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A few words about numbers and dates
An anniversary passed so quietly last January 26 it's doubtful any one
noted it. I certainly didn't. It was the 165th anniversary of the founding
of what became Pacifica. Jan. 26, 1839 Don Francisco Sanchez received his
land grant from the Mexican government. Later the U.S. Government confirmed
it as 8926.46 acres. Sanchez was born in San Jose, was a military officer,
and served as Alcalde. A gift of land was the cheapest way his civic
contributions could be rewarded. Rancho San Pedro was nowhere near the
largest land grant awarded by a grateful Mexican government. Even the other
Sanchez family parcel on the Peninsula, Rancho Buri Buri, was larger at
about 15,000 acres. Together they straddled the Peninsula bay to ocean.
Francisco Sanchez isn't completely forgotten. We've named a library after
him, now in imminent danger of closure by fund starvation, a concert hall,
formerly Sanchez School, and rooms at the community center named after
Francisco and his wife Teodora. There used to be a street in his honor, but
Via Sanchez disappeared in the fifties from Linda Mar. Today no street is
named for the founder of our city unless you count Francisco Blvd., and
that's really just a contraction of San Francisco Blvd.
The name Linda Mar carries little meaning. As Spanish it's ungrammatical.
So renaming Linda Mar Blvd. to Sanchez Blvd. makes sense. Sanchez Adobe
will then have a most reasonable address, 1000 Sanchez Blvd. Francisco's
portrait on the outside mural of Sanchez Art Center at 1220 Sanchez Blvd.
will then face a street named after the man who served as Alcalde of San
Francisco many years before Gavin Newsom.
By switching the name of the main thoroughfare in San Pedro Valley, we'll
honor our history and limit the name Linda Mar to the shopping center.
De-emphasizing a boringly blah name like Linda Mar will be a positive gain.
I've never understood the point of using boring names like "Linda Mar"
(Beautiful Sea), "Pacific Manor" (a mundane cliche) or tract names that
incorporate directions, (north, east, south and west) or variations on the
word "sea", "ocean", "beach" etc. While Rockaway and Brighton
unimaginatively copy east coast names, they're also a step up on the way to
names that reflect local history.
Pacifica has a number of such names. Oddstad Blvd., Crespi Drive, Cabrillo
Highway, Fassler Ave., Higgins Way, Danmann Ave. all have historical roots.
So do Adobe Drive and Peralta Road.
Naming streets in bunches often depresses the imagination. Why else would
street namers in Sharp Park come up with Polynesian names, or
pseudo-Polynesian names like Moana, or Kohala? Some streets in Pacific
Manor were named after those who built the housing tracts.
While we're correcting an oversight by honoring Francisco Sanchez, we might
want to do something about some addresses on Cabrillo Highway. Let's start
by making ALL the addresses on the east side odd. The odd fact is that
Shelldance Nursery is 2000 Cabrillo highway. The police station next to it
is 2075. Make Shelldance 2001. As for the new sewer plant on the west side
of the highway, "700 Cabrillo Highway" is ridiculous. When it was being
built I had to help some poor lost delivery person who was doing his best
to be logical in an illogical world. That didn't work, but I was able to
help by telling him to go west when he got to the Vallemar traffic light.
The sewer plant is right across the highway from the police station at
2075, so make it 2070. There is absolutely no logic to "700", not even
tradition, since the address was created only a few years ago.
With this issue the Reactor celebrates its 29th anniversary as a column of opinion in the Tribune. The Reactor's e mail address is Paul@thereactor.net
Check The Reactor's website at www.thereactor.net.
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