Street closes as part of Hillcrest Revitalization Project
From April 4, 2022 through mid-2024, Bachman Place in Hillcrest will be closed to vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle traffic between Hotel Circle South and Montecito Way. This marks another milestone in construction on approximately 10 acres of the UC San Diego Hillcrest campus.
The street closure is part of the multi-phase, 15-year plan to redevelop the 60-acre medical campus, providing new facilities, new technology, increased capacity, expanded patient care offerings, workforce housing and other innovative community services and amenities.
Community and campus access will be improved by creating a new road connection at Bachman Place and Arbor Drive and extending First Avenue to the north to create a new patient-centric drop-off corridor. Widening sections of Arbor Drive and Bachman Place will accommodate multimodal and transit vehicles, including a new bike lane.
The first phase of the project includes a new 250,000-square-foot outpatient pavilion, with increased access to UC San Diego Health’s nationally ranked medical specialties and world-class patient care. This phase also includes a 1,850-space parking structure for patients and employees, improving patient and caregiver access and experience.
The planned upgrades and construction for UC San Diego’s Hillcrest campus will be synchronized to reduce impact on the surrounding community while ensuring current, critical campus functions remain operational.
Vehicle traffic delay was studied prior to construction, and it was determined that delays in the peak commute period would be no more than 10 minutes, and mostly in the 3- to 5-minute range for most re-routed traffic. Traffic signals have been adjusted to minimize regional traffic impacts, and there will be a turnaround on Bachman Place to assist drivers who enter the closed road inadvertently.
UC San Diego has had a presence in Hillcrest since 1966, when the university began operating the former county hospital. Nearly half of the buildings on the Hillcrest Campus were constructed prior to 1970. The redevelopment provides an opportunity to design and build modern, sustainable and efficient medical facilities. UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest is a critical resource for bridging health care disparities in underserved communities and houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, Regional Burn Center and Comprehensive Stroke Center.
Input needed on future of Hillcrest
San Diego is asking those who live, work and play in Hillcrest to “Choose Your Future” through an interactive online platform that will guide the development and growth of the area for decades to come.
The City launched the questionnaire this month as part of a focused plan amendment (FPA) to the Uptown Community Plan Update (CPU) for the Hillcrest area. The FPA will direct the long-term development of Hillcrest, including concepts for urban design, housing, public spaces and parks, mobility, jobs and ways to celebrate the LGBTQ+ Community.
The interactive platform focuses on new public spaces such as plazas, promenades and parks, types of new housing, and future mobility options for transit, walking, rolling and bicycling. Residents, business owners and other stakeholders can explore different concepts and provide their recommendations.
“Hillcrest is a truly unique part of our City and we’re excited to give the public a chance to visualize what it could become in the future,” said the City’s interim Planning Director Heidi Vonblum. “Gathering public input is important to make sure that, as it grows, we continue to build upon that uniqueness and make it a welcoming place for all. We also want to ensure we give people homes to live in and that small businesses have an environment in which they can thrive.”
The questionnaire will close at midnight on April 11 and results will be shared at a future Uptown Community Plan Update Subcommittee meeting. The Hillcrest FPA will ultimately go before City Council for adoption. For more information and to take the questionnaire, people can visit www.planhillcrest.org.
Georgia-Meade bikeway opens
SANDAG celebrated the grand opening of the Georgia – Meade Bikeway in March alongside local leaders, community members, and bike advocates. The new 3.5-mile bikeway provides a vital connection for people to bike and walk between the central San Diego communities of University Heights, North Park, Normal Heights, and Kensington-Talmadge.
SANDAG Vice Chair and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria led the celebration at Garfield Elementary School in North Park with a ceremonial ribbon cutting, self-guided bike ride, and educational bike obstacle course hosted by the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition.
“The completion of the Georgia-Meade Bikeway will make it safer and easier for people to bike and walk in these vibrant communities,” said Gloria. “This project is just one example of how SANDAG is connecting people and places by planning, building, and investing in projects and programs that create a brighter and more sustainable future for all, today and for generations to come.”
The Georgia – Meade Bikeway is one of six segments that make up the North Park | Mid-City Bikeways project, which will add approximately 12 miles of bikeways to the regional bikeway network. The bikeways will feature buffered bike lanes, traffic calming elements, neighborhood traffic circles, raised crosswalks and other streetscape enhancements that make streets more pleasant for people who bike, walk, work and live in the area.
SANDAG will open 11 miles of new bikeways by this spring and will break ground on approximately 19 more miles by the end of 2022.
“Consistent with the state’s Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure, CalTrans will continue working with our partners to identify bicycle and pedestrian needs and prioritize projects on, parallel to, and across the state highway system to complete multi-modal transportation networks,” said CalTrans District 11 Director Gustavo Dallarda.
“It’s exciting to see our neighborhood becoming more accessible to children and families,” said Franklin Elementary School Principal Melissa Roy-Wood. “This bikeway, and others like it, are creating a safe, fun and efficient way for students to get to school and for people to explore their communities.”
The North Park | Mid-City Bikeways project is a vital part of the regional bike network and a high priority project funded through the Regional Bike Plan Early Action Program and paid for by TransNet, the regional half-cent sales tax for transportation administered by SANDAG. This spring, SANDAG expects to complete the Landis Bikeway, bringing the North Park | Mid-City Bikeways project another step closer to completion.
Kensington apartment building sells for $2.665 million
An eight-unit apartment building in the Kensington neighborhood of San Diego sold for $2,665,000 on March 4, 2022, Commercial Asset Advisors announced.
The 5,616-square-foot building is located at 4344 Van Dyke Ave., San Diego, CA 92105.
Mike Conger and Brian Jenkins of Commercial Asset Advisors represented the buyer, AZ Investments. John Ronis of Coldwell Banker Commercial NRT represented the seller, X & J Real Estate, LLC.
“Apartments in the mid-city area are some of the most coveted assets in San Diego at the moment,” said CAA Principal Brian Jenkins, “We were able to assist our buyer in acquiring an already remodeled property with great potential to add value immediately.”
Mission Hills Garden Walk set for May 7
If you want to get out for fresh air and see some beautiful gardens, mark your calendar for early May.
Inaugurated in 1999, the Mission Hills Garden Walk is an annual community event.
Each year a number of Mission Hills homeowners agree to open their beautiful yards to the community. This year, the group will be featuring nine beautiful edible gardens that align with the 2022 Garden Walk theme of homegrown on Saturday, May 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tickets (only $30 each, kids under 10 free) will be sold in half-hour increments to assure social distancing. The money raised is used to continue the club’s Community College scholarship program and help fund neighborhood beautification projects.
Among the other details:
- Walk hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets will be sold for specified start times every 30 minutes;
- $30 in advance, timed entry tickets not guaranteed day of event;
- Garden addresses and a map to the gardens will be provided on the day of the event at the Mission Hills Nursery;
- This is a self-guided tour and is at your own pace;
- No pets, strollers, or walkers are allowed in the gardens;
- Wear comfortable shoes. Gardens may have steps and several levels, and are not disabled accessible;
- All ticket sales are final;
- Walk is held rain or shine.
This year, the group will again be partnering with local artists and musicians to bring live music and artwork for participants to enjoy within the featured gardens, as well as a special added bonus; local gardening experts and master gardeners will be presenting on various garden-related topics in a casual seminar format throughout the day at Mission Hills Nursery. The schedule of seminar talks will be published, along with speaker bios and location information.
Be sure to purchase tickets quickly as the 600+ tickets offered last year for the 2021 Garden Walk sold out within just a few weeks.
For more information, visit missionhillsgardenclub.org.
Volunteers needed for Balboa Park rose garden
First meeting of season will be Tuesday, April 19, at 9:15 a.m. at the north end of the Rose Garden in the gazebo. The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden, 2125 Park Blvd. in Balboa Park is accepting volunteers, novice or experienced, to join the Rose Garden Corps. Volunteers work in the garden trimming off dead blooms, weeding, raking, fertilizing, pruning and planting new varieties. Volunteers work Tuesday or Thursday mornings for 2-3 hours.
A monthly meeting in the Rose Garden the third Tuesday of each month at 9:15 a.m. is used to share information and direct needed work. Volunteers learn about roses, and act as goodwill ambassadors to the many tourists who frequent the garden. Tools needed: clippers, gloves, weeder, 5-gallon bucket. Rose Garden Corps volunteers receive rose care training from experienced volunteers. This is a chance to learn more about roses and contribute to a rose garden ranked as one of the best in the world. Interested in volunteering? Contact [email protected].
Youth filmmaking camp
Media Arts Center San Diego (MACSD) is helping artistic, young students learn how to produce their own short films during spring break. MACSD will host youth tech camps in City Heights. For one week, campers will work closely under the instruction of media arts professionals to produce original films, while learning the basic principles of filmmaking, including storyboarding, green screen, camerawork, editing and sound design. The event culminates with an end-of-program showcase for family and friends.
Camps will be held inside the IDEA Lab at the City Heights Library (3795 Fairmount Ave, San Diego, CA 92105) from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. starting April 11 to April 22, 2022. Students aged 7-12 years old are eligible to join. Need-based scholarships are available for students who qualify.
Media Arts Center San Diego (MACSD) evolved out of the globally-acclaimed, annual San Diego Latino Film Festival, originated in 1993. MACSD has been teaching media arts classes and workshops to youth for 17+ years–both in and outside the classroom—and has been serving the people of marginalized communities by using media as a tool for social change and artistic expression.
Tequila & Taco music festival moves to Petco Park
After 2021’s sold-out festival in Ventura, Tequila & Taco Music Festival has announced that it will bring not one, but two, full weekends to Southern California this year. The popular event returns to San Diego at its new location at Petco Park on April 30-May 1 and to Surfer’s Point LIVE at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on July 9-10. Festivalgoers in both cities will be able to enjoy curated samples of tequila and tacos along with a full schedule of live music each day.
Both Saturday and Sunday will be packed with premium tequila tastings, delicious street taco vendors, award-winning margaritas, a stellar lineup of live music, and local craft vendors. A variety of top-shelf tequila brands will be pouring samples at the festival, and hand-crafted margaritas and other beverages will also be available for purchase throughout the event.
There are three levels of tickets available: The Tequila Experience that includes festival entry and top-shelf tequila sampling; the Margarita Experience – a pair of tickets that includes festival entry, two margaritas and two souvenir glasses; and general admission tickets that include festival entry. All tickets provide full access to food and beverage vendors and live entertainment. Limited Early Bird Presale discount tickets are available at TequilaAndTacoMusicFestival.com. Festival hours are Saturdays from 1-9 p.m. and Sundays from 12-6 p.m.
“After the incredible success of Tequila & Taco Music Festival last year in Ventura, we are thrilled to be able to return to San Diego both bigger and better than ever,” said Vincenzo Giammanco, CEO of CBF Productions. “It will be a wonderful weekend to gather with friends, listen to great music and take in the sunshine and fresh air at our fantastic new location at Petco Park.”
Fran Lebowitz at Balboa Theatre
(Photo by Brigitte Lacombe)
Quintessential New Yorker, writer, social commentator and pop culture icon, Fran Lebowitz, who is the midst of an extensive world tour, is bringing her acerbic wit to the Balboa Theatre on Monday, May 2nd at 7:30 p.m.
The New York Times Book Review calls Lebowitz an “important humorist in the classic tradition.” Purveyor of urban cool, Lebowitz is a cultural satirist whom many call the heir to Dorothy Parker.
She will have an onstage conversation with Matthew Hall of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Lyle Ashton Harris headlines the 2022 Medium Festival of Photography
Groundbreaking artist Lyle Ashton Harris headlines the Medium Festival of Photography as the tenth annual keynote lecturer on Saturday, May 7 from 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the historic Lafayette Hotel in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood. The keynote lecture is a signature event of the festival, which will take place May 4-8, 2022.
The keynote lecture is just one part of a robust five-day series of ticketed, as well as public, events featuring educational artist lectures, exhibitions, and studio tours in Tijuana, Mexico, as well as portfolio review sessions for photographers of all levels to meet one-on-one with renowned curators, gallery owners, and editors from across the United States.
The 2022 Festival includes free and ticketed events ranging from $15 for student lecture passes to $350 for VIP Passes. For a full schedule, to purchase Festival Passes or individual tickets—including the keynote lecture—or to find information on public events, visit the registration page on mediumphoto.org.
Construction industry’s first hiring platform launches
As the construction industry faces an unprecedented shortage of workers and negatively impacts the economy, a new hiring platform recently launched to address the gap by connecting young people and the underemployed with great career training and job opportunities.
ConstructForce, powered by a non-profit ecosystem of community organizations, contracting firms and educational institutions, will help fill that gap by connecting job seekers with a number of available training programs and employers, so as to identify, recruit and foster the current and future generation workforce to the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry.
With those in the industry acutely aware of a recent study showing a shortage of nearly 650,000 qualified and skilled workers to meet current demand, ConstructForce was envisioned to fill the need.
“The workforce shortages have been serious for some time and something constantly impacting our ability to hire and train skilled employees,” said Thomas L. Brown, President, Sierra Pacific West, Inc. “The ConstructForce platform is instrumental in addressing this challenge, allowing interested students and job applicants to identify training and apprenticeship programs as well as excellent jobs in the industry. For companies, the ability to use the platform to match their needs with strong applicants is significant.”
ConstructForce is a searchable resource database which connects job seekers with training programs and potential employers, and it allows companies to effectively recruit. ConstructForce encompasses all career levels, and EC2’s outreach team will connect companies, industry partners and educational resources with qualified construction industry labor and professionals.
To learn more about EC2 and this powerful workforce development tool, visit constructforcesolutions.com or contact [email protected].
