how we got here
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HOW WE GOT HERE SAN DIEGO’S PLANNING AND VISIONING
Peter James MacCracken, APR for The San Diego Union-Tribune
If there is a word that captures San Diego, it is “paradise.” With an enviable climate,
spanning an abundant ocean to canyons to desert to mountains, with a naturally protected
port, the region was idyllic since the Kumeyaay Indians settled here 10,000 years ago.
San Diego was “discovered” by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in 1542. Father Junipero Serra
began the mission era in 1769, Mexican land grants defined the rancho period of 1830 to
1860, and cession to the United States changed everything in 1848.
Shortly after the turn of the century, Harvard architect John Nolen was engaged to plan
the city’s future. The 1908 Nolen Plan revolved around a civic center, in the same place
today, a bayfront that balanced industry and recreation, just as today, and a bay-to-park
link still envisioned but not yet completed.
To promote San Diego for the opening of the Panama Canal and promote it as the
first stop for ships coming through the canal, San Diego’s leaders hosted the Panama-
California Exposition in Balboa Park 1915. Today, one of the world’s largest urban parks, it
includes many of the original buildings nearly a century later.
By 1917, the perceived conflict between economic prosperity and a natural paradise was
characterized as “Smokestacks Versus Geraniums.” That tension has driven visioning and
planning – and worrying – ever since.
Nolen was brought back to update his plan in 1926 and that update informed the city’s
master planning efforts for four decades.
During the first half of the century, San Diego grew thanks to the Navy, aviation, a rail
link east from its port and manufacturing. After World War II, firmly established as a
military center, San Diego boomed and spread. And worried about whether paradise
was sustainable. At the core of the region’s psyche has long been a tug-of-war between
economy and nature.
Glenn A. Rick, San Diego City planning director from 1928 to 1955, planned and executed
Mission Bay Park. With clear policy direction from the City Council and the support of the
Manager, by 1945 the planning staff had a plan to present to the voters. Completing the
Bay Park took from 1946 to 1955.
Private-sector vision, along with public-sector support and cooperation of the initially
reluctant military led to completion of two major successes, the founding of UC San Diego
on what was Camp Matthews (1961) and construction of the Coronado Bay Bridge (1967-
1969).
In 1974, a report to the city ominously titled, “Temporary Paradise?” urged San Diego to
avoid the mistakes of Los Angeles. It contained “An Environmental Plan for San Diego” that
sought to balance growth and environmental preservation. In 1984, Citizens Coordinate
for Century 3 released “Toward Permanent Paradise,” adapting the earlier report to
circumstances a decade later.
Mission Valley was opened to development in 1958 and shifted the center of gravity
from downtown. In the 1970s and 1980s, a blighted downtown was redeveloped thanks
in large part to public sector (Mayor Pete Wilson) and private sector (developer Ernest
Hahn) collaboration. Key to that was the 1979 general plan, which built on the “Paradise”
plans and divided the city into tiers, from urban to open space. That plan led to the
development of the San Diego Trolley and Horton Plaza, both iconic successes.
In 1999, The San Diego Foundation’s Millennium Project considered the region’s prospects
for the 21st century. Key themes were binationalism as a route to prosperity, training a
new-era workforce, improving education, accommodating growth through density, and
regional transportation and housing planning.
In 2008, an article by Reporter Roger Showley carried the subhead, “San Diego can’t
achieve its goals until we know what they are.”
And, in 2008, The San Diego Foundation began engaging residents region-wide in an
unprecedented visioning of our collective future. That is Our Greater San Diego Vision.
AppendixA SAMPLING OF SAN DIEGO’S PLANS AND VISIONS
1908 – John Nolen – “San Diego: A Comprehensive Plan for Its Improvement”
A local Civic Improvement Committee retained a Harvard University urban planning expert
to take a broad view of San Diego. Nolen concluded that, “Notwithstanding its advantages
of situation, climate, and scenery, San Diego is to-day neither interesting nor beautiful. Its
city plan is not thoughtful, but, on the contrary, ignorant and wasteful.” His document
for a 25- and 50-year “Replanning of San Diego” included chapters on A Public Plaza and
Civic Centre, The Great Bay Front, The Union Stations, Small Open Spaces, Streets and
Boulevards and A System of Parks.
1926 – John Nolen – 1908 Plan Update
Hired by the City of San Diego, Nolen followed up on his earlier work and prepared a
detailed plan for the city (including a downtown courthouse), harbor and parks. This effort
informed the city’s master planning for several decades.
1974 – Kevin Lynch and Donald Appleyard – “Temporary Paradise?”
A privately funded report to the City was positioned as “an illustrated discussion of the
landscape of San Diego.” It warned that this “magnificent site, for which its citizens have
such strong affection, is still intact, but may be losing its best qualities.” In order to avoid
the mistakes of Los Angeles and “take charge of its future,” they focused on the valleys and
canyons, the seacoast, transportation, land use, the Mexican connection and offered “An
Environmental Plan for San Diego.”
1984 – Citizens Coordinate for Century III (C3) – “Toward Permanent Paradise”
C3 unequivocally stated, “A vision exists for the San Diego region. It is called ‘Temporary
Paradise.’” This citizens group took up the cause and supported three major principles.
We live on a system of river valleys, canyons and open spaces that must be preserved.
Urban development should be primarily to the west where the climate is most moderate.
And older communities should be preserved and upgraded to discourage sprawl.
1996 – Mayor Susan Golding – The Renaissance Commission/Renaissance Project
Its suggestions were intended to create a city centered around its neighborhoods.
Specific recommendations were to expand and intensify common city services, such as
street sweeping and lighting; create a superfund to rebuild the inner city; and create new
community action groups with some authority to act independently.
1999-2000 – The Citistates Group for The SD Foundation – “The Millennium Project”
A team of national experts were retained to provide an outside view of future prospects
for the region going into the 21st century. Key themes were binationalism as the route to
regional prosperity, training a new era workforce and not just relying on schools to do so,
improving education outcomes, accommodating population growth through density, and
regional transportation and housing planning.
2001 – San Diego Dialogue – “A Vision And Strategy for the Sustainable Development of
the San Diego/Imperial Valley/Tijuana/Mexicali ‘Macro-Region’”
Based on a 2000 report on The Global Engagement of San Diego/Baja California, this
plan revolved around the common issue of water. The Dialogue called for a shared vision
based on the particular attributes and comparative advantages of each of the sub-regions.
The report also called for a focus on regional infrastructure, enhancing the ports of entry,
raising education levels, creating a binational institute as the forum to create a long-term
development plan and spurring joint business ventures to enhance collaboration.
2002 – Michael Stepner, AICP, FAIA – “A Short History of Planning in San Diego”
Former City Architect Stepner authored this narrative for the annual CCAPA Conference
in San Diego. He recounts the evolution of planning and visioning in San Diego from
the formation of Old Town, to the arguably disastrous development of Mission Valley, to
creation of Centre City Development Corporation and Metropolitan Transit Development
Board, to the beginning of the 21st century. He shows the impacts of planning efforts with
unprecedented clarity.
2003 – San Diego Regional Energy Office – “Sustainable Urban System Design for the
Greater San Diego-Tijuana Binational Metropolitan Region”
Project Design Consultants spearheaded the creation of a regional vision for 2103
based on completely sustainable future of a binational region with 16 to 23 million
residents. The vision revolved around four urban zones, surrounded by decreasingly
dense neighborhoods surrounded by greenbelts. Computerized mass transit, an energy
production center and total wastewater reclamation would contribute to realization of an
energy- and water-independent region.
2004 – SANDAG – Regional Comprehensive Plan
Described as the first San Diego-Tijuana binational strategic plan, this 342-page document
provided “A Shared Vision of the Future” and “A Regional Framework for Local Action.” It
called for smart growth as a major change to local planning in order to avoid reduced
open space, more expensive and fewer types of housing, imbalance between housing and
jobs, and environmental degradation.
2005 – San Diego Magazine – “Preserving Paradise”
A three-part series of stories (March, April and May issues) intended to highlight the tough
choices facing San Diegans in the next 25 years. A total of 30 stories examined the state
of the region and looked into an unclear future through lenses of transportation, changing
demographics, housing, water, energy and public opinion polling. The magazine’s editors
concluded that we need a sense of urgency.
2009 – The San Diego Foundation – Regional Vision Initiative
Quietly launched in 2009 (see The San Diego Union-Tribune, page A1, December 27,
2009), this effort intends to learn from history and build on other regions’ best practices.
The goal is a breakthrough effort to engage tens of thousands of San Diegans to develop
a vision and actionable strategic plan that will be implemented through the work of the
Center for Community Engagement. How long will this inform the decisions that shape
our future? The ambitious goal – “in perpetuity.”
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