LV Fair and Parade Happening This Saturday
Plus: New Rapid Bus Route Debate, Earth Day is Celebrated in LV, Carnivore Close to Fundraising Goal, San Diego Bakery's New Cafe, and Free Youth Soccer Clinic
The Linda Vista Update—A Community Newsletter
Linda Vista’s favorite event of the year is happening this Saturday, so you better make plans to be there! The 38th Annual Linda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair and Parade will take place on April 29, with the Fair beginning at 10:00 am along Linda Vista Road (in between John Baca Park and the Linda Vista Plaza Shopping Center) and the Parade kicking off at 11:00 am (at the intersection of Levant Street and Linda Vista Road) and working its way down to Comstock Street.
As in previous years, Linda Vista’s diversity will be on full display during both the Parade and the Fair.
The Fair will include a number of vendors offering ethnic foods, arts and crafts, local business, and various informational booths representing local government officials/offices, businesses, and non-profit groups. Entertainers will perform at 2 stages while representing 8 different cultural groups. Amusement rides will be available for children.
A Beer Garden will operate from 12:00 pm to 4:30 pm.
The following officials will participate in the parade: State Assemblymember Chris Ward, Councilmember Raul Campillo, Mesa College President Dr. Ashanti T. Hands, Honorary Consul General of Mexico Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, a representative from Senator Atkins' office, and Dr. Kimberly White Smith - Dean of the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at the University of San Diego.
The House of Ukraine will serve as this year’s Grand Marshal for the Parade.
As mentioned by Fair/Parade Coordinator, Lauren Garces “The University of San Diego is presenting this year's 38th Annual Linda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair and Parade. They have been long time supporters and participants with their students throughout the decades, but this is the first time in history they are proud to officially present the Fair and Parade. Visit their many booths in the Fair and say hello to all of the USD Athletic teams participating in the Parade.”
The Linda Vista Update will have a booth at the Fair. We encourage all of our readers to stop by and say hello. If you have an interesting story about the local area that you think we should share in a future newsletter issue, here is your chance to tell us all about it.
See you at the Fair and Parade this Saturday.
Linda Vista Debates Proposed Bus Route Rapid 41
To paraphrase the founding father of modern psychiatry Dr. Sigmund Freud, sometimes a bus route is just a bus route.
Then again, there can be times when what is usually perceived as a simple issue of a proposed new bus route can indeed take on a far greater significance—and perhaps attain the stature of a contentious issue—especially when seen from the differing perspectives of various community members.
This seems to be the case with the issue of a recent proposal from SANDAG to bring a new “Rapid” bus route through Linda Vista. This new proposed Rapid 41 bus route, part of SANDAG’s new Next Gen Rapid Service, is seen by SANDAG planners as a way for commuters to rapidly travel back and forth between the Fashion Valley Mall transit center, Linda Vista, Clairemont, University City, UTC and UC San Diego. According to SANDAG, this new bus route proposal (which includes three possible options), offers several features, to include: faster bus service; dedicated bus lanes and/or guideways; priority service, traffic signal coordination; all-door boarding and off board payment, accessibility and ADA improvements, pedestrian and bicycle improvements, and enhanced station amenities.
This new proposed route is not meant to take the place of the current bus route 41, which currently avoids Linda Vista by traveling on SR-163 from/to UTC and the Fashion Valley Mall transit center, but will supplement it by offering a faster service.
SANDAG chose Linda Vista to be part of this new bus route because its population was determined to be more likely to ride the bus and take this new route to get to places like the UTC Mall, the UCSD campus, and the Veterans Administration Hospital in La Jolla. This Rapid 41 bus route will have stops in Linda Vista at Ulric Street and Comstock Street, and at Linda Vista Road and Genesee Avenue.
The Next Gen Rapid concept includes bus service that aims at making it easier for commuters to access jobs, education, healthcare, and more without relying on a car. Next Gen projects such as the Rapid 41 bus route, are part of the 2021 Regional Plan’s “Transit Leap strategy”.
SANDAG is currently conducting a planning process that will study three possible Rapid Gen bus routes in the county (one of which is the Rapid 41 bus route). At the conclusion of the study, “all three routes will be ready to move forward into environmental review, preliminary engineering, and ultimately construction when funding has been secured.”
Informational briefing/discussion sessions pertaining to the new proposed bus route 41 were recently held during April meetings of both the Linda Vista Planning Group (LVPG) and the Linda Vista Town Council. The LVPG session was attended by a representative from SANDAG. Though a bus route may appear as a relatively non-controversial subject, these sessions have stirred up quite a bit of interest and debate. Local residents introduced to the subject at these meetings have raised objections/suggestions to the Rapid 41 plan, to include the following:
--LV commuters wishing to travel to the UTC area would be better served by taking a bus to the Fashion Valley Mall transit center and traveling one stop west to catch the Blue Line to UTC
--This new bus route does not provide service for Mesa College or Kearny students.
--The two LV stops are not conveniently located for many LV residents.
--The possible new configurations of bus-only lanes will take away some much needed street parking spaces and will require the removal of trees in the Linda Vista Road median—trees which were recently purchased and planted via the use of tax payer funded Maintenance Assessment District (MAD) funds (see past issue of LV Update here to learn about MAD funds).
--The new bus route (with possible new bus lane configurations) does nothing to reduce the congestion associated with Linda Vista rush hour traffic and may make it worse.
--Not many people use the bus system and so the investment in money and lane configurations is not worth it.
--The route through LV does not give commuters much opportunity to frequent LV business establishments (i.e. restaurants).
--Rejection of the overall “public transit over cars” concept.
The Bayside Community Center has also spent time since November assisting SANDAG representatives with obtaining feedback from Linda Vista residents on this new proposed bus route, to include meeting with LV residents at events like the Love, Linda Vista Farmers Market. The Bayside Community Center, along with similar community service organizations in other San Diego neighborhoods, regularly work with SANDAG to obtain feedback from communities who are likely to use the bus system.
The informational briefing/debate sessions pertaining to Rapid 41 have served as an educational process for many LV residents and helped to clear up a few misconceptions regarding current bus service, especially for those concerned LV residents who do not ride the bus. Bus riders have been able to inform other meeting-goers that contrary to common belief, buses that serve Linda Vista residents are indeed full during rush hour time periods and do not suffer from low ridership, that bicycle space is limited on most buses, which sometimes requires cyclists to wait for the next bus to accommodate their respective bikes, and some non-bus riders fearing air pollution from new bus routes have been happy to learn there are no longer diesel powered buses in service, buses are either compressed natural gas or electric powered.
SANDAG does not have a possible timeline for completion of this new bus route, and must still secure funding for the project. At the current time, SANDAG representatives plan to continue obtaining public feedback to determine which option best suits the communities serviced by the new route.
If you are interested in finding out more about the options and features associated with the proposed Next Gen Rapid 41 bus route, or if you are interested in providing feedback, you can go to the SANDAG web site here, and/or you can attend the Linda Vista Multi-Cultural Fair/Parade and find SANDAG representatives at a booth where they can answer your questions and fill you in on the proposed bus route options.
Bayside and Farmers Market Celebrate Earth Day
Last Thursday April 20, the Bayside Community Center teamed up with the Love, Linda Vista Farmers Market to conduct an early celebration of Earth Day. As part of the celebration, Bayside’s Environmental Learning Center (BELC) gave out twenty Grow Bags to provide local residents the opportunity to experience growing culinary herbs. BELC representatives assisted these residents plant the herb they picked in their grow bag at the booth, and gave them planting, watering and growing tips.
Congratulations to Bayside Community Center for conducting such a fun and informative Earth Day activity.
Bayside and the Love, Linda Vista Farmers Market will team up once again on May 4 to celebrate a combination of three events that should interest everyone in Linda Vista—Cinco de Mayo, the 1-year anniversary of the Farmers Market, and Star Wars’ May the Fourth Be With You.Day. Make sure to mark that date on your calendar. Or as Yoda would say….Sure to mark that date on your calendar, make.
The Love, Linda Vista Farmers Market is open every Thursday from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Linda Vista Plaza Shopping Center.
Carnivore Sidekick Getting Close to Goal
As mentioned in recent issues of this newsletter, a member of the Linda Vista Update’s staff—the Carnivore Sidekick—is participating in the SD Humane Society’s Walk for Animals, being held May 6 at Liberty Station. The Walk serves as a popular fundraiser for the SD Humane Society. By participating, the Carnivore is attempting to raise $500.00 from LV Update readers. We have asked readers to contribute $10.00 each.
We are happy to report that with a week and a half remaining before the Walk for Animals, our Carnivore has reached 87% of his fundraising goal.
We encourage readers to keep on contributing to ensure he makes 100% of his goal. All the money goes to the SD Humane Society.
Readers can contribute by following these instructions:
Click on the SD Humane Society web site address right HERE.
Scroll down till you see the section that says “Search for a participant or team.” Click on “participant.” Then, type Carnivore (first name) and Sidekick (last name) in the “Search for a participant” section, and then hit “return.”
Click on the Carnivore Sidekick’s name when it shows up.
Then click on the “Donate”button on the next page.
Next, enter $10.00 under “other amount,” and then enter all of your required “billing” and “payment” information.
Click on “Process” button.
You will receive notification when your payment has been approved.
We thank our readers for their generosity!
San Diego Bakery Offers Cafe Service
We wrote a while back about a new bakery—San Diego Bakery—that opened up on Linda Vista Road near Ulric St, at the former Tommy Pho location. We wrote about the fact that it was affiliated with the La Princesa taco truck and most recently we also wrote about the mysterious football statue that suddenly appeared there during Super Bowl week. It’s been fun going to this bakery for Mexican baked goods as well as breakfast sandwiches with their delicious bolillos. Previous articles mentioned that it would eventually become a restaurant space with eat-in dining. In driving by the bakery the other day, we saw that they opened the front entrance on Linda Vista Road and that the sign now said San Diego Bakery and Café, so we decided we needed to check it out.
The bakery has now added a coffee bar inside their space. You can see from the menu pictured that they are carrying products such as latte, cappuccino, and other coffee drinks, both hot and ice. There are tables set up so you can now sit and enjoy your pastries and coffee there instead of always getting them to go and eating on the run. It is a fairly large space, and we thought it would be perfect for koffee klatches, or even book club meetings where you can enjoy a beverage and food while discussing current events, or the latest read.
During our visit, Steve ordered a chocolate latte and I had a regular latte. The prices are in the $4.50 to $5.00 range. We also each ordered a Mexican pastry and sat down to enjoy the fact that there is now a real coffee shop in Linda Vista. Donuts and coffee are always good at Yum Yum, but this Bakery and Café feels a little more for grown-ups. You can also order your breakfast here (we reviewed the breakfast items before) and in the afternoon and evening you can enjoy their extensive taco menu, but for early morning, coffee and a Mexican croissant can’t be beat.
Their hours are 5:30 am to 11:30 pm, so no matter how early you get the urge for your coffee and pastry, San Diego Bakery and Café is there for you. Each time we go, we find happy customers keep coming and the staff keep refilling the pastry bins with a made-fresh variety of pastries. The pastries are self-serve…take a tray and tongs, pick out your own, then take them to the register to pay. I think you will enjoy the San Diego Bakery and Café. Check it out, and pat the football statue for good luck.
Closed Mondays.
Free Youth Soccer Clinic
Check out the above flyer for details on a Free Youth Soccer Clinic sponsored by the San Diego Police Department. Please pass this information along to Linda Vista families.
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The Linda Vista Update is a weekly digital newsletter that publishes informative, interesting and fun news about Linda Vista and its neighboring communities.