After some delays, I finally decided to start blogging for the Patch network. Patch is an online newspaper located in smaller towns than the also-online Examiner covers. But whereas Examiner is all about "experts" putting their spin on things, Patch keeps it objective. It tells you the facts in true news fashion, and lets you decide for yourself, instead of being told what to think about a situation and why.So is there much in common between them? Not a whole lot, except for the whole "online" thing. And like many of the other online news organizations, Patch offers a platform for blogging. After being invited to participate by Khari Johnson, Imperial Beach Patch's editor-in-chief, I decided I wanted to be onboard.
Perspectives, Neighbors, and Walking the Dog at 1 a.m.
"As far as I can tell, there are three types of folks in Imperial Beach: those who have been here for years, those whose military service brings them here, and those who simply arrived and don't want to leave. I'm in the third group.
Fact is: I'm relatively new to California, only having been here a few years. I'm originally from parts south - Mississippi, Arkansas, those kinds of places.
When I was much younger, still in high school, my family visited San Diego as part of a vacation. I discovered that I had a warm spot in my heart for this part of Southern California that never quite went away. But it was decades before I returned.
My girlfriend accepted a job out here about five years ago. I helped her drive across the country to move and settle in. Her new job was in Chula Vista, and she got an apartment in Otay Ranch. Two years later, when I finally decided to make the move myself, we got a different, larger apartment, still in that part of town.
If I was to say it didn't do much for me, I'd be minimizing it. In actuality, I found it a soul-numbing, mind-draining sort of place - not at all the California I wanted to live in."
Click to keep reading at Imperial Beach Patch...
I recently moved from northern California to Oklahoma. South of San Diego kind of reminds me of Arkansas/Oklahoma, not so great, but if you move up to parts of San Diego or the beach towns north of there it is another world. Or, if you move to northern California -- that is another world, as is central California. The place really should be 3-4 different states.
ReplyDeleteI will have to respectfully disagree with you on part of that.
ReplyDeleteHaving lived much of my life in Arkansas and near Oklahoma, I don't think they're that similar.
And Imperial Beach certainly doesn't look like it. It's full of surfers and skateboarders, dog walkers, bicyclists, half-dressed women and fully naked guys. It has a completely different vibe - retro. Statewide and nationwide press has called Imperial Beach "the last funky beach town in Southern California." I think that's a tremendous description.
I've been in Mission Beach, Ocean Beach, and Pacific Beach. None of them have any vibe other than "this is gonna cost ya." Heck, Mission Beach looks like a Memphis neighborhood jammed up against the water.
I agree about central and northern California. They're stunning places, but they just don't have that surf-bum vibe I was looking for. But as far as "parts of San Diego or the beach towns north of there," you can keep them. :-)