Does the sun set differently on the waters of Pepper Park than it does on Bayfront Park?
Does the length of the municipally maintained grass cast a longer shadow in National City than it does in Chula Vista?
Are children at bus stops waiting for their rides notably different than their contemporaries a few miles away at a trolley stop, across a city boundary informally denoted by a concrete riverbed and a carbon-spewing highway?
Do the dim and bright lights of the night glow with more or less intensity along Broadway or National City Boulevard?
In pondering National City’s feel-good contest for locals — the city wants people to submit their best photo of the city so that it can be used on the cover of their upcoming budget plan — I wondered about the two cities in the south.
(Yes, I realize Imperial Beach is also a third component of the county’s South Bay and, given its distinct beach vibe, it definitely has a character worth considering, but there is only so much space and so much time I can devote to thinking about similarities and differences that I may as well stick with the ones with which I am familiar.)
Years ago two councilmen representing Chula Vista and National City had wanted me to act as the judge in determining which city’s taco shop offered the best menudo.
It was a friendly contest that never quite got off the ground because one of the restaurants was damaged by fire and, mostly, because I do not like menudo. Incidentally, a proxy judge I enlisted had her own go-to menudo shop she crossed city boundaries for — into National City.
In a different era, capturing the similarities and differences between two vibrant neighbors would have been done by a staff photographer and published for perusal and debate in these pages. But eras and staffing resources change and sometimes the simplest ideas are left to be returned to in time.
For now, however, it will be interesting to see what images National City residents capture and submit as their choice for representative images.
Will it be a landscape or portrait? A candid photograph or one staged with the perfect lighting and smiling faces? How, if the same image were taken out of the budget cover context, would it clearly demonstrate “This is National City”?
And — to make reference to a recent city of Chula Vista marketing campaign — what would a photograph look like that would let the viewer know “That is Chula Vista”?
People living north of National City and Chula Vista have their own perceptions and ideas of what the two cities look like.
I wonder what the people who live here picture it to be.
