A group of City Heights residents spent Saturday in peaceful Fox Canyon doing a little spring-cleaning. Wendy Miller led the effort, which was part of the countywide Creek to Bay Cleanup put on by environmental nonprofit I Love a Clean San Diego.
This story was filmed in one day on April 26, 2014, for "One Day In San Diego." The 24-hour event invited professional and amateur filmmakers across the county to film a slice of San Diego life on one day.
"Trash goes down into the canyon, goes down through the waterways and ends up in the ocean," Miller said. "So, strangely enough, when we pick up trash from our canyon, it's saving the ocean."
Miller and her team hauled dead palm fronds, overgrown bamboo and other debris out of the steep canyon. With properties backing onto the canyon, homeowners worry letting the materials pile up is a fire hazard. Miller said it's also important to keep the urban refuge accessible.
"It's like having a little bit of wilderness in your backyard and it's so dense here in City Heights, so (the canyons) are extra important to us," Miller said.
Miller bought her home a couple of years ago. She's a costume designer for The Old Globe Theatre and said she finds inspiration in the community's diversity, especially the traditional clothing the neighborhood's immigrants and refugees wear. But she said she hopes the area's roadways get more bike-friendly. Miller rides her bike to work each day.
"I would love to tell people to ride their bikes in San Diego, but I don't because it's so dangerous," Miller said.
When asked about what will improve the city, Miller pointed to her neighbors.
"We have a lot of active folks in City Heights and they're all doing things like Creek to Bay," Miller said. "We're always finding someone else who's really involved with the neighborhood, trying to make it better."
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