[SDCAL]

I was at Horton Plaza yesterday to do some grocery shopping at the JIMBO's there, and I overheard some tourists inside Horton Plaza questioning why their guidebook had lured them to an "abandoned dump."

It's not good that visitors to our city are describing the main retail/shopping destination downtown as an "abandoned dump."

When you walk around you see pretty much every 3rd storefront shuttered and people seem pretty underwhelmed. I think the only people who go there anymore are people like me who have a single destination we want to get in and out of, or unsuspecting tourists who think they are going somewhere innovative and pleasant and then discover they've been duped into coming to a half-abandoned mall.

I realize that in the 1980s HP was a marvel. It was a new, innovative concept and it helped spur redevelopment downtown. There's no denial HP has historical significance to our city.

But now I believe it's reached the point it is hindering our downtown. It's a closed-in eyesore and the people who own/manage it seem to be in no hurry to improve it as they let it slowly bleed tenants.

What's the future for HP and WHEN will something finally be done about it?

The city needs to put pressure on Westfield to do something. Either revitalize it or sell it to someone who will. Having a bleeding, depressing black hole like that right in the middle of downtown isn't good for the city.