my neighborhood

Ocean Beach is my neighborhood. It's a small enclave surrounded by the expansive megaflop of San Diego. Ocean Beach is a magical place lying between the outside world and the country we left behind.
Those of us that live here call ourselves OBecians and we call this town OB. We are a hodge-podge of folks; surfers, travelers, peaceniks, drunks, college kids, liberals, veterans, old-timers, regulars and everything in-between. Somehow we've figured out how to get along with each other. Tolerance is our collective middle name. We're laid-back and that suits us just fine.
It’s an oasis of free thought where our only enemy seems to be convention.
Some days I think Ocean Beach exists only because we believe it exists. We have a slogan that reads ‘Ocean Beach, an attitude not an address.’ How fitting.

Stroll down our main street, Newport Avenue and you'll still get a sense of true community. On this street alone there is a hardware store with helpful and friendly staff, affordable café’s, clothing stores, gift shops, cocktail bars and furniture stores. We even have an authentic headshop that oozes the sixties. You can find just about everything you need without trekking to the malls. This is a walk-to-everywhere neighborhood, reminiscent of years gone by, a reminder of a more idyllic time, of life spent in a simpler world. If you settle here long enough you’ll soon recognize and be recognized by others on the street.
Unlike other areas of San Diego, the marine layer can often cloud our summer days, this is our buffer that cushions us from the rest of the county. OB is a port to hide and shelter from the storm.
We've got tide pools and hidden coves, trails and eucalyptus groves. We’ve got awesome surf breaks. We've got a historical society and local merchants group. We've got annual events where we welcome outsiders by the thousands to come share the love. We've got a beach just for dogs, how sweet is that!
Wednesday evening we boast one of the best street markets in San Diego - The Ocean Beach Farmer's Market. Organic fruit & veg, piping hot kettle corn, strolling musicians and plenty of flavor. We all come out for this event, our way of paying respects to one another.

This small old-time beach community and bastion of counterculture holds on.
Sadly though, there are signs that our charming seaside town is changing. Malevolence is poking its head from around a few corners. We are on the endangered list or have at least moved into the category of vulnerable.
Our local movie theatre has been replaced by an east coast souvenir chain, Java Joe left, his space now filled by Starbuck's.
The Arizona Cafe closed its doors after providing over fifty years of saloon solace. Affordable housing is now an oxymoron and rents are tipping the scales.

The added populace of San Diego is spilling over into our neighborhood. These are a new type of resident, they see funkiness as shabbiness, quaint with 'it needs tearing down', and offbeat with 'off course NOT!'. Seems that they want to clean up our neighborhood, scooping up all the elements that make our community what it is.
I'm hoping that we'll zealously fight to protect that OB savoir-faire. Hope we'll stand up and shout 'je maintiendrai' and ‘j'embrasse mon rival, mais c'est pour l'etouffer' Maybe that’s just the point, we all don’t speak the same language.
It's going to be a battle, but our neighborhood is definitely worth it.