Is Rocky Point Beautiful?

La Huerita

La Huerita

Guest
I mean the city itself. Raise your hand if you think it's beautiful. I have my own opinion, and a direction I think would be beneficial to its development (because it's going to develop whether we all like it or not), but if you think it's visually lovely just as it is, you might not like what I wrote... :-o

Straight Talk About Puerto Penasco, Mexico

Go ahead. Smack me down. I can take it. :lol: Or better yet, a discussion here on what YOU think would help make the city better and prettier might be interesting. Maybe it would lead to a Straight Talk Part Dos with expanded ideas, the collective wisdom of many good thinkers... Hmmm...

(As IF developers and the city bigwig head hoohahs would listen to folks like us, hahahahaha. Oops, forgot to take my cynic hat off.)
 
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GringoZona

Guest
Eh. *sigh* So many thoughts on this subject, most of them at odds with each other. My friends and I have discussed this at length...Outside of the usual sprawl/growth arguments, here’s some obvious points:

Clearly PP didn’t grow with any vision in mind, but when you visit other towns even in Sonora, like San Carlos, and come back to PP, you realize how run-down it all looks. Structures are "functional" versus "creative." Not much you can do about that, outside of having a creative board of some sort approve each new business or home, which is ridiculous, especially in these times.

Quick fixes and/or solutions? Just right off the bat, a cheap way to improve the aesthetic "feel" or look to the city, at least when you're just driving through, is to plant more desert-friendly landscaping, even if it's just lots of bougainvilleas, similar to what San Carlos has. Hah, and buckets of bright paint! Another cheap way buildings would have some more character but retain its "funky" feel.

Eh, again, this could all go horribly wrong. There’s a reason that standard white rules in this unforgiving sun, and who knows what kind of freakish eyesores it could inspire!

I guess the city (if it actually gets all of this promised money from the government) could do something in concert with local artists and area architects to provide simple and inexpensive ways to make existing, standing structures more aesthetically pleasing. There’s no point in discussing how to redo the whole city in economic times like these. And with so many commercial units already empty, it’d be a shame to allow more to be built in the first place. But I’m all for improving the center of the town—no chance of anyone being accused of gentrification at this point!
 
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La Huerita

La Huerita

Guest
I pretty much agree with everything you said, Gringo.

Regarding paint, I'll always remember the first time I saw the orange and purple bank on the outskirts of Cabo many years ago. Stopped me in my tracks, lol! Yowza!

I know the City only has so much power to dictate what gets built by developers, and naturally their eyes are more on how much money will go into the coffers to pave streets, extend and improve electricity, sewers, etc. Still, as plans are approved (looking toward the future) they have to decide if their core area should look more like Cancun and Miami Beach or like Cabo (no sleek 20-story buildings in town there) and La Paz.

I like funky, personally, and I like authenticity. I hate the "faux" look that so often predominates in the gentrification process. All too often developers end up creating something that looks like a Disney version of the real thing. I remember Destin, FL before it got developed, and holy crap what a mess they made of that, IMO.

I don't mind sleek highrises in their proper environment, but I don't think the Mirador, the center of town, is the place for that. It cuts off access to the beach, ruins the view of the ocean for everyone else and generally speaking just doesn't fit in. It would be nice, I think, if at least the central part of the city could model itself more after a place like San Jose del Cabo-- there's a place with some charm.

But that takes not just time and money, it takes vision on the part of town leaders in tandem with developers. They've got to decide what RP wants to be when it grows up. Not sure that's ever gonna happen. My 2cents...
 
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m4shawn

Guest
Terrific blog piece Andrea, and a valid, if likely hopeless (IMO) dilemma.

When people who have never been to RP ask me what it's like, I always first try to get their reference point. I never want to discourage them, but do want to prepare them for the reality: it's not really a pretty town when your'e not staring out over the Sea of Cortez.

My wife and I were just reflecting on this phenomenon of how the ocean can make the ugliest of surroundings sublime, as we sat in a booth at the Boo Bar. Seagull sh*t, garbage and fish market rusted metal sat below us, and yet we were mesmerized at the setting sun over the sea and felt serene and blessed to be there.

I'm no economist, but I'd guess that crass gentrification would be the only realisitc way to significantly impact the aesthetic beauty of PP; that's just the raw food chain economics of it. Where there's money, there's nicer looking surroundings. Could the "middle class' of RP be created (much less increased) to a point that change would take place organically from it's native residents? Unlikely, me thinks. How many people are really going to be lifted out of near poverty, or increase their wealth enough to see it reflected in a monumental shift from so many empty lots and utilitarian block wall structures?

If there is a massive influx of tourism dollars again, the city coffers I suppose could spend a bunch to clean up the place quite a bit (street sweepers, street maintenance, signage control). But that's all for the American eye; I don't think the average Sonoran PP resident thinks their town is "lacking" in any aesthetic way; don't know how dedicated a local politician would have to be to acheive improvements that far removed from basics like electricity and sewage.

It comes down to the underlying wealth of the country, doesn't it? I mean, you can feel the difference the moment your tires hit the pavement on the way to Why versus what you just drove through in Sonoyta.

Don't read me wrong: I love Rocky Point!
 
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GringoZona

Guest
Yeah, not to offend anyone involved, but that project that cuts into the iconic rocky "point" cliff below El Capitan, wrapping around the Malecon to Mirador--if it wasn't so George Jetsonesque, never-gonna-happen looking, it would make me sick to my stomach. Besides ruining one of the few iconic Penasco natural skyline features, weren't marine biologists (or hydro-engineers?) saying that building on that point, all over the floor of the ocean, was going to mess with the way waves break on both sides of the point? Which would introduce a deadly domino effect to other marine life in the area...

Remind me, where is this new port being built for future cruise ships? (Ha, if they'll ever come back to Mexico after realizing they can charge Americans the same price for hitting up the Cali coast!) Or is it on the point I just referred to? Surely there will be tons of cookie-cutter businesses lined up nearby, ready to sop up the easy cash flow.

And does anyone know about that new construction site (N. of Old Port?) that had some activity last month? Any plans floating around the internets? I read on Myaann's blog it was going to be a multi-feature mall with a theatre, arcade, food court, something like that. Sounds like they're living in 2005.
 
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Wood Spinner

Wood Spinner

Guest
I have looked at this question many times and given it much thought. My responce is what is beauty ? To many beauty is only skin deep. Making the town pretty ugly to them. I have always had a saying that goes as follows. I have known many very beautiful women that I find very ugly. And I have known some very ugly women that are overwhelmingy beautiful.
To me the beauty of P.P. is in the people first ,how wonderful most of them are, the culture, and of course the beauty of the Sea.
To me it is a beautiful area with beautiful people.
 
joester

joester

2 salty dawgs
great post Bill!
the beautiful part of PP does lie within - the surface isn't all that pretty to see at first. love the sunrises and sunsets on the beach at Mirador, and one of the best parts is the nice folks you meet there - meeting everyone that was there last Thanksgiving was great. Not having traveled the area much at all, all we really know is the Mirador beach, and that itself is just fine with us.
Hope to be back in late November again......
 
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D.juire

Guest
Is Rocky Point Beautiful

I was not asleep, I was lulling you all into a false sense of security.The eyeball one looks like it should be on the old style credits from Dr Who
 
jerry

jerry

Guest
I really like the housing development on the right before the turnoff to Caborca. Not to tall cubist modern and colorful. Luis Barrigan himself would like it.
http://luisbarragan.tumblr.com/
If you go Modern stay below 3 stories but if you want a seafront town that looks great you need to get a Spanish/Moorish influence happening.Maybe the answer is to get the people to move out of the city center to new small homes and create more public space and Greek island style walking only developments with small winding streets and passages. welcome to the casbah!
 
jerry

jerry

Guest
jerry said:
I really like the housing development on the right before the turnoff to Caborca. Not to tall cubist modern and colorful. Luis Barrigan himself would like it.
http://luisbarragan.tumblr.com/
If you go Modern stay below 3 stories but if you want a seafront town that looks great you need to get a Spanish/Moorish influence happening.Maybe the answer is to get the people to move out of the city center to new small homes and create more public space and Greek island style walking only developments with small winding streets and passages. welcome to the casbah!
Click to expand...
Barrigans house in mexico City

http://luisbarragan.tumblr.com/tagged/pink
 
rockyptjoe

rockyptjoe

Guest
Plaics said:
What an amazing movie at first i thought it would end up cheesy and spoil the Rocky franchise, but great work by Sylvester Stallone in pulling this off.Anyone else watched it?btw, 61 year old man with a six pack? ouch..i have to work out more :p
Click to expand...
Sounds like another troll.............
 
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