Education Overlay Program Data for East Village Project Areas

“BIMStorm San Diego 2009
– An Urban Design Charrette to Plan a Sustainable Future for the City of Villages

Summary:

The human enterprise component of this event is strictly on a volunteer basis made up of interested and passionate local and remote professionals and community stakeholders for the purpose of visioning a unique sustainable future for this urban region that has not yet been understood. The materials, data sets, operational software licenses, space accommodations, food, beverage, reprographic and drafting supplies will have an associated cost that will be paid for by sponsorship grants and in-kind donations.

Background:

There are a few small public, charter, and private elementary schools as well as the California Western Law School and a few small trade schools in downtown outside of East village. The larger schools are in East Village including San Diego City College, San Diego High School, Garfield High School, City College Trade School, the NewSchool of Architecture and Design, and the Art Academy University. In addition to the new 6 story Thomas Jefferson School of Law under construction in East Village, the proposed new San Diego Main Library is ready to start construction and is negotiating with the San Diego Unified School District to collocate a new public high school academy on two of the library’s upper floors. Further, Barrio Logan has the Perkins Public Elementary School and Woodbury University. Given that East Village will soon become a thriving community of diverse educational K-16 and post-graduate programs, there will be a need to provide for faculty and student family housing as well as an opportunity to attract other schools and education based businesses like publishing houses, educational media providers, book stores and virtual/distance learning enterprises.
East Village and Barrio Logan’s sustainable 2030 solution will incorporate new and existing transit stops as key hubs of proposed developments (like Smart-Corner at 12th & Broadway), the regional Transit Station at 12th and Imperial for the Trolley (overhead catinary wires), a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station (to be built), a Downtown Loop Shuttle (to be built). Note that there is also a main freight train line (BNSF) running parallel with Harbor Boulevard that also engages in switching operations approximately every 4 hours, 24 hours per day that blocks intersections and access to and from the bay for 5 -10 minutes at a time.

Urban Design Criteria (to be explored):
1. Layered density matrices that not only satisfy the Barrio Logan community’s preference for lower building heights along most of the area’s linear geography but also address the important mandate to accommodate a portion of the 60,000+ residents and 90,000+ jobs that the Centre City area will absorb by 2030.

2. The boundary between East Village and the Barrio Logan District is artificial on a map addressing a paper line between two historic, cultural and political districts. By 2030 the mix of citizens in this geographic area could have much in common as a result of the decisions made now by incorporating sustainable buildings, renewable energy, water efficiency, and pedestrian/transit centered smart growth principals.

3. The Barrio Logan District is currently vetting and updating its local Community Plan document that should be adopted by the San Diego City Council by 2010. The Centre City Redevelopment Expansion area is the only redevelopment district that could benefit from Tax Increment funding around the year 2030. The other CCDC redevelopment districts could cease before 2020. The next CCDC Community Plan update process should take place in 2011, which will likely align with a more rejuvenated local economy. Both communities have the opportunity to explore visions for the way they will address their sustainable future well in advance of the governing agencies policy making processes.

4. The Cities General Plan, Land Use Code, Housing Element, and Planned District Ordinances should be adhered to with the understanding that a Planned Development Project application may deviate from these planning codes where exemplary urban design and building design warrant the additional Planning Commission and City Council review and approvals. Therefore if it is a good sustainable design solution, the community supports it, and it meets the intent of the codes in place…anything is possible.

5. Proposed new and adaptive reuse developments and building projects are encouraged to include new diverse K-16 educational and post-graduate programs, faculty and student family housing, and education based businesses like publishing houses, educational media providers, book stores and virtual/distance learning enterprises.

6. Where possible propose appropriate new development of existing Brownfield sites especially along existing and proposed public transit corridors.

7. Incorporate innovative design for infill sites to include affordable and higher density housing, retail, office, and live-work development. Consider uses that support the education overlay concept.

8. Accommodate existing transit stops and propose new local transit stops and Bus Routing to serve linkages between the East Village and Barrio Logan Communities and around downtown as well as Golden Hill, Logan Heights and the Waterfront. Allow for enhanced and safe bicycle routes, bike racks, a bicycle servicing station with daytime storage and shower facilities.

9. Woven throughout East Village and a portion of Barrio Logan are a number of earthquake “finger” faults that run generally diagonally across the rigid street grid of downtown. These finger faults are designated fault lines with mandatory no-build setbacks that bifurcate a good portion of the buildable area of the two districts. While one of San Diego County’s most interesting natural features are its canyon lands which are mostly preserved habitat, it is possible to consider these random faults under the metaphor of “Urban Canyons” which can’t be built upon and could become a linkage of meandering pedestrian and bicycle thoroughfares, alleys, and retail oriented pedestrian streets and places that are safely removed from the street grid vehicle routes.

BIMStorm / Charrette Design Parameters:
1. Determine the highest & best use of Land
2. Determine the highest and best use of existing older buildings and wherever possible sustainably adapt the existing building’s historic use to a new contemporary use thus extending the useful life of the building by upgrading it, reduce its carbon emissions for the future.
3. Determine the historically significant and designated buildings in East Village and the Barrio Logan districts and make every effort to restore, refurbish and reuse these buildings extending the useful life of the building by upgrading it, reduce its carbon emissions for the future. If a significantly historic building is jeopardized by an eminent development, consider relocating the building intact or by disassembling and reassembling it on the two blocks that has been suggested as a downtown “Heritage Park” at 17th Street between Market and J Street. Upgrade the historic architectural fabric of this “Heritage Park” area.
4. Rethink on street parking, provide traffic calming bulb-outs. Add landscaped medians where called out in the PDO. Provide adequate underground parking but sustainably reduce the parking to stimulate public transit ridership.
5. Incorporate commercial/retail develop to activate the streets where appropriate but not an over-abundance as boarded up old businesses are the first step in establishing blight. Provide for cinemas, shops, restaurants, art galleries, professional offices, live-work studios, etc.
6. Housing
a. Add SRO over existing commercial,
b. Residential condos will still be profitable and get built,
c. Public development of affordable housing, faculty and student family housing; work with the San Diego Housing Commission and the YMCA.