A common sight in most San Diego neighborhoods (By Frank Sabatini Jr.)
Housing, Downtown, Around Balboa Park, San Diego

The Mayor’s Vision On Housing

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

The general consensus at City Hall is that the faster San Diego can build more housing, the sooner housing costs will come down. It’s a controversial approach that Mayor Todd Gloria is fully behind.

To the surprise of some, Gloria is a renter. He joins scores of others who can’t wait to see the day when San Diego rent hikes plateau. Hence the push behind the recent launch of the Complete Communities Now program.

Gloria signed off on the program through executive order. It requires all relevant city departments to review housing projects that fall under the program within 30 days. The goal in streamlining these permits is to first and foremost fuel further housing development throughout the city, in areas such as Hillcrest, Mission Hills, Bankers Hill, North Park, Golden Hill and others.

“I keenly understand the housing crisis we’re in—the rent is too high and home ownership is seemingly unattainable. We change this by building a lot more housing and getting shovels in the ground as soon as possible,” Gloria emphasized in a written statement.

In addition to the Complete Communities Now effort, the city just released a final draft of the community plan updates for Hillcrest, which has been evolving since last year. That plan too advocates for significantly more housing.