Publications
Summer 2003 Newsletter
San Diego's CityLink Offers A Model For Rebuilding Schools
& Inner Cities
The
City Heights neighborhood of San Diego has long been identified
as blighted, underserved, and rundown. However, the recent efforts
of Sol Price and CityLink Investment Corporation, in concert with
San Diego City Schools & the City of San Diego, have provided
the neighborhood with new education facilities, housing, a recreation
center, and a police sub-station. Retail is entering the neighborhood
and property values are on the rise. Originally appearing in The
Planning Report, NSBN is pleased to reprint this interview with
William Jones, former San Diego city councilman
and President & CEO of CityLink Investment Corporation,
in which he addresses issues of implemention re City Heights'
holistic development plan.
San Diego's City Heights is now recognized as an outstanding
urban revitalization success. The densely populated neighborhood
was known as a blighted area for decades before City Link and
the Price Foundation entered the picture. Who played what roles?
How did it all come together?
One of the success factors was that the roles were not as clearly
defined as they might be in many other efforts. We had a private
for-profit developer, City Link Investment Corporation, which
acted both as a traditional developer and a community developer,
working with local residents to masterplan, entitle, develop projects,
and help jump-start the holistic approach to revitalization.
The city government was able to, one, use its powers of redevelopment
in a very focused way; two, leverage the public dollars around
a clear strategy; and three, helped rally other governmental entities
to become partners in the redevelopment process of this neighborhood.
The third participating entity, of course, was the Price Foundation.
Sol Price's foundation focused on the non-profit activities in
a major way-education, health care, leadership, and communications.
What has evolved over the past several years is that Sol Price's
foundation has become a major developer in the area. Price's development
efforts, as well as his charitable efforts, focused on the holistic
approach and are helping to lead major change in this important
San Diego community.
How did the parties external to the government and private developer
contribute to the success of City Heights?
I'm a former city councilman and city hall staffer, so I knew
fairly well how government is run, what the interests are, and
the constraints and opportunities that government can take advantage
of. We were able to map out and develop a vision and we were able
to retain the extreme desire to make something happen fast. Working
fast allowed us build confidence among the residents. But we also
had to work fast because the clock was ticking on the investment
we were putting into the revitalization effort. That is significant
because having a sense of urgency is what was lacking collectively
for the many years prior. I think that is lacking in many neighborhoods
throughout the country; the appetite is there, the interest is
there, and in many cases, dollars were there. But, there isn't
one single force able to bring together a diverse group of stakeholders
and lead them down a specific path of action.
What was the role of the visioning process in advancing the project?
We didn't create such a grand plan that it was impossible, yet
we didn't think too small that it didn't catch the imagination
of the people who lived there, worked there, and even those in
government. In our master plan, we estimated that the original
master plan would cost about $65 million to build out; and that
was the seven-block master plan.
So, what we identified was how to make something happen fast
while we were beginning to work out the legal, financial, organizational,
and community issues on the remaining phases. And so the police
stations and community gymnasium project went first. At the same
time, we hit the ground hard on the other portions of the project,
keeping the residents involved and actually planning a real project
that had real construction milestones while they were working
on putting meat to the bones of the overall vision.
Now, you've been in City Hall; you were elected, and now
you're coming back after several experiences in the development
capacity. Why is it so hard to sell a holistic approach to neighborhood
revitalization? What are the built-in obstacles that have to be
overcome?
Well, I don't think it's hard for people to acknowledge that it
makes sense. I think what's more difficult is for the different
stakeholders to tear down the walls. Everyone has his or her own
area of expertise. And so that means that there are inefficiencies
in how we communicate. There are inefficiencies in how government
is organized, how neighborhoods are organized from a social and
civic involvement standpoint.
Of course, the residents often feel disconnected from the information
they need to help themselves. Add to that the layers of Federal,
State, and local rules that restrict creativity and risk-taking
because nobody wants to be held liable for a result that may have
been well intentioned, but ultimately doesn't work.
The process is subject to silo management from the various government
and community groups involved. We are all managing our different
silos. Our success is determined whether or not revenues are growing
within our silos. Generally, each silo's success is not measured
by the growth of the community at large.
Bill, you've talked about silo management. There's clearly
silo funding programs out of the state and local governments.
As you know, New Schools Better Neighborhoods has been working
off the ideas that you've made real in City Heights to try to
see if we could loosen up the regulations and incentivize them,
so that funds from library bonds, housing bonds, school bonds,
prenatal-to-five care, Prop 10 commission dollars, could be leveraged
for the benefit of inner-city and inner-suburban neighborhoods.
What are the lessons that you've learned in trying to leverage
these public funds for the City Heights kinds of efforts that
you're involved in?
Well the rules are often in conflict; one size does not fit all.
No neighborhood is the same. And the social, economic, and political
trends of a neighborhood are not going to be exactly the same
at any given point in time. This means that misguided solutions
are often applied and funded.
So in the case of City Heights, we were very fortunate to have
residents who were already on the front lines, working hard and
doing things differently. We already had a government with a redevelopment
history, willing to try new things. The police chief at the time,
Jerry Sanders, was willing to try things differently. And the
list goes on.
So, when you look at the funding, in some cases, we just used
the same basic funding forces. But then we say, will the synergy
in funding this improvement at this location enhance the adjacent,
yet distinct, improvement sponsored by another entity? This type
of funding approach is no different than trying to create synergies
when you're bringing two companies together.
Well if other municipalities in governments are reading
this interview; the mayors, school superintendents, recreation
and parks, and library folks reading this saying what can we do
if we wanted to do this? What is your advice to them?
As difficult as it may appear to attempt something this broad
and integrated, it is far more difficult to stand still or go
backwards. Because the quality of life in our neighborhoods will
only get significantly better if we learn how to help the weakest
neighborhoods in our cities.
What powers can be brought to bear by the mayor or redevelopment
agency, a school district, and a park district? Again, this came
from outside of City Hall, but it partnered there. You had good
allies in San Diego. What did they bring to the table?
Common sense and compassion. I'm convinced that if common sense
and compassion, along with good business sense, guide the public
decision making process and the private investment communities'
actions, we'll be a lot better off.
What do you know now that you didn't know when you were a city
councilman, Bill?
I know how little I knew. The older I get and the more experience
I obtain, the more I realize I don't know. And that's the exciting
part of growing and experiencing projects like City Heights and
working as a community for-profit developer. Every situation is
different and what remains true is that whether we're talking
to a resident on the east side, the north side, the west side,
or the south side, they all want basically the same thing; they
all want to feel respected, safe, and that their future will be
as good, or better than their past.
So what's the 'replicability' of City Heights as a model of urban
revitalization?
I don't know yet, because I don't know if we've been successful
yet.
What would constitute success?
There are financial and social and economic aspects that center
around people and business and the tax base. Having a strong,
healthy, tax base is absolutely critical so that important public
services can be provided. Having a safe or safer community is
important because it responds to the desire of people to feel
safer in their homes and neighborhoods. Having the ability to
create jobs and sustain them is important because that is an important
characteristic of a sustainable community.
And schools? Housing?
Schools cannot be successful if the neighborhoods are not successful.
By and large, the children who are in those schools are products
of their environment It is very powerful for a neighborhood to
look at other neighborhoods across town and feel inferior. Children
are smart and they will get the message that they are not as important
as the other kids across town. That's why it's important to have
integrated policies and programs that involve young people and
the adults, including the teachers, to change a neighborhood for
the better.
Housing availability, affordability, and the quality of housing
are all important. Also, the versatility of housing to house different
kinds of families is important for neighborhoods. We're going
through cycles, of course, in the housing industry. However, a
successful community is a sustainable community, a community that
is going to react to all the different economic cycles.
A sustainable community doesn't happen by accident; it's well
thought out, and it's nurtured to protect by the people who live
there and they care a great deal about maintaining that special
something about their neighborhood. And that is a feeling that
we need to implant within all of our neighborhoods for them to
be okay.
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