Traffic was bustling on Convoy Street in Kearny Mesa on a recent afternoon. The wide arterial road features a unique mix of car dealerships and strip malls that include some of the best Asian restaurants in San Diego.
City Councilmember Kent Lee, whose district includes Kearny Mesa, said immigrant entrepreneurs moved in decades ago because it was a relatively affordable place to start their businesses.
"Convoy is what it is today because, for generations, this was not a desired place to be," Lee said. "If we knew that this would be the vibrant neighborhood that it is today, I don't think it would have been designed this way."
Convoy's design flaws may not be obvious from behind the wheel of a car, but they're easy to spot as a pedestrian. The bus stops lack any shade or shelter. Wayfinding can be a challenge. Trees are few and far between. And cyclists can be spotted riding on the sidewalk to avoid mixing with traffic.
Last week, the San Diego City Council established two new community parking districts in Kearny Mesa and San Ysidro. Creating a parking district can be the first step toward installing parking meters, which can help fund neighborhood improvement projects.
Lee said he wants people to be able to walk between all of Convoy's various businesses — restaurants, dessert shops, bars and retail — without having to drive and park at each destination.
"What a parking district will offer us … is to explore all these options, to make this a more friendly space for pedestrians, for folks who are traveling here by vehicle, but really also for all the businesses who enjoy that kind of traffic," Lee said.
There aren't any immediate plans to install parking meters in Kearny Mesa, though Lee said his office is talking about the idea with local businesses as a way to increase turnover in the highest-demand parking spots. He also sees meters as a way to accelerate infrastructure investments that support the city's climate goals but would otherwise go unfunded for decades.
"Because resources are scarce, it's even more important than ever that we're really thinking strategically about how everything aligns together," Lee said.
Prior to last week's action, San Diego hadn't created a new parking district since 2005. Only last month did Pacific Beach's parking district finally install meters, which are now helping to fund a neighborhood shuttle that can take people from the Balboa Avenue trolley station to the beach.
The Uptown Community Parking District, which includes Bankers Hill, Hillcrest and Mission Hills, has used parking meter funds to install bike racks, trash cans, street lights and landscaping along the recently installed bike lanes on 4th Avenue. Gerrie Trussell, the district's executive director, said her board members used to be more focused on growing the supply of parking, but are increasingly embracing projects that reduce the demand for parking as well.
"It goes beyond beautification," Trussell said. "You're talking about pedestrian safety, you're talking about bicycle safety, and people will not use those modes unless it's safe to do so."
Trussell added it used to be more difficult to get city approval for such projects. But Mayor Todd Gloria's decision to transfer oversight of parking districts to the newly created Sustainability and Mobility Department was helpful, she said, and the districts are beginning to spend down the millions of dollars in reserves they have collected over the years.
Gloria said the Kearny Mesa and San Ysidro parking districts are a response to neighborhood-level concerns, and that he doesn't foresee using parking meters to help fund larger transportation projects such as new bus or rail lines. Still, parking districts are mentioned in the city's draft Mobility Master Plan as a tool to help lower the city's greenhouse gas emissions.
"What that means globally for the city going forward, it kind of remains to be seen," Gloria said. "My administration wants to empower communities that want to address this issue head on and improve their quality of life and gain those amenities that they think will make their neighborhoods work better."
