Downtown Ghost Town

The holidays are always good in San Pedro. Since it is a small town in a big city, and most people stay here for the holidays you can catch a more relaxed town vibe. The only problem is that you have to go out of town to do most of your holiday shopping. The Del Amo mall was a zoo this year. Tons of people, no parking. I did try to do some of my shopping in town, but half the store fronts were closed. And of the store fronts that were open a good number were thrift shops, lower than Target retail shops (almost garage sale or bazaar type stores), or high end art shops. There were no medium level stores. I do think the San Pedro Chamber of commerce a(http://www.sanpedrochamber.com/) needs to do more to make downtown San Pedro more vibrant. Below are Just a Guys suggestions:

- Bring in a big retailer to downtown to form the hub. A Kohls for example. Not all downtowns need a big retail store, but all downtowns need a reason to go downtown. Restraunts are great, but you need money to go out to eat with your families, and you can't expect a town of 80,000 to do that every day.
- Zone 6th and 7th streets with a better mix of retail stores. There are too many low end stores to make it worth the trip to go shopping downtown. I would suggest that the San Pedro Chamber members buy and play Sim City to get a better appreciation of how to set up a good retail mix. As it stands today, the shops don't feed off each other, they all stand alone.
- Move the adult center out of down town. I do like the fact that there is housing above the shops, but do I really need a senior center downtown? It adds no foot traffic and actually is dirty enough to disuage traffic.
- Provide core business hours for down town. You would expect that the holidays would be brisk with shopping traffic, but all the shop owners work independently. It would be good to know that all shops would be open from 10:00 - 4:00 every day.
- Remember that cruise line traffic will not save down town. It has not done so to date, and it will not in the future. Pedro is for San Pedrans. You can't expect tourist to go down town when the residents that live here won't go downtown. Tourists don't like shopping in a ghost town any more than the locals. Also, the cruise lines are and will be a long walk from down town. Waiting for trains or the red car to feed people to downtown will be a long wait. Besides, when someone spends a lot of money to go on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera what reason do they have to buy souveniers from San Pedro when they want to buy Catalina or Mexican momentos.
- Remember that the Port is about the Port. They will do what they want in their best interest. Expecting them to help revitalize downtown would be nice, but they are not obligated to do so. As such, San Pedrans need to fend for themselves.
- Re-fashion the new housing downtown to better serve the community. I would market the lofts as college housing (to help our kids living in town), or change the loft structure to better match what families expect from a home. Building the lofts makes sense from a business perspective (higher unit count), but the expectation that San Pedro would pull in a bunch of single people like Redondo Beach was unrealistic.
- Add a little more parking to better support the Warner Grand. I know the Warner Grand has problems staying afloat, but lack of safe, close parking hinders the amount of attendance the venue could have.
- Clean up the vacant lots downtown to make them usable or to make them small parks. Nothing says urban plight more than an unkept vacant lot.
- Work to more fully populate the downtown store fronts. There are still quite a few empty store fronts. The San Pedro Chamber should get the owners together to develop a retail/rental approach to help motivate businesses to relocate or to start in downtown. Stores feed off each other. Having more stores will raise all boats.

These are just some thoughts from a Guy from San Pedro. The free parking downtown during the holidays has been good. Now, if we only had a reason to go downtown.

Happy Holidays

Just a Guy from Pedro

Port vs Pedro

It should be no surprise that the Port of Los Angeles rejected the plan for a new shipyard. I am sure that the cost benefit analysis for the use of the land did not pan out. I am sure that the Port believes they can make more money using the land for more containers. The problem is that no one knows how to put a price on the value of jobs to the community, or the value of job diversity to the community, or the value of brining back a once dead industry to the community.

The port has once again put the Port above the community. Having a means to diversify the San Pedro job base would have been good for the community. Having a means to diversify the job base could mean higher skilled labor in the community. Having a diversified job base would help keep the community going in tough times like when the container business slows down.

Where are the community representatives on the Harbor Commission? Where is the local representation? It does not exists enough. And it does not exist to the extent necessary to ensure a good balance between the Port and the community it resides in and is surrounded by. The Port is a business, but a business that was created by the community it resides in. That link has been lost.

I hope the Los Angeles and San Pedro communities speak up. The future of our town requires a diverse job base that can handle slow downs in any one industry. The future of our town requires the creation of new higher skill jobs. San Pedro families need jobs that require more from our children than non-high school level educations. We can't expect our children to finish school when the jobs in the community do not require it.

Please San Pedro speak up.

Just a guy from Pedro

Home for the Holidays

San Pedro is not like many other cities in Los Angeles. For many Pedrans our families are in town. There are no planes to catch. No cars to pack. Just call up your Mom and Dad and cruise on across town or down the street. Pretty sweet.

San Pedro is not like many other cities in Los Angeles. For many Pedrans their is no place like home. Most Pedrans don't travel to the mountains or anywhere else. Why go elsewhere when you can go to Royal Palms and watch the sun set, or cruise Cabrillo Beach, or go to lunch with friends while having a cold one. Pretty sweet.

Just a reminder. Pedro has a holiday parade and singing at the fountains by the cruise line. So get out there and enjoy the Holidays.

Happy Holidays.
Just a Guy from Pedro

Small Town in a Big City

Just the other day I met a nice midwestern mom who has been in San Pedro for over 20 years. When asked how she ended up in Pedro she says a friend told her about it. Her friend told her about how San Pedro is a small town in a big city. San Pedro is a place like many small towns across America where everyone knows your name, your dad's name, mom's name, the name of the soccer team you played on, etc. Some people like to leave town, make their own names for themselves. But at the end of the day, no matter where you go there you are. You can be in NY, but you will always be you, and you will always have a bit of Pedro in you.

We have a pretty funky town, lots of different interests, but we do have motivated people that care, we have a good small town vibe. Enjoy your day.

Just a guy from Pedro.

Ponte Vista Back in the News

The September 24th Daily Breeze (http://www.dailybreeze.com/) announced a revised plan for Ponte Vista. The new development plan proposes 1,135 units. A lot less than the 2,300 units originally proposed. And to make us feel better Janice Hahn has apparently a "favorable" reaction to the plan. One would think that we may actually be close to agree on the plan for Ponte Vista. But...

Using the same density as Gardens this area would have 800 to 900 units. San Pedro is about 44% single family homes. And on Western the closest developments are the densest. The Raquet Club development and the new units in the back have already increased density in the area. We need balance in San Pedro. We need a good mix of Single Family homes and multi-family residences.

San Pedro is a hardworking family town where people live for generations. A dense development already near dense developments does not help create an environment where people will stay for generations. People talk about the need for low income homes, but have they not seen the rest of San Pedro. We just finished dense developments downtown, that are not sold yet. Do we need more of the same? I think the market has spoken, Pedran's need space, they like their single family homes where they can live for years.

Let us not repeat the mistakes of Downtown up on Western. Let us give San Pedro the development they expected when the planners approved it as R1 (single family homes).

I know we need to get the ball rolling on Ponte Vista, but repeating mistakes from Downtown won't help the developer make money, and won't make San Pedro better.

Just a guy from Pedro.

Pedro Pride

San Pedro is known for it's independent spirit. For a small town of about 80,000. there are nooks and crannies of small communities everywhere. One of the more highly visible of these small communities is Eastview Little League. A self-run baseball league, the Eastview Little League has been a staple of the San Pedro commmunity for years. Nothing exemplifies the Pedro spirit more then the tenacity and creativeness of the Eastview Little League finding a home after the DiCarlo bakery was sold along with their baseball fields.
There was a bit of controversy over Eastview's move to Knoll Hill which displaced a nice dog park. The initial plan was that the new Eastview home would only be for three years. The ultimate plan was to provide even more container space for the Port. Now, the Port has agreed to let Eastview stay longer. Awesome!!
There are good reasons for the Port to allow the Eastview Little League to stay longer. First, a poor economy makes money tight and the Port's need for the space not as urgent. Second, the Eastview Little League is great PR for the Port. If you are going to give back to the community countering the Port's environmental impact, a nice green park for children to play on is a great way to go.
Eastview Little League is a great local institution. I am glad they will have a home for a while longer. A baseball park is better than more containers. And I know that dogs and their owners were displaced. But at some point the value of hundreds of children has got to be worth more than a hundred or so dogs that actually used the park previously. The greater good for the town has been served by letting Eastview Little League use Knoll hill.
Nothing exemplifies Pedro Pride better than Eastview Little League. Standing up for children, making our town better, and doing it against all odds. Not too shabby.

Just a guy from Pedro

One Catholic Church - Mary Star vs Holy Trinity

I have lived in San Pedro my whole life. I have been a parishiner of both Holy Trinity and Mary Star. It is amazing how little the two parishes and schools interact. It is true that both the new pastors, John and Joe, have talked about more cooperation between the two parishes. And the pastors themselves have provided support for each other. Still, there is no good cooperation between these two parishes and schools.

Somehow the catholics in town fail to see the larger picture. We are one faith under God. We need to be resolute in our opposition to the larger secular society. We need to battle the agnostics and atheist that chip away at believers and those with faith. We need to fight those who marginalize and mock believers in God. These people hide behind the Constitution, not realizing that the Constitution protects our faith. This all said, we as Pedran's need to see the larger picture.

Cross town rivalries are good as it can help both parishes and schools become stronger. However, there need to be more resource sharing between the parishes and schools. Field trips could be better coordinated to lower school costs. The Mary Star gym could be a good site for Holy Trinity to practice and hold larger events. One faith, one shared destiny. Times are tough. Instead of using resources to compete against each other. We as catholics should help drive cooperation between the schools and parishes. There is a bigger battle out there then the small catholic turf in San Pedro.

Just a Guy from Pedro

Things Like Relay Make Pedro Great

There are many nooks and grannies in this small town that we call Pedro. Today, there is a Woody show at Ports O'Call. The event is put on by locals and is a just a bunch of folks hanging out with music and cars. Next week, there will be a Relay for Life event at San Pedro High School to raise funds and awareness for cancer. Both events are locally run and are a blast. It is these type of events that need to be celebrated in our local media like San Pedro Today, Random Lengths, and the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce news letter. These are positive events that are what makes San Pedro great. Those publications can talk about the future and how it should be. But we have some very cool stuff going on now that we are proud of. It would be good if in these tough times we highlighted the good we have now. A little more positive and a little less whining would be great.

At the end of the day events like the Woody show and the Relay for Life event make Pedro a great town.

Enjoy.

PS. Don't forget the awesome Shakespeare by the Sea shows at Pt. Fermiin Park throughout the summer, and the movies at the Warner Grand on Wednesdays during the summer. More reason Pedro Rocks!

Cabrillo Beach Inner Harbor

Cabrillo Beach's inner harbor is consistently rated "F" by various rating agencies. The lack of water flow keeps things stagnet and the contamination levels high. The port has replaced the sand, kept the birds off the beach, along with other attempts. Still, the beach is consistently rated "F". The fundamental problem is water flow is almost non-existant. The good news is that though our bright scientists can not seem to improve the rating of the beach, nature is finding a way. Specifically, the beach has gotten bigger over the years as sand piles up and just stays there.

There are many approaches to how to improve the quality of Cabrillo Beach's inner harbor, but the simple one is to fill in the dead space in the water right off the beach with sand. This will increase water circulation at the beach and improve the beach's ratings. Nature is already starting to do this for us. We just need to finish it.

If fixing the inner harbor does not work. Maybe we should go back to our history books and revert that part of the harbor back to the marsh lands it use to be. Marsh lands would compliment the reserve next door, and help clean the water in the harbor. The outer beach is one of the best kept secrets in Los Angeles. And with the enhancement of the Cabrillo Beach Bath House any improvement to the inner harbor (clean beach or marsh land) would be an improvement.

Just a Guy from Pedro.

Dream of a United San Pedro

San Pedro is a great town due to the wide variety of groups, nationalities, and neighborhoods. I wish that we had one shared vision and could rally around our way forward. San Pedro is a hard working family town where people live for generations. This should be our common ground that frames our dialogue for the way forward. This should be our common ground that gets us to talk and work together.

Today, our neighborhood councils, our city planners, our representatives, our San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, and our business districts all forget about our common bond. They all try to craft a way forward without understanding what is at the heart of San Pedro. San Pedro is a hard working family town where people live for generations. As such, we as a community need to create a vision where we would want our children to grow up and raise their families. Let Redondo Beach be where the college kids go to sew their wild oats. Let Long Beach be that eclectic mix of rich and poor with no great families. Let Pedro be where we want our children to grow up and raise their families. Once we all have this understanding we can create plans on what this town needs to move forward. Once we have this understanding we will be able to define clearly what makes San Pedro great - Our families, our traditions, and our respect for hard work with no free rides.

Shared use of Dead Space in Pedro

There is nothing more annoying than driving down Gaffey past the Gaffey Street Diner with traffic backed up due to people parking on the street. This is an accident waiting to happen.

Right next door is an empty lot. In some cities these vacant lots are not screened off, they are considered extra parking. Now I am not talking about asphalt or concrete, but throw down some gravel and let folks use the lot. Get the parking off the street. Given how this would relieve traffic the city should be able to cut a deal with the property owner to allow parking on the lot. The parking lot would be a lot better than some raggedy old chain link fence.

Sometimes it is the simple solutions, if only people would talk to each other, that can make our lives better.