Salinas Underground

The pandemic is still keeping us from going back to our regular lives but that doesn't mean that the growth of Salinas also stopped. In the next several years hundreds of new people are going to move into projects that are the advanced planning stages. Oz went through the permit centers reports to see what some of these projects may look like. One of the more interesting projects is a group of houses that is going to be built around a creek in Laurel Heights. Also the famous arch is finally up and it has Oldtown absolutely bombilating.

Eric and Ness are two-thirds of the team behind The Beerded Bean in Oldtown, which is going on its third year of serving up coffee, beer, and music. They tell us how a potty training moment at a pizza place in Pacific Grove led to their partnership and how a local restaurateur that rented out his kitchen helped them perfect the art of the Canela cold brew. This is an inspiring conversation and a great example of the potential future of businesses in Salinas.

February was Black History Month, and Oz promised you an episode on Black history in Monterey County. His guest hosts for this journey are Samantha and Frenchy from our sister podcast 831 Comadres. They start the show by talking about the Brown Berets and how some of their work crossed over with the Black Panthers' work. The last half is full of some of the most amazing stories we have uncovered while researching these local history segments!

If you don't yet subscribe to 831 Comadres head over and give them a follow!!

We've all driven on Highway 101 up and down Salinas hundreds of times but did you know that some of the route traces its history back to the late 1700s? In this episode, Oz traces the highway's history from an old stagecoach trail to a modern highway and even a glimpse into the possible future of this important piece of Salinas. We also talk about the recent storm and update the ongoing Main Street upgrade through Oldtown.

A major project to connect Salinas to the Bay Area with a commuter train celebrated the completion of its first phase. What does that mean, and when will we be able to jump on a train in Oldtown Salinas and hop in Downtown San Jose? Oz does his best to answer these questions before ending the episode with a history lesson on trains in the Salinas area.

Monterey Jack Cheese is probably the cheese we are most familiar with. The melty, soft, white cheese is most often found inside quesadillas, but where does it come from? Is it from around these parts, or is the name just a coincidence? Oz gets to the (possibly) bottom of this question. But first, an update on the renovation of the Dick Bruhn building in Oldtown. Also, a new city manager is about to take charge of the city. Who is he, and where did he work before Salinas? All on this episode!

Very soon, Salinas will have dozens of new apartments downtown, a new train connection to the Bay Area, and thousands of new homes on the Northside. Oz keeps thinking he's some Walter Mercado and can predict what this might mean for the people currently struggling to live here. Can anything be done to prevent the people that were born and raised here from being priced out?

One of the ingredients that make the Salad Bowl such a great place to live in is the hustle of its people. We were wondering what local businesses and artists were doing to sell their things in a time when we can't get together. We asked our old friend Rob from MASA what he is seeing and how he is jumping in to connect shops with customers. @vendors831 is one of his projects that is quickly gaining steam. Follow it on Instagram to find some dope items from local people!

Digital Nest is an organization that is trying to get the youth of our area the tools to compete in a modern workforce. We talk to their founder, Jacob Martinez, and their Salinas site manager, Yesenia Molina, to discuss how they have been doing that in Salinas and Watsonville. We talk about their history, the difficulties of being a Latino entrepreneur, and their plans for the future not just here in Salinas but all over the country.

The election has finally passed, and now we can get back to our normal routine here at Salinas Underground. I bring in the guys from The Electro and Banno Movie Power Hour to go over what happened in the election and talk about what has been going on in Salinas for the last month. This episode was recorded before the final counts were published, so the numbers we talked about are outdated.