Conversation Aversion

The Aquarium’s survey found that visiting downtown comes in at a dismal 10th place on tourist to-do lists, after (1) the Aquarium, (2) golf, (3) dining, (4) Pebble Beach, (5) Cannery Row, (6) Carmel, (7) shopping, (8) 17-Mile Drive, and (9) Fisherman’s Wharf. Therefore, Henry Ruhnke will have to come up with much more irresistible attractions than food cart vendors and fresh roasted coffee shops before we should start his proposed street conversions and parking lot construction for sucking tourists downtown.

It’s odd that Ruhnke wonders why downtown Monterey can’t be more like downtown San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara. SLO is a college town far from the beach with relatively few tourists and generally nothing to do except go downtown, while Santa Barbara is a city three times bigger than Monterey with a main drag that is evolving into 12 blocks of chain stores.

Most locals don’t really want to see Alvarado turn even further into another Cannery Row. When I think of Santa Monica, San Francisco, San Diego, and San Jose, I certainly don’t first think of the Promenade, Maiden Lane, Union Square, the Gaslamp District, or Santana Row, yet Ruhnke believes that kind of branding is necessary for our downtown. If you must design tourist traps, please keep them on Foam Street, Wave Street, the Wharf, and Cannery Row, and leave downtown alone. If you must renovate Alvarado, then invite lots of other designers to also make proposals before deciding Ruhnke’s plan is the only viable choice.

GAGA OVER THE JOKE

After failing to arrive at the Lady Gaga concert in P.G. in time to get in, I decided to pull over and read the rest of your paper. After reading about half the article (“Stop the Presses,” April 1-8), I realized I was reading one of the finest pieces of journalism since Sports Illustrated introduced us to Sid Finch in 1985. I will miss that from your paper. See you sooner than I think.

LIFE SUPPORT

I happened to be vacationing at Asilomar and picked up the MCWeekly. I NEARLY DIED LAUGHING.

What a great freaking brilliant hoax. April Fool’s, whole world!

Wonderful piece, just wonderful.

CORRECTION: Linda Anderson’s letter in last week’s issue (April 8-14) was intended to be a private communication. We regret its publication.