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Originally Posted by Docere
Yikes
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San Diego Lindbergh Field's location Downtown makes it very convenient for travelers in much of the city. But the airport has only a single runway and there is no room to add a second. I think San Diego's small airport is one of the things working against the city's economic development. The lack of direct flights out of the airport, among other things, has discouraged a large scale corporate presence Downtown. And though San Diego has actively promoted itself as a tourist destination, the mediocre airport connections make the city a destination that tourists tend to drive to for a long weekend rather than a place where people book major vacations.
And then there are the other drawbacks of Lindbergh Field: the 500 foot height limit downtown and the significant noise impact to neighborhoods under the flight paths--Banker's Hill, Point Loma and Ocean Beach among others. Plus even though the airport is close to Downtown, there is no rail connection or even direct freeway access.
By the time city leaders finally decided that San Diego needed a better alternative to Lindbergh Field, the city had spread out and there were no locations available. MCAS Miramar would make an excellent airport location, but the Marines weren't willing to give it up or even consider the possibility of dual usage. The wealthy residents of Del Mar and La Jolla wouldn't have been happy about a Miramar airport anyway. Brown Field, a municipal facility next to the border, also had possibilities, but in the late '90s a suburban development went in nearby and those residents got the city to rule out any expansion at that location.
The San Diego airport saga is one example of many showing how lack of leadership, nimbyism and overall complacency have held the city back over the decades.