Author: John P Anderson

Living in San Diego. I enjoy learning about environmental issues and connecting with good people that want to make the world a better place. Cheers!

Airbnb Not Typically Allowed in Apartments

As the Airbnb debate continues in San Diego, I found it interesting to receive a warning letter from my previous apartment manager, Torrey Pines Property Management this week informing tenants that using sites like Airbnb is not allowed in the buildings they manage.  I contacted Torrey Pines and was informed that this is a proactive measure to avoid issues in future, not in response to issues that have occurred.  Good for them for taking a proactive, informative approach to the issue.

I wanted to share this since there are likely many San Diegans that would like to utilize sites like Airbnb to rent a spare room, or their apartment while they are out of town.  If you rent a property, or live in a building or community with an HOA it is important to check the terms or covenants, conditions, and restrictions before trying to host a guest on these platforms.  Note that this may also be the case even if you’re not receiving money by using a site like HomeExchange or Couchsurfing.

In addition to issues with your landlord, renting a room in your apartment or home is currently illegal in the City of San Diego and you may be liable for tens of thousands of dollars in fines as a woman in Burlingame has found out.  To date, this is the only penalty of this sort in San Diego but the Code Enforcement Division will be responding to complaints about this sort of use in the future and I assume pursuing violators with the same vigor as the Burlingame case.  Per conversations with Code Enforcement any enforcement will be complaint-driven – they won’t be using the publicly accessible information on sites like Airbnb and VRBO to identify potential violations.

If your lease doesn’t allow you to host on Airbnb but you think it would be beneficial try talking to your landlord.  Some landlords are willing to allow the use if you agree to take liability for any issues caused or may be willing to allow it for an increase in your rent payments.  I know a couple of people personally using this approach, and in San Francisco it worked out for a couple as well.

From SFGate:

Kelsey and Mike Sheofsky achieved that balance. The couple travel frequently for Shelter Co., their luxury-camping business. They had dabbled with the idea of listing their Mission District house on Airbnb. Then their landlord approached them.

“She said, ‘What do you think about Airbnb-ing your place when you’re gone?’ ” Kelsey Sheofsky said. “I thought, ‘Perfect, we’re ready to go.’ Now we do it, and we give her a 20 percent cut of any money we make after cleaning expenses. Some months we give her an extra 600 bucks.”

Your landlord may or may not be open to Airbnb – make sure you are informed and if you have a question make sure to ask.

2015-07-05 06.10.36
Our most recent Airbnb stay was in Budapest adjacent the Opera House.

Below is the letter from Torrey Pines in full.

Dear Resident(s):

The increasingly popular site airbnb.com where individuals can post short-term, vacation rentals is a growing concern for Landlords in San Diego due to the noise, strain on resources, and lack of regard for the property that comes from using any residence as a “Hotel” or “Bed and Breakfast”.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind our valued Residents that posting your apartment on this, or a similar site is considered a breach of contract and could result in legal action including eviction from the premises.

We take this matter very seriously and will be moving forward with legal action should your unit be located on a listing site for the purpose of subletting without our expressed written consent. Please contact your Property Manager if you have any questions or wish to report suspect or known violations.

Sincerely,

Torrey Pines Property Managment, Inc.
(858) 454-4200
www.torreypinespm.com

Santa Cruz Cove – A Great Ocean Beach Spot

Waves coming in at main swimming spot.
Santa Cruz Cove is a lovely small beach in OB.

Ocean Beach is one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Diego.  It’s where our family typically goes for beach trips and I recommend it as a great place to visit for all our friends and family from out of town.  Recently I rediscovered a great pocket beach in Ocean Beach at the foot of Santa Cruz Street, dubbed “Santa Cruz Cove”.  Officially, the beach is known as Santa Cruz Avenue Beach but I like the Cove version better.

The beach is a great spot to take our young children due to the wide variety of natural elements present.  There are two separate sand beach areas with waves that are mostly gentle and the ocean floor has a gradual slope so you can swim out and remain in mostly shallow water.  Tide pools are present with a variety of anemones, crabs, snails, and other small wildlife.  There are rocks to climb (and jump off of) and you can adventure north or south along the coast for more exploring.  If you enjoy the sound of waves crashing it’s a great place since the cliffs rise quickly behind the beaches, amplifying the sound.

There are typically not many people at Santa Cruz Cove so it’s also a good place for sunbathing, reading, or taking a nap.

The main negatives are that there is not a public restroom near (the closest is the lifeguard tower north of the pier) and there can be trash issues at times.

To reach Santa Cruz Cove walk south a few blocks along the ocean from the Ocean Beach Pier or descend the steps at the terminus of Santa Cruz Avenue.  (You can use 5098 Santa Cruz Avenue, San Diego, CA 92107 as your search address if using GPS or a mapping app.)

Have a great day and I hope you enjoy your visit to a great beach in San Diego!

San Diego Brewery May Be “Selling Out”. Does It Matter?

San Diego County has a large beer industry, there are currently more than 110 active breweries.  Along with high numbers, San Diego has earned a reputation as a leader in the craft beer industry.  Many would rank it as the top craft beer city/region in the United States – whether it is the top dog or in the top five isn’t especially important.  It’s a leader however you measure – top ranked beers, top ranked breweries, number of breweries, or gallons produced annually.

As craft beer has exploded it has increasingly come at the expense of the “big brewers” – InBev and MillerCoors.  In 2014 craft breweries saw production growth of 18% while beer overall saw an increase of only .5%.  Read between the lines and that means that the “Big 2” are losing market share while smaller craft brewers are experiencing a decade  of double digit annual growth.  Many places in the U.S. have embraced craft beer as a marketing tool and part of civic identity – San Diego, Fort Collins, Grand Rapids, and Portland would certainly fall into this category along with many others.

In response to loss of market share, the big brewers have adopted a strategy of purchasing craft beer brands to get a share of the sales and production growth.  With enormous assets and resources why don’t the big brewers simply establish new craft beer breweries in markets with potential?  Most likely because craft beer brands are typically tied to local markets and seen as the “little guy” or underdog that embraces the community and builds a loyal band of followers.  It’s hard for InBev sell beer as an underdog.

So InBev and MillerCoors come to town and write a check with a bunch of zeroes, hope someone takes the offer, and then do their best to make sure that as few people as possible know that a big brewery now owns the “little guy”.  Craft breweries purchased by “Big Beer” have included Goose Island of Chicago (2011 for $39 million), 10 Barrel of Bend, Oregon (2014 for undisclosed amount), Elysian in Seattle (2015 for undisclosed amount), and many others.  Redhook, Widmer, and Kona breweries are owned by Craft Brew Alliance – a publicly traded company with substantial share (more than 30%) owned by InBev.

So does it matter if a brewery is owned by a person in your neighborhood or a large corporation like InBev?  For many it does.  In San Diego the economic impact of the craft beer industry was estimated at $600 million in 2014 and growing at a substantial rate.  This number might be sustained if a brewer (or a few brewers) were sold but the profits earned would be sent to the corporate shareholders, not to the pockets of local owners.  There would almost certainly be a reduction in headcount for administrative positions like marketing and sales and possibly in the brewhouse as well, if production is moved to larger, more efficient facilities.

Do consumers care?  If the beer is good, the beer is good.  In Chicago it does not seem that Goose Island selling to InBev has had a negative impact.  Their annual release of the acclaimed Bourbon County Stout is a huge event.  Does it matter if the beer is brewed in Chicago, and Fort Collins, and Portsmouth?  Perhaps not.

And there are enormous advantages to the brand.  With the increased assets of a large corporation, craft breweries that are sold can afford to buy end caps in Whole Foods (where I’ve found Goose Island prominently displayed here in San Diego).  This success can be multiplied through scale even if the brewer that created iconic beers like Bourbon County has since left to be a cidermaker in Michigan.  (The head brewer for Elysian left soon after the sale of that company as well.)

San Diego has earned a reputation for being a leader in the craft beer world.  From Stone’s early role in super hop-heavy beers, which has become the signature calling card for San Diego and inspired it’s own style: San Diego IPA or San Diego Pale Ale.  Ballast Point has brought hot pepper beers to the mainstream and constantly is experimenting with herbs, citrus, and other flavors.  White Labs is located here in town and allows brewers to access top-quality yeast strains, and new experimental strains as well.

The current rumor is that Saint Archer is being sold to MillerCoors.  This would be the first San Diego craft brewery to be sold to “Big Beer”.  (There have been other sales like the recent acquisition of Alpine by Green Flash.)  Losing one brewery out of 110 isn’t a large percentage.  The bigger risk is that utilizing bigger assets the San Diego brand will be eroded.  If Saint Archer, or any brewery, is sold what will happen when that brewery buys premium space in grocery stores?  If the label says “San Diego beer” and is next to Stone, Green Flash, and Modern Times will a person in Texas or Wisconsin know which is owned by San Diegans and which is owned by a faceless corporation?  Maybe they won’t care.  Worse yet, if the quality of the beer is reduced to drive sales and is affiliated with San Diego it could damage the overall reputation for quality currently enjoyed by the industry here.  Whether Saint Archer is actually selling or not, a sale is likely to occur in the near future given the trend of purchases by the large brewers and the reputation of San Diego beer.

For me, the ownership of our breweries matters.  When friends and family, or strangers, visit us in San Diego I love highlighting unique experiences that are rooted here.  Local hiking trails, coffee shops, breweries, restaurants, etc.  When I travel it’s the same – there is enjoyment derived simply from the fact that what you are partaking of is part of the place where you are.  The fast food nation America became in the 20th century of universal sameness erased much of the uniqueness of our country and our experiences.  The recent rise of craft beer, craft coffee, and other artisan offerings is a welcome breath of fresh air and a reminder that quality and locality matters.  Is it pretentious? Sometimes, maybe most of the time.  Does that make it bad? Absolutely not.

My hope is that if a brewery is sold to “Big Beer” there will be a penalty to be paid.  Local consumers will choose to support breweries based, owned, and operated here.  Hopefully the San Diego Craft Brewer’s Guild will not allow a member that is not included in the definition of craft beer.

InBev and MillerCoors are welcome to create craft beer.  They’re welcome to buy craft breweries.  But doing so in an intentionally misleading way is wrong.  If drinkers want to buy a McPorter or a McIPA they can choose to do so.  I’ll be sticking with a Stone Enjoy By or Modern Times Black House.  I hope you’ll join me for a round to celebrate the great place we live in.  Cheers.

elysian - sucks
Taste the irony!

Balboa Park – A great place for a bunch of new parking lots

KPBS recently ran a story mostly lamenting the lack of parking for vehicles at Balboa Park in San Diego.  I strongly disagree with this premise, particularly because of the lack of parking studies to support this viewpoint.  I posted a bit on my Facebook page (re-posted below) and was surprised and grateful to see it included the next day in both the San Diego Free Press Starting Line and the Voice of San Diego Morning Report.

If you live in San Diego or like to follow news from San Diego these are my two favorite daily sources for information and viewpoints from the area.  You can subscribe to both of these sources via email if you’d like to get them in your inbox.

Here are my brief thoughts on proposals to pave more of Balboa Park for parking lots, garages, and roadways.  It is very sad to me that in some of our most precious locations – the beachfront, the bayfront, Balboa Park, and so many others – we actively go out of our way to spend millions to erase the natural beauty that exists here.  Hopefully we can start to change our ways and live in a more sustainable, and enjoyable manner in the future.

This is so terrible it’s not even funny. In San Diego, our biggest and most well-known, and well-visited, park is Balboa Park. If you’ve been to San Diego you may have been there.

Instead of preserving our park space we are actively trying to pave more and more and more of it to accommodate vehicle parking. If parking were difficult, this might be a cause worth considering.

But facts like usage of existing parking spots won’t be found in articles like this or conversations with our “Balboa Park leaders”. Maybe a quick anecdote to note that yes, there are almost always open parking spots, but then back to visions of parking garages and multi-million dollar roadways that taxpayers will pay for.

Fresh on the heels of a huge parking garage built by the San Diego Zoo (which all San Diego property owners pay for) we have visions of parking on the East Mesa (which is already a parking lot used by city trucks), and a parking garage behind the Organ Pavilion.

More parking, more cars, more pavement. Less open space, worse air, and more congestion. Everybody clap.

Ride For the River Park – Ocean Beach to Julian by Bike

IMG_5564
Rest stop at the Iron Mountain trailhead

Ocean Beach to Julian is a long way to bicycle.  About 65 miles one-way, and entirely uphill with nearly a mile of elevation gain.  It’s a test worth taking, and one you’ll savor when done.

This is the 4th year I’m organizing the Ride for the River Park and I hope you’ll join me.  The event will take place September 26 and 27, 2015.  It’s been a great time riding with friends old and new and pushing through one tough day of riding to enjoy the mountain town of Julian, some good stories, and some good San Diego beer.  The upside to a really tough first day is cruising back down the entire way on the return trip.

The first year I organized this ride it was my longest ride ever – by a long shot.  I had never ridden more than 30 miles in my life, maybe not even 20.  If you’re concerned about your ability and the difficulty of the ride you’re not alone – most of us that have participated were in the same boat.  If you’re looking for a good challenge, and a good group to cheer you on I hope you’ll consider coming out.

Riding from coastal San Diego, through Mission Trails Regional Park, through vineyards near Ramona and Julian, and eventually through pine shaded roads is a wonderful experience.  The amount of diversity of natural beauty in San Diego is astounding and seeing it first-hand (no, out a car window is not the same) is something I look forward to every year.

For more details about the ride and to register please check out the official event page: http://www.bikesandbeers.org/ride-for-the-river-park.html

I’m proud to support the San Diego River Park Foundation with this event and regular donations.  The organization does great conservation and native space restoration work to preserve and enhance the native landscape.  Additionally, there are year-round clean-ups, educational workshops, and many other programs.  If you can’t join the ride I hope you’ll consider supporting the foundation financially or volunteering for a clean-up this year.

IMG_5566 IMG_5586Year 2 - Julian Return

I love trees. I love huge free trees even more.

I love plants.  Trees, shrubs, and especially in San Diego native species like manzanita, oak, sage, and pine.  I am frequently in the yard trying to find more 2015-06-06 08.37.39space to add additional plants or replacing ones that have died.  (My approach to plants is mostly trial-and-error and learning as I go about what thrives in San Diego so there have been some poorly picked casualties along the way.)

However, plants cost money – especially big trees.  Recently I’ve recently reading a lot of books and articles about personal finance and philosophy like the Mr. Money Mustache website and the book Early Retirement Extreme.  These readings, and others like them, are focused on thinking about priorities and lifestyle, not penny-pinching though the names may suggest otherwise.  In regard to my quest for trees for my property it led me to think about other methods than buying trees at a nursery to get some nice specimens.

I started with calling a number of nurseries to comparison shop and get an idea of the price for 3 good-sized trees (24 inch planting box or larger).  After calling around the best price I could find was $680 for 2 Palo Verde trees and one New Zealand Christmas tree.  That’s a good amount of money but plants are something I feel ok spending money on since you can’t make up the years it takes to establish a tree.

I talked about making this purchase with my wife and we decided to wait a couple of months and think about it.  As with many purchases, delaying for a bit is a good way to step back and contemplate to see if it’s really a legitimate desire/need or just a short-term itch wanting to be scratched.

During the “waiting period” I decided to search on Craigslist for free trees since I had gotten some plants and trees on the site in the past.  In San Diego most of the free trees are palms which I wasn’t interested in but a quick search for “tree” or “trees” in the morning took less than two minutes and I thought worth doing for a week or two to see if something more attractive might appear.

Was I in luck!  In less than a week I had found some large, gorgeous trees – an Australian Flame tree and a few African Sumac trees that were 100% free and within 10 miles of my house.  Since I care for two young kids most days, I scheduled a Saturday morning to go get them.  I arrived to the first tree, in Coronado, with a spade and my mini-van.  It was advertised as 12-15 feet but was easily 20 feet tall.  Undeterred, I spent the next two hours digging out the root ball and calling for a UHaul truck and a friend to help me carry the tree.

I headed home after the tree was out of the ground for lunch, the UHaul, and a good and willing friend.  We returned and loaded up the tree in short order then dropped it off at my house before heading to East Village for the other two2015-06-06 14.31.43
trees which were thankfully already in boxes.  24 inch boxes were advertised but this ad overdelivered as well and we found three 36 inch boxes awaiting us, along with two 60 inch boxes.  The three remaining trees are in the Pocket Park at J Street and 13th behind Mission if anyone is interested.

We proceeded to use a dolly, which broke, to move the trees into the UHaul.  With the dolly broken we slowly shimmied the trees up the ramp and then headed home.

2015-06-06 17.23.09
Flame Tree planted in yard – beautiful

That evening and the next day I dug 3 large holes – 36 inches cubed – to fit the trees.  All told, I spent about 12 solid hours digging and moving plus about 6 hours of time from my friend and wife.  18 hours plus a total of $92 ($76 for the UHaul rental and $16 for celebration beers) for three amazing trees.  My original budget was $680 so this seemed like a great deal.  Then I priced the trees that I did get – $450 per for the Sumacs and $1150 or likely more for the Flame.  Awesome!  Not only had I saved 86% from my original budget but I’d received far larger and more valuable trees as well.  Based on the nursery prices, I’d paid 4.48% of the value of the trees I ended up with.  Better yet, I’d potentially saved 3 gorgeous trees that may have ended up in the trash.  Someone else may have taken the trees, but if not they likely would have been chopped down.

If you’re looking to add some trees to your yard, take a look at Craigslist and save some major money.  It’s also a fantastic place to get free or discounted furniture and other goods.  (And also a great way to get rid of items you don’t need anymore.)

If you live in San Diego you can even get free street trees that come planted for you!  It’s a great program and you can even apply online.  I received a Hong Kong Orchid tree under this program that has done great and has beautiful flowers.

Own Property in San Diego? Get a Free Street Tree!

 

The current drought in California (or possibly a reversion to the long-term mean of precipitation in the state) has lots of people removing grass, planting native or other low-water plants, and rethinking what a yard should look like.  Adding a tree to your yard can provide shade, lower overall water use, and provide food and shelter for birds, insects, and other animals.  The City of San Diego even has a program that provides free street trees in the public right of way (the first 10 feet from the curb) on your property.   Below is a re-post of my experience with this program and how you can get a free tree(s) too.  Green your neighborhood, save water, and improve our region.

A recent pathway planting of sages, milkweed, fuschia, and verbena.
A recent pathway planting of sages, milkweed, fuschia, and verbena.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in April 2013 I wrote about a program ran by the Urban Corps of San Diego that plants free trees in front yards for property owners in San Diego.  At the time I was living in an apartment and unable to partake of the green goodness but have since moved into a house – I can vote now! – and one of the first things I did upon moving in was contact the Urban Corps to get as many free trees as possible.

My yard already had a number of trees, all palms unfortunately, so although I applied for “as many as possible” on the application form I was only able to get one tree planted in my yard.  Yes, that is actually an option on the application form.  I applied for my tree on May 8th and it was planted, complete with support posts, on July 19th.  The Urban Corps team evaluated my yard, marked the appropriate spot for the tree, called to check for utilities, then brought the tree (approximately 7.5 feet tall), dug the hole, and planted it.  My cost: zero.  Work required on my part: none.  My responsibility: to water the tree occasionally.  Sounds like a good deal to me.

The tree added to my yard is a Hong Kong Orchid (Bauhinia purpurea).  Per the City of San Diego Street Tree Selection Guide this is a small canopy form tree that grows to a 15′ – 25′ spread.  It is deciduous and flowering as well.  They are relatively common along streets in San Diego and memorable for the large purple blooms they produce.  Although I would have preferred to have a native, drought-tolerant plant any tree is better than no tree.  If I had it over again I would make sure to note my preference for native trees on my application form when submitting since I didn’t have any contact with Urban Corps after submitting my application until the tree was in the ground.

Currently the Urban Forestry program of the Urban Corps is only open to City of San Diego residents so readers in La Mesa are out of luck for the time being.  But for anyone owning a property from Barrio Logan to Rancho Bernardo or Pacific Beach you most likely qualify.  The application is very simple and takes less than 2 minutes to complete.

Many thanks to the City of San Diego for sponsoring this wonderful program and to Urban Corps of San Diego for the effort and execution.  Two months after planting my tree is doing great and I’m looking forward to enjoying the shade and beauty for many, many years to come.  I invite other San Diegans to take advantage of this program and help to make our city better and healthier one tree at a time.  All it takes is two minutes of your time.

Link to application: http://www.urbancorpssd.org/FreeTree.pdf

Urban Corps on the scene!
Urban Corps on the scene!
Preparing the planting hole
Preparing the planting hole
A job well done!
A job well done!

SANDAG Bicycle Corridors – Finished Before They Even Started

Two and a half years ago SANDAG announced $200 million for bike projects to create a regional network.  The first of these projects is a $40 million project in Uptown.  It would create a critical connection both East to West and North to South in the heart of San Diego’s most densely populated neighborhoods.

University Avenue at Park Blvd. Clearly our streets are too small for bike lanes.
University Avenue at Park Blvd. Clearly our streets are too small for bike lanes. And how would bikes fit with so many cars?

Since the original announcement SANDAG has repeatedly trumpeted these funds as a sign of commitment to healthy transport in the form of bicycles.  During the time since Uptown was selected for the first SANDAG bicycle project what has changed in the area?    Population, businesses, traffic, and roadways all remain the same.  There remain only two real options for an East to West connection – University and Washington.

What has changed in that period is the will of SANDAG and the Transportation Committee to support and implement real bicycle infrastructure.  SANDAG is now taking unilateral action, walking back any commitment to bicycles for this corridor and setting a poor precedent for the future.  Worse yet is the toxic effect this will have on the many, many San Diegans that spent thousands of hours attending the public forums to give input and show support for this improvement in Uptown only to be trumped by back-room dealings hidden from the public eye that gutted the project in recent months.

We need safe streets today.  There are too many deaths, too many injuries, and too little justice (or even simple apologies) to those left dead or injured.

We are a real, vibrant, beautiful city – not a collection of suburbs.  We need to behave as such.

SANDAG is doubling down on the failed policies of 50 years of planning and building roadways in our region.  More and wider roads, more cars, more congestion.  Less open space, weaker communities, a weaker economy for both households and government, and more deaths and negative health impacts.  This is the most recent example of a car first-last-and-only approach to transportation.

San Diego has many natural advantages that blunt the effects of these poor policies.  These will not last forever.  Cities such as Vancouver, Seattle, Chicago, New York, Paris, London, Stockholm, and many others showcase the real, tangible benefits derived from creating a livable and safe streetscape and city.

We need a firm, meaningful commitment to healthy, safe, and responsible transport.  Cars and bicycles are not equivalent transport.  Bicycles are better for safety, health, wealth, and should be put at a higher priority than cars.  Chicago Department of Transportation does exactly this by using the following order of priority for transportation:

  1. Pedestrians
  2. Public Transportation
  3. Bicycles
  4. Private Automobiles
ped - chi
Chicago gets it right.

San Diego and SANDAG should take a page from this leading example and do the same, backed up by the allocation of funding and policies.  The opposite is the reality.

The lion’s share of all money goes to cars and roadways for cars while all other modes are made to beg for scraps or sue to compel what should be the course being set by our own leaders.  We need to create a true network for bikes, starting with University Avenue.  It will be a major step forward to improve our city and the individual well-being of our citizens.

If SANDAG is unable to implement the Uptown bicycle corridor with real, safe bicycle infrastructure throughout this $40 million should be moved to a different neighborhood where such a project can be realized.  If you can’t walk the walk, stop talking the talk.  Greenwashing is not a substitute for responsible, forward-thinking action.

More than two and a half years have passed since $200 million was promised for bike projects by SANDAG.  77 miles of bikeways in 42 projects was promised to be finished within ten years.    Where do we stand today?  Without a single foot of paint striped and the first project gutted and providing a maximum of three blocks of protected bike lanes.  A poor omen for the future projects, unless the desire to see a bicycle network was not genuine in the first place.  Hopefully the remaining projects will see real, on-the-ground results in quick order.  I would not hold my breath.

Home-Swapping – Now Banned in Carlsbad, San Diego Next?

Effective today, June 4, the City of Carlsbad has new regulations on vacation rentals / short-term rentals in the city.  They have a helpful FAQ sheet explaining where such activity is and isn’t allowed.  Essentially, the city has banned renting any portion of a home, or an entire home, for fewer than 30 days, unless it’s in the “coastal zone” – roughly west of Interstate 5.  This means if you have a second property, or a spare bedroom, you can not rent it for less than 30 days whether once a year, once a month, or every day of the year.  Per my conversation with the City of Carlsbad, it also prohibits home-swapping or a home exchange.

What is home-swapping?  It is trading time in one property for time in another.  A popular platform for enabling this type of trading is HomeExchange.  For many, it is an opportunity to travel and greatly reduce total travel costs by securing free lodging.  I haven’t used home-swapping before but it seems like a great idea.  A couple approaching retirement on my block recently used HomeExchange so I spoke with them to get more details.  (Names withheld to protect privacy.)

homeexchange example
A sample HomeExchange property in Indonesia

To use HomeExchange costs my neighbors $100 annually, which gives one access to the site and contact information for others on the site.  The details for a swap occur between the individual parties, not via the site.  My neighbor noted that some people include money as part of agreements to swap but they have not in their two uses in the past year.  Their first experience was to Brooklyn, New York, and their most recent trip to Florence, Italy.

My neighbor noted that when he originally read about HomeExchange his wife was adamantly opposed but after looking at overall finances and their joint desire to travel they thought it worth a try – this option would close the financial gap and allow for travel now, and during their retirement years soon approaching.

So far the experience has been a very good one for them and they plan to continue using this option in future.  However, the San Diego City Council may have other plans.  The city is currently researching new regulations on short-term rentals which may include a ban on uses like home-swapping as our neighbors to the north in Carlsbad have enacted.  This platform that allows homeowners to utilize their otherwise empty homes and enable world-wide travel for owners would be gone.

For more recent home purchasers in San Diego the financial incentives to supplement vacation funds is compelling.  The median single-family home price in San Diego currently stands at over half a million dollars – $520,000.  As opposed to long-time home owners with lower property taxes (and lower mortgage balances), new buyers are shelling out near-record prices for their homes.  The upside is that living in San Diego means that there is a lot of demand  for property here and home owners have an opportunity to utilize that by home-swapping to visit family or explore a new country.  Of course, banning home-swapping would be a double whammy – high purchase prices and limited ability to utilize homes.

The debate about short-term rentals and Airbnb continues in San Diego and new regulations of some sort are on the way.  Hopefully, these regulations won’t throw new opportunities in the trash can in the effort to address resident concerns.  We are at the start of many new opportunities like Airbnb and home-swapping which are beginning to become mainstream and many others that are yet to come.  Problems need to be addressed, but the opportunities presented also need to be preserved when possible.

[The Carlsbad prohibition of home-swapping also raises questions about the general ability of homeowners to have guests of any sort.  If no payment is being made but home-swapping is not allowed, are non-paying friends or family also prohibited?  It almost seems as if any overnight guest is technically barred from staying, though I don’t believe this was the intent of the new law.]

Best Bread Recipe Ever (Because It’s Super Easy and Great)

A number of years ago a friend shared a simple bread recipe popularized by the New York Times.  It’s delicious, simple, cheap, and easy to make.  Two years ago our family decided to make our own bread for the year and kept a tally on the kitchen wall as part of our New Year’s resolutions.  I don’t have the official count anymore but believe it was around 150 loaves baked and 7 loaves bought.

This year we’re refocusing on cooking at home, saving money, and cooking wholesome food with simple ingredients.  Making our own bread is a big piece of that and also encourages having basic ingredients on hand (flour, salt, yeast, etc.) that make it easier to make other things like pizza crust, cookies, and more.

Here’s the recipe and a couple of delicious photos.

Ingredients

  • .25 tsp yeast
  • 1.5 cups warm water
  • 1.25 tsp salt
  • 3 cups flour (I like to use 2.5 cups white flour, .5 cups whole wheat flour)
  1. Put yeast into a ceramic bowl, add water and then salt.  I really like ceramic bowls since they are easy to clean up.  Mix together and let sit 2-5 minutes.
  2. Add flour and mix together by hand until a consistent mixture is created.
  3. Cover with tea towel or cloth for 12 – 18 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 500 degrees with dutch oven inside during preheating. Mix risen dough by hand in bowl before adding to dutch oven.  Don’t burn yourself, 500 degrees is hot!
  5. Bake covered at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove lid and cook for additional 5 – 15 minutes to brown, my oven takes about 8 minutes uncovered.  Remove from oven and enjoy with butter, jam, avocado, or plain.
  6. Feel free to experiment with additional in ingredients in the bread, there are a lot of options.  You can add some cheese, which I recommend doing just before putting in the oven.  You can add herbs like rosemary which I would do before letting sit so it can spread through the dough overnight.
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A recent poppyseed trial (added .25 cup poppy seeds). Not great, but not bad.
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Fresh baked bread just out of the oven. We use a cast iron dutch oven.

This bread tastes so good and is so easy you have to try it.  We love to start off the weekend with a hot loaf on Saturday morning to enjoy with coffee and a cool morning breeze coming through the window.  I hope you enjoy this recipe, and the weekend, too.

If the above directions aren’t enough, I also did a (terrible) video on this recipe a couple of years ago.  It also includes my cost estimate of 62 cents per loaf.  That price has been reduced since I found a cheaper option for yeast by buying in bulk via Amazon. Below are a couple of links to Amazon for yeast and a cast iron pot like we use.  I’m trying out the Associates program Amazon has so yes, I’ll get a dime or so if you buy something but I recommend buying used and/or local first before looking to Amazon.

Cheers and enjoy!