About the building height: when you're downtown it doesn't make much difference because the experience is at street level. But the skyline view from a distance looks like a plateau because everything's near the same height. Even one or two 600-700 footers would make the skyline look way better. It might seem trivial, but for many cities the distant skyline view is what cities are known for by people who haven't been. People who have never been here before will often see the skyline view and that's what's often used in tourism ads and other things to market the city.

Hey Ive eaten at that Chipotle...

Was this the same artist!?

I totally agree, just a couple towers even on the south side to puncture the plateau...

The March 16 (6 PM) East Village Residents Group meeting agenda has speakers representing the below developments. It will take place in a meeting space in the East Village Community Church at: 1374 Island Avenuehttp://evrgsd.org/

The guest speakers this month are as follows:

1. Makers Quarter – Representatives will present the latest updates on the 7 blocks called Makers Quarters – it will include 10 Barrel Brewery, Punch Bowl Social Entertainment and much, much more.

2. Idea District – Representatives will be announcing the Grand Opening of the IDEA project that includes Mixed-Use Apartment complex on 14th between E and F Streets.

3. Beacon Project – “C” Street affordable housing project on development’s starting date and projected completion date.

Then, any community representatives might attend if they have any updates to share. I can't be there this time, so if anyone goes, I for one would be interested in any highlights.

Manchester Pac Gateway
 

Spoke with an upper echelon person at Manchester Financial Group Yesterday. They say still no set date for groundbreaking and that it should all be built at once very low chance of being phased out. The source said a major economic collapse would cause it to be built out in phases.

I asked about an Arena at tailgate park working with JMI, AEG, etc and she said Papa Doug is very open to it and will refuse to let SD be just an MLB/MLS town that we should definitely have NFL or NBA!!

Also spoke about how Miami/Las Vegas can build build build and things keep getting absorbed and if SD can be that kind of market. The source thinks downtown and nearby SD can support massive amounts of new hotel rooms. What do you guys think. I think we need more attractions in downtown like when people go to the Strip in Vegas there is so much more to do than just eat and drink.

What do you guys think :shrug:

A downtown basketball/hockey arena makes a lot of sense. SD would be a good NBA city as there are half the games of baseball and the stars in the league are very well distributed. Plus, with games at night, downtown is set up very well for that kind of crowd. NBA has turned into an "event" league, a place to be seen. SD has good hockey following too, so hockey could flourish. Ducks could be a relocation candidate, as well as the Carolina franchise. I see NBA more likely however. NBA arenas don't need a big footprint, and no new parking needed.

Vegas and Miami are very different. Miami itself is not a nightlife city, you go to South Beach for that. Downtown Miami has nothing like the Gaslamp. Vegas is buzzing, but the attractions it has would never fly in SD. Most of the attractions are part of the hotels themselves; outside of that you have the LINQ ferris wheel, the new ferris wheel they're building by Mandalay Bay, and that's really about it. Nothing in Vegas, outside of the hotels themselves, is something you'd travel to Vegas specifically for. Sort of the reverse of SD: with SD you come for the attractions and the hotels are secondary. I think downtown SD is pretty good as is, you've got the Gaslamp for eating and nightlife, the bayfront is getting better with parks, terminals, etc (do something with SEaport VIllage), and you have Sea World and the Zoo close by. SD doesn't need a ferris wheel or tall observation tower just for the sake of having it, if they build something in SD it should be iconic and unique, not to keep up with the latest fad.

Walked through Makers Quarter and noticed the 10 Barrel Brewery is under construction. The dilapidated Jeromes warehouse directly across the street is also being fenced off and covered in scaffolding. Finally demolishing that ugly building?

Manchester released his plans for the Q. Looks like he's doing his best to get SDSU on his side since FS Investors offered less for the university in their plan. I don't see how Manchester's plan will work without an NFL team, though. Besides the Raiders, which NFL team could relocate within the next few years?


A remodeled 'Q': Reimagined for a would-be NFL suitor
By Roger Showley
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/...309-story.html

SD vs LA
 

SD has many things going for us that LA doesn't such as a waterfront downtown,m and our unique location as an international border city.

Both cities also share some of the same problems. Homelessness especially in our downtowns. Poor mass transit. Lack of "master planning" and neighborhoods that have competeing visions of growth which are often no growth.

Recently though, I've become extremely frustrated because I keep hearing about measures being passed in LA that are allowing them to begin to solve these problems, while in SD we just continue to fester with these issues.

This week LA passed a tax measure to tackle the homeless problem. LA will be well funded and well equipped to tackle the homeless problem there and be able to help get people off the streets. Meanwhile, in SD government officials can't even agree on basic winter shelters and they fumble around this issue and do nothing as the problem grows in East Village with outdoor encampments and people having to relieve themselves on the streets because adequate services don't exist.

In November, LA voters passed a huge transportation increase that will ensure large projects that improve their transit get off the ground. SD rejected a similar proposal here, and now it's been revealed SANDAG lied about the funding and what it would cover. So while LA continues to rapidly add light rail lines and tackle its decades old traffic problems, SD twiddles our thumbs, wonders how future transit projects will get funded at all, and deals with a big scandal with SANDAG, our main transportation planning authority.

LA also this week shot down a moratorium on big developments. People there seem to be realizing the future needs of the city include density. Here in SD, not so much.

Has the blue line to UCSD even started construction yet? Is this going to be another broken promise by SD's failed leadership and incompetent planning agency? At the rate things are going this could be the last major transit project in our lifetimes here. SANDAG is in such chaos there is nothing there to fund their 30 and 50 year "visions." The background work needed to even plan projects they want to accomplish in 20 or 30 years isn't being done which means we will go decades with little or no solid transit developments.

It's really frustrating watching our larger neighbor to the north tackle these issues that will make huge impacts on the future, meanwhile SD acts like some backwards cowtown when it comes to transit, development, and being pro-active when it comes to social problems. I've been on this forum for years and we've debated ad nauseum SD's lack of being able to get things done. It appears, unfortunately, like we will continue to work this way in SD while other cities in our region actually tackle these issues.

Jaguars could be an option, there's been rumblings for years about that city, the new billionaire owner isn't a huge fan of the city, though he's invested quite a bit in their stadium in the last couple years.

And honestly the theories of the Chargers coming back aren't that far-fetched. Obviously it won't be for at least 2-3 years into the new Kroenke stadium, but if things aren't going well for them there financially, Spanos may just sell and take his profit and walk away, and the new owner could consider a move back. Chargers will be the fifth most popular football team in LA, that's not really a place you want to be for revenue. I think the Chargers coming back is much less likely than another team moving. Jaguars or Tampa are both in small cities with not huge support, and the NFL doesn't like those cities for Super Bowls, despite both having hosted.

My worry is that someone in San Diego will look at Measure S and think "that's a great idea". I don't have as much faith in San Diego voters to reject a similar measure with the same fervor that LA did.

As for the Blue Line, it broke ground a few months ago and is currently in the beginning phases of construction. Mostly realignment of utilities and less visible things like that.

The NFL is never returning to SD, the chargers are committed to LA and the NFL wants them to succeed there. The NFL is relying on SD charger fans to make the trip north, the Raiders, jags, ect would be competition they don't want. Need to move past the hopes of an NFL team coming here and use the land more wisely.

I'm loving this density, I'm just not sure how it's going to be built. And from what I read online, they want to build close to 8k homes onsite. That's nearly 3.5k more than soccer city. Love it, but SD politics is a road block.

I think the city is ultimately going to go through the usual development process for public lands. Call for proposals. Hundreds of community meetings. Hearings at subcommittees. Dramatic city council votes. Local referendum. Litigation. Then, maybe development. :D

I don't think something like Measure S would pass in San Diego. As anti-development as our city can be, the Chamber and the labor unions would team up to squash it quickly as a jobs-killer.

Sadly, I'm inclined to agree that this scenario is likely to happen. :haha: Just look at how long Pacific Gateway has been held up. Still, I think most of us want to see a healthy discussion on what should happen to the land where the Q sits, but obviously not held up for decades by every dipshit like Cory Briggs.

Los Angeles actually has great mass transit, could it be greater? Yes but it's definitely not as bad as San Diego. Every time I go up to visit I leave my car at my friend's house and we take the red, purple or expo line everywhere.

Bowling alley! http://sandiego.eater.com/2016/8/3/1...rter-san-diego

Ballpark Village rising up above Petco Park

https://i.imgur.com/4bglBie.png

Pacific gate is almost topped out, I'll take pix next time I'm downtown but the spiral roof is pretty distinct now. Just curious if there's any lighting features? all the other buildings along the bayfront are lit up at night