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Hard Hats and Hard Partying

If you’re hot to hear James Brown or George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic—or even Electronica—then gear up for Street Scene. The 17-year-old music-and-food festival will bring swarms to the Gaslamp Quarter and East Village September 7-9. Such is the incredible popularity of this San Diego tradition it won’t bother you that an estimated 100,000 others want to hear the nearly 100 bands Rob Hagey Productions is putting on 12 stages.

But let’s just think about pulling this weekend marathon off. Dealing with the bands and the food and souvenir vendors is easy compared to keeping everyone inside the Street Scene gates happy. And that goes for more than a thousand people who live in the neighborhood, plus scores of restaurants, bars, galleries and other merchants who may or may not strike gold with all those visitors.

That’s where Michael Trimble comes in. For 11 years, he’s been Rob Hagey’s chief negotiator with the people who live and work inside Street Scene’s gates for those three days. He has an exclusive cell-phone number they can call if there’s a problem getting to a private parking space. Or if a produce truck trying to make a 1 a.m. delivery is having trouble getting to the market. Or if a resident lost the wristband that assures he can get past security to his apartment or hotel. Trimble knows who they all are.

“These people are here 365 days a year,” Trimble says. “We’re really here in force for only a few weeks and three very intense days. We have to be sensitive and listen to their concerns and work out whatever problems may arise. It can be quite a juggling act.”

It’s an act that’s been working ever more smoothly as Street Scene has grown from small-time to very big-time, covering more and more of the Gaslamp and East Village. This year’s biggest-ever event comes as more construction and street work than ever is being done in the neighborhood. There are 36 construction projects under way, not including street and sewer projects.

Contractors for every one of them are in the information pipeline through the city’s special-events office and through an 18-month-old program called Paradise in Progress. With a steering committee of every government agency and community association involved in downtown, PiP keeps track of who is building what, where and when. There’s even a new program, Geographical Information System, that plots all the work—as well as what events are scheduled that might affect each project—on a computer screen.

“You don’t see headlines about problems because we’re resolving potential problems before they happen,” says Carl Nettleton, the city’s public and media affairs director in charge of Paradise in Progress.

The communication and negotiation pay off. Even 100,000 people —coming (preferably) by train, trolley, bus, foot and (least advised) car—don’t quite scare the locals as they used to. And that’s music to the city’s ears.

City Beat

Porn publishing magnate Larry Flynt wants to erect an “erotic department store” in downtown San Diego. It would be similar to Hustler Hollywood, a retail outlet in LaLaLand (the company has two other stores in Ohio). Hustler Hollywood of San Diego will be downtown at Broadway and Sixth Avenue. According to the Centre City Development Corporation’s Donna Alm, CCDC is reviewing tenant improvement/design documents. The city issues business licenses. “It looks like they’ll get the license,” says Alm. “It’s interesting that [former San Diego mayor] Pete Wilson worked so hard to get the adult shops out of the Gaslamp—and now this.” L.A.’s Sunset Strip store serves up “sex with no apologies and little embarrassment.” There’s a coffee bar and gift shop. The leather apparel, lotions, oils and adult “toys” are in the back—not in the window. “We always have protests when we open,” says Theresa Flynt, Larry’s daughter, executive vice president of retail operations. “That ends when cities see how beautiful our stores are.” She hopes the operation will be up and running by Halloween.

I once saw a cop pull over a cab at Broadway and Front Street. So what? So the participants were a bike cop and a pedicab driver. Imagine that high-speed chase. To help keep the city safe from pedaling and pedestrian miscreants alike, Mercedes-Benz recently donated 20 bicycles to the San Diego Police Department. The vehicles are precision-engineered, 24-speed, all-terrain mountain bikes. Sweet, huh? The 20 bikes are valued at $40,000. A good deal, considering the sticker price on one 2001 CLK 430 Benz coupe is $55,000.

The dress code is strict (no tennis shoes, please), and the ambience is swanky. The Onyx Room is a happening underground bar. Literally. It’s located at—or more accurately, under—852 Fifth Avenue, below a street-level House of Flys retailer. Before venturing down, check out the bar’s Web site (www.theonxyroom.com). Look for the Friday-night password. Repeat it to the doorman and he’ll waive the cover charge and let you skip the waiting line.

There was a day when throngs of geeks and a guy wearing a giant papier-mâché ear of corn on his head meant ComicCon was in town. This year, however, it signaled Bio2001. Quickest way to discern whether the comic-book or the genetic-engineering crowd is occupying the Convention Center: Bio2001 attracts mounted police. ComicCon calls on Spiderman and Wonder Woman.

—Ron Donoho

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