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The Trace: San Diego
Lindbergh-LaVista Corridor Coalition
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Master's Projects
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Item
Three overlapping systems exist within the context of the
East Village site:
The Geologic Setting is the most fundamental of systems
San Diego sits atop the seam of two vast tectonic plates, the
jagged movements of which have created the broken line of
faults that lie beneath East Village.
The Urban Framework was established unaware of the
forces below. William Heath Davis and Alonzo Horton laid
out the orthogonal grid of New Town San Diego in the latter
half of the 19th century. It survives intact. Though such
a grid of streets and blocks is a boon to city growth and
flexible development, in some places its pattern is at odds
with the geologic faults beneath it. One of these places is East Village.
The Temporal Order is the ever-changing pattern of human
inhabitants, their structures, and their activities, all of which
fill the gridiron and make it their own. "The Market" is the
expression of this pattern in the here and now. The time is
ripe for human activity to re-inhabit East Village more fully, and change it once again to suite its needs.
Not an obstacle, but an opportunity
Yes, the geologic faults must be heeded in regards to future
development. In some places streets and blocks cannot be
used in the way that was originally intended. However, this does not mean a loss of utility. Instead, the trace of the faults
becomes a framework upon which to build a system of open
spaces. These open spaces, when designed correctly and surrounded with the proper uses, can be a catalyst to the
revitalization of East Village.
Item
Well before the Blueprints process began over four months ago two things were very apparent about the Lindbergh‐LaVista Corridor Coalition (LLCC) study area. First, due to the presence of neighborhood associations for Lindridge‐Martin Manor, LaVista Park and Woodland Hills it was known there were strong individual
neighborhoods in the study area. This meant there were people willing to work to preserve and improve the places they live, work, play, and worship. Second, with the formation of the larger LLCC it was clear that there
were common issues and visions among the three.
Chief among these issues are the pressures of increased
development entering the area. This subsequently conflicts with a shared vision of preserving the area's existing single‐family, leafy neighborhood character while still creating a better defined and recognizable image with outsiders. Embarking on the Blueprints process marks the realization by the neighborhoods of the LLCC that impending development is an opportunity more than it is a
challenge. Preparing and clarifying the vision for the area will
maximize the potential of the area and make a difference as
development comes to the table. Initially, we held a stakeholders meeting in order to acquire information about the assets and challenges of the community. To fully grasp these assets and challenges, we presented our existing conditions findings to the
stakeholders in a second meeting, based on four overarching sections: housing & demographics, urban design, transportation, and the environment. Once we had a firm grasp of existing conditions, we began to formulate
ideas on how to enhance the community. We presented these ideas at a third stakeholder meeting where we were
again able to get community feedback on our suggestions. The fourth and final stakeholder meeting was our opportunity to present the final recommendations for the LLCC and to get final input from the community for our
report. We have split our recommendations into Nodes, Corridors, and Environment, three sections that continue to stand out as key areas of interest.