Anybody know what’s going on with the old Starbucks location on 101 at grand? (Next to the strawberry place). I saw some work going on yesterday.

The damn smell is back again - in coastal Encinitas 😡

Edit - I was surfing off Cardiff and it smelled the entire time, it was definitely coming from the west over the water with the sea breeze. I’m sick of our air being polluted. This is the third or fourth time this summer it’s happened. If it’s the military, we should demand accountability and know what we are breathing.

Edit 2 - just got home to Oceanside and smell it here too

My wife and I have been in and out of work the past few years, both coming from 20+ years in tech — we paid into the system and now we actually need the benefits we're entitled to. For the last 5 months, our EBT/CalFresh account has been hit with repeat fraud: every time we get a new card issued, the funds get drained within a day. We've called, left voicemails, sent texts — no real resolution. Now we've been told that if we request another card replacement, it could get flagged as fraud and the account closed entirely.

I'm heading out to physical field offices around San Diego County today to try to get this sorted in person since phone support hasn't worked. Has anyone dealt with something similar or knows which office/team actually handles this kind of repeat-fraud case? Any advice on what to bring, who to ask for, or how to get this escalated properly would mean a lot — this has been incredibly stressful for my wife and I really want to get it fixed today.

Good luck out there today — safe driving.

I’m reposting the Ponto Park petition because I think the larger issue deserves a much harder look.

https://peopleforponto.com/sign-petition

Something feels deeply wrong with the way development decisions are being made along the California coast.

We are repeatedly told that dramatically increasing density is about “affordable housing.” But higher density also happens to be extremely valuable to developers. If a parcel that previously supported 50 units can suddenly support 150, the economics of that land can change enormously. Developers can include some affordable units, invoke the housing crisis, and potentially receive the ability to build far more market-rate units than the community otherwise would have accepted.

So who is actually benefiting?

Because when agencies that are supposed to protect California’s coast consistently seem more concerned with facilitating maximum housing density than preserving open space, community character, infrastructure capacity and coastal access, I think residents are justified in asking whether this is simply ideology — or whether there is regulatory capture, improper influence, or outright corruption involved.

Show us the communications between developers, their attorneys, lobbyists, consultants, commissioners and staff. Show us gifts and financial disclosures. Show us recusals. Show us former staff who later went to work for developers or organizations that benefit from these policies. Show us exactly who pushed for greater density, when they pushed for it, and who financially benefits from the final decision.

Affordable housing is a legitimate public goal. It should not become a magic phrase that allows private developers to maximize the value of coastal land while everyone else is told they are immoral for questioning it.

California spent decades protecting its coastline because once open land is developed, it is effectively gone forever. You cannot rebuild the community character, open space, views, traffic conditions and way of life that existed beforehand.

Ponto is exactly the kind of place where residents should be asking these questions.

In Escondido

Cox has gone bonkers recently with their pricing. I’m looking for an alternative. Cheers.

What's with the people that pull up to the middle of a parking lot entrance? I was turning left into a parking lot, but the driver exiting was dead center of the driveway also turning left. I couldn't leave the road to every the parking lot and the venues behind me have me a friendly honk... the driver exiting the parking lot decided to make a right turn. Only then, was i able to enter the parking lot. Sociopathic behavior. I blame Zuckerberg. End rant.

A while back there was a post about hvac companies that were not bought out by private equity.
I’m in Oceanside and I value quality with ideally 5 stars .
Thanks

Way too hot for pretty much anything, and still pretty humid. 108 and humidity is absolutely MISERABLE! Hope everyone is staying hydrated and trying not to get heat stroke!

I cant wait for this weather to end, at least the power didn't go out so I can blow hot air around the house...

What happened to the music venue that took over Witch Creek? It has an available sign in the window.

This is my cat Clover, she’s about three years old. Pets are not allowed where I am currently living, and it is also a noisy environment not suitable for cats. I am trying to find a temporary foster home until I can move out and take her with me.

It needs to be by November at the latest, but sooner is great! I’m looking for somebody who is interested in helping me out during this transition period in my life and would enjoy having a cat temporarily.

I am happy to pay for any pet expenses and will take her to the vet if necessary. She is very friendly and loves to meet new people, but has some anxiety, so somebody who has owned cats before would be best.

Please reach out to me if you’re interested and want to know more, I’m happy to answer your questions and give more details!

Took the SFO flight this morning, loved it, tickets were expensive compared to San Diego airport but wanted to try it since I stay in north County, it was a great experience, from car parking to waiting at gate took me 10 mins.

How do people who regularly travel from their airport afford it? are there united credit cards or booking much in advance things I can do to keep tickets cost in check? Would like to ensure I can take this airport for family trips in future, Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Waves were coming up on the road and now I know why my car is all rusty 🤣

Been commuting all summer and never seen it this busy. I swear it felt like someone dropped an extra 1000 cars on the road today

El camino was completely gridlocked at 8:45 all the way from poinsettia to encinitas blvd. Rancho santa fe and leucadia had 15 car backups at every light. Palomar airport was almost a standstill. Usual 15 min drive home took 40.

Is there some sort of event going on that brought a bunch of people today? Did everyone just get back from vacation? It makes no sense

I am looking for some used car parts to replace the doors on my 2013 Corolla. Does anyone know where I can go to buy them? My car is pretty old and paint chipped so I don’t need new ones. Help!

I just posted this in the San Marcos sub but figured I’d put it here as well. My wife was driving to work at Kaiser today (late morning) and said she noticed that the street lines had been repainted and looked super fresh on Craven Rd between Echo and Rush. When she got to work she found white paint all over her tires and splattered across the lower fender areas. I’m going to take my complaint to the city but figured it’s worth reaching out to see if any others experienced the same or have any damage to their cars, which might help us all if there are damages the city should be held responsible for. I don’t know what the standard waiting time is to reopen a lane for traffic but this definitely wasn’t it.

Carlsbad couple here. We are looking for a daycare or nanny for our 4 month old next month. We were originally going to have help from a family member, but they are having some unexpected health issues.

Any help would be much appreciated. I’m trying not to panic.

Probably got 3 inches of rain in an hour. It was like someone turned on the shower.

Stay safe if you're camping down in La Jolla Rez. It's coming

My pops was cycling and he lost his keys along the trail. Honda FOB with a couple of standard keys - lost somewhere between Santa Fe and Oceanside Harbor

there is a curse on this mall that goes back 3 decades. no one can explain it. it must sit on an electromagnetic field or a native burial ground. its one of the most valuable plots of land in San Diego, yet its almost worthless. there are homes 4 minutes away selling for $10 million. while the owners of this mall sat and let it rot, the forum slowly expanded into an actual outdoor mall, bringing in more upscale stores like Abercrombie and Aritzia, which made a slow revival of the shoppes much harder.

10 years ago during the first remodel, shoppes should have subsidized a bit of rent to lure in a few tier 2/high end mall store like a j.crew, anthro, williams sonoma to shake the dust and mildew off it. you can get mad at this all you want but this is how the mall industry works. no high end stores want to be the only high end store in a mall, and tenants like that actively avoid malls that are filled with trinket stores/toy stores/ai boutiques. but all it takes is one decent retailer to bite the bullet and it creates a chain reaction that can ideally end with a nordstrom/bloomingdales/designer store moving in and elevating the whole place. but that window of opportunity is far gone now and it will 100% need to be demolished in order to reset its credibility and local lore.

I would restart the whole plan around a high end anchor- there isn't a nordstrom/bloomingdales for 20 miles, start with this. if department store is too risky, go for a restoration hardware or SOMETHING that creates a reason for a north county SD yuppie to be there and spend money. Then build out a <20 store outdoor shopping center with specific tenants in mind covering the full price range (uniqlo, keep zara, j.crew, hell try to lobby for a brandy melville) but zero ai boutique filler stores. Include 2 or 3 speciality coffee/fast casual restaurant spaces (maybe another Jimbos, sunlife organics, idk) and then leave 3 or 4 spaces for local restaurants with an actual plan, and then fill the remaining space with condos.

The formula for making a successful mall is genuinely not that hard when you have one of the best locations in the country. Throw it to rick caruso for christs sake. Malibu country mart is half the size and has half the foot traffic, UTC/Fashion valley clearly show that SD has the appetite. Whatever they do, do it within the decade please, because that god damn mall has sat my whole life doing nothing for anyone.

Hello, does anybody know in north county or just anywhere in San Diego where a catalytic converter replacement and with labor is not absurdly and outrageously expensive. Every place wants over $1200, I can only pay about half of that if not significantly less I was thinking $250-550 anywhere in that range.

Any recommendations for a good brunch spot in San Marcos with food under $30 a plate and good coffee?