Linda Vista Construction Project Roundup
Plus: Goodbye to Sab-E-Lee, UCSD Health Screening at Farmers Market, LV Upcoming Events, Revisiting the County e-bike program, Via Las Cumbres Blind Spot, and new Parks After Dark program
There are currently three major construction projects going on at or near the area known as the Heart of Linda Vista. In response to reader demand for information, here is a brief summary of what is to be expected from each of these projects.
First, the Ulric Street Apartment complex, located at 2645 Ulric Street (adjacent to the Linda Vista Neighborhood Park and Recreation Center), is intended to provide low cost affordable housing. This development is being built by Community Housing Works. According to the organization’s website, Community Housing Works “provides and builds life-changing affordable apartment communities with resident-centered services for working families, seniors and people with disabilities to forge stronger futures.”
This development will include close to 100 apartments affordable to households with income of 30 percent to 60 percent of San Diego’s Area Median Income, or approximately $34,650 to $69,300 per year for a family of four.
Projected affordable rents are as follows:
• Studio - $576 - $1,300
• One-Bedrooms - $612 - $1,388
• Two Bedrooms - $723 - $1,657
•Three-Bedrooms - $825 - $1,895
Some apartments will be set aside for veterans who have experienced homelessness. They will receive supportive services from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The development also includes 10 units set aside for transitional-aged foster youth, who will receive assistance from Home Start.
The second development under construction just had its official ground breaking ceremony. The Levant Street Cottages complex are being built on Levant Street (east of the Linda Vista Neighborhood Park and Recreation Center), on the former site of a County Child Welfare Services building.
According to the County News Center, the cottages are going up on a 4.57-acre plot of land and include 127 independent living and affordable senior housing units expected to house 150 people. At least 20% of the units will go toward seniors with 50% or less of the area median income. The rest will go to seniors with 60% or less.
Construction for the Levant Street Cottages is scheduled for completion in early 2024.
Finally, there are 60 additional apartments being constructed at the Pacific Heights apartments complex, located at 2301 Ulric Street. and owned and operated by MC Properties, These new apartments are being built on the site of the old Bank of America building. Back in December of 2020, the Linda Vista Update published an article featuring the then just-opened Pacific Heights apartment complex.
Construction for this addition is expected to be completed sometime between the beginning and middle of next year. Current underground parking spaces constructed as part of the original Pacific Heights apartments will be available for new tenants.
In light of strong demand for housing, the arrival of all these new apartments is seen as a welcome addition to the Linda Vista community.
Goodbye to Sab-E-Lee: Hello Zab Linda
Bob Dylan wasn’t referring to Linda Vista when he sang “For the times they are a’changing,” but we can certainly find some relevancy in his lyrics based on what is currently happening in our community. As we recently found out, a major Linda Vista institution has disappeared from the local landscape. Fortunately, it has been smoothly replaced—and we trust the replacement will live up to the high expectations established by its esteemed predecessor.
In case you haven’t heard, Linda Vista’s favorite restaurant—Sab-E-Lee (located at 6925 Linda Vista Road)—has gone away, replaced by new ownership. The name of the new restaurant is Zab Linda. You can read all about the details of this big change in an informative article featured in Eater San Diego magazine.
As mentioned in the article, the new ownership said it will keep much of Sab-E-Lee’s menu. As Sab-E-Lee’s former owner said in the article, “The new owners are committed to maintaining the quality and unique flavors that our customers have come to enjoy and crave.”
Just this week we ate at the new Zab Linda, allowing us to confirm that the quality of the food does indeed remain the same. The curry was delicious. And they now take credit cards.
Though there is good reason why Linda Vista residents will mourn the passing of Sab-E-Lee, we remind everyone to take comfort in the words of the great philosopher Soren Kierkegaard who said, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Kierkegaard was no Bob Dylan, but we think he was on to something. Hence, let’s all look forward to the eating pleasures that now await us at the new Zab Linda.
UCSD Health Screening at Farmers Market
Have you had your blood pressure checked lately? Looking for the right opportunity?
Last week we told you about Love, Linda Vista Farmers’ Market’s effort to not only provide Linda Vistans with healthy food, but to also help them with their health. To that end, we talked last week about the Measure Study which is looking for people with diagnosed high blood pressure to enter a study which gives 60 days of free food and a stipend of $400. See the entire story here.
I mentioned that the research study booth would be joined at the next market with a UCSD sponsored health screening booth. Well, I had the opportunity to interview the volunteers who staff the health screening booth —Tiffany Dinh and Liam Maniquis. The volunteers will take blood pressures of people who come to the booth. Volunteers who staff the booth are not medical professionals, so they cannot provide any medical diagnosis or treatment, but once you know your blood pressure you will be able to take any action that may be appropriate. Of course, blood pressure over 120/80 may be considered problematic. Although Tiffany and Liam cannot provide medical intervention, they work under a physician who can be called if there is an emergency. An extremely high blood pressure may require a person to seek medical treatment at an urgent care or health clinic.
The volunteers will be able to give you information on ways to lower blood pressure, including exercise, proper diet, smoking cessation and the like and have information on studies you may be able to enroll in to help manage your blood pressure.
Tiffany is a graduate of SDSU and her goal is to attend dental school.
Tiffany mentioned there is a monthly Walk with a Doc on the 1st Sunday of each month at 10am at Balboa Park.
Liam, also an SDSU graduate, is hoping to become a Physician Assistant.
This is a great opportunity to have your BP checked without anyone yelling at you, or having a loud machine at Rite Aid bellowing out your blood pressure. Be smart — and if your blood pressure is high, find out ways to bring it down to normal levels to avoid a stroke.
UCSD is hoping in the future to be able to conduct A1C testing if they can get a phlebotomist on board.
So after you check your blood pressure, go to the Farmers Market farm stands and buy lots of healthy fruits and veggies.
LV Upcoming Events
—Farmers Market: The Love, Linda Vista Farmers Market will be held today (July 14) in the parking lot of the Linda Vista Plaza Shopping Center. The Farmers Market will be open from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Come on out and see what all the vendors have available for purchase. Buy those fresh eggs, fruits and vegetables! Please read the above article about the free health screening offered at the Farmers Market.
—Women’s Soccer: The San Diego Wave FC will play its next home game this Friday July 15 (7:00 pm) at USD’s Torero Stadium. The Waves opponent will be Louisville. Ticket information can be found here.
—Park Social Project (Tree Line): LV residents….here’s your chance to get all artsy and creative and experience outdoor fun with fellow community members. John Baca Park in Linda Vista will be the site of an exciting Park Social Project this Saturday July 16, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. The “Tree Line” event, sponsored by the organization Studio Nectary, will include inclusive activities that connect participants through three different series of line explorations and engagements. They include a free-parts play activity, community weaving reflection activity, and dance activity. Participants are asked to bring a piece of fabric to the event which will be woven and/or quilted together and incorporated into a final installation. Check out the Studio Nectary website for further details. Please check out the below poster as well. We hope to see many of our readers at this unique event.
—SD Loyal Soccer: The SD Loyal play their next home game on July 18 (7:00pm) at USD’s Torero Stadium. The Loyal will play the Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC. Ticket information can be found here.
—Councilmember Office Hours: District 7 Councilmember Raul Campillo will host July Community Office Hours on Thursday July 28 from 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm at Serra Mesa Library. This Community Office Hours event is an opportunity for District 7 residents to meet directly with the Councilmember and ask questions or share concerns. If you would like to schedule time to meet with the Councilmember, please email CherylW@sandiego.gov
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LV Update Reader Participates in County’s E-Bike Program
Back in September 2020, the Linda Vista Update featured an article on the County’s introduction of it’s Pedal Ahead e-Bike Program. As mentioned in County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s web site at the time, the Pedal Ahead E-Bike program is a “a two-year, emission-reducing program designed to serve as an alternative to automobile transportation in the fourth supervisorial district, with a particular focus on Chollas, City Heights, Encanto, Linda Vista, Rolando and Redwood Village. Pedal Ahead’s goal is to provide quality of life improvement for residents by making e-bikes available for daily commuting and recreational activities.” The program involved providing 400 e-bikes to residents willing to meet the program’s requirements.
We recently met up with one of our newsletter readers who read that article and eventually applied for and got accepted for the Pedal Ahead program. We happened to meet her as she was riding her Pedal Ahead e-bike at the Love, Linda Vista Farmers Market. Amy Sara Carroll let us know that she read our article right before moving to Linda Vista, deciding that riding an e-bike seemed like a good way to get to know her new neighborhood. The UCSD literature professor mentioned to us that she rides her e-bike throughout Linda Vista and has sometimes pedaled with the express purpose of exploring some of the sites featured in the LV Update, as well as for completing errands and getting exercise. She also commented that this is her first e-bike, and that fortunately, the e-bike allows her to keep pace on bike rides with her 16 year old son—Ze Carroll-Domínguez—who pedals a conventional bike.
She has been able to keep up with the program’s eligibility requirements, which include pedaling an average of five miles a day over the course of the 2 year participation time span. The mileage is tracked by the County on an app. The longest she has gone on one e-bike trip is 15 miles.
In addition to the e-bike, participants in the program also get a helmet, lights, two kinds of locks, and a safety vest.
Those participants who complete all requirements over the two years will be able to keep the e-bikes. That is no small benefit as an average e-bike can cost 2000 to 3000 dollars.
Based on her experience, she highly recommends getting an e-bike, though she cautions that the e-bikes are heavy, as well as expensive. “For me, the Pedal Ahead program provided a great opportunity to get introduced to an e-bike.”
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The Linda Vista Update wishes to thank Amy for taking the time to answer our questions about her Pedal Ahead experience, and we are happy to hear she first heard about the program in this newsletter.
Via Las Cumbres Blind Spot Plagues Drivers
One Linda Vista neighborhood was recently the subject of a local TV news feature; unfortunately, it wasn’t for something good. The University Canyon neighborhood, located south of the busy Linda Vista Road and Via Las Cumbres intersection, made a CBS 8 news broadcast focused on a traffic problem that has continued to plague the residents traveling through the University Canyon townhouse development on Via Las Cumbres Road. It seems these residents continue to experience a difficult time negotiating the intersection of Via Las Cumbres and Caminito Del Cervato, The intersection involves a blind spot for drivers turning left on Caminito Del Cervato and having to deal with oncoming cars traveling at relatively high rates of speed (probably because of the downhill nature of the road, which naturally encourages drivers to build up speed). This blind spot is currently mitigated by a mirror to better show incoming traffic for Caminito Del Cervato drivers, but as mentioned in the CBS 8 news feature, the mirror surface isn’t always clear.
Residents contend the intersection has been the site of numerous accidents and is asking that some form of improvements be made (i.e. speed bumps or a stop sign); however, the City maintains that according to its assessment of the intersection “the road qualified for traffic calming signs that display the speed of passing cars, but it didn’t meet the criteria for stop signs apparently.”
The Linda Vista Update assigned one its staff members to check out the controversial intersection this past week. What the staff member found was an exceptionally dangerous situation—one in which negotiating a left turn out of Caminito Del Cervato can quickly turn into a surprisingly precarious experience due to the limitations on visibility and the speed of incoming traffic.
We at the Linda Vista Update recommend that local civic organizations like the Linda Vista Planning Group and the Linda Vista Town Council take the lead in helping University Canyon neighborhood residents recommend to the city that more effective traffic claiming methods be employed to remedy this dangerous situation. Since speed bumps are often discouraged due to their potential to obstruct fire trucks and police cars, we believe the more suitable option for this intersection is a stop sign. The inconvenience this may cause for hurried drivers is minor compared to the potential for safety that such an improvement would inevitably bring to the neighborhood.
Parks After Dark in Linda Vista
Linda Vista Neighborhood Park and Recreation Center is one of three city parks designated to be part of the new “Parks After Dark” program. According to the County Communications Office, the County of San Diego is teaming up with the City of San Diego, San Diego Parks Foundation and other local partners to launch a new program that will transform three area parks into safe, family friendly, nighttime entertainment spaces throughout the summer. The Parks After Dark events will feature live entertainment, activities for all ages, games and free meals for kids. The program will be offered from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at the City Heights, Linda Vista, and Skyline Hills Recreation Centers.
The city received a $500,000 grant from the county to begin the program.
San Diego’s Parks After Dark program kicks off this week and runs through Aug. 27. For more information, visit https://comeplaysd.com/programs/.
The Linda Vista Update will provide more detailed information about Linda Vista Parks After Dark events in future issues.
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