![\"564587_631932366833058_1389213866_n\"](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/564587_631932366833058_1389213866_n.jpg\")
<\/a> The Downtown San Diego Partnership and San Diego Foundation co-hosted a town hall meeting in Uptown to discuss how to develop and integrate Downtown resources.<\/p>\nThe Downtown Partnership is in the process of holding several town-hall style meetings over three months, including the April 30 meeting in Hillcrest. The goal is to take feedback from the greater San Diego region \u2013 called \u201cstakeholders\u201d \u2013 to develop an action plan to work with future growth.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that only through collaboration of all stakeholders can we truly craft a representative plan,\u201d Downtown Partnership President and CEO Kris Michell said in a press release. \u201cThe conversation moves from Downtown outward to our regional communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the April 30 meeting, which was to solicit input from Hillcrest, Mission Hills and Old Town residents, Michell said they were working to \u201cgather ideas\u201d regarding greater San Diego and \u201chow Downtown can fit\u201d into those ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cDowntown is a neighborhood at the same time that is a regional resource,\u201d she said. Upcoming town halls will be held in North Park May 23, City Heights May 29 and Kensington and Normal Heights May 30, among others.<\/p>\n
Council President Todd Gloria greeted the audience of more than 25 people at the Joyce Beers Community Center April 30. \u201cDowntown belongs to everybody. The success of our Uptown is dependent on Downtown and the waterfront, as well as parking and transit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Staci Ignell, director of external affairs for the Downtown Partnership, said they wanted to discuss tactics to handle a potential influx of people in the region. Currently, Downtown is home to 35,000 residents and 75,000 employees. The population of the entire San Diego region is expected to grow by 1.3 million people by 2050.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means we will need to accommodate for approximately 400,000 more housing units and 500,000 more jobs by that year,\u201d Ignell said. \u201cThe Partnership is working to accommodate that growth, but we need all your input.\u201d<\/p>\n
Formed in 1993 with 14 staff, 40 maintenance workers and additional safety ambassadors, the Downtown Partnership represents over 10,000 property owners, residents and businesses. Called \u201cOur Downtown Vision,\u201d the nonprofit is working in conjunction with San Diego Foundation\u2019s Our Greater San Diego Vision to gather input at the neighborhood town hall meetings.<\/p>\n
A power point presentation outlined important points for the town hall participants to consider, including top priorities for Downtown\u2019s future: affordable housing, quality learning, safe and vibrant neighborhoods, transportation, economy and jobs, accessible and protected nature, and trusted regional leadership.<\/p>\n
Michell said the Downtown Partnership does not want to shift individuals who are homeless to other neighborhoods, including Uptown. \u201cWe respect the homeless population and are continuing to look all over for solutions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Establishing a middle school is a priority for Downtown residents, Michell said, and the search is on for finding the proper location. In addition, Downtown residents want to have more higher education opportunities, including technical training and participation with senior citizens.<\/p>\n
On the subject of maintaining a safe, vibrant and culturally active Downtown, many people said walking in Downtown needed to be more pleasurable and safe by establishing proper sidewalks and pocket parks, and implementing safety measures.<\/p>\n
The participants viewed farmer\u2019s markets as something worth promoting, even if it caused a bit of chaos with parking. \u201cI love the idea of the farmer\u2019s market, too,\u201d Ignell said. \u201cWe plan to keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n
One participant said that where he used to live, city managers would close certain streets to vehicles at certain times. The time determined the use, he said. Michell and Ignell both resolved to work that idea into the vision for Downtown\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
Michell said the Downtown Partnership is in the process of implementing a shuttle service to increase mobility. The plan for the service will include circuitous transportation between points at the airport, convention center, Balboa Park and Downtown.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that connectedness from the airport to all points in and along the way to Downtown is vital,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Michell closed the town hall meeting by thanking the participants. \u201cYour being here is a good example of leadership,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The next town hall meeting in the Uptown area is May 23 from 5 \u2013 6:30 p.m. at the North Park Recreation Center, 4044 Idaho St. The May 30 Kensington and Normal Heights meeting is from 5:30 \u2013 7 p.m. at the Adams Recreation Center, 3491 Adams Ave.<\/p>\n
The Downtown Partnership encourages participation by attending the meetings and completing an online survey at downtownsandiego.org. The results of all the town hall meetings and surveys will be compiled in a data report by summer, and implementation and action plans will begin in the fall.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Downtown San Diego Partnership reaches out to neighborhoods to plan for future growth By Cynthia Robertson | SDUN Reporter To some, Downtown San Diego is a treasure to explore; to others it is a tangle of cars and crowds. Either way, Downtown possesses some of the city\u2019s finest resources for residents, visitors and employees.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":246117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"A town hall effort","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246116","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=246116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246116\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}