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Using Mission Hills as a Model for NP's Plan
The suggestion that all density is bad and that blight is a result of density is simply not accurate. Little Italy was considered so blighted in the early 1990's that one of the first developers to come in paid exactly $1 for what is now considered prime real estate. Today, property values in Little Italy are soaring, despite the housing downturn and businesses continue to thrive despite the recession. You can look at downtown San Diego as another example. The reason that communities such as Hillcrest, North Park, and South Park are attractive to so many people is that these are walkable neighborhoods where people can live, work and entertain without having to get into their car. This mixed-use arrangement is the traditional model of urban planning that was typical before Americans became addicted to driving. Once we figured out how to build cars, roads and infrastructure efficiently (based on the premise of cheap fuel) that was the birth of sprawl, and ironically the same time that older communities such as North Park and South Park started to become "blighted". The rebirth of these communities was triggered by the realization that spending 2 hours in your car commuting from your mcmansion in suburbia to your job downtown was not enhancing your quality of life. A recent SANDAG analysis forecast 1.2 million more people living in San Diego County by 2050. According to the report, we will need 390,000 more homes in this region in the next 40 years to accommodate that growth. The way we've dealt with growth for the past 50 years is by sprawling ever further from the city center. That model is not sustainable. Our city can't afford to maintain an ever growing network of roads and utilities. If our city is on the verge of bankruptcy today, how will we be able to meet the needs of 1.2 million more people? Will the San Diego of 2050 have decent schools, police force and adequate fire department response times? It's a nice fantasy to think that our neighborhoods don't need to be part of the solution when taking a broad look at our problems. The truth is that everything is interconnected. The money used to repair roads, sidewalks and water mains in South Park comes out of the same pot of money that is used to repair that type of infrustructure in those distant suburbs. More importantly though, those distant neighbors with the vast green lawns and swimming pools in every backyard are consuming our finite resources (water, gas and electricity) at an alarmingly faster rate than we are. Adding density along the commercial corridors of our beautiful older communities is not only sensible, it is the only responsible way to meet the future growth of America's Finest City. If it's done the right way, it will not detract from the historic character of our communities. Instead of wasting your energy fighting growth, wouldn't it be better to engage in a conversation about how we can best deal with it?— August 20, 2010 11:55 a.m.