I totally agree about suburban development being downtown killers (or drainers, more accurately).

I do disagree in the sense that even though these cities do have an abundance of downtown-killing office developments, they do also have incredibly beautiful downtown architecture. Granted, consolidating the office developments downtown would make for more downtown office buildings, but it's not like having one (suburban buildings) totally destroys the other (beautiful downtown architecture).

I also disagree in that here in SD, it's not as if the relative lack of suburban office development has caused this wealth of architecturally significant (non-boxy or boring) office towers downtown. When Pei/Cobb build their "signature" office tower, that will make one "signature" office tower in downtown. :)

did OC just pass SD like a few months ago?

oh well:)

True, true, and true. :)

IMO, San Diego needs to build an airport and then focus on attracting/encouraging corporate relocations/expansion, because although there are other factors influencing SD's population (e.g., cost of living), people aren't going to move here if there aren't places to work.

is that the one that was going to be park it on market south?

This is true - the airport is key and in my opinion and will make or break SDs expansion into becoming a true world-class city, which unfortunately it is not right now. I fly to Europe and Asia with work on a regular basis, and can tell you that my company has left SD because it's inconvinient (the only reason I am still here is because I am home based). I could fly direct to London or Frankfurt if I was in Portland, Oregon, Denver, or Phoenix, but you can't from SD. Instead you have to shuttle to LA or SF, making SD very unattractive to corporations and even non-profit organizations that are mutli-national and need frequent connections to to major international centres. Even Tijuana has a direct flight to Tokyo. With our position on the Pacific and bordering Mexico, we could be such a more vibrant city, but the conservative politics of this military town stifle creativity and diversity and the majority of people here want to shut Mexico off by building a wall and keep SD a quaint, conservative beach town. Anyway, enough of my rambling, I am just disapointed that a new aiport site has not been able to be hammered out becasue I think this great city would bennefit, the current airport is a joke and safety hazard.

Agreed, alot of people think that SD is a very large city because people will quote the city population ranks as opposed to the metro population. For example SD ranks something like 6th or 7th in the nation in terms of "city populations" but is is much further down the list when it comes to metro urban areas. Cities like Miami, Dallas, even SF show up as smaller cities than SD, however their metro populations are much larger. Since metro areas generally dictate the major infrastructure needs (corporate headquarters, airports, mass-transit, etc), it is the metro population that is a better indicator of the magnitude of architectural projects. For example, Miami International airport serves the Miami metro area and much of southeast Florida not only the city of Miami, which explains why a city smaller than San Diego has the need for a much larger/busier airport with more international connections than SD.

San Diego Building height restrictions
 

Sorry for all the posts, I am new to this site.

Does anyone know where the actual written "law" regarding San Diego's 500ft building height restriction is located? I have searched the internet and can't find anything.

All anyone hears is that we can't have buildings taller than 500ft downtown due to the close proximity of the airport, but wasn't this policy made long ago when downtown was confined to the marina area near the airport?? Now that downtown has expanded east of the ballpark, I am wondering if specific boundaires were mentioned for the restriction when the policy was written. When I am in East Village east of the ballpark, I never hear planes overhead or see any and I have a hard time believing East Village skyscrapers would pose a problem to the flight paths at Linbergh field????

The Population from the census bureau
 

People QuickFacts Orange County California
Population definition and source info Population, 2005 estimate 2,988,072
People QuickFacts San Diego County California
Population definition and source info Population, 2005 estimate 2,933,462

So unless there is something that others are seeing that I am not census bureau still has OC as bigger.

Chula Vista will be adding some highrises in the next couple of years to there Bayfront. There is the Gayord hotel and covention center that was posted in this thread earlier. There will also be development around that project. They plan to add new development that will include hotels, conference facilities, waterfront specialty shops, cultural attractions, condominium housing, and employment centers.

Here are some renderings of the project:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...orDistrict.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...k/CVMarina.jpg

The Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan is going to be built on 500 acres of Bayfront land. That does not include what could be built on 160 acres south of that Bayfront Master plan.

Take a look at this map:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v9...ik/CVMPCSO.jpg

The area outline in blue is the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan. That is where the Gaylord hotel & Convention center will be. It will also have condo towers, shops, restraunts, and public plazas.

The outline in red is where the South Bay Power Plant currently sits. The CV City Council and Port of San Diego have already voted to get rid of the aging power plant. It is now one of the proposed sites for a new Chargers Stadium. This area could be turning into a very good urban bayfront in the near future.

the Chula Vista project looks nice:tup:


and i couldnt agree with you guys more about the airport being key...its so unfortunate:(

A very good urban bayfront...with no height limits. A nice location for a new Chargers stadium too.

a superb location!


but how come you emphasized the no height limit? do you think Chula Vista will build a tower taller than 500 feet?

The California Department of Finance is the appropriate authority on all population estimates within the state in 9 our of 10 years. That 1 out of 10 is obviously the US Census estimate... and from time to time the census provides updates, but the CaDOF is more accurate outside of the deciennal census. So, see the attached link to the appropriate page and the CaDOF site and look for a link titled:

E-2. California County Population Estimates and Components of Change by Year — July 1, 2000–2006 (.xls, 136k)

http://www.dof.ca.gov/HTML/DEMOGRAP/...-2_2000-06.asp

As of July 2006
SD: 3,084,634
OC: 3,083,894

^blame the Santa Fe Valley :P

anybody catching the police pursuit?

yep, NBC has a clearer picture than CBS, imo.

ive been watching the NBC one too, but now im flipping between the Padres and NBC...i thought we were gunna have a border incident for a second;)

The guy is a good driver. bad runner tho.

^:jester:
how many precincts do you think got involved?

He ran like a girl. I think at least 2... Carlsbad and CHP