I recently read an interesting article in the Union Tribune titled Italian planner marvels at San Diego’s smart-growth tenets.  It was fascinating hearing a European’s point of view on San Diego’s city planning and development.  It is very popular for American architects and planners to travel to Europe to study how the Old World built cities, but Claudia Trillo did the opposite. Trillo is a Fulbright scholar, city planner and assistant professor at the University of Naples and spent the last six months in San Diego to see how this Southern California city battles sprawl with smart-growth principles.  Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that San Diego has embraced, concentrating on growth in the center of a city to avoid urban sprawl; and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walk-able, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, streets that work for everyone; mixed-use development with a range of housing choices.

Trillo studied under a SDSU professor and Italian transplant that acquainted Trillo with San Diego when he gave lectures in Naples.  In this article she compares San Diego to parts of Italy with some interesting correlations.  Trillo stated that, “In the last few years, sprawl has been plaguing Europe, and San Diego has the reputation in worldwide planning circles for planning smart.”  She was particularly interested with San Diego’s intertwining of local and regional interests and priorities through her research into local and state agencies that affect land-use decision stating that the, “level of democratic discussion is much higher… European land-use controls tend to employ more national, top-down policies and requirements, compared to the United States, where local control is paramount.”   She plans to publish a book on “best practices” she noted in San Diego and to give a series of lectures this summer to colleagues at her university and for her clients so they can learn about Southern California land use.   Check out this article to hear some of her opinions and suggestions for San Diego

The Port of San Diego was formed in 1962 to serve as a sort of steward for San Diego Bay.  The Port of SD is in charge of managing the Bay’s valuable social, economic and environmental resources.  If you live in San Diego, or have even briefly visited us here, you understand the importance of the Bay on our economy and quality of life.  So thus enters the Green Port Program.  Look, I get tired of all the slogans, footprint this or that, but it’s a reality we can’t deny, and we need to be proactive about cutting back on certain luxuries and integrating some (yes, I dare to say…) Green ways of living.  Read on and see what The Port is doing to conserve and protect the San Diego Bay.

In 2007, the Board of Port Commissioners adopted the Environmental Sustainability Policy, “which provides guiding principles to achieve long-term environmental, societal and economic benefits through resource conservation, waste reduction and pollution prevention.”  The Green Port Program has been developed in support of the goals of this policy. 

In March 2008, the first set of initiatives under the new Green Port Program was presented to the Board of Port Commissioners. These initiatives are focused primarily on internal Port operations, and it is anticipated that they will be completed by December 2008:

Water

• Decrease water use in the Administration Building by 10 percent.
• Expand the use of non-toxic, biodegradable products.

Energy

• Incorporate alternative energy technology into the Broadway Pier development.
• Develop an energy efficiency partnership with SDG&E.

Air

• Begin implementation of the Clean Air Program.
• Define the carbon footprint of Port operations.

Waste Management

• Develop and implement four new programs that reduce waste streams.

Sustainable Development

• Develop and implement a Sustainable Development Program for Port facilities.

Sustainable Business Practices

• Educate Port staff about the Green Port Program and how they can contribute even more to improving the environment.
• Create a Green Port Program website to get the word out about how everyone can protect San Diego Bay’s environment.
• Adopt two Board Policies that expand the purchasing of green products.

Future Initiatives
The Green Port Program will grow every year as new projects are added and existing ones refined. The Port has established an annual review process to measure results and establish new priorities. This process will include input from a variety of departments within the Port and from Port stakeholders.

So, this is great…but what can I do?

There are several ways that the general public can conserve energy on Energy Alert Days. Here are some easy tips to follow:

• Dress in layers, to accomodate indoor temperature changes.
• Turn your lights off when you leave your office, even if only for a short meeting.
• Reduce lighting where possible and take advantage of natural daylight (if you have a window).
• Power off your computer and monitor if not in use.
• Power off any other electronics you are not currently using, such as fax machines, computer speakers, etc.
• Unplug any chargers that are not necessary.
• Do not run any personal heaters or fans.

 Another Way to Help….

   Did you know that California is in a state of official drought? San Diego County water supplies are being impacted by historic dry conditions and court-ordered pumping restrictions. We can all help the region conserve more water!

Try running your dishwasher only when it’s full, and you’ll save up to 4 gallons of water per load. Visit The 20 Gallon Challenge website for more information.

*all info from San Diego Port webpage…follow this link and get more info*

In this blog, we talk about the concept of “New Urbanism”:  Creating sustainable and dense neighborhoods focused around mass transit and walk able distance to work, live, and play.  In Downtown San Diego, the concept of New Urbanism is alive and well.  The development and revitalization of Downtown San Diego starts and finishes with the CCDC (Centre City Development Corporation).  This organization has insured the well balanced development of Downtown with a commitment to the infrastructure growth of distinct core neighborhoods( Marina, East Village, Gaslamp, Columbia, Cortez Hill, and Little Italy).  This provides a San Diego “Urbanite” choice and diversity.  I think this is one of the most interesting results of New Urbanism.  Choice and diversity mean there is a little something for everyone.  Urban Living in Downtown San Diego transcends age.  Aging “baby-boomers” have just as much of a desire to downsize and be close to live, work, and play as a younger working professional. 
CNN.com featured an article with an interesting twist on the results of “New Urbanism” on the suburban culture that has flourished since the end of World War II.  The article entitled: Is America’s suburban dream collapsing into a nightmare?  The author addresses the result of an oversupply of depreciating suburban housing and an increased demand for walk able urban space.  Real Estate in urban centers can be as much as 40% to 200% higher than removed suburban neighborhoods.  Buyers will pay more money for a smaller urban home if it has “LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION”.  Estimates and residential studies indicate that by 2025 there could be a surplus of 22 million large-lot homes that will not be left vacant in a suburban wasteland, but instead become occupied by lower classes that have been driven out of their once affordable inner-city apartments and houses.   Interesting how we see the “American Dream” changing right in front of our eyes.

Many of you have called and written info@92101urbanliving.com with questions about the low 3% down FHA financing that is currently available.

In the past, FHA financing criteria have excluded bank owned properties for 90 days as well as certain communities that were not “FHA approved” from eligible for FHA financing.

FHA financing just got a little easier for bank owned property buyers.

For one year, the White House temporarily suspended the rule that imposed a 90-day waiting period before foreclosed homes can be sold to receive government loans.

FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery said “A glut of foreclosed and abandoned homes harms neighborhoods, frustrates homebuyers and delays a community’s recovery.” He went on to say that the new policy “will allow homebuyers to purchase these homes in much greater numbers and ease the excess supply of unsold homes.”

Check out the full article by clicking on the link Property-flipping rule suspended.

Ah yes…another genius business now in the East Village…Cowboy Star. This will be the first restaurant in the East Village to be servin’-up a contemporary American-Western cuisine. The atmosphere is urban-sheik-cowboy, with exposed beam ceilings, cowboy accents and a kind of modern, contemporary saloon exterior. The 92101 team went to lunch there the other day. We walked past a couple of empty establishments to find that Cowboy Star was packed for a Tuesday lunch? I guess the word of great food travels fast. All of us were very happy to be sharing Sarsaparilla Sodas. It felt like a drinking lunch. Two of us got Bison burgers, one incredible Cowboy Star Burger with Cheese, and a Crab BLT. If it was that good for lunch, I was excited to try out the dinner. We did not get the 40 ounce steak for $82, although that would be fun to share with a group. We are steak house enthusiasts, and it lived up to every expectation and more! Flemings, Donovan’s, and Lou and Mickey’s have some serious competition. Here is a link to the website to check out everything from the menu to the concept. www.thecowboystar.com

I am so glad that the owners have embraced the fact that they are a local and neighborhood restaurant. Leave the big crowds to the Gaslamp, and give personal attention and fantastic food time consistently. By the way, don’t just take my word for it. Check out the Yelp profile to see what other locals are saying: www.yelp.com/biz/the-cowboy-star-san-diego

Oh, and they also have a butcher…awesome. Their full-service butcher shop offers a wide selection of meats…expanding the horizons of some of us city-dwellers, including Bison, 100 grass and corn fed, U.S.D.A. prime, 35-day aged, oh, and several organic options coming only from those farms that practice the highest integrity farming practices. Signature sauces and rubs will be sold as well. Summer BBQs anyone???

A major point of this project is to “Green” San Diego’s Bay. The concrete and asphalt that dominate the SD Bay waterfront, under the NVP, will undergo close to $250 million in public improvements. From Lindbergh Field to Seaport Village (1.2 mile stretch) the waterfront will be transformed with shops, cafes, gardens, lawns, paths, palm trees, plaza, art, piers, and a bustling cruise ship terminal. The Port of San Diego, CCDC, and the City of San Diego created to a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) that will provide for the development of a phasing and financing plan, and the completetion of the design and construction for the project. The Port and CCDC will share all costs, and are still identifying potential funding sources. So, check out this video for a comprehensive look at what the plans entails and a brief overview of key areas below the video.

The Point
A lighted sculpture and a wind-turbine sculpture

The Crescent
The pedestrian and bike path will be enhanced with a low curving wall and landscaping

Grape Street Pier and Piazza
Floating docks will be built and a series of staircases and ramps will lead to the water for observing sea life.

The Wharf
Paving along the wharf will have colorful night lighting

The Lawns
Green expanses will be established for recreation or ship viewing, as well a space for civic events.

Tavern on the Bay
Areas of shade will be created with seating a gardens

Market Square at B Street Pier
Sail-like structures will shade pedestrians and cruise ship passengers

Formal Groves
Lush plots of gardens with exotic plants, hedges and movable chairs

The Cove
A Memorial Walk will be created linking existing memorials between the Navy Pier and G Street in a park-like setting. A sycamore forest with paths lined with desert boulders and native plants will be created

Broadway: The Hall
Broadway, downtown San Diego’s main street, will be widened as it nears the water creating a plaza and festival area, as well as a public viewing platform and other improvements to the Broadway Pier.

All information from CCDC and Port of San Diego Websites as well as Union Tribune

Beginning this month on the 7th, every Saturday morning, year-round from 9am to 1:30pm, Date Street from India to State will be closed to through traffic so organic fruit stands, seafood, cheese and olive oil purveyors, bread bakers and chefs can sell their goods to downtown resident’s and visitors. There will even be a dog walking service so you can leave your dog with Fetch Pet Care and concentrate on your shopping. Welcome to downtown!!!

This week Little Italy becomes the inaugural site in a series of beautification plans for Downtown San Diego.  400 brightly colored planters and hanging baskets began to line India Street.  The project is aimed to provide a softer urban feel by adding more color and life to the streetscape.  “Great urban environments throughout the world feature plants, flowers, and other decorative foliage.  It is a way to engage and beautify a city and to connect spaces while enhancing the pedestrian experience,” said CCDC president Nancy Graham.  San Diego is no doubt a perfect place for these kinds of projects with the year-a-round gorgeous weather and pedestrian friendly atmosphere.
The greenery extends throughout India Street, Ash to Laurel, and sections of Kettner Boulevard, Ash, Beech, Cedar, Date and Fir streets. Flower selections were chosen to compliment the unique characteristics of the buildings and storefronts in the neighborhood. This project in Little Italy is to be the beginning of this Downtown beautification process.

View a brief tour of our office here at 92101 Urban Living, and hear what we’re all about. Keep checking back as we will be posting more videos on properties, downtown neighborhoods and more!

The killer orange paneled building is called Fahrenheit, and it is awesome and that is where I live. Never leaving. Ever. It also shows another cool building called ICON. You should DVR this commercial, paste it on your desktop alongside all the other goals you have in life.

Being down here is like winning. Period. You’re done, it’s over. You live down here and you win. It’s that simple. Come down and experience it and see why we are in an area that commercials are using, tv shows are using (the CW’s Fashion House) and people are flocking to. You are always welcome:) New restaraunts, coffee shops, fitness center that is massive and like a daytime social club of who’s who in the neighborhood. Don’t miss the fun and excitement of downtown living!

-The mayor of the East Village

The Title of the Wall Street Journal Article is “The Housing Crisis is Over”. Could this actually be? A well respected national publication is suggesting that there is actually something positive on the horizon for Home Sales in the United States. Well, things are not that easy. I am positive that this topic will continue to be debated for months to come. However, new statistics and historical data regarding National Supply Inventories, Local Market Conditions, and Construction Activity show that the right conditions for improvement are starting to become note worthy. A decline in Home values combined with competitive mortgage rates allows buyers who have normally been priced out of the market a chance to take advantage of diverse supply inventories. As these inventories decrease, and as construction activity slows, the result will be a shift of the market values and perspectives’.

We can see this trend in Downtown San Diego starting to develop. Construction Downtown is now limited to only three residential projects. As these and existing New Construction inventories start to be “picked over”, buyers must rely on the resale market to find the certain floor plans in specific price ranges. For a more detailed look at this trend, review our Blog on Downtown New Construction Inventories.

So with the state of the market comes the downsizing of a lot of developers. Within this comes the fact that a lot of the developers that were here in the past aren’t going to come back when the market corrects again. Today’s paper has an article regarding this. It speaks of how urban infill will be the way of the future for development as there is really no more buildable land. Buildable in the idea of an Eastlake or Otay Ranch or Scripps Ranch.

Vertical living is the way of the future. With that in mind, one could view a purchase in downtown as a “first phase” purchase. So to speak. As there are numerous empty lots to develop you can view the construction that has been done as a first phase of downtown redevelopment. You can’t say the same thing about suburban development. Not that there won’t be suburban development ever again or that there won’t be any investment return on a suburban purchase. Not my point at all. Point is, and read the article, the future of development will be vertical infill.

The above link will take you to a YouTube video featuring Rob Quigley, design architect for the new downtown central library. The library will be located east of 11th Ave between J & K streets.Mr. Quigley provided a quick update about the status of the library this Friday morning (June 6th) during a "Coffee with Nancy" CCDC update hosted by the Children's Museum this morning at 8 am. Mr. Quigley added that the library is now only less than $17 million away from being a reality and to "feel free" to support this initiative by considering making a generous donation after watching the video.

More info can be found on the City of San Diego website and at www.CCDC.com Enjoy! -Pete

This weekend, you can take part in keeping San Diego clean.  Hundreds of volunteers will gather at San Diego Bay to participate in one of California’s largest environmental clean up events. Operation Clean Sweep, presented by the San Diego Port Tenants Association in partnership with the Port of San Diego, will take place on Saturday, June 7 at various locations around San Diego Bay.

This event is sponsored by the Port, San Diego Gas & Electric, the U.S. Navy, The U.S. Coast Guard, General Dynamics/NASSCO and several other businesses and the clean up usually yields over 400 cubic yards of trash.

Last year, three sunken sailboats were retrieved in addition to several toilets, tools, engines and batteries. In the Chollas Creek portion of the clean up, over 50 car tires, 10 shopping carts, five mattresses, a lawnmower and a disco ball were found.

U.S. Navy and civilian divers scour the bay’s floor to locate the items and volunteers use vessels and heavy equipment to lift it out of the water. Volunteers also will pick up litter and debris that washes ashore.

There are three locations for the clean up. These include Cesar Chavez Park, located at Cesar Chavez Parkway and Crosby Road in San Diego, Chollas Creek in San Diego and Pepper Park in National City. The Chollas Creek registration will be at Pacific Ship Repair and Fabrication, 1625 Rigel Street, beginning at 7 a.m. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old for this location. Volunteer registration opens at 7:30 a.m. for the Cesar Chavez Park and Pepper Park locations.

All volunteers are invited to the Treasure Junk Hunt Party, which begins at 11:30 a.m. at Cesar Chavez Park. Prizes will be awarded for the most unusual trash collected and a barbecue lunch will be served. 

**all information taken from Port of San Diego website**

Alin Nevin of Marketpointe Real Estate Advisors has written a very “eye opening” article that sheds some light on the inequity of distressed properties in San Diego.  Consider the following facts that he outlines in his article  What Housing Recession?:

1. 70% of homes in California are in counties closest to the ocean where foreclosures are limited
2. 2/3 of all foreclosures in the 1st quarter of 2008 occurred in 20 of the 90 sub communities in San Diego county.
3. 700 of the 1,100 foreclosures were in these 20 communities…all of them inland. 
4. In another 20 of those 90 communities, absolutely NO foreclosures were recorded. 
5. The 10 communities with the highest level of forclosures averaged $394k
6. The 10 communities with the lowest level of forclosures averaged $1.6 million.

We can see the same kind of trends here in Downtown San Diego.  We now know that smaller units in quality buildings gain equity at the same rate as the penthouses in the same complex.  Conversely, Penthouses in average buildings lose value at the same rate as tiny studios.  Consider this…If you remove 4 complexes from consideration, we are able to eliminate over 80% of all distressed properties from the Downtown sub-market.  In the last 6 months, 66 urban homes have sold for $775k or higher.  More than half of those sales were above $1 million. 

The bottom line for Downtown is:  Unless you are a buyer looking to purchase in 1 of the 4 troubled complexes,  sellers are NOT panic selling.  The best complexes Downtown have, and will continue to have strong value.  The decision in buying a Downtown home is not solely price driven.  Other factors like quality, location, and construction materials mean so much more to the future value of your investment. 

Coming in at the number 1 spot is London, at a whopping $6,191 per sq ft. A $1.5 Million price range will have you living atop some of Downtown San Diego’s finest buildings.  However, this will only get you a small studio in London, Courchevel, Monaco, Manhattan & Hong Kong to name a few. I’m pretty sure we pale in comparison at around $512 per sq ft.

 More reason to buy in Downtown San Diego!