San Diego's waterfront makeover is heavy on public space
"Today, San Diego gets the embarcadero it deserves," Mayor Kevin Faulconer said at a festive event last month to publicly unveil the $31.1-million project along Harbor Drive from Navy Pier to B Street, at the foot of Broadway.
"We persevered," Faulconer said. "Now we have a showpiece to demonstrate that it can be done."
The North Embarcadero Visionary Plan was discussed, planned and fought over for 20 years before construction began three years ago.
The site now provides the perfect San Diego Bay backdrop for selfies and marriage proposals, said former Port Commission member Michael McDade, a leader in bringing the project to fruition.
For the waterfront, the current project is just phase one, although yet to be found is money for additional phases that would further reduce traffic, expand walkways and reduce view blockage.
In Balboa Park, parking places were removed to create a plaza near the Old Globe theater, the Museum of Art and the El Prado restaurant and close to the Spreckels Organ Pavilion and the Japanese Friendship Garden.
At the downtown Horton Plaza Park, in front of the shopping mall, the century-old park is being tripled in size to 37,000 square feet to include additional grass, trees, benches and food vendors. The building that once housed Planet Hollywood has been torn down to make room.
The shopping mall operator has promised to provide 200 events a year with private funding, including a farmers market and concerts, a process called "activating the space" in planner-ese.
The county government this year finished a $49-million linear park along inland Harbor Drive, with greenery, wading pools and fountains. The park is 16 acres, including eight that were once parking lots. To offset the parking loss, the county broke ground last week on a multistory parking structure several blocks inland.