Nancy
@nancygraham.bsky.social
I’m here to talk about cities, infrastructure, food, wine, tennis, Taylor Swift, and having fun with kids. Cute dog photos accepted.
📍San Diego
📍San Diego
I think your example illustrates both of our points. I think most people would say that is very high stress on cyclists and creating more high stress biking environments should never be seen as an accomplishment. I wish making 163 better was simple. It’s just not and that’s why it doesn’t happen.
May 30, 2025 at 5:19 AM
I think your example illustrates both of our points. I think most people would say that is very high stress on cyclists and creating more high stress biking environments should never be seen as an accomplishment. I wish making 163 better was simple. It’s just not and that’s why it doesn’t happen.
I agree with you that it would be great. But getting people who are used to driving fast to drive slow requires a change of infrastructure. People will go at least 50 mph without some visual deterrent. And that too fast for bikes and peds to be next to without physical separation. And that is $$$.
May 30, 2025 at 4:40 AM
I agree with you that it would be great. But getting people who are used to driving fast to drive slow requires a change of infrastructure. People will go at least 50 mph without some visual deterrent. And that too fast for bikes and peds to be next to without physical separation. And that is $$$.
As a state highway, it is under the jurisdiction of Caltrans. They have a ton of standards that intend to block pedestrians from entering freeways by accident, which would have to be reversed to now block cars from entering by accident. Plus Caltrans would have to relinquish it. It’s a big project.
May 30, 2025 at 4:31 AM
As a state highway, it is under the jurisdiction of Caltrans. They have a ton of standards that intend to block pedestrians from entering freeways by accident, which would have to be reversed to now block cars from entering by accident. Plus Caltrans would have to relinquish it. It’s a big project.
The problem is that it would cost a lot of money to really convert it in a city with a lot of existing mobility needs. It not accessible by bikes and pedestrians by design and undoing that is a major project.
May 30, 2025 at 4:20 AM
The problem is that it would cost a lot of money to really convert it in a city with a lot of existing mobility needs. It not accessible by bikes and pedestrians by design and undoing that is a major project.
It used to exist in San Diego called a “torpasta” but sadly it closed. yelp.to/witrUXa1C9
Torpasta by Devine Pastabilities - San Diego, CA
Specialties: This is no ordinary Italian restaurant. Our signature dish is called a Torpasta, which is a delicious Italian roll that is hollowed, perfectly toasted and stuffed with amazing Italian dis...
yelp.to
April 8, 2025 at 2:00 AM
It used to exist in San Diego called a “torpasta” but sadly it closed. yelp.to/witrUXa1C9
What is crazy about this is that it is not even correct. Wetlands are regulated by the Army Corps and endangered species permits are regulated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. EPA oversees things like water and air pollution.
March 19, 2025 at 2:22 AM
What is crazy about this is that it is not even correct. Wetlands are regulated by the Army Corps and endangered species permits are regulated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. EPA oversees things like water and air pollution.
The developer got exactly what they wanted because they promised this was what they could build and deliver to market fastest. Still no units in the ground. The problems are much deeper than zoning. Cities can do everything asked and it’s still not enough.
January 21, 2025 at 3:18 AM
The developer got exactly what they wanted because they promised this was what they could build and deliver to market fastest. Still no units in the ground. The problems are much deeper than zoning. Cities can do everything asked and it’s still not enough.
I negotiated these entitlements. The city wanted less parking. The developer required more because they were afraid they could not market the units without it. The city also wanted more density. The developer refused because they could only make modified type 5 work.
January 21, 2025 at 3:18 AM
I negotiated these entitlements. The city wanted less parking. The developer required more because they were afraid they could not market the units without it. The city also wanted more density. The developer refused because they could only make modified type 5 work.
Only 10% of the 4,300 entitled units are affordable. The rest are market rate.
January 21, 2025 at 2:16 AM
Only 10% of the 4,300 entitled units are affordable. The rest are market rate.
I am all for up-zoning land and have personally done much of it in San Diego. But up-zoning also increases land values to the detriment of construction. The blanket “zoning makes housing illegal everywhere” is not true in California’s second largest city and it’s still very expensive to build here.
January 20, 2025 at 6:56 PM
I am all for up-zoning land and have personally done much of it in San Diego. But up-zoning also increases land values to the detriment of construction. The blanket “zoning makes housing illegal everywhere” is not true in California’s second largest city and it’s still very expensive to build here.
I’ll show you another example… the developer got the exact density and use mix they wanted to pencil. Land is entitled, building permits granted, and phased public improvements built. Then… www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/05/10/c...
Construction paused on mega Riverwalk project in Mission Valley
The cacophony of construction activity at the sprawling Riverwalk project site that follows Friars Road just west of Fashion Valley mall has been replaced with nothingness as the promise of nearly …
www.sandiegouniontribune.com
January 20, 2025 at 6:56 PM
I’ll show you another example… the developer got the exact density and use mix they wanted to pencil. Land is entitled, building permits granted, and phased public improvements built. Then… www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/05/10/c...
Show me a place in San Diego where zoning is the problem. Nearly all commercial areas and parking lots in San Diego are zoned for high density housing by right with the exception of a few blocks of downtown San Diego, select areas dedicated to the biotech industry, and severe industrial conflicts.
January 20, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Show me a place in San Diego where zoning is the problem. Nearly all commercial areas and parking lots in San Diego are zoned for high density housing by right with the exception of a few blocks of downtown San Diego, select areas dedicated to the biotech industry, and severe industrial conflicts.
True. Condo laws are definitely a problem. This is a multifaceted problem where zoning is not the only villain, which really was my point. Most of San Diego does not have the zoning problems reviled on the internet and it’s the second largest city in California.
January 20, 2025 at 6:45 PM
True. Condo laws are definitely a problem. This is a multifaceted problem where zoning is not the only villain, which really was my point. Most of San Diego does not have the zoning problems reviled on the internet and it’s the second largest city in California.
7 units on a SF lot 5 miles from downtown San Diego. Zoned. Permitted. Not actually built.
redf.in/Pca874
redf.in/Pca874
1901 Chatsworth Blvd, San Diego, CA 92107 - 3 beds/2 baths
(SDMLS) For Sale: 3 beds, 2 baths ∙ 1070 sq. ft. ∙ 1901 Chatsworth Blvd, San Diego, CA 92107 ∙ $2,350,000 ∙ MLS# 250016804 ∙ Welcome to 1901 Chatsworth Blvd, a beautifully remodeled 3-bed, 2-bath home...
redf.in
January 20, 2025 at 7:41 AM
7 units on a SF lot 5 miles from downtown San Diego. Zoned. Permitted. Not actually built.
redf.in/Pca874
redf.in/Pca874
the cost of housing in a place like Boise that can do fee-simple stick build construction to urban California where infill is the only option. It is not illegal to build more units in much of San Diego, especially near transit. But it is too expensive unfortunately.
January 20, 2025 at 5:54 AM
the cost of housing in a place like Boise that can do fee-simple stick build construction to urban California where infill is the only option. It is not illegal to build more units in much of San Diego, especially near transit. But it is too expensive unfortunately.
Not sure what you think is bullshit… increased density is needed and no one is arguing against it. My point is that California has a major hardline preserve within the urban limit lines of the second largest City. Even if it was a noble one, we ran out of land by choice. And you can’t fairly compare
January 20, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Not sure what you think is bullshit… increased density is needed and no one is arguing against it. My point is that California has a major hardline preserve within the urban limit lines of the second largest City. Even if it was a noble one, we ran out of land by choice. And you can’t fairly compare
San Diego is a much larger city than San Francisco. What applies to San Francisco does not apply to all of urbanized California.
January 20, 2025 at 12:45 AM
San Diego is a much larger city than San Francisco. What applies to San Francisco does not apply to all of urbanized California.
California made land scarce in a number of ways including zoning, which forces the hardest homes to build as they only building possible. But just up-zoning land will never deliver housing at a rate anywhere close to that of permissive vacant land for SF homes like you find in other parts of the US
January 20, 2025 at 12:33 AM
California made land scarce in a number of ways including zoning, which forces the hardest homes to build as they only building possible. But just up-zoning land will never deliver housing at a rate anywhere close to that of permissive vacant land for SF homes like you find in other parts of the US
It is way way easier to build SF homes on vacant land. Even when you have permissive zoning in urban areas, infill is hard to build. Lot assembly can be nearly impossible, it is harder to finance MF & even harder for mixed use, the homes are not fee simple, & there are more neighbors to oppose it.
January 20, 2025 at 12:33 AM
It is way way easier to build SF homes on vacant land. Even when you have permissive zoning in urban areas, infill is hard to build. Lot assembly can be nearly impossible, it is harder to finance MF & even harder for mixed use, the homes are not fee simple, & there are more neighbors to oppose it.
So yes there is restrictive zoning in existing SF neighborhoods that prevents more homes. But the reality is past generations not only got to have cheap SF homes, and put them under zoning locks, but they also locked up the remaining available land in the name of conservation.
January 20, 2025 at 12:33 AM
So yes there is restrictive zoning in existing SF neighborhoods that prevents more homes. But the reality is past generations not only got to have cheap SF homes, and put them under zoning locks, but they also locked up the remaining available land in the name of conservation.
When my grandparents wanted a single family home in the 50s, there were plenty to buy, same for my parents in the 70s. When I started looking in the early-mid 00s there was almost none because all the vacant land was dedicated a decade earlier to conservation. And what was being built was expensive.
January 20, 2025 at 12:33 AM
When my grandparents wanted a single family home in the 50s, there were plenty to buy, same for my parents in the 70s. When I started looking in the early-mid 00s there was almost none because all the vacant land was dedicated a decade earlier to conservation. And what was being built was expensive.
I’m not saying the MHPA does not have value, but the boomers of San Diego made a very significant decision on the future of homeownership for future generations after they already got homes, and it is rarely recognized in this argument.
January 20, 2025 at 12:33 AM
I’m not saying the MHPA does not have value, but the boomers of San Diego made a very significant decision on the future of homeownership for future generations after they already got homes, and it is rarely recognized in this argument.
Does Boise also dedicate so much of a major metropolitan area to habitat conservation? Are the new homes actually infill as required in major cities in California or is it more single family homes (which construction of virtually ended in the 1990s in San Diego)?
January 20, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Does Boise also dedicate so much of a major metropolitan area to habitat conservation? Are the new homes actually infill as required in major cities in California or is it more single family homes (which construction of virtually ended in the 1990s in San Diego)?
Yes, buuuuut… in the 1990s the San Diego region created the Multiple Habitat Preservation Area (MHPA) that significantly decreased the amount of vacant land available for new housing construction, much of it within the service area of the San Diego County Water Authority, which is the urban limit.
January 20, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Yes, buuuuut… in the 1990s the San Diego region created the Multiple Habitat Preservation Area (MHPA) that significantly decreased the amount of vacant land available for new housing construction, much of it within the service area of the San Diego County Water Authority, which is the urban limit.