Downtown San Diego may not be the post-pandemic success story many had hoped for.

Driving the news: The number of unique visitors to downtown San Diego this spring reached 80% of its pre-pandemic level, according to an updated analysis from the University of Toronto's School of Cities.

• That ranks us 20th of the 55 largest U.S. metro areas tracked by the School of Cities' project, as Alex Fitzpatrick and Kavya Beheraj report.
• An earlier version of the research placed San Diego among the strongest downtown recoveries in the country before a change to the researchers' methodology resulted in different boundaries for our downtown area.

Why it matters: The methodological change shifts our understanding of how well an economic engine is recovering from the pandemic, relative to peer cities — and whether regional leaders should feel any urgency to pursue policies to help it along.

Flashback: National media responded to the previous rankings by holding up San Diego as a model for other cities.

• "We're more balanced," Mayor Todd Gloria told CBS News in March, voicing a popular explanation for San Diego's resiliency.

Zoom in: Under the old methodology, downtown's footprint included the San Diego International Airport. That's no longer true.

• Since the research is based on anonymized cell phone data, San Diego got a boost from all of the people who passed through the airport, even if they never stepped foot downtown.

The big picture: The new methodology puts downtown San Diego's recovery in the middle of the pack, but still ahead of cities like San Francisco and Portland.

Zoom out: A separate report, from the Center City District in Philadelphia, still pegs San Diego as one of the best-recovering downtowns.

• Its analysis does not include the airport in its downtown definition.

What we're watching

While hovering beneath national averages for nearly a decade, rates of food insecurity in California are on the rise again, new government data shows.

Driving the news: In California, 10.3% of households were food insecure on average from 2020 to 2022, per a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's economic research service.

• That's compared with 9.6% on average between 2019 and 2021.

Details: Food insecurity means at times, a given household couldn't get sufficient food for one or more of its members because they didn't have enough money or resources.

• Those with "very low" food security eat less or skip meals. In a house with children, adults might go without so the kids can eat.

Zoom in: More than 400,000 people in San Diego County are experiencing food insecurity, with people of color struggling at much higher rates, according to a recent economic equity report by the San Diego Foundation.

• In 2021, 12.7% of San Diegans were using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, a federal program to reduce food insecurity for low-income families.
• Black San Diegans are twice as likely to use SNAP than the average San Diegan and almost four times as likely as white San Diegans, per the report.
• American Indian or Alaska Native, Latino and multiracial San Diegans all have food insecurity rates at least two times higher than those of white San Diegans.

The big picture: Nationally, the number of Americans who couldn't reliably afford to eat also soared last year with historic inflation rates and the end of pandemic-era benefits.

What they're saying

🚗 Where do you really want to obey parking signs? Mission Beach and Gaslamp. Those are the most-ticketed areas over the last 10 years. The city in that time has issued 5 million parking citations, good for $300 million in revenue. (KPBS)

🧑‍⚕️ California became the first state in the nation to pass a minimum wage for health care workers last month, and now we know how much it will cost: $4 billion in the 2024-2025 fiscal year. (Axios)

🏘️ San Diego County is looking for land where it can place tiny homes for homeless residents, as it also considers passing a homeless encampment ban. (Union-Tribune)

You may have noticed we've been getting some pretty ridiculous sunsets this fall.

What's happening: With help from readers, we've gathered some of the best sunset viewing spots for different occasions.

Sunset Cliffs in Ocean Beach and Point Loma has earned its name, as it's arguably the best place in the city to watch the sunset.

• Find a spot along the rugged coastline as you drive down Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and take in the view.

What you're saying: "Best time of the season [is] when the tourists have gone home and the ocean shows its personality," reader Dan M. said after watching a storm off Torrey Pines State Beach at sunset.

• Piper G. loves watching sunsets on the harbor by the USS Midway.
• The Scripps Coastal Meander Trail in La Jolla also offers stunning views overlooking the pier.

Check out our favorite places to watch San Diego's sunsets

💼 See who's hiring around the city.

1. Director of Business Intelligence at Dexcom.
2. Director of Growth and Analytics at Intuit.
3. Director, Enterprise Sales - Cox Business at Cox Communications.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Use code FIRST50 for $50 off your first job post.

Turns out many of you want to spring forward and stay there.

Driving the news: Nearly half of the more than 700 Axios San Diego readers who participated in our poll said they want permanent daylight saving time.

• About 37% prefer permanent standard time.
• Somehow, 3% of you enjoy changing your clocks ... and we have questions.

💭 Our thought bubble: We stand with the 13% who just want the switching to stop.