November 2006

“I hope your article will inspire many San Diegans to play a part in supporting Monarch’s expansion efforts. For all of the valuable work Monarch does, there are always more children on the streets who need a safe place to learn.”

LESS TRAVELED

I read with interest all the articles about Mexico in your recent issue [Travels, September]. In all honesty, I was a little disappointed. I know San Diego Magazine is geared to an upscale readership, but not all of us quite fit that description. It would have been nice to show some good places to stay for those of us on a budget. Not all of us would choose to stay in luxury resorts, even if price weren’t a consideration.

Also, you made no mention of activities like surfing, kite-boarding and windsurfing. Come on, this is San Diego. What do you think a lot of us go down there to do?

CHRIS THOMAS
SAN DIEGO

A-PLUS FOR MONARCH

I would like to commend your magazine for printing the article about Monarch School in your September issue [“An A for Effort” by Eilene Zimmerman]. Youth homelessness is often overlooked in the community, but there are many homeless families with children and youths in San Diego County. I am the director of a transitional housing program for homeless 16- to 21-year-olds in San Diego, and I have worked with graduates of Monarch School. These young people have overcome so much hardship. Monarch has given them an opportunity to break the cycle of homelessness in their lives.

Monarch helps lay the groundwork for children and teenagers to learn the skills needed to succeed. The staff at Monarch School has instilled hope into the lives of youth, allowing them to believe in themselves and their future. This, as many professionals in social services and education know, is half the battle for a young person working toward self-sufficiency—especially when the young person has experienced the hunger, violence and abuse that the homeless face.

Thank you for alerting the community to an important social issue and highlighting an amazing program at the same time. I hope your article will inspire many San Diegans to play a part in supporting Monarch’s expansion efforts. For all of the valuable work Monarch does, there are always more children on the streets who need a safe place to learn.

NOELLE KESTER
SAN DIEGO

BLOOMIN' GOOD

Just read your lovely article on Anza-Borrego and want to thank you for presenting our story so perfectly [“Meet the Desert” by Julia Beeson, September]. You did an excellent job in profiling us, our work and our desert paradise.

I especially appreciate Julia Beeson braving our summer and coming down in August, and I hope we’ll have a chance to show you our more-people-friendly desert in bloom one of these days in the near future.

DEBORAH KNAPP
MANAGER
ANZA-BORREGO INSTITUTE
BORREGO SPRINGS

CREOSOTE STOP

I was pleased to see your magazine had run an article on the Anza-Borrego Desert. As a member of the Anza-Borrego Foundation and Institute, I thought you did a great job getting “the word” out there.

But I was thoroughly ticked off to read Julia Beeson’s description of our village’s downtown area: “A single main street through town (still no stoplights) bisects a scattering of strip malls, dive bars and greasy spoons.” She then goes on to rave about the four-diamond luxuries of La Casa del Zorro and her casita there. Did this woman make a wrong turn and end up in El Cajon?

A better question would be: Did she bother to stop in town and browse? Did she bother to even roll down the window of her Lexus? I should have expected something of this nature from a magazine that obviously caters exclusively to the San Diego elite. Borrego Springs is not La Jolla. Borrego Springs is not even Palm Springs—and we don’t want to be!

Next time Julia comes to town, have her stop, get out and smell the creosote.

BILL HERZOG
BORREGO SPRINGS

BETTER THAN THIS

Geez, your magazine has become a real mess. I’ve subscribed for the better part of nine years, and what we are getting now is simply terrible. There is no flow to the content. The advertising has simply run amok. Get some new layout people.

I used to look forward to the next issue, but now I wait in trepidation for what has become boring, tedious and disjointed. This magazine is better than what we’re getting.

DEAN DICKINSON
PACIFIC BEACH

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