Letters

"As a longtime San Diego resident, I have, for the first time, considered “cashing out” and moving to a small, uncrowded and unhurried city. I have pondered this lifestyle change as I idle in my automobile on I-15, during my 35-mile, two-hour commute to my job."

PRESERVING WHAT?
As a near-native San Diegan (since age 3), I applaud your courage in confronting San Diego’s challenges in your three-part series [Preserving Paradise, March, April, May]. It was reassuring to confirm what I have witnessed happening to “America’s Finest City,” particularly during the past five to six years. As a longtime San Diego resident, I have, for the first time, considered “cashing out” and moving to a small, uncrowded and unhurried city.

I have pondered this lifestyle change as I idle in my automobile on I-15, during my 35-mile, two-hour commute to my job.

Despite my love of all the activities San Diego has to offer, I no longer feel hopeful that San Diego leaders and decision-makers have the united vision to preserve what was once my beloved San Diego.

KIMBERLY C. BATUTIS
SAN MARCOS

TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Larry Edwards’ and Rachel Laing’s story on San Diego’s ongoing financial and political disaster [“A City in Crisis,” May] arrived in our mailbox just as word came that San Diego Mayor Dick Murphy was resigning.

All of the radio, TV and newspaper reports on the crisis combined—stories that dribbled out over the past year —couldn’t begin to tell the big picture the way your magazine’s comprehensive story explained it. Thank you for providing us with what is so often missing from the local media: perspective.

OSCAR GAMBLE
UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS

CREDIT DUE

Review of the recently received Home Design Quarterly (HDQ) 2004 compendium from San Diego Magazine prompts me to observe that your feature on architect Wally Cunningham is giving Frank Lloyd Wright not nearly enough credit for [Cunningham’s design of] Wing House, overlooking San Diego’s Lake Hodges. Your article says, “. . . [the project] took root when [Wing] watched what occurs when two stones are dropped in a pond.” A 1951 sketch of a [similar] Frank Lloyd Wright home called Boulder House in Palm Springs shows that apples are the more appropriate metaphor, and they’re landing not too far from the tree.

J. SPENCER LAKE
SAN DIEGO

WATER WORKS
I just read an article in your May issue about San Diego’s future water problems [“Water Worries” by Larry M. Edwards, Preserving Paradise series]. I have been trying for about five years to get the city of San Diego to consider some tested and proven methods to conserve water. Without much luck!

I have talked to Mayor Dick Murphy, Councilmembers Ralph Inzunza and Donna Frye and the previous city manager about two ways to save between 12 and 15 gallons of water [per person] annually. The only person who has shown any interest has been Frye. I was at a conservation meeting she attended in Balboa Park one evening, and after my presentation on the matter of water conservation, I was lucky enough to talk to her directly. Ms. Frye did introduce one of the methods to the city council, which voted to purchase 10 of the recirculation pumps (made in San Diego by the Laing Company) for evaluation.

The little pumps use only 3 watts of electricity a day and are great for older homes. But for new homes under construction, I highly recommend the “loop method,” which is just adding another companion pipe beside the hot-water pipe at the farthest point from the water heater and looping them (and, of course, insulating them) for reheating the water that has cooled down in the line pipe. This method has no moving parts to wear out.

Barry Martin, the water utilities manager for the city of Oceanside, has this method installed in his own home. He estimates he is saving between 12 and 15 gallons of water a year in his home with this method. Mr. Martin is a professional. I am only a citizen trying to save my city some money and precious water.

HARVEY C. SWINFORD
OTAY MESA/NESTOR

SOUL FOOD
I loved your article on the Museum of Art’s current exhibit showcasing Latin American art [“Windows to the Soul” by Marcia Manna, May]. Although I have tickets, I have yet to see the exhibit, and your feature only whets my appetite further. Technology has restored our species’ emphasis on our visual perception, and it is truly fascinating to compare artifacts that represent the life view of our ancestors from 2,000 years ago.

The museum has done a fabulous job presenting diverse and interesting exhibits so far this year, and I am pleased to see such a culturally rich exhibit, one that speaks so clearly and strongly to the heritage of so many San Diegans.

Thanks for maintaining your commitment to art and culture in San Diego— it’s such an important slice of our lifestyle here. Along with the important articles in the Preserving Paradise series, it is vital to recognize all of the wonderful things that round out our quality of life. I hope you will continue to balance your focus on all the great things we enjoy as San Diegans so that we don’t take them for granted.

MONICA HERRERA
CARLSBAD

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LETTERS WELCOME: San Diego Magazine invites letters from its readers. Send comments to Letters to the Editor, San Diego Magazine, P.O. Box 85409, San Diego, CA 92186-5409 or to tblair@sandiegomag.com (e-mail) or 619-230-0490 (fax). Letters must be signed to be considered for publication. Please type or print your name, as well, and include a daytime phone number. E-mail should include the writer’s full name and city. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity and to excerpt them.