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.”