Posted on by Californiacontrarian

30th Street

Last night, Sunday night, we took our son and daughter-in-law out for their birthday dinner. They chose Cafe Calabria, an upscale pizza place on 30th Street in central San Diego. 30th Street is in the North Park section of San Diego, which is a neighborhood that has attracted a lot of young people. However, the multitude of restaurants along 30th attract not only the young, but also the old, and the in between . . . and last night was no different, as Cafe Calabria was pretty full, considering that it was a Sunday night. 

I like 30th Street. I like the ambience. I like the food. However, we do not frequent 30th Street often as we would like, because I do not like the parking situation. 30th is a narrow two lane major thoroughfare through North Park, with parallel-park street parking on both sides of the street. If you are fortunate, you will luck out and find an open space somewhere on 30th within a block or two from your intended destination. Last night we were not one of the fortunate few, and ended up parking three blocks away on a crowded side street.

From my perspective, the City of San Diego should encourage the growth of businesses, especially restaurants, in these local neighborhoods. Sounds like common sense to me! So what is the next logical step for 30th Street in North Park? Obviously, drum roll, please! . . . get rid of the parking on 30th so that protected bike lanes can be put in! Our Mayor and our City Council think that this is a good idea.

Addressing this issue, Mayor Kevin Faulconer recently said, “Reducing our reliance on cars by bringing new mobility choices into our neighborhoods is critical to meeting the city’s Climate Action Plan and Vision Zero goals.”  Oh, now I get it!

As Sophie Wolfram, director of programs for the nonprofit Climate Action Campaign said, . . . we know that we need a connected network of protected lanes to meet our city’s climate goals.” The city’s climate goals include increasing the share of bike commuters in the city’s “transit-priority areas” to 6%by 2020, and to 18% by 2035.

So again, we, the citizens of San Diego, are apparently faced with a “pro-climate change” dictum being forced upon us by those higher-ups who know best, and who are basically saying, “It’s too bad for you residents of North Park . . . suck it up and join the team. If the businesses, especially the restaurants on 30th are forced to relocate because their clientele can no longer park anywhere close, so be it! And just to set the record straight, neither the Mayor nor the City Council actually know much about 30th Street, other than it is between 29th and 31st!”

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