Monday,
August 8 
< This is why the HBA is trying to assemble
a maintenance assessment district (MAD)
for the Heart of Hillcrest. A public meeting for
property owners will be held from 1-2:15 on Wednesday afternoon,
August 17 at the Joyce Beers Community Center in the Uptown District.
Please get involved for the good of the community!
For more information call Warren Simon,
HBA executive director at (619) 299-3330.
Sunday,
August 7 
...and the beat goes on.
Fifth & Hawthorne restaurant will be re-named when it
moves to North Park at the beginning of the year as part of
the newly renovated North Park Theater. Word has it that
the old site will be torn down for another high-rise hotel.
of Hiroshima. One hundred and forty thousand people were killed, more than 95% of them women and children
and other noncombatants. At least half of the victims died of radiation poisoning over the next few months.
Three days after Hiroshima was obliterated, the city of Nagasaki suffered a similar fate.
Saturday,
August 6
Parking ideas for downtown, but not Hillcrest New green-topped meters around downtown have had their time limits extended and their costs reduced. The meters offer four- to nine-hour parking limits for 50 cents to $1.25 per hour.
Again, I ask where are our voices? Where was the Hillcrest Business Association or the Uptown Parking District in a fight to make Hillcrest a test area? Why are the newer communities getting a shot at this idea for parking when Hillcrest, known for its shops/restaurants/etc, has been suffering without adequate parking much less a parking structure? How can North Park get a parking structure before Hillcrest? They don’t even have meters!! I buy parking meter cards in Hillcrest to raise funds for parking improvements. Where are they? Whoever wrote about the blue bike racks in a previous letter...I agree! Can’t our money be put to better use? By the way, I have also never seen those ridiculous blue gizmos being used! The money for the bike racks won’t add up to a parking structure, but for all the thought that went into them... perhaps we can solve automobile parking issues a little faster and smarter. If we can solve parking problems (our #1 problem for decades), maybe we can save our local mom n’ pop businesses and help them thrive! Is anybody listening????
Resident of Hillcrest since 1993
Friday,
August 5 
Another review...I have read comments the past couple of days about the “looks” of the neighborhood. Wanting to see for myself I decided to take a walk around Hillcrest last night. I had noticed a few weeks ago that several letters of our beloved sign were dark and assumed that it would be repaired by now. Unfortunately it’s not. Only the H-I-L-L-C were lit.
There are grass and weeds growing out of the sidewalk curbs in several places on both sides of the Fifth Avenue and even along University under the glow of the sign. Trash and litter abound. Some of the concrete trash cans were flowing over. And the sidewalks were filthy. Old gum looks like it must have been there for years. Stains? Absolutely. Around trash cans, bus stops and along the side of buildings. It’s disgusting. Shouldn’t we get spruced up a little for the 22nd anniversary of CityFest? and another....
While it saddens me to see others sharing my view of our Hillcrest, I was happy to see someone finally speaking up. After all this time, I thought it was just me. But it’s not. I have done so much for this community and been willing to support our local businesses, promote Hillcrest and to keep my community clean. What else can be done to stop the steady decline of this wonderful community? We can’t afford to let it slip back in time and let businesses languish and close.
Thursday,
August 4 We have lived in the area for about 12 years. I totally agree with the business owner’s letter you posted. The streets are filthy with gum and dirt, grass is growing along the edge of University Avenue right by our beloved Hillcrest sign. The check cashing place on Fifth Avenue by the new puke green realtors office is covered in dreadful signs and the windows covered with crap. Rich’s wall of rust ads nothing to the charming shops/cafes beyond it. University Avenue is just shabby. In the past few years many of our friends from out of town have noticed the downturn of Hillcrest.
San Francisco’s Castro and West Hollywood streets are lined with cheerful businesses many with awnings shading the sidewalk, Santa Monica Boulevard is now lined with beautiful trees, most the bars/clubs and cafes open to the sidewalks. I’m not a business owner, but I am one of the people that work, live, walk and shop the neighborhood. I loved the uptown/urban feel of Hillcrest when we moved here. Why is this happening?
Sincerely, John Williamson
Wednesday,
August 3What is happening with our beloved Hillcrest? Where is the shimmer and glean? Where have some of our restaurants and retailers gone? As an 18 year resident of Hillcrest, I am asking myself these questions and dozens more. We have seen so many changes in Hillcrest over the years including a fantastic renaissance over a decade ago. And we have tolerated some civic challenges such as a continuous lack of parking, increased parking fees, transients, traffic and potholes — but what community has not? Hillcrest has been a beacon of pedestrian activity and hometown “community” for a long while. San Diego residents countywide have enjoyed coming to Hillcrest for a night out without having to put up with the Gaslamp craziness. We have opened our doors, opened our community and opened our arms to everyone. We have supported every marathon, 5K, parade and CityFest. We have been the most embracing community of all in the San Diego area.
We need attention of a different kind now. We need our City Council representative to start shining a light back onto Hillcrest. We need to revisit this area and give it spit-shine. We need organizations like the Hillcrest Business Improvement District to spend as much money on day-to-day care of Hillcrest and promotion as it does on CityFest and Taste of Uptown. Where do my business taxes go every year? As a non-storefront business, I pay into a fund for the BID but never get any benefit. Our public trash cans overfill, we have dirty urine-laden bus stops, we suffer from uninspired promotions, and we are losing retailers including Carl’s Jr. How can we lose a Carl’s Jr.? We now have real estate companies gracing our best corner locations.
Hillcrest, the model for gentrification, has been taken for granted. It is precious gem that has been covered with bus and car soot and nearly forsaken. Where is the fresh energy, ideas and excitement? Let’s think “out of the box” and find ways to restore its luster before North Park and other communities lure away the pedestrians that made Hillcrest unique. We don’t need unused blue bicycle racks. We need nice street chairs (like Little Italy) where people can have a seat and people-watch, sip coffee and enjoy the community. We need the trash cans emptied more regularly so that people will not opt to toss their trash in the street. We need fresh ideas for promotions...and create reasons for people to come back to Hillcrest. CityFest is great...but even its music line-up is pretty predictable.
As for our Councilmember, she has had a particularly difficult year to be sure. However, we the residents of District 3 need her to take a stand for all of our communities: North Park, City Heights, South Park, Hillcrest, University Heights, Talmadge and Kensington. We can’t be focused on one or two areas and allow others to be kicked to the curb. Money is tight or scarce, we know that...but creativity is free. The spirit of a community is priceless, but even it can be devalued if ignored.
And as for development, how about all of us making sure that we don’t lose our community character? We are leaving the Uptown Planners unchecked as they give a pass to the developers eyeing our precious community. We could soon lose the La Moderne. We are getting condo towers all over, and we find out about them too late. Where are the community meetings? The Uptown Planners are designated by the City, but there is no outreach done. We have to care. We have to make sure that these development projects are done well and with community concerns addressed. We can’t tolerate or shouldn’t tolerate the eyesore at Sixth/Upas (aka: the pit). For over one year that project (14 stores/14 units on .25 acre) has sat like a landfill. We have to expect in-fill and density but we should also expect quality. We should follow the lead of the new Egyptian and also push for solar panels/renewable energy to be used on our new high-rises. We should expect the best because we are Hillcrest. We have been a gem in this City and we should not settle for being anything less.
This is our community. We should expect the same from those who represent us, all of them, to represent us. We, the people — we, the residents — live, work and play here. So, everyone, please take out a rag and help us dust off Hillcrest before it is too late! GET INVOLVED.
Tuesday,
August 2
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Monday,
August 1
Thanks to everyone for making
Pride weekend another success!
