Tag: transportation

Fun photos of CicloSDias San Diego!

This afternoon I checked out CicloSDias San Diego!

During this popular annual event, several streets are closed to cars in North Park, Normal Heights, Kensington and City Heights so that bicyclists, skaters, scooters and walkers can explore these neighborhoods and enjoy a fun day without dodging automobiles.

The main purpose of CicloSDias, which is supported by a variety of organizations, is to promote bicycling as an urban transportation alternative.

Lots of families were out for a Sunday ride, and some of the participants wore costumes. (Yes, it’s almost Halloween!) There were easily thousands of people participating in or watching the colorful activity.

Bands were playing along the streets, people were proudly showing off their decorated and custom bikes, and hundreds of bicycles were parked in front of sidewalk cafes.

I walked north up 30th Street from El Cajon Boulevard, where some people were playing bike polo, then turned east at Adams Avenue. After passing the Kensington landmark sign, I headed back west.

Here come the photos!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Photos beneath I-805 bridge in Mission Valley.

Yesterday morning I jumped off the Green Line trolley at the Rio Vista station. I walked east over Qualcomm Way via the pedestrian bridge then continued down the little-used walkway that runs parallel to the trolley tracks.

I had never gone that way before.

The concrete walkway leads behind the Marriott Mission Valley and several large, gleaming office buildings and finally terminates by a parking lot directly beneath the very impressive I-805 freeway bridge.

I turned my camera upward and snapped photos beneath the tall landmark bridge!

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Historic Highway 80 mural on El Cajon Boulevard.

Mural by artist Jonny Alexander at El Cajon Boulevard and Winona Avenue remembers old U.S. Highway 80.
Mural by artist Jonny Alexander at El Cajon Boulevard and Winona Avenue remembers old U.S. Highway 80.

A cool mural in San Diego celebrates old U.S. Highway 80. The street art reads “Cruise Historic Highway 80” and features an image of a motorcyclist crossing desert and mountains to reach the Pacific Ocean. The mural was painted near the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and Winona Avenue in 2015 by Jonny Alexander.

U.S. Highway 80 was a legendary cross-country route that at one time ran 2671 miles from U.S. Route 101 in San Diego, California east all the way to Georgia. The segment through San Diego was eventually decommissioned in favor of a newly built Interstate 8.

Much of old U.S. Route 80 ran through San Diego where El Cajon Boulevard is today.

A motorcyclist riding west has reached the Pacific Ocean after crossing desert and mountains.
A motorcyclist riding west has reached the Pacific Ocean after crossing desert and mountains.
Much of Historic Route US 80 ran where El Cajon Boulevard is today.
Much of Historic Route US 80 ran where El Cajon Boulevard is today.
Cruise Historic Highway 80. A celebration of the old days depicted in a cool mural in San Diego.
Cruise Historic Highway 80. A celebration of the old days depicted in a cool mural in San Diego.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

A few odd photos of superheroes and ducks.

Kid meets Gold Zeo Power Ranger in front of the San Diego Museum of Art!
Kid meets Gold Zeo Power Ranger in front of the San Diego Museum of Art!

I have a few odd photos to share. Problem is, I’m not really sure what to do with them. So I’ve posted them here, together!

The first three photos were snapped in Balboa Park over the weekend; the final two were taken during my commute home today.

Behold: two valiant superheroes and ducks waiting for a bus!

Gold Zeo Power Ranger, Trey of Triforiaz, cosplay in Balboa Park.
Gold Zeo Power Ranger, Trey of Triforiaz, cosplay in Balboa Park.
Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) stands guard inside the House of Israel in Balboa Park.
Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) stands guard inside the House of Israel in Balboa Park.
A flock of ducks waits for a bus at the Fashion Valley Transit Center.
A flock of ducks waits for a bus at the Fashion Valley Transit Center.
Ducks prepare to board a waiting bus.
Ducks prepare to board an arriving bus.

These silly ducks, unfortunately, forgot their bus passes.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

A restored streetcar, a crazy driver, and ghosts.

Do ghosts ride on a city’s restored streetcar? Can you say with complete certainty they don’t?

There’s one apparently crazy streetcar driver who likes to converse with ghosts. His unseen riders remember old times that the living have forgotten.

You can read this strange, emotionally charged story by clicking here!

Light and shadow, above and below.

A long walk after work yesterday.

As I came to the pedestrian bridge over Harbor Drive, the late sunlight produced magic. The space through which I walked and the train tracks below appeared dreamlike.

My eyes were fascinated by light and shadow.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Del Mar’s natural beauty, beach from Coaster!

I was careful to sit on the west side of the Coaster yesterday for my trip from San Diego to Encinitas. The very best views can be enjoyed from that side when riding the train through Del Mar.

I thought it would be fun to take photographs of the natural beauty. As we quickly moved through La Jolla out over Los Peñasquitos Lagoon I had my camera ready.

I snapped photographs nonstop as we flew over the marshy lagoon and past Torrey Pines State Beach, then up along the bluff’s edge toward Seagrove Park.

We were moving so fast that the nearby vegetation was a blur. But my small camera was able to capture the distant sandstone cliffs of Torrey Pines State Reserve, the broad Pacific Ocean’s beautiful white surf, people down below on the beach, and even a line of pelicans flying through the blue sky.

I altered these photos a bit, sharpening them and increasing contrast.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Local history remembered at Trolley Barn Park.

A cobblestone post at the entrance to Trolley Barn Park.
A cobblestone post at the entrance to Trolley Barn Park.

In University Heights, sunny Trolley Barn Park is a favorite place for neighbors to gather. Whenever I drive past I notice the grass field and playground are alive with activity.

Last weekend, as I walked through the park, I observed plaques and a winding path that remember the old trolley car barn that once occupied this beautiful spot overlooking Mission Valley.

In 1913 the Adams Avenue Trolley Barn was built near Mission Cliff Gardens. The popular botanical destination north of downtown was created by John D. Spreckels, who also owned the San Diego Electric Railway Company. The trolley barn was built directly adjacent to Harvey Bentley’s Ostrich Farm, where visitors could actually ride the exotic birds.

The large brick trolley barn serviced hundreds of cars until 1949. That’s when the streetcars, overtaken by city buses, finally ceased operation.

Many old cobblestone walls and posts from the days of Mission Cliff Gardens can still be seen around Trolley Barn Park and the surrounding neighborhood. Like the surprising images of ostriches, these cobblestone structures today are a symbol of the very unique history of University Heights.

To learn much more about the history of Trolley Barn Park and University Heights, you can visit a very informative page here.

Plaque at base of post reads: HISTORIC LANDMARK No. 369 - ADAMS AVENUE TROLLEY CARBARN SITE 1913 - 1949 . . . The Old Trolley Barn Park was dedicated on this site April 6, 1991.
Plaque at base of post reads: HISTORIC LANDMARK No. 369 – ADAMS AVENUE TROLLEY CARBARN SITE 1913 – 1949 . . . The Old Trolley Barn Park was dedicated on this site April 6, 1991.
What appears to be a round table in the park contains an interesting plaque that remembers when trolleys ran through University Heights.
What appears to be a round table in the park contains an interesting plaque that recalls when trolleys ran through University Heights.
Map of the old 1917 trolley line from downtown San Diego into University Heights in Old Trolley Barn Neighborhood Park.
Map of the old 1917 trolley line from downtown San Diego into University Heights in Old Trolley Barn Neighborhood Park.
Dedicated to all of the members of the University Heights Community Association who helped make this park a reality.
Dedicated to all of the members of the University Heights Community Association who helped make this park a reality.
This scenic spot in Trolley Barn Park overlooks Mission Valley.
This scenic spot in Trolley Barn Park overlooks Mission Valley, which lies to the north.
People jog along a walkway which features tracks that wind through the park like the old trolley line.
People jog along a shady path. Its “tracks” wind through the park like the old trolley line.
Along the walkway are the street names once passed by the trolley line.
Along the walkway are the street names once passed by the trolley line.
Another sunny San Diego day as people recreate on the grass.
Another sunny San Diego day as people recreate on the grass.
An electrical box at the edge of the park is painted like a cobblestone post, one of the symbols of University Heights.
An electrical box at the edge of the park is painted like a cobblestone post, one of the symbols of University Heights.
Trolley Barn Park is a beautiful part of University Heights that honors its colorful history.
Trolley Barn Park is a beautiful gathering place in University Heights that honors the community’s colorful history.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!

Photos of elevated trolley line construction.

If you’ve driven up Interstate 5 through La Jolla and University City, you’ve probably seen some impressive construction right next to the freeway. The extension of the San Diego Trolley’s Blue Line is now being built, and much of what is called the Mid-Coast Trolley will be elevated.

The new trolley line will turn from the freeway down Genesee Avenue and finally end at an elevated station at the recently renovated University Towne Centre shopping mall (now called Westfield UTC), adjacent to bus stops at the UTC Transit Center.

On Sunday, as I waited for a bus at the UTC Transit Center, I walked up Genesee Avenue to check out a short stretch of the trolley extension. My photos show what will be the north terminus of the Mid-Coast Trolley.

The project is impressive. Simulations of the UTC Transit Center station and other Mid-Coast Corridor stations can be found here. The trolley extension is scheduled to be completed in 2021.

As I took photos, I was fascinated by the strangely beautiful complexity. Layers of geometric shapes can be observed in the wood, concrete and steel supporting construction of the elevated tracks and station.

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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Big smiles for Free Ride Day!

Today is Free Ride Day in San Diego! San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System and North County Transit District are providing a fun, free ride to anyone riding the trolley, bus, Coaster or Sprinter!

And as an extra added bonus, lots of smiles are included!

Thank you!