ENTREPRENEURIAL AMERICAN COMMUNITY AWARD

City of San Diego, California

Date: January 2007

ISSUE AREA: Highlighted Inidividuals & Communities

In the late 1970’s, San Diego was suffering from center city blight due to the loss of business to the suburbs. Recognizing the need for new vision and innovation, former Mayor Pete Wilson formed the community development organization Partners for Livable Places/San Diego (PLP San Diego) to provide consultation to the city administration on the creation of programs and partnerships with the themes of culture and livability to revitalize the downtown area. Working in tandem with the initial development efforts of the city, such as the first new trolley system in the country, PLP San Diego has shown continued devotion for over 25 years to improving the quality of life of downtown San Diego through these innovative partnerships and programs.

One of the major issues PLP San Diego advised the Wilson and subsequent Golding administrations on was the value of enacting Culture Builds Communities programs, a model that encourages the use of cultural assets for community development. This resulted in the formation of a city commission focused solely on funding arts and cultural programs. These programs included the 24 hour city program, which encouraged the support of theatre and downtown dining programs. Furthermore, PLP San Diego worked in concert with the city of San Diego and local business leaders to start the KidsPlace project, which was designed to make the downtown area friendlier and safer for children. The success of this initiative eventually led to the relocation of the San Diego’s Children Museum from the suburbs into the downtown area.

The tireless work of PLP San Diego has also influenced the city administration to further their pursuit of fostering a livable downtown. Recently, an abandoned naval base has been transformed into a residential center abounding in both retail and cultural assets. Due in part to the efforts of PLP San Diego, San Diego has become a host to one of the fastest growing resident center cities in the country with 13,000 housing units built over the last twenty-five years and an extra 9,200 to be completed by the end of the decade.

Currently, PLP San Diego is focusing on its Greening the City program to support new parks, rooftops gardens, and greenways, which are desperately needed in the downtown area. Noting the immense benefits and resources PLP San Diego has and continues to bring to the table, the newly elected Mayor Jerry Sanders has embraced the ideas of PLP San Diego and has actively welcomed their advice and participation. Through the extensive efforts of Partners for Livable Places/San Diego towards pursuing a livable community, San Diego has become a model city for its use of successful cooperation between a community development organization and a city administration resulting in quality-of-life improvements for all.