SAN DIEGO | Boom Rundown, Vol. 2

[SDfan]

Originally Posted by SAN Man

First post, occasional lurker from time to time to see what's being built.

With 9 days until the opening of the Blue Line extension, is anybody else going out on opening day to ride and document the experience?

Welcome!

I wish, but I'll be out of town. Will need to as soon as I get back. Some of my colleagues have ridden it, and they loved it. They said it felt quicker than the 30 minutes from Old Town to UTC.

[SamFlood]

Here's a few preview videos

https://youtu.be/Ugbnu5d7CSY



https://youtu.be/tQmfVWFDu1Q

[HurricaneHugo]

If anybody goes, I need a picture of the Mormon Temple with the UTC skyline in the background

[SDCAL]

Originally Posted by mello

Hmm Cisterra is still acting like a ground breaking is eminent and that financing is just an inch away. Like a football team with first down at the 1 yard line, oh they will score...

I do have interesting news on the huge parking lot caddy corner to Vantage Point and Symphony towers on 8th and B. I parked there on Monday and an employee came out to her car and said her company is looking for new places for them to park because construction is about to start soon on that lot

Anyone hear about this?

So, they don’t have financing secured yet? That’s not good .. they’ve been saying they’re an inch away for the last several years now

Fingers crossed. Their website still has outdated info saying ground breaking in 2020

[SAN Man]

Originally Posted by SDfan

Welcome!

Thanks!

I was browsing around the transit feature on Apple Maps and noticed that they have the Mid Coast Trolley extension live on their maps now.

[roletand]

In other news, IQHQ got a tower crane up at the RaDD site this past weekend over by the Navy Building.

[SAN Man]

Originally Posted by roletand

In other news, IQHQ got a tower crane up at the RaDD site this past weekend over by the Navy Building.

You can't miss it when you're anywhere on Harbor Drive! That site is humming with activity.

RaDD Tower Crane by San Man, on Flickr

[Will O' Wisp]

Interesting news, City Council has eliminated commercial parking minimums access most of the city. We'll have to see how this effects development going forward.

San Diego adopts new policy wiping out parking requirements for many businesses

San Diego took the bold and controversial step Tuesday of wiping out parking requirements for businesses in many neighborhoods to accelerate efforts to make the city less car-reliant and more climate-friendly. The City Council unanimously approved the elimination of parking requirements for businesses located near mass transit or in small plazas near dense residential areas. New businesses in those areas would no longer have to provide any parking spaces for customers or staff. And existing businesses could immediately transform their parking spots into outdoor dining or extra retail space.

Supporters, including many business and environmental leaders, said the policy would start a slow and incremental shift in San Diego away from reliance on cars. They stressed that the city isn’t mandating that businesses eliminate parking, just allowing businesses the discretion to determine how much parking they need and how best to use the acreage available to them. Transportation accounts for more than 50 percent of local greenhouse gas emissions, making such policy changes crucial to San Diego’s efforts to meet the goals of its legally binding climate action plan, supporters said.

Councilmember Marni von Wilpert, who represents Scripps Ranch and Rancho Bernardo, said she approved the new policy despite some concerns. “It’s simply not possible for the vast majority of people in my district to hop on a bus,” she said. “We have no trolley lines in District 5 and no plans to build them, and there are no major bike lane improvements coming.”

Von Wilpert successfully persuaded her council colleagues to eliminate language that would have made the new policy apply to large properties where only a small portion is near a transit hub. Mayor Todd Gloria’s staff also agreed to work with von Wilpert to refine how the city determines what qualifies as a transit hub.

It is now defined as areas located within half a mile of a trolley line, a bus rapid transit station or two high-frequency bus routes. The nearby transit must be operating or scheduled to begin operating within five years. The policy eliminates parking requirements for businesses in those areas and for businesses located in areas designated “neighborhood commercial,” which are smaller plazas and business districts that serve adjacent residents.

[Streamliner]

Supporters, including many business and environmental leaders, said the policy would start a slow and incremental shift in San Diego away from reliance on cars.

I'm glad this is happening, but it would have been nice to start that "slow and incremental shift" decades ago instead of 2021

[Will O' Wisp]

Originally Posted by Streamliner

I'm glad this is happening, but it would have been nice to start that "slow and incremental shift" decades ago instead of 2021

Agreed. Better late than never I suppose.

[SAN Man]

Blue Line extension, here are some opening day pictures. I'll take more when it's less crowded and hot!


Trolley arriving UTC station.
UTC trolley by Manuel Sanchez, on Flickr


Looking north from UTC station.
UTC north by Manuel Sanchez, on Flickr


The viaduct, looking north from UTC, down on Genesee.
Genesee by Manuel Sanchez, on Flickr

Looking north from Balboa platform.
North from Balboa by Manuel Sanchez, on Flickr

System map at Balboa station platform.
Trolley Map by Manuel Sanchez, on Flickr

[mello]

Empty lot across from HC DMV on Normal street, they are digging deep so lets hope for 5 floors there. Also a slim lot behind that Red Building on University that wasn't included in that project has construction going on.

Have you guys noticed some infill going on along EC Blvd finally, the old Poker room is getting filled in. Empty lot on Ohio or Illinois about to start construction (I asked the liquor store owner next door he said its a go).

Farther east on 50 something street another Card Room that was shuttered has residential going in.

University and Fairmont an old Union Bank Branch and their massive parking lot is getting Residential and another couple blocks east is a fenced off lot no equipment visible but hopefully infill coming.

Bottom line is we are finally seeing construction in the less desirable areas. Something LA and Bay Area have been doing for years now and its finally coming here.

[HurricaneHugo]

Originally Posted by SAN Man

Blue Line extension, here are some opening day pictures. I'll take more when it's less crowded and hot!

How busy were the stations?

Some of your pics look empty

[SAN Man]

Originally Posted by HurricaneHugo

How busy were the stations?

Some of your pics look empty

The Balboa station picture was actually taken the afternoon before opening day. In the other pictures I intentionally avoided passengers and went to areas of the platform to take pictures in-between passer-bys.

I boarded at Old Town transit center, which was very busy, parking was full. The trains were packed to capacity and the ride north was stuffy/hot, standing room only. There were quite a few people that weren't able to board at Tecolote and Balboa.

The stations that were busy were UTC, UCSD (that's where the MTS opening event was), Balboa, Clairemont, Tecolote and Old Town.

[roletand]

Ditto on how busy the stations were on Sunday, most trains were busy with all ages. In addition to the Old Town, parking at Cairemont Dr. and Balboa were full too. Most cars I rode were nice and cool, except for one where the AC definitely wasn't on or wasn't functional.

I had to laugh to myself as we rode through the UCSD Health La Jolla station since Scripps Memorial is JUST on the other side of Voigt drive. The UCSD Health hospital is noticeably further away, but hey when you have your name on the entire line you probably get the hospital stop named after you for free.

Originally Posted by SAN Man

The Balboa station picture was actually taken the afternoon before opening day. In the other pictures I intentionally avoided passengers and went to areas of the platform to take pictures in-between passer-bys.

I boarded at Old Town transit center, which was very busy, parking was full. The trains were packed to capacity and the ride north was stuffy/hot, standing room only. There were quite a few people that weren't able to board at Tecolote and Balboa.

The stations that were busy were UTC, UCSD (that's where the MTS opening event was), Balboa, Clairemont, Tecolote and Old Town.

[mello]

Anyone know what is going on with this nice development on the huge empty lot just east of the Clairemont Dr stop at the bottom of the hill?

http://https://www.kpbs.org/news/qua...uture-clairemo

Click link the renderings look great it is called Bayview Plaza by Protea Properties. All of the articles about it are from late Summer of 2019...

In a comment thread on a Tribune article about the new trolley line someone said this project has been canceled or didn't go through for some reason. I really hope that isn't true its a blighted lot and this Bayview Plaza looks dope.

[roletand]

MTS was still talking about it as of May of this year. Check out Page 110 of the May 6 Executive Committee packet. https://www.sdmts.com/sites/default/..._materials.pdf

Meeting minutes didn't shine too much more light on the status, excerpt below.

"Ms. Cooney commented on the Clairemont Drive site and noted it as a critical access entryway to the nearby communities in Clairemont. She discussed concerns about the ability to access the site with an automobile and also noted bus accessibility limitations. She stated that the delay of this development could impact transit accessibility."
https://www.sdmts.com/sites/default/...ec_minutes.pdf

Originally Posted by mello

Anyone know what is going on with this nice development on the huge empty lot just east of the Clairemont Dr stop at the bottom of the hill?

http://https://www.kpbs.org/news/qua...uture-clairemo

Click link the renderings look great it is called Bayview Plaza by Protea Properties. All of the articles about it are from late Summer of 2019...

In a comment thread on a Tribune article about the new trolley line someone said this project has been canceled or didn't go through for some reason. I really hope that isn't true its a blighted lot and this Bayview Plaza looks dope.

[Streamliner]

I took a ride yesterday (Black Friday) on the new line from Nobel to UTC just to check it out. I got on an early train around 9:00 and it was pretty quiet, but coming back at noon the trains were full. The 5000-series Siemens cars are really nice.

[SAN Man]

Originally Posted by mello

Anyone know what is going on with this nice development on the huge empty lot just east of the Clairemont Dr stop at the bottom of the hill?

I noticed that the empty lot was used for staging construction equipment and vehicles for the Trolley extension at times.

Now that construction has wrapped up, hopefully we see some movement on that property. What a prime property, walking distance to Mission Bay, units will have water views, 1 block from Clairemont Dr. Trolley stop, next to the 5. It's a 10 minute drive to Downtown, the airport, La Jolla and UCSD.

[Streamliner]

Originally Posted by SAN Man

I noticed that the empty lot was used for staging construction equipment and vehicles for the Trolley extension at times.

Now that construction has wrapped up, hopefully we see some movement on that property. What a prime property, walking distance to Mission Bay, units will have water views, 1 block from Clairemont Dr. Trolley stop, next to the 5. It's a 10 minute drive to Downtown, the airport, La Jolla and UCSD.

That makes sense. I think UCSD had some staging sites that have developments in the works now that the Trolley is complete.