Monthly Archives: July 2011

Culture, Cocktails, Cabrillo, & Class 1 Streetcars

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We sure had a lot of fun last week! On Thursday, Class 1 No. 138 showed up to the San Diego Museum of Art‘s Culture & Cocktails event and dazzled the attendees with its slick Arts & Craft design. Then on Saturday we took No. 138 out to the Cabrillo National Monument and spent a day in the warm sun with some great folks who really loved boarding the Class 1. The ocean breeze blowing in their hair and the streetcar bell ringing out across the event made it easy to imagine these historic beauties back on the rails. Take a look at some choice photos down below, courtesy of Mark Brlej and Brianne Cross.

If you didn’t make it out to see the streetcar this month, be sure to look out for our next announcement of upcoming events. We hope to see you soon!

A Surplus of Funds

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A surplus is not a concept we deal with all too often in the realm of contemporary American government, but nonetheless that is the news coming out of SANDAG this week.

After weighing their options and collecting public input, Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration have selected the “Express Lanes Only” option for the I-5 expansion plan. This plan, the least expensive of the four considered, will convert the I-5 in the north coastal region to include eight all-purpose lanes and four express lanes and reduces the cost of the project from $4.3 billion down to $3.5 billion. Presented with the opportunity of redistributing $800 million to other transportation projects in the 2050 RTP, SANDAG’s Transportation Committee is holding a joint session with the Regional Planning Committee tomorrow, Friday July 15th, at 10:30am to discuss the management of those excess dollars.

Right now SANDAG has only accounted for funding roughly 10% of the streetcar projects in the 2050 RTP. We encourage everyone to please head down to the SANDAG Board at 401 B Street, 7th Floor in downtown San Diego and voice support for using a portion of these funds to ensure we get our streetcar lines and we get them soon! Also, be sure to tell them you want historic streetcars, as our San Diego treasures can operate as practical transportation and unique economic engines for our urban neighborhoods.

Thank you, we hope to see you there. Only with your support can we make streetcars in San Diego a reality!

Source: Move San Diego

Hop in the ‘Hood

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The 9th Annual Hop in the ‘Hood, put on by Hillquest last Sunday, was a ton of fun! It’s always great to see a richly diverse community coming together to just have a good time.

This event marked the first time that the public was able to actually enter Class 1 No. 138 since the 1930s and the feedback was quite positive! It was also nice to see Councilpersons Carl DeMaio and Todd Gloria out at Hop in the ‘Hood. Todd Gloria really got the crowd excited about the return of streetcar service and spoke to KUSI briefly about what streetcars can do for our urban neighborhoods. We couldn’t agree more, Councilman!

Up next: look for Car No. 138 at the South Park Summer Walkabout on July 16th!

Summer of the Streetcar

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Class 1 Streetcar No. 138 is going to be making the rounds in some of San Diego’s coolest neighborhoods — and some of its old stomping grounds — throughout the month of July. All of these events should be a blast and the streetcar is sure to catch eyes and turn heads. We hope you’ll join us!

Sunday July 10th, HillQuest’s 9th Annual Hop in the Hood — Head out to the 3700 block of 7th Avenue in Hillcrest for a day of fun, music, games, and entertainment, 10am – 6pm.

Saturday July 16th, South Park Summer Walkabout — South Park comes alive from 6pm-10pm with tours, music, entertainment, and specials at local restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and businesses! We’ll be on 30th near Beech St!

Thursday July 21st, Culture & Cocktails at the San Diego Museum of Art — Featuring a dual expo of Spanish art (“From El Greco to Dali”) and an exhibit on Gustav Stickley and the American Arts & Crafts movement (a perfect tie-in for our Arts & Crafts streetcar) this event is sure to have something for everyone — including delicious sangria and cocktails! Culture & Cocktails starts at 7pm.

Also be sure to visit our booth at Trolley Barn Park‘s annual Summer in the Park concert series (at the intersection of Adams Ave & Florida St).

Unless you hate fun, we’ll be seeing you soon!

The Coronado Independence Day Parade

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Come see Class 1 Streetcar No. 138 in the Coronado Independence Day Parade!

Be sure to get there early so you can grab a nice spot on Orange Ave. and take part in the celebration. It’s sure to be a lot of fun and Car No. 138 just looks better and better…. don’t miss it!

Full details for the event are available here.

Look for No. 138 to be out and about a lot this summer… Hop in the Hood, South Park Walkabout, Culture & Cocktails. Look for the details of all our July events here and on our Facebook page very soon.

The MTS Feasibility Study

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On Wednesday, June 29th, MTS held their first Community Open House for the City/Park Streetcar Feasibility Study. It was an interesting meeting and an important first step toward bringing back streetcar service to Park Blvd. It was also great to see the Class 1 streetcars up on the presentation boards as one of the officially considered options!

In case you missed the meeting, you can head over to the official website for the study and take a look at the presentation documents and more. If you want to see our historic streetcars running on Park Blvd. once again, be sure to follow this process closely… we’re still pushing on all fronts, but this would be a great way to bring the Class 1s back to one of their historic routes.