Transportation & Planning


 
 

Our Mission

We create opportunities for City Heights residents to shape their streets, community, city, and region; everything in the built environment ranging from transit systems to parks.


 
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City Heights is one of the most beautiful communities in California due to our diversity, history of grassroots leadership, and active community involvement. City Heights is also home to tens of thousands of climate heroes—folks who walk, bike, or ride transit to get to where they need to go.

However, quality of life in many south-of-the-8-freeway communities like City Heights, has been undermined. This is due to decades of disinvestment of public resources, exclusion from the planning process, and decisions that prioritize the movement of high volume car traffic over transit and Complete Streets. As a result, residents experience a disproportionate level of traffic violence, health disparities, high transportation costs, lack of parks, inefficient transit, and dirty air. 

The Transportation & Planning program interfaces with community members and government agencies to reverse that by facilitating policy/systems/environmental change in a way that leads to livable, healthy neighborhoods.

Our program’s philosophy is that you shouldn’t have to have a degree in planning to plan your community.  The Transportation & Planning Program innovates the field of urban planning by implementing creative, accessible, and fun opportunities for everyday people to have a big impact in their community, city, and region.

Residents trust our planning initiatives because we don’t just plan to plan. We plan to implement. We utilize advocacy to ensure that community-shaped plans are implemented. By mindfully balancing planning with advocacy that leads to results, residents are encouraged, energized, and empowered to participate in democratic processes.



 
 

 

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Our Impact

 
 

 
 
 
 

Visions to Victory: A People’s History of the SR-15 Freeway.

This award-winning film is about the 40 year history of our community’s battle for transportation justice, making their voices heard, and refusing to be divided.

Watch time: 12:11

 
 

 
 
 

Transit & Tacos

This campaign seeks to make local planning processes more accessible to everyday transit riders and City Heights residents by inviting to do two of the most important things people can do together: to eat and to travel.

Transit & Tacos is a celebration, research project, and opportunity for face-to-face interactions between our residents and the decision-makers who will shape our transportation system for the next few decades over. What better way to shape the future of our transportation system than to do it over San Diego’s most iconic dish: tacos!

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Placemaking in Little East Africa

The 50th St & University Ave Complete Streets and Gathering Space Project is a model for participatory community planning process that is equally committed to implementation of a bold, community-shaped vision.

 
 
 

Join our community gathering.

The Built Environment Team works to make walking, bicycling, driving, and transit commuting safer and more convenient in City Heights. This resident group meets from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the City Heights Wellness Center every third Thursday of the month. Spanish and Vietnamese interpretation and child care available upon request.