"Living In the City" is the San Diego Sun's feature Q&A with downtown San Diego residents. It's a way to get to know the city by meeting the people who live here. This is an ongoing series.
Name: Myrna Marston
Location: CityFront Terrace in the Marina District
Personal deets: A fourth-generation San Diegan, I’ve been downtown for 8 years. I’m a public relations consultant and live with my fiancé, Craig.
Reason for moving downtown: I was single and wanted a change of pace after living in Point Loma for 25 years.
Working from home: I love working from home! In the PR business I don’t really have a routine. Some days, I can take off and play tennis in the middle of the day. Other times, I will get a call from a client with a crisis at 9 p.m.
Selfie time for Myrna and her fiancé, Craig.
Best aspect of your current location: The CityFront staff, hands down. Very professional, very friendly, and when you walk through the door they say, “Welcome home.”
Worst aspect of your specific building: Very narrow parking ramps. Because of that, I am no longer “allowed” to park the car. The staff would tease me and ask “Has Craig has put bubble wrap around the car, yet?”
Best reason to live downtown: The lifestyle. It’s not for everyone, but we don’t have kids and like to travel. We can just lock up and go. We can also walk to world-class restaurants and concert venues. I gave up owning a car three years ago. Never thought I would do that. Like most Californians I was married to my car. I have not missed it for even one single day.
Pets: I used to have a beautiful Airedale named Piper, but I don’t think I could have handled her in a downtown environment.
A colorful nest of downtown scooters.
Scooters: A disaster waiting to happen. The worst rollout of something new in the city, ever. You mainly see young adults buzzing by with disregard for safety and rule-following.
Parking advice: Use Uber.
Worst part of living downtown: The homeless population. It breaks my heart and I wish more could be done to get them off the street and into permanent housing.
Homelessness: My PR business has me actively engaged in the issue of homelessness. I work with local business leaders who work tirelessly to find solutions to this problem that has gone on too long. I think progress is being made, but we still have a long way to go.
Safety: I just tackled a PR project in Los Angeles’ Skid Row. It was awful to observe and absorb the horrific conditions of so many lives. Downtown San Diego is not as bad, though I do avoid parts of East Village.
The colorful bar scenery inside Puesto at The Headquarters.
Dinner spot: We’re right across the street from Seaport Village and The Headquarters, so we enjoy Puesto and Eddie V’s. And Roy’s at the Marriott Marquis. All have great service. For special occasions, it’s University Club, because of the view.
Food shopping: The downtown Ralphs.
Comic-Con memory: We enjoy going to Lou & Mickey’s for a front-row seat to all the costume action.
Favorite downtown event: When the Davis Cup (tennis) was played at Petco Park (2014).
Padres games: Every once-in-a-while. I love the world-class stadium more than I love the game of baseball. SDSun
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