Neighborhoods Disturbed by Development Changes Proposed at City Hall

By Alison St John / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published October 10, 2008 at 12:53 PM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Neighborhood groups disturbed by how redevelopment is managed in the city of San Diego will meet tonight to define their priorities. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

Neighborhood groups disturbed by how redevelopment is managed in the city of San Diego will meet tonight to define their priorities. KPBS reporter Alison St John has more.

The meeting is the first time neighborhood groups in San Diego have joined forces to consider future changes in the way redevelopment is done at the city

Become a KPBS sponsor

Two corporations manage redevelopment in downtown and several square miles in south east. Both corporations, CCDC and SEDC, are in hot water for their presidents' unethical behavior.

Redevelopment in other neighborhoods is managed by city staff.

This month, the city council will consider changes. Rather than reabsorbing the corporations’ work back into the city, where public oversight would be easier, the council will consider moving all development services outside city government.

Community groups say they want to make sure their interests are represented. They want development that does not create higher housing density without creating better roads, more parks and enough police services.

Alison St John, KPBS news.

Alison St John

twitter

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.