Using Transit to Improve YOUR Life and YOUR Community

Implementing a functional, workable, and urban-core based transit system in San Diego is essential for increasing quality of life in the region. Many quality of life issues from jobs, housing, and the economy to water and air quality are intrinsically linked to transit. Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that moving from sprawl development and highway-based infrastructure to urban infill development and transit-based infrastructure would be an efficient and effective way to address regional crises and improve regional quality of life.

 

 

Click on the links below to learn about how transit-based infrastructure will benefit YOU and the entire community of San Diego: 

Transit and Mobility
Transit and Economic Development
Transit and Public Health
Transit and Jobs
Transit and Housing
Transit and Water
Transit and Air Quality
Transit and Climate Change
Transit and Habitat/Farmland
 

Moving Forward:  Linking Transit and Infill

In order to make infill development work, it is absolutely critical that infrastructure precede densification. Despite the amount of transportation funding that the San Diego region enjoys, many of San Diego's older urban areas have been left behind. Currently, the region is spending billions of dollars on expanding highway infrastructure for sprawl development, while simultaneously cutting transit services. The good news is that we have the opportunity to change this funding/infrastructure imbalance and improve the entire San Diego community!

The benefits of transit are greatest when transit infrastructure is linked to urban infill development.  The current potential for infill development in San Diego is overwhelming, because many areas within the urban core already have zoning and land use specifications that would immediately allow for denser land uses.

A full report analyzing the existing infill development potential in San Diego can be found here.

The aforementioned report, which was a joint effort between CNFF and GreenInfo Network, analyzes the infill development potential that currently exists within the incorporated cities of San Diego County. In sum, the study used data from SANDAG to determine that with existing zoning there is enough development capacity to accommodate approximately 400,000 new homes in the incorporated areas (cities) of San Diego County. SANDAG recently determined that the region will require 230,000 new housing units in San Diego County by 2030, demonstrating that without making any changes to zoning, all of the region’s projected housing needs for 2030 could take place as infill development (within the incorporated cities of San Diego), and the cities would still have 170,000 additional units available for development beyond 2030.

The map on the right demonstrates that around the existing trolley stop at 25th and Commercial in Downtown San Diego, there is an abundance of available parcels that are already zoned for mixed-use (pink). This is just one example of the development potential that currently exists throughout the entire urban core and in many of the incorporated cities within the County.

This kind of infill development is necessary for the San Diego region to continue to grow and accommodate additional housing units without sprawling. Sprawl development in the San Diego region, and across the United States, has caused many significant and unavoidable impacts socially, economically, and environmentally.

Read below for transit-related analyses: 
Transportation Affordability : Evaluation and Improvement Strategies

Economic Development and Smart Growth : 8 Case Studies on the Connections between Smart Growth Development and Jobs, Wealth, and Quality of Life in Communities

Public Transportation and the Nation’s Economy : A Quantitative Analysis of Public Transportation’s Economic Impact

How to Revitalize a City:  Invest in Transit
Los Angeles Advocates for Transit to Create Jobs!
Worldwide Survey Finds Transportation Issues have HIGHEST PRIORITY
Transit Cuts in San Diego
BRT vs. Rail
Parking and Transit
Independent Review of the 2030 RTP
San Diego Survey: People Prefer Transit