I am big on form meeting function and for using the resources that you have on the ground and working with those elements to meet your needs. Doing so results in a unique character that is a genuine reflection of our place and its people.
Some of the characteristics of Leucadian neighborhoods are big lots with lots of fruit trees, Torrey pines, and palms and you will find streets framed with grass and old plantings.
Years ago, it wasn't uncommon for people to say these neighborhoods reminded them of Hawaii.
I haven't heard that recently. Now we have these awful gravel swales along the sides of the road.
Apparently, the city forces people to do this. Not only does this reduce the curb appeal, and thus the value of our neighborhoods, it reduces the safety of our streets for pedestrians and bikers. There is no way kids can ride their bikes through the gravel, so they are funneled in to narrow roads in front of moving cars.
This is made worse by the fact that the city has been allowing developers to use some of the street for the gravel beds. In the above picture, about two feet of asphalt was torn out. This practice is pushing kids further toward the middle of the road.It is not comfortable to walk through the gravel, so people walk in the way of auto traffic. It sure ain't making Leucadia more walkable. It is making walking less desirable and dangerous.
You might not even have the opportunity to walk in the gravel. In the above picture it shows how the city tried to shove parking, drainage, utilities, and a walking path on top of each other. This particular gravel swale fills with weeds and makes the street look ghetto.
Why bother?
Does the city maintain these swales? Can anyone argue that this is good for property values? I've talked to a couple developers who don't think so and who would rather not do this crap (their description).
Here is a tale of two developers on Vulcan.
One developer put in a heartwarming gravel trap and the other put in a more finished look with curbs and a sidewalk. Two different approaches just down the street from each other.
Does this mean that developers have a choice? Ugly gravel that requires maintenance (Option A) or gutters and sidewalks (Option B)? I hope this is not what is going on, because it seems totally dumb. If the city is willing to allow all the hardscape of Option B, why not allow grass to the edge of the street (Option L)? Option L would result in less hardscape and allow way more percolation than Option B.
Another question. Why don't we see people in New Encinitas being forced to cut out their sidewalks out and put in gravel pits? Why does Leucadia get special treatment?
Here is a tale of two sides of one development.
On one street it is junkyard gravel and the other a nice gutter. The gutter moves the water quickly down the street and into the storm drain. Why no gravel pits here?
Then there are cases where the engineering goes right to the edge of the asphalt. No escape for kids on bikes and there is no reduction in drainage. Why no gravel pits here?
Why are some people forced to do gravel pits and not others?
Consider
Our town is still evolving and at this point we need to be careful to work up from our good qualities. Instead, the government is turning our cool qualities into blight.
Except for major walkway corridors like Hwy101, Leucadia Blvd. and Grandview heading to the beach, there is no need for curb or gutter on neighborhood streets.
ReplyDeleteHawaii does it right. Encourage landscaped swales that are beautiful and promote percolation and less runoff. Bland ugly concrete and gravel are not the answer. Is the City requiring the developers to put in the ugly concrete and gravel frontage?
If so, this practice has to stop. Leucadia Town Council Please address this issue. This is why I pay my dues so this type of crap does not happen.
Thanks Kevin and thanks LTC for addressing this issue.
This is a LTC type of issue for sure.
ReplyDeleteI like sidewalks
ReplyDeleteThe picture of Hawaii looks almost like Heaven (without gold streets), but realisitcally, WHERE do people walk, use strollers or bike? There's absolutely no designation and it looks like everything has to occur in the street (or grass).
ReplyDeletefred- I know you live in Hwy101 and experience the crappy envirnment from the high speeds and volume of traffic from that street.
ReplyDeleteTo experience the relaxed neighborhood feel of Leucadia, go walk along Hymettus. The volume of traffic is so low, that bikes, walkers and cars can all share the road. No sidewalks or gravel areas needed.
You can have sidewalks, but why do you have put in this gravel crap if you choose not to install them?
ReplyDelete9:50
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree with neighborhoods that do not want sidewalks. Excuse my 101 tunnel vision!
when you add more than 500 sq. feet of living space to your existing home, the City requires a dedication for a right of way of about 5-15 feet on the front of your property depending upon the existing right of way and the current street classification. Those who are forced to give the city this land in exchange for their building permit, cannot build on that land except to build some sort of street improvement like a sidewalk. Those who can't afford that dump gravel. The result of this foolish requirement is exactly what we are seeing. Unless all the residents on a street make the land donation, there will be no City improvements, only the barren wasteland piecemealed with sterile sidewalks.
ReplyDeleteWhat a stupid zoning rule. That needs to change.
ReplyDeleteLTC - Please get on that.
We are used to the staff at City Hall making dumb decisions at every turn. Those who can, get real jobs that require thinking and work with consequences like losing their job or going out of business. Government employees take these positions because they can't get real jobs, they're inept. Until someone gets in and cleans up this mess, just more of the same. Ask a question to two different staff employees and most of the time you get different answers. When dealing with the city, YOU have to know the codes, regulations, ordinances, etc. This is hodgepodge government at it's best.
ReplyDeleteWe can't forget that Hawaii gets a lot more rain then we do. Those grassy areas along the streets in Hawaii are not irrigated. We need to be realistic to our climate which is semi-arid not tropical.
ReplyDeleteGravel and concrete are not semi-arid- they are ugly!
ReplyDeleteany planted area would be better than that crap.
Yes, I agree that Planning and the City Manager, etc., often put "form" before function or aesthetics.
ReplyDeleteThe gravel is ugly and takes away from walking space. It is not that difficult to walk on grass, as people do in Leucadia Roadside Park, and did in front of the Pannikin before the sidewalk was installed.
The initial comment here, from yesterday, at 8:28 a.m., and Kevin's original post are right on target.
I like the dirt better than the concrete and gravel crap.
ReplyDeleteand overall, I like the gravel crap better than the gutter crap.
Stocks is posting on Red County Blog again. Annoying prick...
ReplyDeleteAnd where do you get off claiming Leucadia is all about big lots?
Do you never drive Vulcan Ave with its apartments? How about all the trailer parks / mobile home parks? The Condo's like Skyloft and the condo's off of Leucadia Blvd?
Take off your psychadelic glasses and look at the REAL Leucadia.
It's a mixture and that's what makes it cool. Freaks like you are just messed up and cannot accept reality.
Wow. Funny and angy. Alittle scary. some mispellings But yet some truth.
ReplyDeletePure blog.
I'll admit, I don't walk around Leucadia neighborhoods very often. But when we were house shopping about 15 years ago, we spent a lot of time in various areas of Encinitas to get a feel for our neighborhood options. I walked around Leucadia and one of the reasons we didn't buy a house in Leucadia was lack of sidewalks and walking ease.
ReplyDeleteGranted, I hail from a more urban environment than Encinitas and generally prefer some sort of defined sidewalks when walking in developed housing areas, and soft ground when I'm in undeveloped nature. So my walking path tastes were formed by a very different experience than what Leucadia provides. I do understand and appreciate surfaces that can percolate, instead of impermeable concrete, if they still allow universal access and a pleasant walking experience. But that sort of creative, well-executed system doesn't happen very often, as you've illustrated so well.
I don't especially like the "middle ground" situation in Leucadia with its lack of walkway definition, no matter how bucolic the neighborhood might seem. We were planning for a family at the time of our house hunting, so certain priorities pushed to the head of our minds. I know it's done, but in Leucadia, I couldn't picture my walks pushing a baby carriage or with a walking/tricycle riding youngster without a lot of weaving around parked cars, garbage cans, and dodging cars, not to mention avoiding the loose barking dogs that seemed to be tolerated. So we chose a house in a neighborhood with sidewalks. It was a big factor at the time.
To Anna,
ReplyDeleteWait until you are a senior citizen and the only exercise you get is walks through the neighborhood. My experience is that most of Leucadia not very pedestrian friendly to the elderly who have much slower reflexes to avoid passing cars. Walks in the evening during the fall and winter are tough because no one put in any street lights to help drivers see me along the side of the road. The roads may look nice to those that drive them but have discouraged me from using them as I have gotten older. I guess it is time to buy a treadmill.
Hawaii is long gone and Los Angeles slowly creeps southward...
ReplyDeletecarlsbadcrawl.com
That last picture shows what all Leucadia will look in time. 12 feet or so of barren rocks. No landscaping. Its ugly, promotes speeding, promotes parking in the street. I'm told its for drainage purposes. Really? This is the best option? And no, you cannot ride a bike on it.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, why is Leucadia only subject to this ugliness?
It's crazy. How do we make it stop?
A lot of Leucadia isn't very flat. This is major reason not to put in sidewalks. Massive grading and the removal of trees and landscaping would be necessary. This was also one of the major reasons that the trails program through neighborhoods west of I5 was a stupid idea, even if JP seems to have liked it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I walk through the residential neighborhoods I get off the road for cars, though most pedestrians don't. A real problem is that where landscaping extends to the street, people will just park their cars out in the street!
I walk all the time in Leucadia. You guys must be as retarded as the people that have difficulty with roundabouts.
ReplyDeleteWhen I am out walking on the street, cars go around me.
Isn't that like 90% of the neighborhoods in the S. CA.
I personally think the curb, gutter, sidewalk standard is the worst
the best would be road, landscaped area (no curb or gutter), and then concrete or other pervious walkway.
That is the best I can think of.
This is NOT a Leucadia issue- I had the same requirement in old Encinitas. Gravel is better than curbs and gutters in the context of storm water runoff. Some who have planted grass have seen it die because their neighbor will park on it every day ( public street and all). Check out some properties on Cornish for an example.
ReplyDeleteSidewalks and streetilights blow and utterly destroy what ambiance might exist in these semi-rural neighborhoods.
The fact is, the city got sued for not doing enough in terms of storm water and this is the result. Calling city staff names for implementing what was agreed to is not exactly fair. If you don't like it, and I personally don't, then we need to let folks such as CERF and Marco Gonzales know. There are alternatives, but everyone needs to agree or we will just get sued again.
Grass and planted areas would be great, but the property owners and their neighbors with extra cars all need to work together to keep these areas looking nice.