For the first time in 15 years, the San Diego City Council passed an amendment to the general plan. It’s aimed at dealing with climate change and reducing poverty and racial segregation. They call it Blueprint SD.
A plan that’s expected to take the city through the next 30 years.
Blueprint SD will entail some zoning changes to create more housing and some transportation updates to cut down on pollution.
“To preserve the lifestyle we love, we need an updated plan to guide our continued growth, one that tackles our housing crisis, and reduces harmful pollution entering our environment,” the city explains in a YouTube video.
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The city produced a video to simplify a very complex proposed change to the general plan. The change would pave the way for more multi-family homes in communities that have been traditionally reserved for single-family homes.
“Zoning as well as many other factors in society have contributed to concentrations of poverty, inequitable outcomes, and it's important for us in the planning profession to take a look at how we can reverse those trends,” said Heidi Vonblum, City Planning Director.
It’s easier said than done, but the framework in Blueprint SD, will allow zoning changes, something that could get push-back from people who don’t want to see multi-family housing in their neighborhoods.
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“We feel that basically, it will destroy single-family neighborhoods in Point Loma,” a man told NBC 7.
“I’m really alarmed by the loss of housing for our seniors, our gay seniors in particular who are being thrust back into other communities because they can’t live in Hillcrest. And there are thousands of employees of hillcrest who can’t afford to live there,” Steven Russell, who attended the meeting, told NBC 7.
A mixed bag of reaction. Some people want Blueprint SD to move forward, some don’t, and some want to see changes, like more trees.
“I don’t think that there’s any possible way that we can get them to not do the plan, to not pass it, but I think there’s a way we can improve it. Plant more trees, implement more green spaces, and just improve the plan overall,” Annaliese Guthmann said.
Putting housing near transit centers is another critical part of the blueprint.
“A key part of this strategy is to ensure that our vision for the future growth of this city is concentrating new development in areas where that is the most efficient way to occur, so this means planning for new homes and jobs to occur in areas located near transit and in areas that can easily be served by future transit,” Vonblum said.
Blueprint SD passed the City Council unanimously. But don’t expect to see changes overnight, this plan is expected to guide San Diego into the next 30 years.
