Board Member Highlight: Meet Bill Anderson

“Back in the day, City Heights was teetering on the edge…for awhile there, we weren’t sure if it would keep spiraling downward toward the ‘slum route’ or if it could revitalize. Thankfully, it bounced back and started to improve, and the reason it did was because of local activists—that’s how I first became aware of the CHCDC.”

Bill Anderson’s first big project as a planner was working on the SR-15 Freeway waaaay back when it was cutting through City Heights. He remembers the meetings, the maps, the debates and discussions.

“I support community development organizations because they’re mission-driven. They’re a good catalyst between people in the community (aspirational community advocates) and the people who implement ideas (engineers, planners, etc). They’re a bridge between those two groups. They understand what it takes to implement projects, but they’re also community-focused and mission-driven. This bridging role is extremely important to doing community work well.”

As one of our longest serving board members and the former planning director for the City of San Diego, Bill Anderson has seen a lot of work. He’s a veteran, and he’s one of many, many allies in our work improving life in City Heights.

When asked why he focuses on work in City Heights and serving on our board, Bill said, “City Heights is special. It’s diverse, socially and economically, and it’s at risk. How do we welcome people into City Heights as the housing market changes without displacing current residents? How do we avoid gentrification?”

Gentrification threatens so much of what we love about City Heights, but having experienced, savvy advocates like Bill give us hope!