For decades Paris, Barcelona and Brooklyn have been held up as models for humanely
scaled, mid-rise housing neighborhoods.
This density is created by four-to-six story residential buildings. These communities have high rises and retail woven throughout, with pleasant walkable, tree-lined streets.
Here in San Diego, the award winning, 230-acre Civita urban village in Mission Valley stands in as our local model.
Mid-rise housing is part of Mayor Todd Gloria’s “Neighborhood Homes for All of Us” initiative. This type of housing is both necessary and appropriate — but it must be in the right location and provide the type of housing that affordable to those who need it.
The city’s 1979 General Plan stated in its urban design section that “the quality of the community is of overriding importance to the individual, since the most basic human needs must be satisfied close to home.” This is as true today as then.
Currently there is a lot of mid-rise housing being built. It is being built along commercial
corridors and in the older neighborhoods.
Impact Housing is a modular multifamily housing developer with a vertically integrated
business model designed to deliver housing faster and more efficiently. The company currently has seven active projects in San Diego, including two major projects near San
Diego State University. One project, now leasing, includes 324 apartment homes and is
transit-accessible via the Mid-City Rapid bus line. The second project, which is under
construction, will deliver 483 apartment homes and is deed-restricted to low-income
households 80% of AMI. It is walkable to the Grantville Trolley Station and a major
regional employer, Kaiser Permanente. Both projects are located near retail and
neighborhood services, which are expected to benefit from the addition of hundreds of
new residents.
Mid-rise housing also fits in with the redevelopment of underutilized strip mall shopping
centers. A 2022 state law allows for housing in these centers without requiring developers to go through an expensive and time consuming zoning change.
These kinds of sites could be identified as opportunities in Gloria’s new initiative, allowing
old shopping centers to be turned into real neighborhood centers.
Unfortunately, some mid-rise home projects are also being built in isolated locations
where there may never provide a neighborhood environment.
Many large high-density projects build out to the maximum, leaving whatever space remains after providing parking as its “public space.”
Examples include the apartment development in Mira Mesa, west of I-15 and north of
Mira Mesa Boulevard, the apartments on the former US Post Office site on Midway and
the new building on 6th avenue in Hillcrest between Robinson and Pennsylvania.
In all of these cases, in our quest to build more housing we have neglected to build a
community.
As Guardian architecture critic Oliver Wainwright wrote last month, “new apartment blocks — even at the high end — do little to disguise the fact that they are simply physical spread sheets of units, expressions of brutal economic efficiency, occasionally garnished with a thin architectural dressing.”
Many of the 52 community plans in the city of San Diego are being updated or already have been. The community plans must be the guide when projects are looking to be built
in lower-resource areas. We can’t lose focus that we are building neighborhoods and not
just providing housing.
But mid-rise housing still possesses advantages, such as providing needed housing that is affordable, replacing obsolete buildings and empty lots, taking pressure off of single-family neighborhoods and providing new consumers to improve the economic viability of nearby commercial areas.
There are other components to consider when building on an existing commercial
corridor. The environment may need to be improved. Housing on a traffic artery is not
ideal — but if the city can lower car speeds or provide crossable streets, they can work.
In addition, wider sidewalks, street trees, street lights and places to stop and sit should be
taken into consideration. Services and public facilities must be available. These are the
responsibility of both the city and the developer.
And the city needs to take advantage of the opportunity to build apartment neighborhoods. These urban neighborhoods are medium in scale, near transit and have services and street life. Local examples include Civita in Mission Valley, the Uptown District in Hillcrest and the apartments on the General Dynamics property in Kearny Mesa.
A great national example is Detroit’s Palmer Park Historic Apartment District, with outstanding architectural character and garden suburb landscaping. An excellent place
for families and professionals alike.
Barcelona remains the international standard for mid-rise density housing that provides
outstanding neighborhoods.
New apartment housing in San Diego is up 10% from three years ago. That’s good news, but
we have more work to do.
We need to also remember that relying on increased housing supply without addressing affordability, social issues and economic issues is inadequate.
“The house itself is of minor importance. Its relation to the community is the thing that
really counts,” wrote Clarence Stein, architect, designer of the 1915 Balboa Park Fair and
housing advocate.
Michael J. Stepner, FAIA, FAICP, is former city of San Diego Architect and Professor Emeritus of the New School of Architecture and Design. He is the recipient of the 2024 AIA San Diego Lifetime Achievement Award. He is also a board member for San Diego Coalition for PublicPlaces.
Mary Lydon, the principal of Lydon Associates, has held leadership roles with the Urban Land Institute, the Downtown San Diego Partnership, and Housing You Matters. She served on the city of San Diego Planning Commission. She currently serves on the boards of the National Center for Creative Land Recycling, UCSD Housing Policy and Design Center, San Diego Coalition for Public Places and Humble Design San Diego.
