The Union Tribune reports on the 'paradise in progress.' "This is life in downtown San Diego, where the official city tree might as well be the construction crane. Never before have so many buildings gone up at virtually the same time. Many people who live in the East Village, once a low-rent warehouse district, are excited about what things might look like at the end of the all the digging and hammering, whenever that day might mercifully arrive."

"It's just that living through the commotion, they say, can be a tremendous aggravation. A woman who lives in the Parkloft condominiums just north of Petco Park says the constant drone of jackhammers is so irritating that she hasn't opened her windows in two years."

"If peace and quiet are in short supply in the East Village these days, some residents are concerned about another vanishing commodity: their views. Kevin Albritton and his wife moved into the third floor of the Parkloft complex in 2002. They had nice view of the ballpark. Now, however, that view is being partially blocked as construction crews build an addition to the T.R. Produce building on the south side of the condo complex. Albritton calls the new addition, which will house condos and office space, 'hideously ugly.'"

"Meanwhile, the Albrittons have taken to leaving on their air conditioning to drown out the noise of jackhammers and cement trucks. 'Our electric bills have gone up considerably,' he said."

"Ian Wendlandt used to live in Chicago. But the rhythmic white noise of that city's el train, he says, can't compare to the discordant sounds that assault his East Village condo every day. 'Here it's completely chaotic in terms of frequency,' said Wendlandt. 'One day it'll be jackhammers, the next day it's the pounding of a cement truck.' He hands out earplugs to some of his overnight guests."

"Wendlandt lives in the Parkloft development, which at the moment is surrounded on all four sides by construction projects: a 33-story office and condo complex across Island Avenue; a 31-story office and condo complex across Eighth Avenue; a seven-story condo complex one block to the east on 10th Avenue; and the T.R. Produce project immediately to the south"

"A few people who moved into the Parkloft when it opened in 2002 say they weren't quite prepared for the sheer amount of new construction. 'I didn't realize every corner was going to be developed so quickly, and all at once,' said Barbara Edelson, who lives on the seventh floor. She said she's kept her windows closed for the past two years to block out the noise. 'I have beautiful patio furniture, but you can't sit out there,' she said."

"Some folks wonder what the East Village will look like a decade from now. Will the finished neighborhood contain a mix of interesting people, good restaurants and eclectic businesses? Or will it be a forest of sterile, half-empty high-rises casting dark shadows on a collection of chain stores?"

"Gloria Poore thinks it will take 'realistically, probably another five years' before the area looks like a neighborhood as opposed to a men-at-work zone. In the meantime, she's become quite adept at mimicking the noise of cement trucks backing up on her street. 'Meep meep meep meep meep,' she said."