HealthyCal.org

By Megan Burks

The Mid-City region of San Diego can feel a bit frenetic—a hurried avenue carries motorists, transit and pedestrians past a bevy of international restaurants and markets, most covered in bright paint, wrought iron and advertisements in multiple languages. But local artist Dominique Guillochon finds calm in this part of town with his camera lens. By framing just light and colors, he hushes the streets and finds beauty in the unassuming details. His work, including a minimalist series that feels contrary to the diverse area that inspired it, can be viewed on Flickr here.

Mid-City Artist Profile: Dominique Guillochon from Megan Burks on Vimeo.

Here is a transcript of Guillochon’s words from the video:

My name is Dominique Guillochon and I’ve been a full-time artist for four years, mostly by walking around my neighborhood and taking pictures of the light, the colors, the shapes. I was living in France for 23 years; because I like the English language, I always dreamed of either moving to England or to the United States. So I went to visit my friend in New York, crossed country by train to San Francisco and I didn’t want to leave at that point.

By showing the community a certain angle or color that some of the people would not have the opportunity to see—you know, who knows, they may not walk that two blocks that you’re walking—bringing them something new that may inspire them to do something for the community, who knows, maybe just paint their house a different color. If you find a way to make it more appealing to yourself and hoping to make it more appealing for the community, I’m all for it.

In a departure from traditional philanthropic awards, the Gary and Mary West Foundation awarded $50,000 to a youth-run Web design company in City Heights for jobs—not job development alone. The grant allows DiverseCity Tech—a group of young entrepreneurs performing an e-vitalization of mom-and-pop shops in the immigrant neighborhood—to hire three paid interns who will quickly navigate the ranks to become new media professionals before they’re old enough to order a drink. The program is a project of the San Diego Futures Foundation and aims to revitalize area businesses through websites and social media, meanwhile providing a similar path to self-sufficiency for its young employees. See this video report on the project by Robert Knauf and Megan Burks.

Generation Tech from robertknauf on Vimeo.

By Megan Burks

Residents and activists hoping to reduce the number of stores selling alcohol in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood are worried that the latest U.S. Census numbers could make their job harder by bolstering the population figures used to justify the addition of new liquor outlets.

The U.S. Census Bureau offered “a brighter tomorrow for everyone” this year in a push to reach every American resident. An accurate count carried the promise of federal dollars for infrastructure and services where it was needed most.

The state awards new liquor licenses based on the number of people and alcohol outlets that already exist in that Census tract. Though the Tower Bar and Big City Liquor sit just a narrow residential street apart from one another, they are in two different Census tracts and, thus, bear little influence on decisions regarding how much alcohol is too much alcohol in the area. Advocates say the state model ignores community health and are calling for solutions at the local level.

While the push to be counted was welcomed by social workers in City Heights—where the high immigrant and refugee population makes social services important, but data collection tricky—some now worry the neighborhood’s ballooning Census tracts could have unintended consequences.

With the approval of new liquor licenses resting largely on the number of people living near proposed vendors, some said they fear the brightest tomorrow will be reserved for those selling spirits in an already oversaturated market. There are 20 outlets that sell alcohol per square mile in City Heights, versus seven per square mile citywide, according to new data from Health Equity by Design, a partnership between Walk San Diego and the county.

“Awarding licenses based on Census numbers, as they are under state law, can be an Achilles’ heel,” said James Mosher, an attorney who specializes in alcohol policy.

“With the way things work now, a license will be issued even if you can crawl from one liquor store to another,” said Dawn Kamali, an alcohol and drug prevention specialist with SAY San Diego.

Location of violent assaults in City Heights. Click on image to see full-size map.

And it could be issued even if the immediate community suffers from high violent crime rates, frequent vandalism and disproportionate levels of obesity, said Kamali and her colleague, Paul Krupski. The pair said such density of liquor licenses is a cocktail in need of distilling—it’s the result of state regulation that ignores community context, local regulations with too many exceptions and too much political influence from the alcohol industry, they said.

SAY San Diego represented the community in a 2002 license protest that illustrates the issue. Residents near 97 Supermarket fought to keep the specialty grocery store from obtaining a liquor license, but lost.

Alcohol Game is a Numbers Game

By way of its Census numbers—which included underage residents—the blighted 4600 block of University Avenue where 97 Supermarket sat could absorb another alcohol retailer. The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control issued the license legally, despite the Asian market’s proximity to a liquor store just 200 feet away.

Further down the littered block was a peeling Egyptian Revival façade containing Big City Liquor and, across the street from it, the Tower Bar and an adult theatre. Neither the bar nor the theatre factored into the decision; both were in a different Census tract, though just a crosswalk away. According to Kamali, high crime and poverty rates in the area also didn’t hold any weight despite being considered outcomes of high liquor availability among advocates.

According to Health Equity by Design, there were about twice as many violent crimes per 1,000 residents in City Heights than those per 1,000 people citywide last year. Of the more than 300 assaults and homicides that have occurred in the neighborhood this year, about 70 percent of them occurred in Census tracts where there were three or more liquor outlets. The San Diego Police Department did not comment on whether these crimes were alcohol-related; many of these incidents also happened along thoroughfares with quick access to transit and freeways.

This map shows where liquor stores are located in City Heights. A comparison to the map above shows that both assaults and liquor stores are clustered together north City Heights, a phenomenon that community health advocates say isn't a coincidence.

Mosher said a high density of liquor licenses can propel a “vicious circle” that accelerates the downturn of a community economically, as well as socially. He said it creates blight and nuisances that keep other business from entering the neighborhood and banks from lending to new businesses. The phenomenon also keeps property values low, further limiting wealth in the community, he said.

“Allowing these kinds of places to be present reproduces social inequities,” said Jung Choi, a professor of sociology at San Diego State University. “It’s a double edge sword because it can encourage residents to partake in unhealthy behavior and allows outsiders to place blame on the people in the community instead of the environment they live in.”

Mosher said it is Sacramento that binds ABC to the numbers instead of to the people who live down the street from liquor stores.

“It’s not that those at ABC aren’t dedicated public servants who want to do the right thing,” Mosher said. “They’re working with the laws created by the legislature.”

Care for the neighbors of license holders is reserved for the local government. While cities can’t outright ban an establishment from selling alcohol, they can limit when and how they sell it with a conditional use permit.

Aged Liquor Stores and Others Exempt

The 97 Supermarket did have restrictions placed on its license via such a permit. It was limited to selling beer and wine so long as it wasn’t sold after 9:00 p.m. or as a single serving—“nothing the homeboys or the homeless could take to the park,” Kamali said. But legal exceptions to the rule mean many license-holders operate with little responsibility to their neighbors.

Bars and restaurants, stores larger than 15,000 square feet and those that existed before the CUP was enacted in 1995 are exempt from anything beyond standard state regulation. Many liquor stores in the neighborhood are housed in buildings that show their age, not just with grime and disrepair, but with the dramatic architecture of eras passed. Such age is why Big City Liquor can operate just a narrow residential street away from the Tower Bar. It doesn’t matter if the store changes ownership; the license is tethered to its location.

“Once a liquor store moves into the community, it’s going to take an act of God for it to go away,” Kamali said.

Under the Influence of Alcohol’s Lobby

Such force isn’t needed to reverse history alone—business owners and the alcohol lobby will always have more money and “slicker” lawyers than the residents who challenge them, according to Kamali.

“More than likely, when Dawn and I walk in [to protest a new license or have one revoked] their lawyer is going to mop the floor with us,” Krupski said.

In addition to legal representation, money from the alcohol industry goes to the decision-makers themselves. In San Diego, the Neighborhood Market Association, which represents independently owned markets and lobbies on their behalf, made campaign contributions to Mayor Jerry Sanders and Councilman Kevin Faulconer. Locally, contributions from member markets, other license holders and brands like Bacardi, USA totaled less than 10 percent of campaign funds for both politicians and failed to stop a city ban on alcohol at beaches, but advocates point to the state legislature as proof of lobbyists’ reach.

The NMA opposed state legislation that would have increased taxes on alcohol, extended the review period for new licenses and limited tobacco licenses near schools. Last month, the governor approved a bill that allows alcoholic beverage tasting in retail settings.

“I don’t want to throw a blanket over them all, but being anti-business as an elected official can be very unpopular,” Krupski said. “That’s often what they are cast as during the process if they side with the community.”

The Solution is Social

Mark Arabo, NMA’s president and a license holder, said the markets that sell liquor are, in fact, members of the community.

“Markets do not attract nor create violence,” Arabo said. “They work very well with the police department in order to fight against any crime that arises in their area. They are positive contributors to the community and provide goods and services which are essential to the surrounding area. They provide employment and generate revenue for the cities nearby.”

“We can’t just boo and hiss liquor stores,” said Michelle Zive, a registered dietician who works in the community. “This is just another point where we have to work together instead of making villains out of the business owners.”

Zive’s sentiment reflects an autonomy echoed by many who spoke with HealthyCal.org. Janette Neely, a City Heights resident, recommended installing a deemed approved ordinance, which is a city law that requires that all liquor retail outlets operate to minimum standards and resolve nuisances on premises. According to Neely, a DAO would give residents the opportunity to open a dialogue with community businesses and the police.

“It would create a circle of people who are good neighbors,” Neely said. “We have to own our neighborhood—rather than call the police, we should call the owner.”

Kamali and Krupski, too, said a community dialogue is the answer. They said they’d like to see longer and more effective notification of new license applications and more community outreach regarding how residents can work within the system to maintain or improve their quality of life.

“A lot of times we’re portrayed as prohibitionists,” Krupski said. “But it’s really about public safety, health and responsibility.”

By Megan Burks

For nearly seven decades, the Pearson Ford car lot at Fairmount and El Cajon Boulevards in central San Diego was a piece of San Diegans’ collective conscious. Its familiar jingle echoed unchanged on radios throughout the county until the cars cleared out in 2008.

At Pearson Ford they stand alone/At Fairmount and El Cajon.

Now, with the empty land awaiting redevelopment, the site evokes tension more than it does regional nostalgia. That’s because it sits at the crossroads of three communities that each represent a distinct socioeconomic stratum in San Diego and, thus, harbor different hopes for what might fill it in. Wealthier residents in Kensington and Talmadge want a departure from the social services that have dominated redevelopment in the area since 1994, while those in City Heights fear such a departure might fuel gentrification and an exodus of low-income residents.

“What it really comes down to is the difference in class, income and privilege among these communities,” said Diana Ross, the director of Mid-City CAN, an advocacy group in City Heights. “Who gets to make the decision and what will that decision symbolize?”

The decision rests largely with Price Charities, a nonprofit that has invested capital and energy into programs and infrastructure for low-income residents in City Heights for more than a decade. It purchased the land in 2008 and began surveying the community about its use this year.

“The goal for this project is to create a space all three communities will be drawn to,” said Derryl Acosta, a spokesman for Price.

But disparities across the three neighborhoods make finding a compromise tricky. In an initial survey circulated by Kensington and Talmadge residents, consensus seemed to focus on what wasn’t wanted: subsidized low-income housing and services for the poor.

An anonymous survey respondent warned against installing low-cost retail stores, check-cashing services and low-income housing, saying they attract “undesirables.” Instead, he and almost 30 percent of his neighbors said they’d prefer a food market with gourmet stock.

“I know most of my suggestions sound blunt and snobbish, but Talmadge was originally a super nice area of San Diego,” he said. “The future of the Pearson Ford site puts our area on the precipice of either returning to being upscale and desirable or continuing down the shame spiral to become more dumpy and unremarkable.”

Indeed, El Cajon Boulevard fell into disrepair after Interstate-8 drew cars away from businesses on the once well-traveled thoroughfare in the 60s. But Talmadge and Kensington remain desirable for their picturesque, tree-lined streets, which feel isolated from the gritty boulevard.

According to 2000 Census data, those who live in Kensington and Talmadge have a median income of nearly $40,000 and live in homes valued, on average, around $300,000. Homes in Kensington hover closer to $1 million. Just across the 4-lane boulevard, families in City Heights have a median income of less than $24,000 and a median home value of about $96,000.

“Unfortunately, they didn’t consider that the site is in a lower-income neighborhood, nor that it’s owned by a charity that serves the residents of such neighborhoods,” said Talmadge resident Paul Jamason of the survey respondents. “Suggesting that an upscale market go there seemed a bit out of touch.”

While City Heights hasn’t given formal input regarding the project, research by community nonprofits suggests that those in the immigrant and refugee neighborhood would continue to benefit from services and amenities with a clear focus on community health.

Mid-city youth want skate park on site of old car lot:

Half-pipe Dreams from robertknauf on Vimeo.

Several community advocates suggested incorporating recreation space into the project to help combat the disproportionate levels of obesity and heart disease that plague the community. There are just 1.03 acres of open space per 1,000 residents in City Heights, compared to nearly three acres per 1,000 people citywide, according to Health Equity by Design, a partnership between Walk San Diego and San Diego Health and Human Service that mapped health disparities in the area.

Kathleen Ferrier, HED’s project manager, said such ailments could also be attributed to financial stress. She said she’d like to see businesses that offer well-paying jobs fill in the lot. According to Ferrier, for each City Heights household, there is less than a half a job available in the area.

“I think they should bring something like a Walmart in here, something that will add jobs to the community,” said Dawnette Rawls, a City Heights resident. “I’m more into people working and taking care of their families.”

Most in City Heights who spoke with HealthyCal.org agreed that such businesses should share space with low- or mixed-income residences to maintain affordability in the neighborhood. According to HED, nearly a quarter of the population in City Heights spends 50 percent or more of their monthly income on rent. Nearly 40 percent fall below the national poverty level, according to the 2000 Census.

“A lot of times the inner city is a very trapped place of poverty and its really hard to lift up out of poverty in these types of areas,” said Jacqueline Jordan, a community health advocate visiting from Oakland, Calif. “Bringing in things that are more ritzy, more expensive, ends up making the community look better, but it drives people out of the community and forces them to live in a poorer area.”

Beryl Forman of the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement District said providing mixed-income housing is key for achieving progress without out-pricing current residents. She said other portions of the boulevard that have experienced an upswing were able to maintain stable property values and relatively cheap rent.

“I don’t refer to it as gentrification, which refers to displacement,” Forman said. “Revitalization is a needed thing in areas where people left the urban environment, left storefronts and left the area to further deteriorate. It doesn’t have to necessarily be a bad thing.”

Ross and others are watching anxiously to see whether that trend continues along this stretch of the boulevard. Candid survey responses out of Kensington and Talmadge worried many with talk of expensive chains and market-rate condos.

The survey’s organizers said, however, that the visions expressed weren’t necessarily about status and raising property values. Ron Anderson said upscale market chains were suggested because of their neighborhood feel, and that residents would settle for a more reasonably priced store. Maggie McCann said opposition to affordable housing was based on the current mid-city community plan drafted in 1998, which aims to limit further concentration of affordable housing in the area. In 2008, the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development counted 24 affordable developments in mid-city comprised of nearly 1,000 units.

“You have this urban apartheid cramming everyone in the middle and leaving them there,” McCann said. “It doesn’t put people where jobs are, where amenities are.”

The goal is informed by the city’s balanced communities policy, which calls for an even distribution of affordable housing by focusing efforts in areas where low-income residents make up less than 60 percent of the population. Exceptions can be made based on community support, elimination of blight and location within a redevelopment area—all of which apply to City Heights.

Both McCann and Anderson said they recognize that Price has a distinct vision and responsibility to City Heights, which encompasses affordability—the survey acted as more of a wish list. Foreman said she suspects that residents north of the site were simply working with the brands and concepts they know.

“People choose from things that they already know—a Whole Foods,” said Forman. “We have to throw larger ideas at people so they can do something bigger.”

Forman suggested an international market that extends the Little Saigon district west or a permanent farmers market with the same draw as Seattle’s fish market. Jamason and others suggested a community square like San Francisco’s Portsmouth Square. McCann and Anderson said they’d like to see a “gateway” that brands the mid-city region and acts as a gathering place for the three neighborhoods. Some City Heights youth, with the support of a teacher, even circulated a petition for a skate park.

Those striving for such innovation will have to contend with a request for proposal already drafted and submitted by Price to three design firms—one local and two in Orange County. The RFP calls for a traditional mixed-use development that incorporates housing, retail and community space per the land’s zoning. The lot can accommodate residential, light industrial and commercial use, which accounts for recreation. Active recreation like skating, however, typically falls under an open space zone, though some San Diego skate parks have been built in residential and industrial zones.

Price has received three proposals, all of which featured market-rate housing, retail and community gathering space. Matthew Hervey of Price said the RFP and subsequent proposals are just a starting point to stimulate ideas. He said that no decisions have been made and that all suggestions will be heard. There is currently no timeline for the project.

“This will either make us or break us,” said Anderson, referring to the impact the site might have on his small division of Talmadge. The blank pavement might just as well determine whether Kensington, Talmadge and City Heights will stand together at Fairmount and El Cajon.

This map shows the three communities of Talmadge, Kensington and City Heights. Click on the communities for photos of each place:

View Pearson Ford Lot in a larger map