Downtown Partnership publishes a detailed vision for the future

Morgan M. Hurley | Downtown Editor

Great cities have one thing in common: Great Downtowns. That fact has never been more true that it is today. – from “Imagine Downtown”

Since taking over Downtown San Diego Partnership a few years ago, CEO Kris Michell has forged a vision for the organization that will take Downtown San Diego into the next 20 years, but it wasn’t without help.

Earlier this year, Michell and her staff took to the streets—literally—to find out what the residents of Downtown and the outlying communities of the region wanted to see Downtown become. Starting with a previous report done several years prior by The San Diego Foundation, the Downtown Partnership staff had a starting point.

Director of External Affairs Staci Ignell organized 38 different town hall meetings with residents of each Downtown neighborhood as well as dozens of outlying communities and neighborhoods around the region.

Although participation was much higher in the communities in and around the Downtown area, people came to the meetings and Michell said they were glad to be asked to come and provide their input.

People who actually live in Downtown, those visit it regularly, others who may just on occasion, and even those who never take the time to drive into Downtown, all of them were encouraged to participate. More than 6,000 did.

“What do you want to see in Downtown?” Ignell asked those who decided to attend.

The sky was the limit. Town hall and workshop attendees could present anything they wished. Ideas were quelled, notes were taken, data was compiled and discussions expanded the conversation about what Downtown San Diego should look like in 20 years.

The results of all those meetings are now summarized in a beautiful, perfectly bound 75-page book aptly called, “Imagine Downtown.”

Despite the diversity of the participants, their input didn’t differ all that much, according to Michell.

Downtown Partnership unveiled the book at the Alonzo Awards on Oct. 10 and began distributing the book on Oct. 18.

“Imagine Downtown is designed to offer new ways to guide Downtown San Diego’s evolution, ensuring that we stay ahead of trends shaping cities throughout the world,” the document says on its opening pages. “… Imagine Downtown offers a blue print for how to grow our economy, improve all types of transportation, provide a world-class cultural scene and preserve our neighborhoods.”

“We are proud of the document, we are proud of the pictures, everything is ours,” Michell said. “This is the first time that we’ve put out a report like this – and it is magazine quality.”

Jennifer Davies, Director of Homeless Outreach—who will also be taking over many of Ignell’s duties, as Ignell steps away from her permanent position with the Partnership to pursue her M.B.A.—was responsible for organizing the data in the book.

“She put it in a format that made sense,” Michell said.

The document is laid out in five sections: Build Your Business; Made to Move; Create the Vibe; Make Your Place; and Collaborate. Within those pages are ways to meet the needs of each of those categories, laid out in great and creative detail.

In the appendices, specifics regarding feedback received at the workshops can be reviewed, starting on page 60. Called, “The Research: Workshops & Town Halls Outreach Summary” it lists the outreach methods (i.e., workshops, town halls, online, planning meetings, etc.) and the participation of those methods.

Going green, enhancing public and personal transporation, recruiting talent and new businesses, supporting diversity in all neighborhoods and collaboration between local and regional leaders are outlined in detail.

Consistent themes are outlined in the appendices, such as enhancing green spaces, attracting jobs and improving transportation within the Downtown neighborhoods, among others.

Next the top priorities are covered neighborhood by neighborhood. Each unique neighborhood addressed the issues pertinent to them. City-wide concerns are also identified regarding ways to improve Downtown.

Anyone wishing to get a copy of Imagine Downtown can pick one up at Downtown Partnership’s office, located at 401 B St., Suite 100.  A pdf version of the document, although very large, is also available for download from their website, at  downtownsandiego.org/imaginedowntown/.

Although the 38 workshops and the data compilation are complete, the dialogue will continue, Michell said.

“We are now crafting our continued public engagement strategy that dovetails with our vision implementation and we realize we cannot just end our conversation – with the residents Downtown or those participants outside the Downtown area,” Davies added.

“We have over 150 near-term and long-term recommendations and tactics [in the Imagine Downtown book],” Michell said. “Now we are going to take those and work on how do we do it.”

For now, they plan on sharing the data and the strategies with as many people as possible, but soon the next steps will begin.

“A lot of it is also taking that feedback and synthesizing it,” Davies said.

Michell said she is proud the book shows the participants that their feedback and what they had to say was genuinely valued, because it is all in there.

“We list the priorities for each community and for each distinct neighborhood Downtown – they all have their own identity and are all unique and wonderful in their own ways, but we have to weave them all into the overall fabric of Downtown,” she said.

“This is a reset for this organization because this is now our strategic plan,” she continued. “We spent a year asking [people] what Downtown should be, now we’re saying use this for the strategic plan for the next 20 years.”

The Downtown San Diego Partnership was founded in 1993 by a merger of two Downtown organizations: the San Diego Downtown Association/Downtown City Association and San Diegans, Inc. It has more than 325 members. For more information, visit downtownsandiego.org.