Each morning begins with a steady stream of bikes, babies and messenger bags. Bike commuters race down the hill, their average commute time killed by the uphill return home. Gaggles of millennials sporting messenger bags lope down the hill, on their way to building the next killer app. Big backpacks, big rings of keys, big dreams. It's not easy living in the city. The name is a perfect fit. The Golden Hills location of Influx Cafe is my new community center/outside office/conference room. Open daily 6 am to 9 pm, My seat near the sunlit front window inside this old urban store front is the perfect vantage point to watch my sleepy-headed neighbors drudge in, spend time in line reviewing their social accounts then leave briskly clutching their one essential food group, coffee. The young professional/mother rocks back and forth glancing repeatedly out the window hoping she and her baby don't miss the uphill bus. The blanket covered with tiny red hearts cradles her young one. At first it seems an odd contrast to her suit, but hey, that's what eclectic urban is all about. It's an enclave of everyone, an un-gated community where dogs wag their tails, children smile with their eyes and neighbors I haven't yet met invite me to , "enjoy your weekend!" It took a few visits before I realized, it's not the coffee, it's the community that perks me up in the morning. Back in the late '70s I worked to rebuild Baltimore one building at a time. I hate to throw anything away, especially solid old structures, but there is more to this work than rebuilding buildings. It's about building communities and eventually, members of that community. Influx is performing important work in the communities where they live. In the industrial age industry located factories near rivers for a supply of cheap energy. Now it's the flow of electricity that powers San Diego's boom town. That, and of course, coffee. Hope you'll stop by my "office" and say hello. Influx - 1948 Broadway - San Diego