March Newsletter
Neighborhood News
Bike Lanes
University Ave has new bike lanes! The street now has dedicated bike lanes from 1st Ave to 5th Ave. Flex posts to protect cyclists will be installed in the coming weeks. We’re excited to see the network of safe, low stress cycling facilities in Uptown continue to grow. Remember, there’s only one solution to traffic: viable alternatives to driving.
Our Pending CPG Application
We’re excited about our application to the City to establish a new community planning group (CPG) for Uptown. After long months of workshopping ideas, we’ve creatively named it “Uptown Community Planning Group (UCPG).” We're proud of the organizational structure we've envisioned to represent Uptown. You can view the full contents of our application here. The City will make decisions on CPGs in April, and should our application be successful, we will promptly organize an election to fill the group’s seats. We’d love to have you run and be a voice in the community. If you’re interested, please reach out to us at contact@vibrantuptown.org!
P.S. The CPG application is just one initiative we are sponsoring as the Vibrant Uptown organization. If chosen, UCPG would be its own independent entity with members elected from the community. We, as Vibrant Uptown, would remain a separate entity and continue our work organizing and advocating in the community around important issues.
New Restaurants
New restaurants are coming to University Heights! Kory Stetina of Kindred and Arsalun Tafazoli of Consortium Holdings are launching two new vegan ventures, Vulture and Dreamboat, in San Diego’s University Heights neighborhood. Vulture will offer mid-century style fine dining with creative plant-based dishes and cocktails, while Dreamboat is a micro-diner featuring vegan coffee, pastries, burgers, and desserts. For more details, visit their websites at vulturerestaurant.com and dreamboatdiner.com.
Legislation Highlights
AB2065 – Expanding Coastal Housing Access
Co-sponsored by Circulate San Diego, SPUR, and the Bay Area Council, this proposed legislation aims to encourage the development of more housing units in coastal areas, with a commitment to include affordable options for moderate, low, and very-low income families.
Read more about the bill here and read our letter of support here.
On Our Minds
Abundant Housing is Affordable Housing
Well, it’s at least half the battle. There’s more to affordable housing to ensure the most vulnerable populations don’t get left behind. But, when it comes to broad strokes, we believe abundant housing is a key pillar to solving our housing crisis. This recent editorial in the Financial Timesanalyzes affordability data and compares cities in Texas and California. We weren’t surprised to see the data show that more relaxed zoning policies have allowed Texan cities to remain more affordable compared to their Californian counterparts.
Read the full editorial here: FT - What Texas can teach San Francisco and London about building houses
CEQA Reform
A recent state appellate court ruling may limit the use of CEQA to delay construction projects. The way we see it, it’s far too easy to misuse CEQA as a “heckler’s veto” on projects that bring much needed housing and infrastructure. Read the full editorial covering the case on Times of San Diego.
Upcoming Events
Regular Meeting
We meet every other Sunday to discuss issues, events, and advocacy centered around the Uptown neighborhood. Join us in-person or virtually for our next meeting on March 10th at 1:30pm at West Bean Coffee Roasters at 4th Ave and Laurel in Banker’s Hill. You can see all our upcoming events and meetings on our community calendar. Come join us!