6 San Diego Uptown News | Sept. 30–Oct.13, 2011


LETTER/EVENTS


3737 Fifth Ave. Suite 201 San Diego, CA 92103 (619) 519-7775


PUBLISHER David Mannis


(619) 519-7775 x101


dmannis@sduptownnews.com EDITOR


Ashley Mackin


(619) 519-7775 x103 editor@sduptownnews.com


ASSISTANT EDITOR Anthony King


(619) 519-7775 x102 editor@gay-sd.com


REPORTERS & COLUMNISTS Logan Broyles Elena Buckley


Patricia Morris Buckley Kristen Fogle Ashley Garman Michael Good “Dr. Ink”


Brook Larios Lauren Lastowka Jocelyn Maggard Margie Palmer


Frank Sabatini, Jr.


PHOTOGRAPHERS Paul Body


Jarett Boskovich


DIRECTOR OF SALES MARKETING


Mike Rosensteel (619) 519-7775 x108 miker@sduptownnews.com Letter to the Editor


The Vinyl Replacement Window Epidemic


Our neighborhoods are going vinyl, and I’m not referring to LP’s.


The architectural heritage of our historic San Diego is under assault! Look around. Vinyl windows with ersatz colonial grids are infecting our pretty, early 1900’s homes everywhere! This home “improvement” trend is rampant and insidious, it’s spreading like a disease, and it’s defiling the beauty of the charm- ing buildings around us. Classic and uniquely styled


wood windows are a signature architectural feature of the Spanish revival and craftsman homes that grace our neighbor- hoods. Windows are the “eyes” of a home. Deterioration of these windows has led owners to replace them with standard, look-alike, factory-made vinyl substitutes. This is particularly common in apartment buildings where owners have been suc- cumbing to promised “energy efficiency,” “lasting beauty” and cost-effectiveness. These promis- es are made by profit-conscious salesmen in an industry that has swollen from 10 manufacturers to over 3,000 in 15 years. It’s debatable as to whether they


are a cost-effective solution to aging windows, although they certainly do look cheap. They start out a promising lily white and after some years turn yellow, not unlike the shade of under- arm stains in your favorite white t-shirt. Nice, huh?


They never look right in our historic buildings. And beyond their negative aesthetics, vinyl windows are unsustainable. They are a petrochemical product. Their much vaunted “insulat- ing core”, between two layers of glass, can fog up and, once this happens, they will have to be replaced again. Claims of these miracle windows “lasting forever” are clearly undocumented, as


CalendarofEvents


SEPT. 30 Preschool storytime: 10:30 to 11 a.m., Mission Hills Library, 925 W. Washington St., 692-4910, tinyurl.com/missionhills, free. Mission Hills Farmer’s


Market: 3 to 7 p.m. every Friday, 4050 Falcon St., free. 30th on 30th: 5 to 7 p.m.,


specials and discounted drinks and appetizers at participating restaurants and bars along 30th St. from Adams Avenue to Grape St. including Urban Solace, Bar Pink, The Linkery, Ritual Tavern and Rancho’s Cocina. “Edward II”: 8 p.m. Fri-


days and Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 2, Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Blvd., 220-0097, diversionary.org, $31-$33.


Eliza Gilkyson and John


Gorka: 7:30 p.m., AMSD Concerts, 4650 Mansfield St., 303-8176, amsdconcerts.com, elizagilkyson.com, johngorka. com, $22.


Cinema Under the Stars


presents “Harold and Maude”: 8 p.m., Cinema Under the Stars, 4040 Goldfinch St.,


295-4221, topspresents.com, $14 Thursday and Sunday, $15 Friday and Saturday.


OCT. 1 Golden Hill Farmer’s


Market: 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday, B St. between 27th and 28th Streets, free. Old Town Farmer’s Mar-


ket: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Satur- day, Harney Street, free. Trolley dances: 10 a.m. with


tours leaving every hour until 3 p.m., beginning at the Grantville trolley station at 4510 Alvarado Canyon Rd., stop at six stations going eastbound to Santee to view performances from 50 San Diego dancers and five renowned choreographers, sandiegodance- theater.org, general admission $30, seniors $20 and students $15.


Spooky Science: 1 to 3 p.m., children ages 5 to 12 can learn the chemistry and biology behind glow in the dark flubber, spider webs and more at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, 1875 El Prado, rhfleet.org, $2 with admission.


South Park Walkabout: Ar-


tOberfest: 6 to 10 p.m., explore South Park shops and businesses along with live music, guided walking tours, pumpkin art and more on 30th


and Fern Streets be-


tween Beech and Kalmia Streets, southparkscene.com, free. Cinema Under the Stars


presents “Harold and Maude”: 8 p.m., Cinema Under the Stars, 4040 Goldfinch St., 295-4221, topspresents.com, $14 Thursday and Sunday, $15 Friday and Saturday. Old Town Art Festival: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., a showcase of local artists, live entertainment, food and wine in historic Old Town. Free. Oldtownartfestival.com 233 – 5008.


OCT. 2 Hillcrest Farmer’s Market:


9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Sunday, Hillcrest DMV, 3960 Normal St., free.


Trolley dances: 1 p.m. with tours leaving every half hour until 3:30 p.m., beginning at the Grantville trolley station at 4510 Alvarado Canyon Rd., stop at six


stations going eastbound to San- tee to view performances from 50 San Diego dancers and five renowned choreographers, sandi- egodancetheater.org, general admission $30, seniors $20 and students $15. Old Town Art Festival: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., a showcase of local artists, live entertainment, food and wine in historic Old Town. Free. Oldtownartfestival.com 233 – 5008.


OCT. 3


Brawn and Beauty: Works on Copper: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, exhibit running through Oct. 16 at L Street Fine Art, 628 L St., director@lstreetfineart.com, free. Urban Design/Project Subcommittee of the NPPC meeting: 6 to 8 p.m., North Park Recreation Center/Adult Center, 2719 Howard Ave., 954-5588, rbarry53@cox.net, free. Acoustic Strawbs: 7:30 p.m., AMSD Concerts, 4650 Mansfield St., 303-8176, amsdconcerts.com, strawbsweb.co.uk, $25.


see Calendar, page 7


they have only existed for 20 years. Please read this link: (see: http://www.eastrow.org/ar- ticles/vinylwindows.html). The solution lies not in dump- ing the old wood windows in a landfill, but in fixing them. Hire a local craftsman. Keep them painted.Take pride in them. They are pretty and deserve it. Wood windows can be restored and, if maintained, can unquestionably last another hundred years, or more. Let’s not violate San Diego’s architecture


with vinyl.


—Mark Whitehead, Mission Hills


—Robyn Dunn, Hillcrest


SENIOR ADVERTISING CONSULTANT Sean Eshelman


(619) 519-7775 x105 sean@sduptownnews.com


SALES CONSULTANT Jarett Boskovich


(619) 519-7775 x107 jarett@sduptownnews.com


ART DIRECTOR Louis Guzman


(619) 519-7775 x111 louis@sduptownnews.com


PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Rebecah Corbin


(619) 519-7775 x111 becahuptown@gmail.com


Edward Ramos


(619) 519-7775 x111 ACCOUNTING


(619) 519-7775 x112


accounting@sduptownnews.com OPINIONS/LETTERS


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