On the morning of June 27, 2012 local residents and community organizations joined to witness the unveiling of the beautiful new mural in the Azalea Park area of City Heights neighborhood. Located at the corner of Poplar St. and Jamie’s Way on a long stretch of wall, a building side occupied by El General Market. Thanks in part to a donation from Frazee Paint, coordinators from San Diego Canyonlands and Project CLEAN were able to commission muralists, Gloria Muriel and Beth Emerich to design and paint the expansive mural. The mural depicts an old-world style mapping of the San Diego Canyonlands Urban Loop Trail, running through four canyons in the area, interconnected by paved urban streets and neighborhoods. Jamie’s Way, the short stretch of street now home to the mural is one of the connecting streets that one can take to get from Manzanita Canyon to Pepper Canyon. That stretch of pavement is now being dubbed the ‘City Heights Urban Wildlife Trail’. With the introduction of the new mural, native plants will also be added along the “trail” to encourage locals to recognize the pathway as part of the loop trail. Overall the mural and interconnecting trail marks the beginning of what local organizations hope will occur at the other sites where streets and canyon trails intersect and connect.
