After last week’s investigative feature in The San Diego Sun about the state of the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown San Diego, a few issues have been updated, and we received a swell of readers’ responses to the story.
Recall that The Sun reported an intentional lack of communication between San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Gaslamp Quarter Executive Director Michael Trimble.
A dispute between those two offices grew out of funding issues for the Fifth Avenue Promenade program, which was aimed at making the Gasamp Quarter’s main drag pedestrian friendly. A removable bollard system for blocking traffic was permanently removed.
Political tension heightened in downtown’s renowned entertainment district over the summer when the mayor’s office raised parking meter fees (quadrupling the fees during high-volume traffic days) with no notice to Gaslamp or East Village community leaders.
A couple of updates:
- This week, the San Diego City Council voted to put city parking districts on a two-year hiatus. The downtown CPD was the source of contention for funding of the Fifth Avenue Promenade. The mayor wanted to permanently take over spending control from parking meter revenue. The city council will take two years to see if the mayor’s office can do it efficiently.
- One other issue mentioned in The Sun story last week was a rising crime rate in the Gaslamp and insufficient police enforcement. San Diego officials had hoped a bigger staff of civilians could pitch in to cover low-risk tasks. This week, the San Diego Police Department indicated savings would be minimal, and that 94% of tasks need to be handled by a sworn officer.
Reader opinion on the current state of the Gaslamp was mixed. Here’s a representative sampling:
- “We took the trolley last night to the Gaslamp [Quarter] and had a lovely dinner at Water Grill San Diego. We Ubered home, but that was better than paying the outrageous parking fees.” – Barbara Metz, Principal, Metz Public Relations
- “I’ve stopped going downtown unless I have to because of the open drug use, weirdos that harass you when you walk down the street, and the pungent aroma of urine everywhere. Jacking up the parking rates deters me even more…It’s crazy. I remember as a kid when going downtown was super sketchy. Then I remember Horton Plaza coming in and things turning around. It was like night and day. It’s sad to see things going in reverse.” –Tanja Kropf, Editor & Publisher, Explore Clairemont
- I was working with the police, traffic engineering and [GQA’s] Michael Trimble about the bollards before the city removed them. The Promenade isn’t just a budget problem. A Fifth Avenue Promenade is still a great idea. When the Gaslamp is busy you can only shuffle down the sidewalk due to the crowds. However…the bollards need to be moved to the outside of the crosswalk. Placing the bollards inside the Promenade and leaving the crosswalk outside created serious pedestrian issues and ADA violations. –Janet Rogers, Co-Chair, Safe Walkways
Have comments about issues in the Gaslamp Quarter? Send an email to: rondonoho@gmail.com.
