By Jessica Hudgins
SDUN Reporter
The organization behind the revitalization is the Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation. Serving the neighborhoods of Golden Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Morse, Orange Park, Seaman & Choates and South Park, the GGHCDC business improvement district initiates community advocacy work, streamlines revitalization projects, encourages affordable housing and cultivates strategic community partnerships.
The 3rd Annual Gala Celebration of Greater Golden Hill, on Aug. 27 from 6-9 p.m., will pay tribute to some of these achievements and honor community members. It will be held at the Balboa Park Golf Course Clubhouse, 2600 Golf Course Dr. (off 26th Street).
GGHCDC board member Pat Martin said she is looking forward to bringing the community together for the event.
“We hope at least 100 people will come to have fun, raise money and recognize the people who will be taking home awards,” she said.
Now the chairwoman of the gala, Martin was last year’s recipient of the Lifetime Membership Award. As a resident of Golden Hill since the 1970’s, Martin has, as she said, “seen it all.”
When Martin moved into a two-story 1911 Craftsman home on 22nd Street with her husband and her two young children 30 years ago, she says she remembers being shocked after her first encounter with her new neighbor.
“The first thing my neighbor said to me was, ‘Why are you moving your kids here? I carry a gun,’” she said. “That was after living in El Cajon where there was no graffiti, very little crime and in a time when it was rare for people to carry guns.”
After having three cars stolen and her house broken into more than once in her first few years in Golden Hill, Martin was afraid to even have a garage sale.
“Crime was an issue, graffiti was an issue, trash was an issue, even roaming stray dogs were an issue,” Martin said.
So she decided to do something about it. Martin and a few neighbors got together and established the Golden Hill Action Group.
“Together we painted over graffiti without help from the city government,” she said. “We also started Trash Tigers, which brought the community together to clean up the neighborhood’s trash. In the beginning, we had to do it every week. That was a real community builder.”
Golden Hill Action Group’s continued community involvement and small fundraising efforts in the early ’80s swept Golden Hill clean and ultimately got notice from the city. Local officials eventually helped Martin and her community group paint over the neighborhood’s graffiti and pick up its garbage.
Founded in 1991, the GGHCDC now has a maintenance assessment district. With backing from the City of San Diego, the district addresses key issues of safety, infrastructure, maintenance and beautification. According to business owner and landscape designer Kathryn Willetts, the maintenance assessment district has been crucial to Golden Hill’s upkeep.
“It has been very helpful to us because there are some people who can’t afford to take care of their property, so the maintenance assessment district helps with the right-of-way areas like the sidewalks and curbs,” Willetts said.
Willetts has made a big difference in the Golden Hill community herself. She bought the vacant lot on the corner of 25th and B streets a few years ago, and turned what used to be two abandoned buildings and a rickety flower shack into a comfortable, colorful business complex with parking and open patio space. When she first moved her design office into one of those buildings, she said she often witnessed drug deals right outside her window.
“It has been challenging, but it has also been very worthwhile because now you see families having fun and hanging out on the patio,” she said. “It’s a whole different atmosphere than it was before.”
The renovated corner location is now home to KCW Design, Pizzeria Luigi’s and Kikko’s Flower Shop.
Willets’ renovation aspirations didn’t stop there, however. She is also one of the leaders of a revitalization project that hopes to makeover an entire block of 25th Street. The project possibly will include a roundabout at 25th and B streets, a median strip, diagonal parking, sidewalk and gutter repairs and other landscaping improvements. According to Willetts, landscaping designs for the project are still in the works, but construction should begin soon and will take a few years to complete.
In addition to promoting beautification projects that rejuvenate Golden Hill’s aesthetics, the GGHCDC also focuses on keeping the community affordable. The organization manages housing that includes the 36-unit Golden Villas complex at 3385 Elm St., the Felton Street duplex at 1825/1827 Felton St. and the Gregory Street Duplex at 1801/1803 Gregory St.
The up and coming neighborhood is also home to many small businesses that are part of its character—coffee shops, boutiques, eateries and services. Every month, the GGHCDC brings together current and prospective business owners at their business mixers, plus encourages participation in committees and events.
Pat Martin said she is very proud of what Golden Hill has become and is thankful she didn’t run away after that first chat with her neighbor.
“Now I would have to say 30 years later, it’s paradise here,” she said. “Thank God I didn’t move!”
Tickets for the Aug. 27 gala are $65 for GGHCDC members and $75 for non-members. Silent auction items will include a night in Coronado package, a basket from Viejas Casino valued at $250 and various gift certificates to businesses throughout the neighborhood. Four awards will be presented, including the Lifetime Membership Award to longtime Golden Hill resident Leon Williams, a former San Diego City Councilmember and the first African American County Supervisor. His three decades of public service included serving as chairman of the Metropolitan Transit System, advocating for health and smart growth and successfully lobbying for the establishment of the County Human Relations Commission.
For more information on ticket sales, becoming a sponsor or silent auction donations, call 696-9992 or go to goldenhillcdc.org.
