{"id":236092,"date":"2013-03-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-11T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-forty-year-vision-lay-at-their-feet\/"},"modified":"2013-03-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-03-11T07:00:00","slug":"a-forty-year-vision-lay-at-their-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-forty-year-vision-lay-at-their-feet\/","title":{"rendered":"A forty-year vision lay at their feet"},"content":{"rendered":"

With an \u2018urbanist\u2019 now at the helm, Downtown San Diego Partnership plans the future of 272 blocks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Morgan M. Hurley | Downtown Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Leading a team that consists of a much greater percentage of women than men, President and CEO Kris Michell took over the helm at Downtown San Diego Partnership just under two years ago and her presence has already been felt.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Staff of Downtown San Diego Partnership (l-r) Staci Ignell, Director of External Affairs; Kaitlin Phillips, Events and Membership Coordinator; Sam Jackson, Director of Operations for Clean & Safe; Bahija Hamraz, District Director; John Hanley, Director of Finance; Kris Michell, President\/CEO; Jared Emmitt, Outreach Coordinator; Kim Dixon, Executive Assistant; Ryan Loofbourrow, Executive Director for Clean & Safe; Lindsay Kirkman, Membership and Events Manager; and Janelle Riella, VP for Public Policy & Communications. (Courtesy DSDP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michell has pushed the legacy of the long-lasting 501(c)6 membership organization, forged in 1950 but reworked in 1970, to the forefront of everyone\u2019s minds. They work closely with the Tourism Authority and Michell holds a seat on their board.<\/p>\n

The former Chief of Staff to Mayor Jerry Sanders, Michell also held the position for a time when Susan Golding was mayor in the 1990s. In 2010, Voice of San Diego called her \u201cthe most powerful person you know nothing about,\u201d just months before she left the side of Mayor Sanders, and she hadn\u2019t even saddled into her current position, yet.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Kris Michell] has remained in the background her entire career, rarely in the newspaper, quoted even less,” wrote Liam Dillon, reporter for Voice of San Diego. “Yet Michell’s been the link, the linchpin, the consistent ingredient in San Diego’s civic extravaganzas over the last 15 years. The Republican National Convention, the Super Bowl and Petco Park all bear her fingerprints.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michell loved her job working as the mayor\u2019s top aide, but she said she is thrilled with her current role, that will unequivocally lead Downtown San Diego into the future.<\/p>\n

According to Michell, the Downtown San Diego Partnership (DSDP) is a \u201cproperty-based improvement district\u201d originally formed by an organization called San Diegan\u2019s Inc., \u201cthe movers and the shakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the 1970s and a Downtown merchant\u2019s grouped joined, thus merging the interests of each organization and creating the \u201cpartnership,\u201d representing five Downtown neighborhoods; Gaslamp Quarter, East Village, Core\/Columbia, Marina, and Cortez.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The Partnership has] been around a long time, but you know how organizations ebb and flow in their visibility,\u201d Michell said. \u201cOur goal collectively is to take it to the next level and really make it a high-performing Downtown \u2026\u00a0 our goals and objectives are to make our Downtown world class and everything that entails.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within those five neighborhoods the DSDP represents 272 blocks and 1,000 parcels. It is considered an advocacy nonprofit, and Michell said it \u201cadvocates<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a very geographically large Downtown when you compare us to other downtowns across the country,\u201d Michell said. \u201cWe are geographically large, we just haven\u2019t grown up yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Italy falls just outside of DSDP\u2019s purview, and therefore have their own assessment district, although Michell said they work with the Little Italy Association (their business improvement district) on a regular basis, almost as closely as the ones that exist within the 272 blocks that make up the area DSDP represents.<\/p>\n

Over the next forty years, San Diego is expected to see a 40 percent increase in growth, Michell said, according to recent studies by SANDAG and the San Diego Foundation.<\/p>\n

With that growth, the greater San Diego region will see some growing pains, and Michell, a native San Diegan, already has a vision for how to eliminate many of those problems now. She said of the 400,000 housing units and 500,000 jobs that will come of that growth, she would like to see a huge percentage of them happen within the 272 blocks she is responsible for.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want the density, we want the development we want the job centers and we want the residential population in our Downtown,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Though she said most people think that growth will come from transplants from the Midwest, Michell said it will actually develop locally, from \u201cbirth over death\u201d rates.<\/p>\n

To assist with that vision, DSDP is conducting 40 \u201ctownhalls\u201d in the next four to five months throughout the county. See the sidebar for more information about a townhall near you.<\/p>\n

She said they are also looking to incorporate more rooftop gardens and are very supportive of the new San Diego Public Market, even though it resides in an adjacent neighborhood, Barrio Logan.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything that enhances the vibrancy of our Downtown,\u201d she said. \u201cGreat cities are defined by their downtown and when you have a great downtown you have a great city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the last two years, Michell and her staff have traveled to various other big cities in the country, like Seattle, Portland, Denver, Houston and Philadelphia, to analyze whether what they are doing will fit for San Diego and they have come back with some big ideas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need to reinvent the wheel,\u201d she said. \u201cWe took all the best parts of all this and said, \u2018alright, this works for San Diego.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with their visions for the future, the DSDP has several popular programs in place today that keep the City\u2019s streets safe and clean, and also work to support the homeless in a more altruistic fashion with their red meter program.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Employees of DSDP’s “Clean and Safe” program (Courtesy DSDP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cClean and Safe\u201d employs 50 24\/7 street maintenance crews and dozens of safety workers patrolling the grid on both foot and bicycles.<\/p>\n

That program was ramped up in 2000, when local residents offered to pay more assessment money in order to make Downtown neighborhoods cleaner and safer. As a result, the Clean and Safe Program now participates in tree trimming, street washing, post-event clean-ups, even animal waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything we can do to make it clean,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Michell said the safety crew patrols the 27 blocks through grid beats, work with San Diego Police Department and attend safety meetings every other week to stay on top of local concerns. A similar program, Stonewall Citizens Patrol, is in operation in Hillcrest, and North Park is about to mirror that program, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to feel safe at 1 a.m. in the morning,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause this is a neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Addressing the homelessness problem is a major focus of DSDP. While Michell admits there is no \u201csilver bullet,\u201d to cure homelessness, DSDP is leading the way.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A “Donation Station” meter used to provide homeless with necessities (Courtesy DSDP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One project they have already implemented is their red meter \u201cdonation stations\u201d [see Editorial: Ending homelessness in San Diego: not a one-size-fits-all solution, Vol. 14, Issue 1]. Monies donated into these meters directly assist in getting homeless people off the street by purchasing \u201cmove-in kits\u201d that offer the newly housed people bare necessities, like sheets, towels and kitchenware.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are making a concerted effort and we say as a private sector organization we\u2019re gonna solve homelessness in Downtown,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

That is a pretty big statement to make, but in December of 2010, she said her team also took to the streets and conducted interviews of 738 homeless people in the Downtown area for their Work Your Way Home program, and of those, have since sent 250 of them \u201chome\u201d to reunite with family members.<\/p>\n

There is lots more to come.<\/p>\n

Seeing synergy with their neighborhood communities to the north, when district realignment came about, Michell said she and her staff knew exactly where they needed to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fought to have District Three the way it is,\u201d she said. \u201cWe wanted to merge Uptown and Downtown into one district \u2013 because \u2026 we have similar interests; residential and commercial, homelessness, parking, [they] want a shuttle circulator \u2026 so let\u2019s work together to solve these problems rather than be isolated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three workshops in Downtown neighborhoods have already been conducted, to help facilitate their strategic planning process. East Village, Cortez Hill and Marina all took place in February. Three more are planned in March, to be held in Little Italy, the Gaslamp District, and Core\/Columbia. See the side bar for more information.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Downtown San Diego Partnership\u2019s vision for the future, keep an eye on future issues of Downtown News. DSDP is in the process of revamping their website and just released a new logo that is more aligned with their vision. An official launch party for the new website and branding will take place at the end of March.<\/p>\n

Neighborhood workshops for \u201cOur Downtown\u201d strategic planning process<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tuesday, March 12 @ 6:00pm: Little Italy<\/em><\/p>\n

Location: Our Lady of the Rosary Parish Hall \u2013 1654 State Street<\/p>\n

Wednesday, March 13 @ 3:00pm: Gaslamp<\/em><\/p>\n

Location: Marriott Gaslamp Quarter, Presidio B \u2013 660 K Street<\/p>\n

Wednesday, March 13 @ 6:00pm: Columbia\/Core<\/em><\/p>\n

Location: Treo Condominiums, Community Room \u2013 1240 India Street<\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With an \u2018urbanist\u2019 now at the helm, Downtown San Diego Partnership plans the future of 272 blocks Morgan M. Hurley | Downtown Editor Leading a team that consists of a much greater percentage of women than men, President and CEO Kris Michell took over the helm at Downtown San Diego Partnership just under two years […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":236093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"A forty-year vision lay at their feet","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11551,11600,11550],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sdnews","category-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}