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 There it was on the Internet. From a Web site for the city of Plano, Texas: “Welcome to the All-American City of Plano, one of the finest cities in the world.” Wait a minute. Finest? That’s our line. Sort of. Unfortunately. “America’s Finest City.” It’s what then–San Diego Mayor Pete Wilson dubbed us after the 1972 snub by Republican National Convention planners. It was a feel-good slogan back then. But on the Peppy Scale, it comes in just behind elevator music. “It’s so generic you don’t believe it,” says Michael Mark, president of advertising agency Matthews/Mark. “It has no personality whatsoever.” Just before the GOP did grace the city with its 1996 convention presence, Mayor Susan Golding came up with “The First Great City of the 21st Century.” That ranks just ahead of the elevator version of “The Girl from Ipanema.” A look around the country reveals much more creative efforts. Los Angeles: “City of Angels.” New York: “The Big Apple” and “The City That Never Sleeps.” Chicago: “Windy City,” “City of Big Shoulders” and “City That Works.” San Francisco: “The City by the Bay,” “Fog City,” “The City That Knows How” and “Everybody’s Favorite City.” Nashville is “Music City USA.” Freeport, Illinois, is “Pretzel City USA.” Even cities you’ve never heard of, like Ansonia, Connecticut, have some nice efforts: “City of Churches” and “A Small Town That Thinks like a Big City.” (Note: Ansonia government offices are closed on Fridays.) With a nod toward Ansonia, San Diego is more like “A Big City That Thinks like a Small Town.” We are trying. A consortium of local high-tech/bio-tech entities is trying to draw the nation’s best and brightest engineers to work here with “San Diego: Technology’s Perfect Climate.” The San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau has done national marketing with the taglines “Feels Good All Over” and “Always in Season.” Last year, aided by ad agency DiZinno Thompson, ConVis went with the award-winning “Get Some Fun Out of Life.” ’Kay. We attempted to get some fun out of life by asking a dozen local ad agencies to suggest replacements for “America’s Finest City.” Some took it seriously. Some were irreverent. Some—shame on them—didn’t even return our calls. Suggestions from Vitrorobertson: “We’re Not L.A.” “We’ve Got It All.” From The Townsend Agency: “The Perfect Place To Work and Play.” “Visit Once and You’ll Be Hooked for Life.” “Simply a Perfect Place To Be.” From McQuerterGroup: “Southwestern Jewel.” “America’s Biggest Small Town.” “America’s Brightest Corner.” “SunSurfSand.com.” From Matthews/Mark: “As Close to L.A. As You Want To Get.” “All the Plastic Surgery of L.A., with Less Smog.” “Mexico’s Finest City.” “We’ve Come a Long Way Since Heaven’s Gate.” “We’re Getting a Ballpark. We Think.” “Our Trolley Now Has Three Stops!” Think you can do any better? (Think you can do any worse?) San Diego Magazine welcomes your suggestions for a new city slogan. We’ll print the better efforts in a future issue. The best one, as selected by our editorial staff, will receive a $100 gift certificate for Roppongi in La Jolla (voted “Best New Restaurant” in our Readers’ Poll) |  The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Good It’s Growing: Teachers, students, parents and neighborhood volunteers took part in the seventh annual Sherman School and Community for a Greener Barrio Project. They planted trees, shrubs and flowering plants along a section of Imperial Avenue on a busy weekend in early summer. The sowing circle, a yearly outgrowth of spring environmental workshops for Sherman Elementary School students, has also planted palm trees along Market Street and brightened an Island Avenue intersection with bougainvillea. Bad Soaking Down Knowledge:Vandals broke into El Cajon’s Valhalla High School and cranked on a third-floor chemistry-lab emergency shower system. Resultant flooding caused an estimated $200,000 worth of damage to school ceilings, carpeting and structural supports. To compound their chemical incursion, the Valhalla vandals sprayed office computers with a fire extinguisher. Ugly Not a Pretty Picture: The last of San Diego’s big-screen movie theaters sits dark, dingy and empty on Hotel Circle North. The Cinema 21 is a sad shadow of the grand movie house that opened in 1963 and became a Mission Valley landmark. Architect Hal Sadler’s once-exuberant thousand-seat structure fell victim to the multiplex phenomenon and closed down last year. Now earning eyesore status, the has-been film house is no longer ready for that closeup, Mr. De Mille. Sprechen Sie Diebels, Dude?
 Mesa College student Paul Ratkiewicz has been trained as a Köbes—the traditional German name for a pub waiter. While delivering a promotional spiel about Diebels—a beer being test-marketed in San Diego bars now through December—a Köbes (pronounced “ker-buss”) gives out samples, drinks with you and makes sure everyone has a good time. Noted for quick-witted retorts—and, in theory, more urbanity than the wait-staff at Dick’s Last Resort—San Diego’s new Köbes aim to provide uber authenticity. “It’s fun,” says Ratkiewicz. “I’m a smart-ass anyway; I might as well get paid for it.” You’ll recognize the Köbes by their blue denim shirts and long aprons. The garb was good news for Ratkiewicz: “I was afraid we were going to have to wear lederhosen.” Köbes have been at the Cass Street Bar & Grill, Croce’s and The Tiki Bar. For information on future appearances, call 619-273-5665. Eye Opener The top 10 reasons Zonies will flock to San Diego this month: “But Trust Me on the Sunscreen” “Wear sunscreen.” Remember the line from that newspaper column–turned–hit single–turned–music video, in vogue earlier this year? Well, for $17.50 you can purchase 4 ounces of a Callaway Golf SPF 15 lotion formula—available exclusively at Nordstrom—that dries in 30 seconds to a nonslip grip (we tested its nonslippability, with mixed results). Sunblock is just one of several retail offerings from renowned club-maker Callaway—such as Teflon golf socks ($15) and a Big Bertha pullover ($185). But it was the sunblock that caught our eye. According to the National Golf Foundation, 17 percent of golfers never use sunscreen. Of those, more than half think a hat is adequate protection, and 5 percent say sunscreen affects their grip. We agree with requests by national health organizations to protect exposed skin. But trust us on the sunscreen—any kind will do. Nordstrom’s beauty hotline: 800-723-2889. |
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