People We'll Meet on the Street

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be writing a regular column on the people I meet on the street in Carlsbad. I've already begun interviewing and photographing folks around town and wanted to share a few initial thoughts along with a few of the portraits I've taken.

The people I've been meeting either live in Carlsbad, are here regularly or are just passing through. No matter what their reason for being here, overwhelmingly, the reason they love this town is its friendly people. I've been told we're "less stuck-up" than those people in Del Ma r… (someone else's words, not mine). I've been told that we're "a lot nicer" than people in Oceanside. I met one woman who lives "out around Fallbrook" but considers Carlsbad her town for everything. She said she considers this her town even though she has to commute through and around other towns to get here—all because the shop owners are professional and friendly "and the citizens here are a delight."

Another interesting thing I'm learning through these interviews: Like me, most people I'm running into are transplants. They've imported themselves from other parts of the county, other parts of the country, other parts of the world. It kind of stands to reason that I'm meeting mostly these people—they're out enjoying a climate and lifestyle that they most likely didn't have at their previous location. Maybe this is a wake-up call to not get complacent with what we have here?

What's more, I do get solid and consistent push-back from the senior crowd. It seems none of them (that I've talked to so far) want to have anything to do with having their pictures put on an Internet news site. They are very wary of me and "big brother." So this is a challenge I didn't expect to encounter. Fortunately, I love challenges and we will be seeing and hearing from the seniors in the community. 

So that's it in a nutshell. Stay tuned. More on our people is forthcoming along with a video that will feature some of these local characters. In the meantime,  please scroll through the photos to get a preview look at some of the people we'll Meet on the Street in Carlsbad.