A new housing complex for sailors in San Diego opened last December. This may be old news for some of you, but I had not heard about this until I stumbled across a story about it and found the website for the development. It is called Pacific Beacon and it looks like a fantastic place for single sailors to live.
Poor housing was always one of the biggest drawbacks to being a single sailor. Barrack rooms were typically depressing places. They were poorly lit, noisy, and cheaply furnished. Furthermore, the people that worked at the barracks often seemed to be on some sort of a power trip. From the moment you checked in until you checked out, the people working there seemed determined to remove any sort of pleasure you might derive from living there and generally treated the residents like they were inmates in some sort of prison. Even these poor conditions were better than the poor sailors on surface ships that were not even given a room in the barracks. They had to live aboard their ship.
The navy had done a pretty good job in recent years of improving housing for single sailors and Pacific Beacon looks like a giant leap forward for improving the quality of life for single sailors. It is basically a large condominium set in several towers in San Diego and it is directed at sailors that are E-4 and above. It is privately run and the rent is currently below the 2008 Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-4. It sounds like the rent is removed from the sailors pay in the form of an allotment, so they don't even have to remember to drop off a rent check. The rent includes all utilities with the exception of phone and internet service. There is a rooftop swimming pool, a large "Front Lawn" with barbecue pits, a large fitness center, optional maid service, and dry cleaning drop-off and pick-up.
It was designed for sailors and they keep that in mind. When deploying, a sailor can either keep their room or move out. There is indoor storage for excess items. Some of the apartments are furnished, and judging by the pictures, the furniture actually looks like it is high enough quality that someone might keep it in their real house, instead of the cheap particle board lowest-bidder stuff that was always put in the barracks on base. Every apartment has two master bedroom setups and each bedroom has its own private bathroom with a full sized bathtub.
Even better, since it is not a facility operated by the navy, the command and the navy do not do room inspections. Since the rental agreement is subject to California rental regulations, the management is not allowed to enter your rooms without 24 hour advance notice or in the case of an emergency such as a fire or a water leak . I think I read in their FAQ's that you can have an overnight guest for up to 14 days.
I sure hope that the sailors enjoy their new housing. I also hope that they don't tear it up and make the navy rethink their decision to arrange for adequate housing for their single sailors.
Here is a link to their website. They have a lot of information here. Looks like a great place to live.
Poor housing was always one of the biggest drawbacks to being a single sailor. Barrack rooms were typically depressing places. They were poorly lit, noisy, and cheaply furnished. Furthermore, the people that worked at the barracks often seemed to be on some sort of a power trip. From the moment you checked in until you checked out, the people working there seemed determined to remove any sort of pleasure you might derive from living there and generally treated the residents like they were inmates in some sort of prison. Even these poor conditions were better than the poor sailors on surface ships that were not even given a room in the barracks. They had to live aboard their ship.
The navy had done a pretty good job in recent years of improving housing for single sailors and Pacific Beacon looks like a giant leap forward for improving the quality of life for single sailors. It is basically a large condominium set in several towers in San Diego and it is directed at sailors that are E-4 and above. It is privately run and the rent is currently below the 2008 Basic Allowance for Housing for an E-4. It sounds like the rent is removed from the sailors pay in the form of an allotment, so they don't even have to remember to drop off a rent check. The rent includes all utilities with the exception of phone and internet service. There is a rooftop swimming pool, a large "Front Lawn" with barbecue pits, a large fitness center, optional maid service, and dry cleaning drop-off and pick-up.
It was designed for sailors and they keep that in mind. When deploying, a sailor can either keep their room or move out. There is indoor storage for excess items. Some of the apartments are furnished, and judging by the pictures, the furniture actually looks like it is high enough quality that someone might keep it in their real house, instead of the cheap particle board lowest-bidder stuff that was always put in the barracks on base. Every apartment has two master bedroom setups and each bedroom has its own private bathroom with a full sized bathtub.
Even better, since it is not a facility operated by the navy, the command and the navy do not do room inspections. Since the rental agreement is subject to California rental regulations, the management is not allowed to enter your rooms without 24 hour advance notice or in the case of an emergency such as a fire or a water leak . I think I read in their FAQ's that you can have an overnight guest for up to 14 days.
I sure hope that the sailors enjoy their new housing. I also hope that they don't tear it up and make the navy rethink their decision to arrange for adequate housing for their single sailors.
Here is a link to their website. They have a lot of information here. Looks like a great place to live.
Pacific Beacon Website
Here is a story about the project at Navy.mil. In this story, it says that they have already signed contracts for similar projects in Jacksonville, FL and Norfolk, VA and that they would like to expand it to include overseas locations. This is a long overdue change, in my opinion.
3 comments:
I spent time at the BOQ later UOPH in the early eighties. It was spartan, to say the least.
I wonder if they'll run drug dogs in the hallways like they do on base?
beebs
not a druggy, never been one.
Gee, that reminds me of another incident that I had almost forgotten about. I was working the midshift while we were inport one time. I was fast asleep about 10 o'clock in the morning when somebody knocked on my door. I got out of bed to see who was there, but they had already let themselves in. It was a barracks petty officer, a drug dog, and a (female) dog handler staring at me while I was standing next to my bed in my underwear. They were pissed at me for being in my room during the day and made me stand outside while they checked my room. At least they let me put my pants on first.
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