance in San Diego and specifically in Linda Vista

• Issues with the “Get It Done” app

• Keeping the City safe

• The progress made in passing City Child Care legislation

• Progress made in the City hiring of new employees

• Improvement in City employee pay

• Making 911 response times faster

• Improving Smart Streetlight transparency

• Addressing hate speech flyers in the east part of the district

• Passage of the Unsafe Camping ordinance

• Scrutinizing the developer’s actions related to the Midway Project

Residents in attendance peppered the Councilmember with questions dealing with such issues as affordable housing, accessory dwelling unit construction policies and related developer solicitation, rent control, homelessness, and Friars Road construction/traffic conditions.

Campillo emphasized that his staff is available to assist residents, and to call or email his office with questions or requests for help in solving problems.

In summarizing his office’s approach, Campillo emphasized that he wants to make San Diego “affordable, safer, cleaner, and fun,” and was further interested in learning what residents want to make of San Diego. He closed by describing Linda Vista and its history as “a paradigm for the American Dream.”

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Linda Vista Community Planning Group Election

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Valentine’s Day Community Event Coming

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Commentary

Climate Change Impacts Our Vocabulary

Erosion on Mission Valley slope after recent “atmospheric river” deluge

The times they are a ‘changing here in Linda Vista, and in San Diego in general.  There used to be a time not so long ago when the only things we had to worry about were wildfires, earthquakes, drought, and the occasional Mission Valley flooding. Those were the familiar types of natural disasters that annually plagued us.  Alas, life was so simple back then.  Now, because of climate change, we have to worry about new dangerous hazards.  And as I am discovering, these new dangerous hazards require us to learn an entirely different vocabulary. Lately, I find myself starting to use formerly unfamiliar weather-related terms like “tropical cyclones”, “bomb cyclones”, “subtropical moisture”, “urban flooding”, “meteorological anomaly”, and the most significant one of all, “atmospheric river.”

While we used to know what to expect when it came to San Diego weather, we are now forced to confront a reality in which weather extremes become prevalent, and such terms as “tropical cyclones” (like the one—Hurricane Hillary—that was forecast to hit us this past August but eventually fizzled out) might become a San Diego weather routine.

This will require a change in mindsets.  The last thing we want to do is ignore the change.  That will only lead to constant disappointment along with an irresponsible sense of unpreparedness. We must make up our minds that change is here.  Unfortunately, many people find change a difficult thing to accept.  The concept of change needs to be introduced in subtle or creative way ways for these people.

One way we can do this is to smoothly embrace change via popular pop culture outlets. Take music, for example, There are plenty of songs about rivers. In fact, the song “Moon River” won the Grammy award in 1962.  And I’ve aways liked the Joe Cocker version of the popular standard “Cry Me a River.”  What we need is for a local San Diego artist to write a song that incorporates the term “atmospheric river” into the title. Then everyone can start learning to accept that climate change is a fact of life.  Perhaps we can get Taylor Swift to record the song after the Super Bowl. 

Speaking about football, we can take this a step further on a sports level when/if the NFL returns to San Diego. The “Tropical Cyclones” would make a good team nickname.  That’s not a far-fetched idea.  The Iowa State University “Cyclones” already use a similar nickname.  “Tropical Cyclone” sounds much more exotic. Too bad…in years past we could have referred to the Chargers as the San Diego “Atmospheric Phillip Rivers.”

Finally, since we are the craft beer capital of the world, “Tropical Moisture” IPA sounds like a natural brand for a local brew.

Come to think of it, the term “Bomb Cyclone” could serve as a good name for either a football team or a craft beer with extra alcohol content.  

Of course, if we are to develop a proper mindset for accepting the kind of change that climate change induces, then we will also have to get used to such important terms as “storm infrastructure,” “enhanced drainage systems,” and “flood mitigation strategies.” In other words, we can’t change our mindset about climate change until we start planning for more effective preparedness, response, and recovery.  I know in my own townhouse development, the issue of drains and swales to help control rainfall and prevent water intrusion has been long ignored by the homeowners association because downpours happened so rarely. But the recent storm shook many of our residents out of their complacency after ancient, clogged-up drains and large streams of water running off nearby slopes caused damage to several townhouses.  As we know, the same thing has happened on a much larger scale in certain sections of San Diego. Many neighborhoods saw homes destroyed by water and mud. The City was caught flat-footed as a consequence of long-time deferment of plans for “stormwater system infrastructure” improvements. As pointed out in a recent SD Union Tribune article, the city now faces the reality of an “outdated and underfunded” storm water system that leaves many communities vulnerable to flooding. Making necessary improvements will cost over 2 billion dollars. The possibility that more “atmospheric rivers” lie ahead demands the City start addressing these “stormwater infrastructure” issues, however expensive they may be.

As we wait for the City (and my homeowners association) to take action, I suggest we start working on our new weather-related vocabulary words. For starters, let’s do some vocabulary exercises that involve using our new vocabulary words in a sentence.   Repeat after me…”The “atmospheric river” caused my back yard to flood, and now my homeowners association needs to build me a better “drainage system” and devise effective “flood mitigation strategies” so I can once again sit in my backyard and drink a bottle of “Tropical Moisture IPA.”

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