House Calls: The sash debate—windows to the soul or energy-saving machines?

The replacement window telemarketers’ pitch wouldn’t be so seductive if it didn’t make so much sense, sort of. After all, there’s no getting around the reality that wood windows do wear out. Ropes break. Putty dries up. Paint peels and varnish cracks. Wood gets wet, dry rot takes hold, termites move in, everything turns to dust. For the old house owner, nothing lasts forever, except hope—particularly the hope that something (windows, for example) can be “maintenance free.”

                                        

When completed, the 10-mile, limited-stop service on the Mid-City Rapid Bus would stretch from San Diego State University to downtown San Diego, traversing El Cajon and Park boulevards in about 38 minutes. Construction is set to begin next year. (Graphic courtesy SANDAG)

New rapid-bus system to eliminate Park Boulevard medians, crossings

The new route will use 15 new low-floor vehicles and raised curbs at the stations to speed up boarding. Extended curbsides are also expected to save time by allowing the bus to rejoin traffic with ease. The Mid-City Rapid Bus will take approximately 38 minutes to travel from SDSU to downtown.

                                        

Now that the San Diego Association of Governments board has approved a trolley extension from Old Town to UCSD/UTC, environmental work is expected to begin, leading to a draft environmental impact report possibly in the summer of 2011. Photo by Don Balch

Metropolitan Transit Service trolleys will serve the University of San Diego, California and the University Towne Centre as soon as 2015 following a unanimous decision by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) board July 23 to approve one of three proposed routes for the extension.

The board upheld a recommendation to select light rail transit Alternative 1, which would extend service “north from Old Town Transit Center along the existing rail corridor just east of I-5, cross over I-5 south of Nobel Drive continuing to serve UCSD, then cross to the east side of I-5 at or near Voigt Drive and head south along Genesee Avenue to a transit center at University Towne Centre,” according to SANDAG officials.

                                        

Captain America pleads to keep the Comic-Con in San Diego and not move to another city when its contract expires in a few years. Photo by Don Balch

DOWNTOWN — San Diego Comic Con International wrapped up its 40th year on July 25, transforming the Convention Center and downtown into pop culture heaven. Though the event was a sold out success drawing roughly 140,000 people to the area, much of the talk during its four days, plus preview night, centered on whether or not the convention would leave San Diego after its contract expires in 2012. Having hit capacity limits locally, both Las Vegas and Anaheim have actively sought to have Comic Con International move to their cities. The hope is that by working with the city to iron out things such as hotel rates for attendees and a proposed expansion of the convention center, the event will remain a downtown fixture for decades to come.

Comic Con organizers will be making an announcement soon on its future in San Diego, but it’s loss would be a huge blow to not only downtown, but the entire county.