Boulevard News – July 2018
Soul Flow Studio
Erin Bowman always considered herself an artist who was fortunate to be well-supported and inspired by her creative parents. Her father was an architect who loved to draw and appreciated historic buildings. Her mother practiced drawing, painting and crafting on a regular basis, and exemplified herself as a teacher and caretaker, a soulful nurturing person who Erin aspired to be.
For a long time, Erin delved in art but felt stuck until her inner voice reminded her to simply put work out there for people to see, disregarding any expectations. As an emerging artist, Erin participated in art shows and found herself naturally connecting with other artists. This lead to more opportunities as a public artist including commissions to paint utility boxes, murals, and conduct public workshops.
As she continued to nurture this fantastic network of artists in San Diego, she saw a need to develop a spiritual, creative home for artists and the community at large. Just down the block from where she lives, a beautiful art deco storefront on the corner of El Cajon Blvd and Illinois sat vacant. When she inquired about the space, the property owner opted to support her vision and Soul Flow Studio was born.
Before opening, Erin invited artists within her network to transform the building into an alluring space full of color and inspiration. Guided by her intuition, these artists have become the foundation of a community who are activating Soul Flow Studio with fantastic events and workshops encompassing music, art, dance, yoga, all supportive gatherings that bring together creative, soulful individuals. As the space continues to evolve, a ripple effect stemming from the core collaborations that Erin ignited act as a reminder that by disregarding expectations and remaining open to possibilities, prospects for Soul Flow Studio remains infinite.
Soul Flow Studio – 3095 El Cajon Blvd
Doggiepalooza!
The Dojo Cafe, PowerPet Treats & WhippetKerby present Doggiepalooza at Fair@44!
Join us for a fun-filled day with your four-legged friends 🐶! Everyone welcome (even if you don’t have a four-legged friend)
~Free general admission
~Goodie bag with dog treats from PowerPet!
~Donation based contests to raise funds for charity
~Special guest speaker – Trainer Talk with K9 Training by Tim
~Snow Cones, Street Style Brazilian BBQ & Tacos 🌮 available for the hoomans 🙂
The Blvd 20/20 Town Hall
On Saturday, June 9th, the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association hosted The Blvd 20/20 Town Hall, the first of three events guiding the vision for a safer, more livable, more workable Boulevard by year 2020. Such developments do not come about without strategic planning, however. To help shape that vision, State Assemblyman Todd Gloria, and City Council members Chris Ward and Georgette Gomez spoke to the local struggles, opportunities, and initiatives in which their respective offices are currently taking focus. Aiming to intentionally develop the Boulevard in a way that adds value for all segments of the community, no feedback was more valuable than the voices of the community members themselves.
On Saturday, June 9th, the El Cajon Boulevard Business Improvement Association hosted The Blvd 20/20 Town Hall, the first of three events guiding the vision for a safer, more livable, more workable Boulevard by year 2020. Such developments do not come about without strategic planning, however. To help shape that vision, State Assemblyman Todd Gloria, and City Council members Chris Ward and Georgette Gomez spoke to the local struggles, opportunities, and initiatives in which their respective offices are currently taking focus. Aiming to intentionally develop the Boulevard in a way that adds value for all segments of the community, no feedback was more valuable than the voices of the community members themselves.
As experts of their own communities, the residents of the adjoining University Heights, North Park, Normal Heights, City Heights, Kensington, and Talmadge that collectively populate the El Cajon Boulevard corridor had big ideas and unique insights to the assets and pitfalls that make up the Boulevard, as well as to the potential of what the Boulevard could be. In addition to the riveting dialogue that took place, and to ensure that as much of the feedback as possible was carefully collected in an inviting fashion, the Boulevard BIA encouraged residents, community and civic leaders to respond via post-it notes to the overarching questions: “How can El Cajon Blvd become a better place for urban living and working? With millions of dollars in potential development impact fees (DIF) from future development, how would you like to see funds used on the Blvd? How can we encourage affordability and accessibility for all ages, incomes and ethnicities? [and] How can we nurture the culture of the distinct communities along the Blvd?”
Notable trends among the responses included more trees and green spaces, mixed use and transit oriented development (TOD), more thorough lighting and infrastructure improvements, more public gathering spaces, art, and community festivities, and housing development that creates options for all income levels. The overarching themes: walkability and mobility at large. People want to live in neighborhoods in which they feel safe and connected to others. The Boulevard knows that grassroots engagement is imperative to reaching its goals and is thus equipped to keep listening, to keep reaching out, and to keep giving a platform to the diverse voices of El Cajon Boulevard.
Thank you to Housing You Matters, Urban Land Institute, Vinnie SD Realty, and The Rock Church for sponsoring the town hall, as well as state and city officials, and representatives from the City Heights Community Development Corporation, AVRP Architects and the Climate Action Plan for their contributions.
As experts of their own communities, the residents of the adjoining University Heights, North Park, Normal Heights, City Heights, Kensington, and Talmadge that collectively populate the El Cajon Boulevard corridor had big ideas and unique insights to the assets and pitfalls that make up the Boulevard, as well as to the potential of what the Boulevard could be. In addition to the riveting dialogue that took place, and to ensure that as much of the feedback as possible was carefully collected in an inviting fashion, the Boulevard BIA encouraged residents, community and civic leaders to respond via post-it notes to the overarching questions: “How can El Cajon Blvd become a better place for urban living and working? With millions of dollars in potential development impact fees (DIF) from future development, how would you like to see funds used on the Blvd? How can we encourage affordability and accessibility for all ages, incomes and ethnicities? [and] How can we nurture the culture of the distinct communities along the Blvd?”
Notable trends among the responses included more trees and green spaces, mixed use and transit oriented development (TOD), more thorough lighting and infrastructure improvements, more public gathering spaces, art, and community festivities, and housing development that creates options for all income levels. The overarching themes: walkability and mobility at large. People want to live in neighborhoods in which they feel safe and connected to others. The Boulevard knows that grassroots engagement is imperative to reaching its goals and is thus equipped to keep listening, to keep reaching out, and to keep giving a platform to the diverse voices of El Cajon Boulevard.
Thank you to Housing You Matters, Urban Land Institute, Vinnie SD Realty, and The Rock Church for sponsoring the town hall, as well as state and city officials, and representatives from the City Heights Community Development Corporation, AVRP Architects and the Climate Action Plan for their contributions.
Salsa Sabado Continues Year Round at Fair@44
SAVE THE DATES – August 11th and 25th!! Salsa Sabado is located at Fair 44 on El Cajon Blvd between Farimount and 44th. What used to be an empty lot is now flourishing as a community gathering space! Come check out this new hot spot and get some dancing in too!!!
5pm – Latin Dance Lesson by Melómano Entertainment! No experience necessary for dance lesson and no dance partner requited! Nice big dance floor for open air dancing!
As always Café Dojo will be fueling us with drinks for purchase on site so come thirsty my friends!! Its going to be a great evening!
Digital Gym Film Schedule
Click here for more info.
Trashy Hour
Pariah Brewing Company
3052 El Cajon Blvd, Ste B
There are just so many breweries and so little time, this one is located in the North Park area off of El Cajon Blvd. I really enjoy the fact that there are three different breweries right next to each other, so if you’re looking to brew hop that’s a perfect place to start since you can hit three up although one of them is not serving beer it serves hard kombucha FYI .
I love how all of the breweries including this one shows all of their brewing tanks, it puts a total industrial style feel to the mix which I really enjoy. This place I believe can seat around 30 people give or take and had a nice and relaxing feel upon walking inside. The brew tender was very nice and very respectful, very laid-back but Attentive as well.
The beers had great flavor and I was very happy with what I had chose, they don’t have a huge variety of beers but definitely a decent selection to choose from.
Click here for more yelp reviews.