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What bike-related projects, if any, would District 9 City Council candidates propose?
In response to the latest question put to the candidates, businessman/activist Mateo Camarillo said he wants to foster streets that are friendlier to bicyclists; expand parking for bikes at businesses, libraries, schools and parks; and work on boosting healthy habits in the community including more bike-riding.
Current District 7 Councilwoman Marti Emerald discussed the need for more bike parking and how she would work on bettering bike lanes as street repairs progress. She also invited folks to a regional planning event on biking on March 31 and April 1. You can read their answers in both English and Spanish.
We talked to local bike advocate Samantha Ollinger in December about efforts underway here:
There has been a lot more investment made for cyclists in the last year-and-a-half than there was when I got here.
The city’s new bicycle coordinator, Thomas Landre, now is spending 100 percent of his time on bicycle issues. Our previous one could only devote a small percentage. And the guy before him, three years ago, no one even knew who he was.
And I’ve seen way more cyclists than I used to three years ago.
One of the reasons I think is that they see the city is doing more for cyclists.
In the mayor’s race, independent Nathan Fletcher recently released a bike plan of his own.
For more on the District 9 race, including previous questions asked of these candidates, check out Speak City Heights’ archive.
We’ll also be covering this race April 2-6. Got a question for the candidates? Send it to Andrew Donohue.
You’re reading our roundup of news from Speak City Heights, a collaboration between KPBS, The AjA Project, Media Arts Center San Diego and us.
Here are the rest of this week’s stories:
• Media Arts Center has a video of a group of locals who recently took to the streets of City Heights to figure out potential dangers to pedestrians and the conditions of sidewalks to inform politicians and planners.
“What the people of City Heights want is complete streets,” said organizer Randy Van Vleck.
We looked at the issue of sidewalk safety in City Heights in early 2010:
The lack of sidewalks in Chollas Creek and elsewhere make that daily task at least laborious and at worst downright dangerous as residents walk in the street for blocks at a time. Where there are sidewalks, many lack curb ramps at intersections.
In another video, a City Heights resident talks about the perils of crossing certain streets by foot.
Last fall, we took a look at issues at the intersection at University Avenue and 54th Street. Here’s some background:
Once a middle-class suburb, City Heights has transformed into a hub for immigrants and refugees in the last three decades. Many don’t have cars and instead walk to get around. In many places, aging or missing infrastructure reflects outdated urban design principles that have since been abandoned in the interest of pedestrian safety.
• Edison Elementary in City Heights has been nominated for national recognition by the state, reports City Heights Life. You can also read about it in Spanish, too.
We dropped in on Edison in late 2010 for a story on the data war in local schools:
In City Heights, Edison tracks how students in each classroom perform on school district exams throughout the year. Teachers get together and talk about the results. They can see whether one teacher nudged her students to improve dramatically and another didn’t.
But the scores are just a starting point. While the problem behind bad results could be a weak teacher, it could also be something else. A disruptive child might throw off other students, for example, despite what the teacher does. Edison teachers embrace examining scores as a way to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
• City Heights Life details local organizations that provide free assistance with preparing taxes. You can also read it in Spanish, too.
• This week’s Twitter news roundup includes links on potential extra protection for local canyons, more funds for a local clinic, and free lunches at San Diego Unified during spring break.
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Dagny Salas is the web editor at voiceofsandiego.org. You can contact her directly at dagny.salas@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5669.
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