A scandal over bonuses and the recession leads to change in project to redevelop Southeast San Diego, but some critics want to see more construction, not just kumbaya.
Open books and open contracts. That's what a San Diego development agency had to do, to rebuild credibility after the public learned the now-former agency director gave close to $900,000 in bonuses to herself and her staff.
Cruz Gonzalez is the new chair of the Southeastern Economic Development Corp, charged with using property tax revenue from a 7.2-square-mile area southeast of downtown to create affordable housing, improve infrastructure, build parks and coax developers to replace blight. He tells Craig Gufstason of the San Diego Union Tribune "[w]e're trying to increase visibility, responsiveness and transparency so when the economy turns around, we'll be able to invest in development."
Indeed progress has been slow, in part because of the recession. Eddie Price, a small-business owner from Valencia Park says
"[t]here's oceanview property around there that needs to be developed and it's not. And telling me that the economy is the reason why ain't going to get it, because I know developers around the country who would love to come in here if the leadership would have the proper conversation with them."
Other cities grappling with how to kickstart stalled redevelopment efforts may be able to learn some things from San Diego's experience.
Read the full story: Development agency rebuilding trust
The Restaurant Industry’s ‘Missing Middle’
Locally owned restaurants affordable to middle-income families are disappearing or being forced to raise prices as costs grow.
Opinion: Congress Should Expand the Opportunity Zone Program
The federal economic development program has brought over $100 billion in private investment to revitalize struggling communities.
Placemaking in the Barrio: Conceptualizing Infill Development in Disenfranchised Communities
How one San Antonio neighborhood could approach sustainable revitalization while supporting the existing community and drawing on its rich and diverse history and cultural resources.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority