What To Do to Escape San Pedro in case of a Disaster? Who Knows....


Dear Readers:

I wanted to share this concern a reader brought up, because it has been bothering me too. Comments, thoughts, solutions and suggestions...are welcome. Diana


Dear Diana
I have a concern I would like you to know about here in San Pedro which
I'm sure you are aware of. First off, let me tell you a little about
myself. I was born and raised here in San Pedro. A third generation. I
have a wife and four kids. I am the youngest of nine siblings. They all
have attended local schools as I have. Seven out of nine of us reside and are
raising our families here in San Pedro. So, it's not like I am a person
who just came to San Pedro and doesn't have a clue to what's going on in
our community.
Diana, my main concern is the traffic problem and over-population going
on. As you know, the traffic congestion on Western Avenue, Gaffey
Street, and Pacific Avenue is getting out of hand. It's ridiculous when
you have to wait 20-minutes on a Saturday morning to get from Ninth and
Western to Summerland and Western. I work in Gardena and it takes me
20-minutes to get from San Pedro to Gardena on the 110. The problem is
the same on Gaffey. On weekday mornings trying to get on the 110-freeway
you can be held up in traffic all the way from 17th Street. Sometimes, I
have to go to Pacific Avenue or Harbor Blvd. for a quicker route.
I can't imagine if there was a major catastrophe in San Pedro where
everyone had to evacuate. It would be impossible! This brings me to what
I am concerned about. There are many buildings, apartments, and condos
being built now and many more to come.

How congested do they want San Pedro to be? I just don't understand it? Can you imagine the traffic in 10-20 years? Diana, San Pedro is an awesome little town. I know the
businesses, the port, and our politicians want our town to grow but they
have to stop and think of the consequences involved. I'm sure there are
many San Pedrans' who feel the same way. There may or may not be a
solution, but if there is, I sure would like someone to do their best to
step in and focus on crippling it before it worsens. I have plans on
retiring here in San Pedro and I don't want to be smothered out.
Thank you for listening.
God bless!
Joseph Gonzales

Dear Diana - with all due respect it seems to us there's an abundance of fields and they need to be shared among the ball clubs, which doesn't seem to be the sensibiilty in what has become far too competitive and territorial. What happened to the tenets of good sportsmanship and the fact that how the game if played is far more important than winning.
Please don't reply - we'll never see eye to eye.

Stephanie and Lee Mardesich