From the Editor,
We are celebrating our one-year birthday with this issue. But before you raise a glass to toast us, I’d like to share why surviving a year in this business is significant to us.
Since then, San Diego Uptown News has become a beacon for all things Mid-City. From Balboa Park to North Park, from Little Italy to Kensington, and from Old Town to Golden Hill, we’ve prided ourselves on bringing the insight and intrigue to you about what’s happening in your neighborhoods. With the many festivals, concerts, home tours, meetings, parades, elections, openings (and closings), exhibits and street fairs in our area, there seems to be a never-ending stream of stories we can pass on to you that hopefully increase your appreciation for and understanding of our community.
And what a community it is. Since moving to Uptown in 1998, I’ve rarely found a need to leave. While there is certainly nothing wrong with trekking to Mission Valley or down to the Gaslamp, we are fortunate to have a rich business community right at our doorsteps. Local hardware stores, farm-to-table eateries, funky boutiques, craft beer shops, stylish salons, wine bars and all manners of services populate our historic streets.
Similarly, I enjoy seeing my neighbors, work associates, fellow committee members and business acquaintances as I walk around Uptown’s and use our public transportation. It’s not unusual in Uptown to run into one of our public officials – many of whom live in Uptown – grabbing a coffee, jogging or enjoying a cocktail.
Sure we don’t have sand at our backdoors or ocean waves beckoning us from our porches. But most of us do have those ocean breezes blowing through our windows – and abundant sunshine to match. Life might be a little grittier living in this urban atmosphere, but would you really exchange the characters you occasionally encounter for the cookie-cutter lifestyle that exists in the suburbs?
Life in a place like Uptown attracts a certain kind of people – and you are our readers. During this last year you’ve called us, e-mailed us and stopped us on the street to give us news tips, critiques and sometimes even a pat on the back. At a time when many newspapers are failing, you supported us and helped us grow. Even though economic times haven’t been the best, you stepped up to buy advertising, supply content or simply encourage us that we were doing something that is important to you as an Uptown resident or business owner.
So as you join us to toast this first year, please turn that glass to yourself – for without you, we don’t exist. And as our second year approaches, we hope you will continue to rally around us and our sister publication, Gay San Diego, and in turn we promise to bring you nothing but our best effort to inform, entertain and invigorate you about the finest region in America’s Finest City – Uptown.
– Christy Scannell, Senior Editor
