breeza condo project

while we were downtown saturday we drove by the breeza condo site on pacific highway, across from the county administration building. this is an intriguing area since there's a lot going on there - the expansion at mcasd, the naval broadway complex project, lane field redevelopment, the irvine company purchase of land across from lane field, with a potential i.m. pei-designed building to be built there; the conversion of the county administration's parking lots to park land (will it ever happen?) and the re-design of the entire harbor front. there's also the huge bayside upscale condo development going in across ash street, and the beautiful grande project just down pacific. and the bay views guaranteed from the west-facing condos, and this project has some potential.

a visit to the bosa sales center on front st. indicated that (unfortunately) the builder appears to have priced the units with all of the above in mind. consider that many 2 bedroom condos in desirable projects are being reduced by their owners to the 500k's, and the 700k price tags on non-bayview units seem a bit excessive. let's hope that as the condo glut takes hold of downtown there will be some softening in prices, but it's rare to see big price cuts from developers. desperate owners, on the other hand...

renaissuck at north park

i promised a pic of the renaissance project at 30th and el cajon in north park a while back and finally got around to it. there it is in all of its sucky glory. first of all - the clock. i wouldn't want to live in a condo project with a big office-park type clock on it, would you? and the color is so generic. the architecture is uninspiring, to say the least. overall, a big disappointment from architects who've done better.

bambu bistro

we had lunch yesterday at bambu bistro in hillcrest and were pretty underwhelmed. we both had rice bowls with chicken, salad, and in jay's case, peanut sauce. my chicken was apparently glazed in a lime sauce but i didn't taste much. the biggest problem was the pricing - $8.00 for a rice bowl? good thing we had our entertainment book coupon.

the interior is kind of cool, the red umbrellas hanging from the ceiling are a nice touch. but hillcrest really needs a cheap asian food joint (other than rice king in mission hills) where you can grab a rice bowl for cheap. a place where you don't care about the bad service (which we had) because the food's cheap. guess the rents are too high.

kcrw.com shout out

ok it's not remotely related to urban issues in san diego, but kcrw, the awesome public radio station out of santa monica college, is asking bloggers to "spread the word". i've discovered so much good new music through jason bentley's metropolis show, it's crazy. while he's a dance music dj, his show also features new indie releases, downtempo, etc. right now i'm loving the new chungking song ("i love you") he's playing, and it's not even out yet.

i also enjoy blueprint, nocturna, morning becomes eclectic, and other shows that feature new music. a refreshing change from the corporate crap most alternative radio has become. although it was a nice suprise to hear the decemberists on 94.9 here in san diego the other morning.

record cold nights

downtown san diego had it's coldest night in years last night, with a low of 35. our outdoor thermometer got down to 33 - but the pan of water we left on the deck froze, so it must have been 32 there, right? regardless, it was the coldest night at our house since i moved in back in 2000. and it pays to cover your plants - parts left exposed were all shriveled this morning, while the rest of the plant was fine.

it's good to keep this in perspective though - growing up in upstate ny, most days in the winter didn't even get up to freezing.

new mcasd building opens next weekend

there's a great picture of the new downtown museum of contemporary art, which opens next weekend, in today's UT. the modern design of the building is controversial since it clashes with the historic santa fe depot train station next door. but we checked it out a couple of weeks ago and i really like its look. hopefully we'll go to the free opening next weekend and take some pics.

hotel solamar

we stayed at hotel solamar this weekend since they were running a promotion, and we miss hanging out downtown since our friend there moved to dc. you can see pics jay took on flickr. we really enjoyed the hotel - it's another hip kimpton chain product, has an inviting lobby (when it's not swarmed by LA types), there's a great-looking outdoor bar, and we scored a corner room with west views on the 8th floor. not bad for $129.

while we were downtown we met my dad, in town from albany ny, for dinner over at red pearl, which was delicious as always; it was about a 30 second walk from our hotel. after dinner we went to the borders bookstore with the creepy girl working in the cafe and then walked around a somewhat subdued gaslamp quarter.

up relatively early the next day for breakfast at brian's up 6th avenue. good breakfast food as usual, followed by a trip up the slowest elevator in san diego (which ironically was the fastest in socal when built in 1913) to the roof of the st. james hotel building, which brian's is located in. pics from the roof are on the above flickr page too.

we checked out a while later and then headed to the ocean beach and sunset cliffs to enjoy the 77 degree weather, followed by drinks at urban mo's and dinner at the new location for bombay (indian food; they moved across 4th into a beautiful space); fantastic nan and incredible curry. all in all another fun san diego weekend.

honest cocktails and meats

that's the tagline for the tractor room, a new restaurant from the folks who brought you hash house down the street. as the sign out front says, now there's a place for the latter's spillover brunch crowd to go. sounds like a unique dining experience, too, with the dark lodge vibe inside, and dishes with buffalo and venison in them. based on my experiences at the hash house, i'm sure the owners pull it off easily. personally, i'm looking forward to navigating the bloody mary section of the menu. With the atlas condominium project going up next to hash house, this block of fifth in hillcrest is really looking up.