Keep King Harbor a Harbor

This morning as I headed out through our harbor for my morning row, I was greeted by a harbor thriving with recreational activities.  The water was alive with people powered water craft - kayakers, stand-up paddle boarders and outrigger canoeists.  Some of the kayakers were out for a workout, some were out to just enjoy a nice day on the water and others were heading out fishing.  The stand up paddleboards (SUP's) were manned by people of all experience levels... obvious experts doing sprints as part of their work out, some just cruising the harbor and the buoy just outside the harbor, and others were wobbling, giggling beginners having a blast in their first go at it.  SUP's are igniting an explosion of new people getting out on the water... and our harbor provides the perfect protected area for beginners.  

Cutting slowly through the human powered craft were sailboats, power boats and commercial boats heading out for business or recreation.  And the yellow submarine, sport fishing and whale watching boats had plenty of passengers going out to enjoy the waters off of Redondo.  
Our harbor is well loved and well used by both residents and visitors.  It is one of the things that attracted me to settle in Redondo.  We entertained a friend home from college and his girlfriend last weekend.  As it would turn out, she had just finished an internship in San Francisco and it was her first trip to Southern California.  She told us she was pleasantly surprised by our harbor.  The people she worked with in San Francisco warned her our area was overbuilt with no soul. She found King Harbor to be more like the quaint small harbors of New England.  That is exactly how I felt when I moved here.  I love sitting at the new R-10 and looking out over the mix of commercial and private recreational boats in their slips.  

As we look to revitalize our harbor, let's not sell out our soul for a shopping center with over 100 national chain stores and restaurants two and three stories high. There is certainly a solution that lies between doing nothing and a 100+ store mall.  Let's not force out Polly's, R-10, Captain Kidd's, and Naja's - great local venues with real local soul.  Let's keep the main focus on the water, the boats and other recreational water uses.   Our harbor differentiates us from our neighboring beach cities.  Let's not hide it behind a mall.  Above all we must strive to keep King Harbor a harbor.