Plan Hillcrest Amendment
What IT IS
For those unfamiliar, Plan Hillcrest is a comprehensive proposal aimed at shaping the future of our Hillcrest community. It focuses on bolstering housing, enhancing public spaces, and improving transit, all while preserving the area's unique LGBTQ+ history and diverse culture.
You can find the whole plan draft here
The city planning department has invested considerable time and resources to undertake an extensive outreach effort. In addition to social media posts and ads, traditional print ads and mailers, and in-person outreach, the city also conducted an online survey that received over 700 responses.
You can see the extensive data they collected in the survey here
Vibrant Uptown’s Take
On Placemaking and People-Centric Design
The amendment’s focus on placemaking and people-centric design is exactly what we are looking for. These principles prioritize the human experience in urban settings, creating spaces and places that are fun, interesting, and unique. It’s a direction we certainly support.
Housing and Mixed-Use Zoning
The prospect of increased housing availability through new zoning approaches is noteworthy. Relaxing zoning regulations and building more housing is an effective way to combat the housing affordability crisis and has been proven out in other cities, most recently Berkeley, CA. That, plus a shift towards mixed-use zoning paves the way for a more accessible and inclusive community.
Reimagining Transportation
Equally important are the proposed changes in transportation. The emphasis on physical street design changes that reduce vehicle speeds will hugely improve safety and promote more walking, rolling, and public transit. It's a needed shift towards a more balanced and sustainable urban infrastructure. We hope the plan will continue to evolve so that Uptown as a whole can be a leader in the City’s Vision Zero efforts to eliminate traffic injuries and fatalities.
See our letter to the city here
Moving Forward
In general we think the direction of the amendment is promising, we also recognize that it’s a working document. We're committed to staying involved with stakeholders to refine and improve the plan where needed. Stay tuned on our socials and sign up for our newsletter to see highlights from the current draft and have a chance to make your voice heard.
Plan Hillcrest Timeline Overview:
Get Involved
In the fall of 2023, City staff released the Hillcrest Focused Plan Amendment Community Discussion Draft for review and public comment. Based on comments received, City staff prepared the draft Hillcrest Focused Plan Amendment, rezoning map, supporting draft mobility technical report and a summary of the plan amendment changes, which are now available for your feedback. The City encourages you to share your comments by emailing PlanHillcrest@SanDiego.gov by April 29, 2024.
Here are our suggested talking points for you to consider including:
The plan still includes Class II & III bicycle facilities. Please consider adjusting the design of the streets to include Class IV, fully separated bikeways wherever possible.
Expand the existing dedicated transit lanes called for in the current draft, convert any peak-only transit only lanes to full-time transit only lanes.
Many streets are marked at “2-lane collectors” please include physical traffic calming measures to ensure traffic does not speed on these streets. Consider making all intersections in high or medium pedestrian areas include features such as raised crosswalks and speed humps.
Consider converting “2-lane” collector” streets to have only one lane of general traffic to further enhance pedestrian and cyclist safety. Use freed up space for dedicated transit, biking, and walking facilities.
Be bolder not just enhancing pedestrian safety in existing high walking traffic areas but create and induce demand for walking in more areas by making it safer and more pleasant in additional areas.
We’ll update this page when we hear of any upcoming meetings related to Plan Hillcrest and put them on our calendar as well.
Also consider signing up for our newsletter for updates and ways to contribute to the Hillcrest community.