rose canyon

I just went for an afternoon stroll in the canyon not far from our place. It's called Rose Canyon and it's been in the news a lot lately. Why? Because like practically every other somewhat natural area in San Diego county, it's under attack. The city wants to build another huge bridge through the canyon to connect the two neighborhoods on either side.

I haven't heard all the arguments on both sides, but it's pretty clear to me that this is another example of applying last century "solutions" to current problems. Traffic sucks. Solution? Build more roads and bridges so that people never ever set foot in public transportation...or god forbid...walk or bike. There are only like 10 days per year when you really can't walk or bike to work because of the weather. With a climate like that, why is San Diego not the Holland of the West?????

It's true that the canyon is pretty beat up, but that doesn't mean we should cut into it again. And I think the issue is not just whether or not the canyon will be damaged...of course it will be damaged big time by a big ole bridge (and not to mention the human experience of hiking...); it's also how are we as a city and a state and a nation putting our limited transportation dollars to work? Are we investing in public transit or are we going to ride out this car bs to our collective graves?

I'm linking to Friends of Rose Canyon, in case they have something intelligent to say. I haven't check out the link yet.

UPDATE 5 minutes later: there is a ton of good stuff on the Friends of Rose Canyon site.