The Destruction of Uptown San Diego – Thanks to Mayor Gloria
By Bill Walton
It’s as if Todd Gloria wakes up every day and asks himself what is the worst thing I can do today for San Diego.
This time, in a seemingly endless litany of disastrous choices, Todd Gloria is proposing in his new and singularly revised Plan Hillcrest, another slippery, slimy, and shady real estate deal that will have immediate and devastating consequences for Uptown and ultimately all of San Diego.
This is not surprising given Todd Gloria’s history.
Todd Gloria is a career politician, who’s never had another job.
Todd Gloria has been feeding and feasting at the public and donor trough his entire career.
This most recent frenzy follows an all too familiar path.
In Todd Gloria’s race to infamy and the bottom, there’s always a supposed rush to close the deal, there’s never any transparency, the critical details are never disclosed, the public’s interests are ignored, the donor and special interest class gets whatever they want, Todd Gloria and the real estate developers all rake in enormous amounts of money, and everybody else loses.
Plan Hillcrest was originally supposed to address 11 acres in the core of Hillcrest.
Now, the new Todd Gloria Plan Hillcrest has somehow exploded to cover 400 acres of the total 2,700 covered in the Uptown planning area.
The new Todd Gloria Plan Hillcrest calls for the construction of 19,000 new units with buildings of 30 stories and higher, all adding 50,000 more people into Hillcrest.
Hillcrest is already one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in all of San Diego. It is one of 6 neighborhoods in Uptown, whose total population is under 60,000 people.
Todd Gloria is trying to create two completely new zoning designations with massive increases in population density.
Todd Gloria’s new Hillcrest plan does not include the infrastructure that is needed to support what he is proposing.
There are no plans for schools, libraries, fire-stations or parks.
Transportation requirements are ignored and dismissed.
Environmental impact is discarded.
Pie in the sky is promised, but never delivered.
Hillcrest is already the only Uptown neighborhood that does not have a park.
Todd Gloria wants to jam a new population the size of the city of Poway, into an area the size of De Anza Cove.
Todd Gloria wants to add 50,000 new people to Hillcrest, right now, while Todd Gloria’s own government projections for our entire San Diego region over the next 37 years only predict 40,000 total new people.
Todd Gloria is engaged in yet another money grab.
We’ve seen this before, all too often.
This is how Todd Gloria rolls.
Todd Gloria’s well documented history is rife with this same sort of behavior—deceit, deception, smoke, and mirrors.
And money in his pocket.
Todd Gloria and his Plan Hillcrest are not in the best interests of San Diego, Hillcrest, Uptown, or the people of this once great city.
Todd Gloria and his new Plan Hillcrest must be stopped.
Now is not soon enough.
Bill Walton is a San Diego native, born downtown, raised in La Mesa, and has lived in the same Hillcrest home for more that 44 years.
Category: Government, Homeless, Housing, Life Style, Local News, Real Estate, Sports
