NEWS
May Newsletter
Call to Action
Support our CPG application at City Council
Our CPG application is going before the full council on May 21st (exact time is still TBD). Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information on how you can support us! In the meantime, please consider running as a candidate in the election should the council approve the new CPG structure.
Neighborhood News
Recent Town Hall on Plan Hillcrest
We recently held another town hall to facilitate and gather community feedback on the update to the community plan for Hillcrest. We had a great turnout and gathered a lot of feedback that was provided to the City’s Planning Department and staff. We’ve summarized the feedback we gathered in a recent blog post.
Transforming the 163 Freeway
As part of the discussion on the updated to Hillcrest Community Plan we’ve been hearing about the potential for a lid to be built over parts of the 163. We’re very keen on seeing something like this happen in the future. It would be a huge opportunity to reconnect the eastern and western parts of Uptown. There is so much potential for new park space, a public plaza, retail, housing and more. We want to give a big shout out to Andrew Bowen over at KPBS for covering the story on this one. Read his report below:
KPBS - Hillcrest, hungry for park space, looks to the 163 freeway
Legislation Highlights
Greater Hillcrest MAD (Maintenance Assessment District)
This month’s legislation highlight is local! Maintenance Assessment Districts (MADs) are a legal mechanism by which property owners can vote to assess themselves to pay and receive services above-and-beyond what the City of San Diego normally provides. Currently there are two MADs in Hillcrest. The initiative passed committee a month ago and now has passed City Council unanimously. If approved by the property owners within the district it is slated to merge the two separate MADs in Hillcrest, and dramatically increase funding for:
Safety, order and responding to homeless, vagrancy issues
Sidewalk cleanliness and regular pressure washing
Trimming and replacement of damaging trees and landscaping
Installing and improving decorative amenities such as street furniture, fixtures, equipment, lighting
Identifying new public spaces, including designing, planning, funding, and managing them
Managing the new Normal St Promenade (without this new funding this space won’t get any maintenance!)
We are super excited for the potential for nicer, cleaner, and safer streets!
On Our Minds
Does Building More Housing Help Affordability?
We think the debate on this is long overdue to be settled and done. In a past newsletter we’ve talked about real world examples of abundant housing policies working to promote affordability. Now we’ve got the academic research to back it up too. So what did the research find? The same thing we’ve been seeing play out in forward thinking cities across the country. More housing supply means more affordable housing.
Upcoming Events
City Budget Town Hall
Our city councilmember, Stephen Whitburn, is having his office host a budget town hall, in partnership with the city’s Independent Budget Analyst (IBA). The town hall will be held on Tuesday, May 7th at 7 pm at the Balboa Park Club's Santa Fe Room (2144 Pan American W Rd, San Diego, CA 92101) . This presents a valuable opportunity for everyone to engage, participate, and learn more about the City's budget process.
Our Regular Meeting
We meet every other Sunday to discuss issues, events, and advocacy centered around the Uptown neighborhood. All are welcome. Join us in-person or virtually for our next meeting on Sunday, May 5th at 1:30pm at West Bean Coffee Roasters at 4th Ave and Laurel in Banker’s Hill. You can see all our upcoming events and meetings on our community calendar. Come join us!
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April 10th - Town Hall Recap
With the city preparing to release an updated draft of the Focused Plan Amendment (aka Plan Hillcrest) to the Uptown Community plan, Vibrant Uptown sponsored a town hall to ensure our neighbors had an opportunity to hear directly from the city and provide feedback on the plan.
Working with co-sponsoring organizations; Hillcrest Town Council, Hillcrest Business Association, Hillcrest all-inclusive Kiwanis, Impulse and the @hillcrestsandiego instagram page we developed a program that was focused on community feedback. We set up six tables in the auditorium at the SAn Diego LGBTQ+ Center auditorium, each dedicated to discussion of one or more chapters from the proposed plan update. Members of our co-sponsoring organizations provided moderators to ensure everyone had a chance to express their opinions with all opinions and points of view welcomed. We were ready to go!
About 80 neighbors came to listen and discuss the planned long term changes to the core of our community, as most of the changes are centered on the urban core of Hillcrest. After words of Welcome from City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn and Hillcrest Business Association president and owner of Rich’s nightclub, Ryan Bedrosian and an update on Vibrant Uptown from Jon Anderson it was time to get down to business. Shannon Corr and Claudia Brizuela went through an overview of the changes proposed and we broke out to the tables to hear from the community. Councilmember Whitburn, Shannon and Claudia from the planning department as well joined in circulating to the tables to answer questions.
The discussions at the various tables were robust. At the tables focused on land use (housing) and mobility large scale maps were provided to provide a visual aid for discussion - and a place to take notes or make suggestions. Overall, the feedback from those who attended was positive about the direction proposed. Of course there were lots of questions and discussions about alternative approaches, as well as concern over a few areas in the draft.
Housing
One of the key questions was trying to understand why some areas were targeted for higher density and others were not. Once these areas were compared with proximity to major employment or retail zones or access to easy transit paths to these areas it became much clearer to all that these changes would help reduce the need for longer commutes, parking for commuters and provide more foot traffic for local retail and entertainment venues. Having most of the density targeted to the urban and commercial core of Uptown was also recognized as a welcome move. There was of course some concern over the potential loss of some older buildings and retailers, but overall the tradeoffs were seen as positive.
As we add more people, in up to 17,000 new homes, it is necessary to look at how people are going to get around. There is little opportunity with the uptown neighborhoods to widen roadways or substantially increase parking to accommodate more personal cars. The mobility table discussed the proposed approach; reduce vehicle miles traveled through changing the existing thoroughfares to accommodate multiple alternate modes, aligned to the city’s general plan mobility element. This involves completion of the cycling infrastructure as well as improving walkability, adding more promenades and improving public transit.
Mobility
Two mobility concerns rose to the top; safety and the long timelines and unclear funding for transit from SANDAG. Most of the major changes are targeted for 10-30 years out, and participants would like to see more concrete interim steps (park and ride from other neighborhoods, bus service along proposed streetcar and trolley routes, etc.) For safety, increasing numbers of cyclists and pedestrians combined with lax enforcement and speeding traffic are creating demand for more concrete safety changes in Uptown. These include;
Elimination of right on red along urban corridors
Reduced speed limits (20 mph)
Dedicated traffic patrols
Continental (raised) crosswalks
Closing key residential street segments to vehicular traffic (5th Ave between Robinson and washington as an example)
Narrowing lanes and adding more traffic calming design changes
What are the plans for bike facilities on university from 1st to the washington bridge?
The proposed class 2 (“sharrows”) bike lanes on 6th south of University are completely unacceptable. You have speeding traffic exiting the 163 and (a) this traffic needs to be slowed quickly and (b) bicyclists protected.
The one-way couplets were generally liked, as they have the opportunity to clear traffic waiting for left turns, as long as appropriate calming is provided
Public Spaces
In the discussion of parks and public spaces, a few key topics came to the forefront. The plan proposal requiring promenades and other public spaces to be a requirement of developers as they make changes or redevelop properties is viewed as insufficient at best and likely to fail to realize consistent spaces. The city needs first to develop these paces and then ask developers to ADD amenities rather than develop these spaces one piece at a time. Failure to do this will leave long term gaps and discontiguous spaces that are hard to use. Space needs to be envisioned for a dog park. Participants also wanted to see more signage and development of canyon trails and other paths through the neighborhoods.
On the business front. There was discussion around the need for a way to promote and fund innovative startups and new concept prototypes, maybe in a shared location where space can be rented or popups supported? How do we make sure consumers can get to the businesses they wish to access. The conversation on park and ride, a potential short term parking lot in a new commercial building or circulating electric tram service, as well as better (safe) bike parking.
LGBTQ Cultural District
The LGBTQ Cultural District conversation table covered a lot of ground. Key points included;
Recognition that San Diego’s LGBTQ+ community has evolved and migrated over the years. While it has ended up in Hillcrest today, it has been centered in several other neighborhoods and those should be recognized as well.
The need for LGBTQ+ themed gathering places other than the bars and nightclubs. While these spaces have been traditional safe spaces for the community many are looking to meet outside of these venues.
Consider the need for recognition of how the LGBTQ community has contributed to many areas of life; the military, HIV/AIDS, women, BIPOC and trans communities among others
Preserve affordability for lower income LGBTQ+ community members. It is common for people from small towns or facing challenges at home to move to larger cities to join the communities there. We need to make this move to safe neighborhoods possible.
Establish a process for the LGBTQ+ community to have an ongoing voice in determining which events, businesses and places are important to the community and how they should be protected and recognized.
Overall, lots of great feedback. We are well on the way to a plan we can all live with and that will help our Uptown communities continue to grow and evolve.
If you have additional feedback or want to see the slides used by the planning department, visit https://planhillcrest.org.
April Newsletter
Call(S) to Action
More than one call to action! We know, it’s a lot! It’s a busy month! :)
Support Let’s Go San Diego - A Transit-Oriented Ballot Initiative
This initiative, slated to bring much needed funding to our transit system, has officially gotten enough signatures to be on the November 2024 ballot! Be sure to check out their website and follow them on all the relevant platforms to keep up to date with them and support this important measure!
Check out their website LetsGoSD.org
Like their Facebook Page
Follow them on Instagram @LetsGoSD
Follow them on X/Twitter @LetsGoSD2024
Follow them on LinkedIn
Support Pride Plaza & New Bikeways - Construction Delayed
SANDAG staff say that the Pride Plaza and Normal Street Promenade is not on hold, but it is. Negotiations unrelated to construction are dragging on and every week they go on is more time that this project is delayed. We need to put pressure on SANDAG leadership to break this deadlock and “release the construction bid package.”
Read more about the project and use our templates to send in comments supporting the project here.
Neighborhood News
CPG Application - One Step Closer!
As you’ve likely already heard, the Land Use & Housing committee has voted 4-0 recommending to the full City Council that they recognize our application to create the new Uptown Community Planning Group (UCPG)! We are thrilled at the outcome of the vote and have high hopes for when it makes its way to the full vote of the Council. If selected, we would be facilitating an election within 90 days to find and elect people from the community to the new CPG. We hope you will consider running!
Read more about our CPG application here.
Plan Hillcrest Amendment - New Draft Released
An updated draft of the Plan Hillcrest amendment has been released! Don’t forget to attend our town hall event for it on April 10th (check the calendar for details). In the meantime, you can review the updated draft on the plan’s official website and submit written comments through April 29th.
See our Plan Hillcrest page for more information and suggested written comments.
Hillcrest DMV Redevelopment - Town Hall with Assemblymember Chris Ward
The Hillcrest DMV property has had legislation proposed in order to redevelop the site with affordable housing. On March 27th, Assemblymember Chris Ward held an event where he gave an update and took community feedback on AB1635. The bill gives the State until 2026 to agree to a lease with the City to develop the property with at least 20% low/very low income housing. It would still house the DMV and the rest of the details of the property would be based on what developers propose. Thus far, it has passed first committee in the assembly.
We hope to see this legislation move forward and bring much needed housing to the community!
Legislation Highlights
Measure HLA (Healthy Streets LA) in Los Angeles Passed!
Recently, LA voters passed a citizen-led ballot initiative to make their streets safer and more efficient. We’re super excited for them, and super excited to see what lessons we can learn and apply here locally. In the meantime, the story of how a ballot measure is born and ultimately passed is quite an interesting read:
On Our Minds
Cities Aren’t Loud, Cars Are Loud
It’s worth pointing out, a lot of hand-wringing occurs over building more housing. When you look beneath the covers, the issue isn’t really the housing itself, it’s the supposed side effects. One of the top concerns is usually related to “additional traffic” and the impact that poses on the neighborhood. We think this is important concern to highlight. Not because it means we shouldn’t build more housing, but because it means we should find ways to build and arrange our community so we don’t need to rely on cars in the first place. After all, if we build more housing and it doesn’t bring any additional cars or traffic with it, don’t we accomplish other great things in the process? In the case of Uptown, building more housing here means putting more people near all the jobs and restaurants we have. Now more people can walk, bike, and transit to wherever they need to go. Even better, more people nearby means more customers nearby for local businesses. So, we pose the question.. is density really the problem, or is too many cars the problem?
Upcoming Events
Plan Hillcrest Town Hall
We’re hosting a public forum to gather community feedback on the latest Plan Hillcrest Amendment draft. Join us alongside other community leaders, city representatives, and staff to hear about the latest draft and then break out into discussion groups focused on each section of the plan. All feedback we gather will be submitted to the city afterwards! The town hall is on Wednesday, April 10th at 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the LGBT Center at 3909 Centre St, San Diego, CA 92103. See more details here.
Our Regular Meeting
We meet every other Sunday to discuss issues, events, and advocacy centered around the Uptown neighborhood. All are welcome. Join us in-person or virtually for our next meeting on Sunday, April 7th at 1:30pm at West Bean Coffee Roasters at 4th Ave and Laurel in Banker’s Hill. You can see all our upcoming events and meetings on our community calendar. Come join us!
Follow Us On Social Media
April 10th - Town Hall
Covering the Plan Hillcrest Amendment Latest Draft
We’re hosting a public forum to gather community feedback on the latest Plan Hillcrest Amendment draft. Join us alongside other community leaders, city representatives and staff to hear about the latest draft and then break out into discussion groups focused on each section of the plan. All feedback we gather will be submitted to the city afterwards! The town hall is on Wednesday, April 10th at 6:00pm to 8:00pm at the LGBT Center at 3909 Centre St, San Diego, CA 92103. Below is the tentative agenda for the evening.
Agenda
Welcome — Vibrant Uptown
City Welcome — Stephen Whitburn, City of San Diego Councilmember
Community Welcome — Ryan Bedrosian, Business Owner and President of Hillcrest Business Association
Vibrant Uptown Update — Jon Anderson, Founding Member
Plan Hillcrest Briefing — City Planning Department
Breakout to Discussion Tables:
Land Use (Housing)
Mobility
Urban Design / Implementation
LGBTQ Cultural / Historic Districts
Economic Prosperity (Business)
Public Facilities / Recreation / Conservation / Noise
Closing Remarks
All feedback and input will be provided to the Plan Hillcrest team and City Staff
Uptown Planners - March 2024 Election Endorsements
Hey there! Uptown Planners, the community planning group that represents Bankers Hill, Hillcrest, Middleton, Mission Hills, Medical Complex, and University Heights is holding an election starting tomorrow (Saturday, March 2nd). CPGs are an important voice in city planning and land use. As such we think who is elected to these groups matters! See the Uptown Planners website for all the details on this upcoming election.
Here is our letter of endorsement for this election
Best of luck to the candidates!
P.S. Don’t forget to vote in the upcoming primary election for local, state, and federal elections on March 5th as well!
March Newsletter
Neighborhood News
Bike Lanes
University Ave has new bike lanes! The street now has dedicated bike lanes from 1st Ave to 5th Ave. Flex posts to protect cyclists will be installed in the coming weeks. We’re excited to see the network of safe, low stress cycling facilities in Uptown continue to grow. Remember, there’s only one solution to traffic: viable alternatives to driving.
Our Pending CPG Application
We’re excited about our application to the City to establish a new community planning group (CPG) for Uptown. After long months of workshopping ideas, we’ve creatively named it “Uptown Community Planning Group (UCPG).” We're proud of the organizational structure we've envisioned to represent Uptown. You can view the full contents of our application here. The City will make decisions on CPGs in April, and should our application be successful, we will promptly organize an election to fill the group’s seats. We’d love to have you run and be a voice in the community. If you’re interested, please reach out to us at contact@vibrantuptown.org!
P.S. The CPG application is just one initiative we are sponsoring as the Vibrant Uptown organization. If chosen, UCPG would be its own independent entity with members elected from the community. We, as Vibrant Uptown, would remain a separate entity and continue our work organizing and advocating in the community around important issues.
New Restaurants
New restaurants are coming to University Heights! Kory Stetina of Kindred and Arsalun Tafazoli of Consortium Holdings are launching two new vegan ventures, Vulture and Dreamboat, in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood. Vulture will offer mid-century style fine dining with creative plant-based dishes and cocktails, while Dreamboat is a micro-diner featuring vegan coffee, pastries, burgers, and desserts. For more details, visit their websites at vulturerestaurant.com and dreamboatdiner.com.
Legislation Highlights
AB2065 – Expanding Coastal Housing Access
Co-sponsored by Circulate San Diego, SPUR, and the Bay Area Council, this proposed legislation aims to encourage the development of more housing units in coastal areas, with a commitment to include affordable options for moderate, low, and very-low income families.
Read more about the bill here and read our letter of support here.
On Our Minds
Abundant Housing is Affordable Housing
Well, it’s at least half the battle. There’s more to affordable housing to ensure the most vulnerable populations don’t get left behind. But, when it comes to broad strokes, we believe abundant housing is a key pillar to solving our housing crisis. This recent editorial in the Financial Timesanalyzes affordability data and compares cities in Texas and California. We weren’t surprised to see the data show that more relaxed zoning policies have allowed Texan cities to remain more affordable compared to their Californian counterparts.
Read the full editorial here: FT - What Texas can teach San Francisco and London about building houses
CEQA Reform
A recent state appellate court ruling may limit the use of CEQA to delay construction projects. The way we see it, it’s far too easy to misuse CEQA as a “heckler’s veto” on projects that bring much needed housing and infrastructure. Read the full editorial covering the case on Times of San Diego.
Upcoming Events
Regular Meeting
We meet every other Sunday to discuss issues, events, and advocacy centered around the Uptown neighborhood. Join us in-person or virtually for our next meeting on March 10th at 1:30pm at West Bean Coffee Roasters at 4th Ave and Laurel in Banker’s Hill. You can see all our upcoming events and meetings on our community calendar. Come join us!
Expanding Coastal Housing Access with AB2560
In an effort to extend the benefits of California's Density Bonus Law to the Coastal Zone, we express strong support for AB 2560. This proposed legislation aims to encourage the development of more housing units in coastal areas, with a commitment to include affordable options for moderate, low, and very-low income families. The current legislation falls short in applying these benefits to coastal regions, often resulting in reduced housing production and increased segregation by income. By ensuring that the Density Bonus Law applies equally across the state, AB 2560 represents a critical step towards making California's coast accessible to all, regardless of income. Our organization proudly stands behind this initiative, advocating for fair and inclusive housing solutions that benefit every Californian.
Our CPG Application
UPDATE: The City’s Land Use & Housing Committee has voted 4-0 to recommend that the broader City Council vote to recognize our proposed CPG structure to represent Uptown! We expect to see the City Council vote on recognition at the May 21st meeting (time TBD). Should the council vote in favor, elections will be held immediately thereafter. Stay tuned to our socials and subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the loop. In the meantime, please consider running as a candidate to represent your neighborhood!
Community Planning Groups (CPGs) represent the official voice of neighborhoods and provide input to the city in making land use, transportation, and planning decisions. As part of San Diego City Council Policy 600-24 updates that passed in 2023, all CPGs were required to re-apply for recognition with the city as the “designated planning group” for their neighborhood. The City Council is expected to make its decision in recognizing CPGs this April. As part of all of this, the updated policy allowed anyone to file an application and be recognized as the new planning group. Our group decided to put in an application to create and hopefully have "Uptown Community Planning Group” recognized as the official CPG for the Uptown neighborhood. Neighborhoods that fall within “Uptown” are Bankers Hill, Hillcrest, Middletown, Mission Hills, Medical Center, and University Heights. You can read our full application package to the city with the below links. If we are selected and you would like to become a member of the board, please send an expression of interest and which seat you are interested in running for to vibrantuptown@gmail.com.
P.S. The CPG application is just one initiative we are sponsoring as the Vibrant Uptown organization. If chosen, UCPG would be its own independent entity with members elected from the community. The election would be run within 60-90 days after city selection. We, as Vibrant Uptown, would remain a separate entity and continue our work organizing and advocating in the community around important issues.
UCPG Community Participation & Representation Plan
Hillcrest DMV Redevelopment & AB1635
The Hillcrest DMV property has been targeted for redevelopment for some time now. You can read an article from late 2023 detailing some of the struggles and delays that have plagued the DMV redevelopment so far on KPBS here.
With the introduction of California AB1635 into the the Assembly, there is a renewed possibility that this becomes a reality in the near future. We have written a letter in support of the bill and intend to continue advocating for the development of new housing both at this site and throughout the Uptown community. Read out letter of support here.