Change Is Just One Step Away

At Pacific Beach Middle School, on December 11th, 2013, there was a meeting about how the community could improve Pacific Beach/Mission Beach. It was decided that before we, the community, take steps forward, we needed to identify some things we need to work on. Many people attended the meeting, even some people out of the Pacific Beach/Mission Beach area attended. There were students, parents, teachers, volunteers, etc. Some of the main problems identified were:

- The amount of bars there are.

- The lack of crosswalks.

- Not enough public transportation.

- Not being eco-friendly.

Some parents have lived here, in Pacific Beach ever since the 1950s. “Pacific Beach has changed since the 1950s, if I were to move to Pacific Beach today…I wouldn’t want to,” said a concerned resident. If people who have lived in Pacific Beach for more than 60 years wouldn’t want to live here today, what’s changed? Another concerned resident, who was a parent, asked, “If I feel like it is unsafe for my children today, how safe will it be for my grandchild?”

On December 13th, 2013, there was further discussion, on what to improve and how to improve it. There was a presentation that gave us ideas as what to do to make Pacific Beach/Mission Beach an even greater place than it was before.

One problem that was mentioned a couple nights before was public transportation. An idea that was given was to make a trolley system connect from La Jolla to Pacific Beach. Another problem mentioned was being eco-friendly. Although there are many ways to be eco-friendly, one idea that seemed to be most liked was to start a city garden.

Another idea was taking out most of the bars to make it more family friendly. Although it would cause a conflict, it’s still an idea.

A major goal is for more people to want to move to Pacific Beach, and to want to stay. But overall, the focus is to bring the Pacific Beach and Mission Beach community together. Join the community and see the changes the community hopes to see in years to come. Change is just one step away.