San Diego's Economic Prosperity Falls Behind Rest of Nation

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published March 27, 2008 at 1:48 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

A survey of San Diego's economic prosperity reveals the region's standard of living is falling behind the rest of California and the nation. The San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG, has a

A survey of San Diego's economic prosperity reveals the region's standard of living is falling behind the rest of California and the nation. The San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG, has a strategy to reverse the trend. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Marney Cox of SANDAG says since 1990 San Diego has added 8 times more low paying jobs than high paying jobs. He says that's a lot to do with decisions by local government agencies to invest in things to attract visitors like the Convention Center and Cruise Ship terminals.

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Cox: Even ballparks, now the Chargers are up again. Those are good examples of things that improves the quality of life but don't do much for the economy, in terms of improving the standard of living or wage rates in the region.

The Economic Prosperity Report shows San Diego has made progress in air quality, open space conservation and finding new water sources.

But the strategy recommends more investment in energy, water and transportation to attract companies that offer well paid jobs.

Alison St John, KPBS News.

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.