By Noli Zosa
Since this is the first time writing a column in the Mission Valley News, I wanted to highlight some of the happenings in the Linda Vista community this past year.
The University of San Diego is ranked the No. 1 most beautiful campus in the country according to Princeton Review. It got even more beautiful with the renovation of the middle of campus now known as Paseo de Colachis. Street access through half the campus has been taken out in favor of a beautiful plaza filled with luscious landscape, new walkways, gathering areas and fountains. USD remains ranked in the top 100 national universities in the country according to U.S. News and World Report.
The university also received a unanimous vote of support from the San Diego City Council for their 20-year Master Plan Update, which will guide the university into the future. Part of USD’s plan is the ability to increase the student enrollment up to 10,000 students. Currently the enrollment stands at 8,200.
One impressive fact is that USD is ranked No. 10 nationally on Sierra Magazine’s “Cool Schools” list of the greenest colleges and universities for its efforts to protect the environment, address climate change issues and promote sustainability.
This past January, we opened the Linda Vista Skate Park. This amazing $3.2 million, 35,000-square-foot, world-class facility is the largest in San Diego County and one of the best in the country. The complex includes a massive street plaza, a flow bowl, a competition-sized vert bowl and a transition snake run and a signature, one-of-a-kind full pipe. It also features a 100-foot-long pedestrian bridge that extends directly above the middle of the skatepark to provide onlookers an amazing perspective completely unique to this park.
Lastly, we are proud to announce the opening of Thrive Charter School in the fall of 2018. This was an amazing collaborative effort that utilized a federal program that encourages businesses to invest in distressed areas. This 35,000-square-foot facility will be the fourth San Diego campus for Thrive Schools and will be located at the former site of Bayside Community Center at 6882 Linda Vista Road. Bayside Community Center will be located right across the street at the former Joe’s 98 Cent Store.
The new Thrive Charter School will have 30 learning spaces, a technology lab, an outdoor classroom, collaborative student offices and community rooms. The school will have a total enrollment of 500 kindergarten through eighth-grade students, serving about 250 families. Thrive Charter School will serve an area identified as one of the six most distressed census tracks in San Diego County along with the other 14 schools located in Linda Vista.
— Noli Zosa is chairman of the Linda Vista Planning Group. Reach him at [email protected].
